My view of the world has been shaken

[996TT02]

I think the same thing about my Mk1 1.6L MX5

May sell the Porsche one day, but not the Mazda.

[phib]

Exactly the same ! Have a 355 and 550, picked up a Elise s on Friday and it's absolutely brilliant fun !

Serious fun at slow speeds and not as worried where leaving it as I am with the ferraris

Back to basics motoring, very liberating

Phib

[motco]

Steven_RW said:

Bigger tyres, bigger brakes, bigger engine = higher speeds and bigger bans/crash speeds.

It is why I am driving a Mini with 205 tyres.

RW

And fewer opportunities to extend the car. I had more fun in my old 1970 Midget than in any modern high perfomance car in today's climate. I keep a Westfield on SORN for track days for the fun injection needs.

[johnwilliams77]

DJFish said:

Two things about expensive fast cars.

They're expensive.

They're fast.

That means you've got to really drive it to enjoy it, not obsess about resale value or parking dings.
And point two, when you do you'll barely be scratching the surface of its performance 90% of the time, or risking your licence every 5 minutes.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a 'halo' car, but there's something to be said for cheap, enjoyable performance.

Not always true
Evora is fast but don't feel the need to rag it to
Enjoy it. Such great steering and ride that it's fun to drive at all speeds

[V88Dicky]

I agree with the OPs sentiment, but on the flip side, there's a certain enjoyment to be gained from driving a fast / powerful car at sedate speeds, knowing that you have plenty of power in reserve.

The dual carriageway commute in my XKR rarely sees me exceeding 65mph, despite the roads being quiet at 6am.

I guess it's just a nice place to sit and chill out

[ORD]

All depends on the roads you drive. I would find anything with under 150-200bhp per ton useless because the roads I drive often require a lot of overtaking. About 10 overtakes per hour or stuck behind pootlers.

[Esceptico]

Vitorio said:

Sat behind a 107 for a few miles yesterday, and it got me thinking, i would get on fine with one (aygo/C1/107) of those as my car, it'd be pennies to run etc.. but part of me still wishes they'd made a more powerful version, somewhere around 90-100hp should make it a right laugh.

I did think about and test drove a Suzuki Swift Sport. It was fun but ultimately I thought not worthwhile as 95% of the time I would just be sitting in traffic.

[Willy Nilly]

I had a chat with a man polishing is 16 reg 1.5 MX5 last week. He works for Mazda, which may cloud his judgement, but also does something to do with MX5 track days or something, so may be on here. He said the new one was the best one yet. I think they look great.

I have a slowish car, but even that can't really be unleashed on the public roads and my bike breaks most speed limits in 1st. Fast is fun, but so is getting near to the edge and the fast and more accomplished the car/bike/whatever is, the further away the edge is.

[StottyEvo]

I agree that slow cars are fun, but when anybody states that they cannot use the power of their Golf R on public roads, they either live in central London or can't drive.

[Willy Nilly]

StottyEvo said:

I agree that slow cars are fun, but when anybody states that they cannot use the power of their Golf R on public roads, they either live in central London or can't drive.

You cannot see any further around the next corner in a Golf R than I can in a 1.4 litre Jazz.

[Ozzie Osmond]

It's simple really - once you're in a convertible you don't need to go fast to be having fun!.

At the other end you can put as big an engine as you like in an ordinary saloon car but I'm still not interested.

[ashleyman]

StottyEvo said:

I agree that slow cars are fun, but when anybody states that they cannot use the power of their Golf R on public roads, they either live in central London or can't drive.

My excuse is that I live in Central London and find the car quite dull at low speed. 40+ in gears 2-4 is seriously fun but doing that regularly where I live is impossible.

Edited by ashleyman on Monday 30th May 12:30

[knitware]

I'm a recent convert to the MX5, it's a great car to drive. Just having a turbo and suspension fitted...

[Axionknight]

Vitorio said:

Sat behind a 107 for a few miles yesterday, and it got me thinking, i would get on fine with one (aygo/C1/107) of those as my car, it'd be pennies to run etc.. but part of me still wishes they'd made a more powerful version, somewhere around 90-100hp should make it a right laugh.

Renault Clio Twingo Sport, 133bhp from a 1.6 N/A engine - they are great fun.

[ORD]

ashleyman said:

StottyEvo said:

I agree that slow cars are fun, but when anybody states that they cannot use the power of their Golf R on public roads, they either live in central London or can't drive.

My excuse is that I live in Central London and find the car quite dull at low speed. 40+ in gears 2-4 is seriously fun but doing that regularly where I live is impossible.

Edited by ashleyman on Monday 30th May 12:30

Eh? In what bizarre alternative universe is any car remotely enjoyable to drive in London?

[markcoznottz]

tedman said:

Best fun I've ever had driving was in a mk1 Ford Ka 1.3 I had as a hire car for the weekend. My daily was a Golf mk4 at the time, which was pretty lardy.

Not surprising really, probably the best chassis of any car ever, courtesy of parry Jones and his team. The puma was similarly lauded.

[MDUBZ]

StottyEvo said:

I agree that slow cars are fun, but when anybody states that they cannot use the power of their Golf R on public roads, they either live in central London or can't drive.

as cars go i don't think i've driven anything that allows you to get so much power down so easily on the road: it takes you into licence loosing territory very quickly.. The R is fun, but it's the sort of office party mandatory fun that's been approved by HR and the health and safety police, the soundtrack has been manufactured to appeal to the girls from sales, and there are are people available to take care of Roger from Accounts when he gets a bit carried away with one of the temps in admin. Everyone will leave having had a good time, it's all just a bit too safe and manufactured. I've had and have more fun in older cheaper, less powerful cars tbh..

[MDUBZ]

tedman said:

Best fun I've ever had driving was in a mk1 Ford Ka 1.3 I had as a hire car for the weekend. My daily was a Golf mk4 at the time, which was pretty lardy.

Not sure i'd go as far to say best fun in a car but, the missus had a Street Ka a few years back, it was completely gutless in a straight line but once up to speed you could throw it into a corner and it would just stick, it was good fun.. with the roof down I also looked like donkey kong in mario kart driving it: it used to generate a lot of smiles..

[ashleyman]

MDUBZ said:

as cars go i don't think i've driven anything that allows you to get so much power down so easily on the road: it takes you into licence loosing territory very quickly.. The R is fun, but it's the sort of office party mandatory fun that's been approved by HR and the health and safety police, the soundtrack has been manufactured to appeal to the girls from sales, and there are are people available to take care of Roger from Accounts when he gets a bit carried away with one of the temps in admin. Everyone will leave having had a good time, it's all just a bit too safe and manufactured. I've had and have more fun in older cheaper, less powerful cars tbh..

This is what I was attempting to describe about power delivery. It's fun, but it's over too quickly if you're being sensible...

[wack]

I spotted a Jaguar F type about 1/2m in front of me but as I got closer it didn't get any bigger , it was then I realised it was the new MX5

They're going to sell a lot of those with F type looks and more fun to drive

I've had 2 MX5s and another is on the cards when the prices start to drop in the autumn