What sports car for under £10,000?

[skinny]

Early 996 c2 should do all of what you want.

[Mr Tidy]

Hallsty said:

So i've narrowed it down a little more -

• MB SLK350 R171
• BMW Z4 3.0
• Lotus Elise S1

(And possibly VX220, need to look more into them, and also still toying with the thought of E46 M3)

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the Z4 SE and the Si? And also do they have a lot of problems with Vanos?

AFAIK the 3 litre Z4 has the same engine whether it is SE or Si (certainly does in the case of the Coupe). The 2.5 convertibles had less power as an SE than as Si.

The main difference with the Z4C was the SE had standard suspension, 17" wheels instead of 18s and not nearly as good seats.

LSD can't be hard to retro-fit - the Z4Ms had an LSD as standard.

I bought a Z4 Coupe for the much greater torsional rigidity of the shell without the roof cut off (and because I never really wanted a convertible of any sort in the UK - it rains too much)! That rather ruled out any SLK or later E89 model Z4 for me as well, plus the E89 Z4s are significantly heavier.

Had to laugh at the suggestion that a V6 TT is quicker than any of them; seeing as it is less powerful and dragging around a 4wd system I struggle with that idea!

Maybe a 911 would be rather special but the bork factor on a 10K one would scare me s***less!

But it depends what the OP really wants - sort of semi-practical is Z4C, SLK, etc. whereas maximum attack regardless of practicality an Elise or VX220 would probably be better suited.

Good luck anyway!

[Hallsty]

Thanks again everybody for your suggestions and information. It has been very helpful. I'm going to look at a black SLK350 at the weekend with 50K Miles and under my budget! Really like the look of grey BBS CH-R on the SLK, so I may invest in some if i do get the SLK, as i will have some of my budget left over!

I'll post pictures if i do buy it!

ZX10R NIN said:

IMO the Mercedes is the better car on the odd day when you're going at 10/10ths then yes the Z4 just edges it, the difference isn't as big as you think either, for the other days when 9/10ths will do the momentum swings back in the SLK's favour & you won't see the auto as a hindrance, for me it'd be the Merc but take a drive in both.


As a side bar don't get the manual it's not good, if your not happy with the speed of shift you can send your gearbox ECU to Weistec & they can reprogram it, as for looking feminine they're only a set of wheels away from looking quite aggressive a set of BBS CH-R or similar.


Still look feminine

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Tuesday 26th May 17:27

[ZX10R NIN]

Good luck I hope it turns out to be a good one, here a few photos of the BBS CH-R's on Mercs




Also take a look at Vertini/Stance they're the wheels I fit to pretty much all of my cars with a 3 year anti crack guarantee I can recommend them.

[Mike22233]

Pack your hairdressing tools!

[anonymous-user]

Mr Tidy said:

Hallsty said:

So i've narrowed it down a little more -

• MB SLK350 R171
• BMW Z4 3.0
• Lotus Elise S1

(And possibly VX220, need to look more into them, and also still toying with the thought of E46 M3)

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the Z4 SE and the Si? And also do they have a lot of problems with Vanos?

AFAIK the 3 litre Z4 has the same engine whether it is SE or Si (certainly does in the case of the Coupe). The 2.5 convertibles had less power as an SE than as Si.

The main difference with the Z4C was the SE had standard suspension, 17" wheels instead of 18s and not nearly as good seats.

LSD can't be hard to retro-fit - the Z4Ms had an LSD as standard.

I bought a Z4 Coupe for the much greater torsional rigidity of the shell without the roof cut off (and because I never really wanted a convertible of any sort in the UK - it rains too much)! That rather ruled out any SLK or later E89 model Z4 for me as well, plus the E89 Z4s are significantly heavier.

Had to laugh at the suggestion that a V6 TT is quicker than any of them; seeing as it is less powerful and dragging around a 4wd system I struggle with that idea!

Maybe a 911 would be rather special but the bork factor on a 10K one would scare me s***less!

But it depends what the OP really wants - sort of semi-practical is Z4C, SLK, etc. whereas maximum attack regardless of practicality an Elise or VX220 would probably be better suited.

Good luck anyway!

Si is a different engine to the earlier 3.0i (N52).