£30-40k, two seats, convertible, for trackdays and touring

[andburg]

budget allows you a supercharged s2000 and a load of budget for running

the ones on ebay are definitely a bit too custom for my tastes

not exactly a track weapons but mustang convertible?

Edited by andburg on Wednesday 13th September 14:52

[C70R]

gashead1105 said:

V6 exige roadster, like this:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15560386

Meant to be a bit softer than a coupe (which is what I had) and you get the quilted seats. Although I'd find one that wasn't an IPS personally - it is basically a 20% bigger elise! I loved my V6 S, shouldn't have sold it.

Sadly they are all out of budget, and basically the same price as a 4C.

Maybe I need to go and sit in one?

[Jamescrs]

OP I know you have already mentioned it but I would say Boxster, Aside from anything else I'm 6ft4 and a little over 100kg and I found them by far the most comfortable 2 seater to be in for my height and size, I tried 350Z which wasn't roomy enough, TT's and BMW's which were both fine also but I think the Porsche is the best option.

I have since sold mine as I came to realise convertables aren't for me but it was nothing to do with space and comfort of the car

[C70R]

andburg said:

budget allows you a supercharged s2000 and a load of budget for running

the ones on ebay are definitely a bit too custom for my tastes

not exactly a track weapons but mustang convertible?

Edited by andburg on Wednesday 13th September 14:52

I cannot, for the life of me, get comfortable in an S2000. I looked at a cheap one as a project when I bought the Z4, and it felt like I was wearing someone else's shoes.

To be honest, if I was going down the modified route, I'd probably supercharge the Z4 before I'd buy something else.

[C70R]

Jamescrs said:

OP I know you have already mentioned it but I would say Boxster, Aside from anything else I'm 6ft4 and a little over 100kg and I found them by far the most comfortable 2 seater to be in for my height and size, I tried 350Z which wasn't roomy enough, TT's and BMW's which were both fine also but I think the Porsche is the best option.

I have since sold mine as I came to realise convertables aren't for me but it was nothing to do with space and comfort of the car

Ok, let's say for argument's sake that I was to consider a Boxster.

Which one should I look at? Which is the most reliable? Where's the value-for-money sweet spot? Or is it just a case of buying the newest one I can?

[Crudeoink]

C70R said:

Ok, let's say for argument's sake that I was to consider a Boxster.

Which one should I look at? Which is the most reliable? Where's the value-for-money sweet spot? Or is it just a case of buying the newest one I can?

I'd be looking at 987 Spyders and 981 GTS.

[C70R]

Crudeoink said:

C70R said:

Ok, let's say for argument's sake that I was to consider a Boxster.

Which one should I look at? Which is the most reliable? Where's the value-for-money sweet spot? Or is it just a case of buying the newest one I can?

I'd be looking at 987 Spyders and 981 GTS.

Looks like the they are both sadly out of budget.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th September 08:34

[Crudeoink]

Surely not? There's a nice manual Spyder on eBay for £39k but I'd imagine you'd be able to negotitate a few thousand off that price. The GTS might be a bit of a stretch but going into winter and given Porsche are struggling to shift cars, id imagine you could get a deal there too.

[Jamescrs]

C70R said:

Ok, let's say for argument's sake that I was to consider a Boxster.

Which one should I look at? Which is the most reliable? Where's the value-for-money sweet spot? Or is it just a case of buying the newest one I can?

Without looking at prices i'd say a 987.2 Boxster S should easily be within budget even for a really nice low mileage one, probably the model after too in Boxster S guise.

I tracked mine which was a 986 2.7 Boxster and thoroughly enjoyed it, I had enough head room to wear a helmet in the car with the roof up too which was a bonus in April at Spa when I woke up to Ice on the windscreen in the morning.

[SpudLink]

C70R said:

andburg said:

budget allows you a supercharged s2000 and a load of budget for running

the ones on ebay are definitely a bit too custom for my tastes

not exactly a track weapons but mustang convertible?

Edited by andburg on Wednesday 13th September 14:52

I cannot, for the life of me, get comfortable in an S2000. I looked at a cheap one as a project when I bought the Z4, and it felt like I was wearing someone else's shoes.

To be honest, if I was going down the modified route, I'd probably supercharge the Z4 before I'd buy something else.

I was going to suggest you might want to spend your budget tuning the Z4. If there really isn't anything else you 'want' more than the Z4, then the obvious choice is to keep it.

My other suggestion would be to look at ways of making the V6 Exige cabin more conformable. Smaller steering wheel, wider seats, different pedel box.

[coldel]

If buying a Boxster I wouldnt be spending that budget on anything other than a 981 and upwards, anything prior was inherently flawed and prone to failures more common than a modern car should accept. A 981 S with PDK is nicely in budget, you wont have to try and hunt around the bottom of the barrel. A friend of mine bought one and took it on the NC500 we did, he loved it, perfect for the job.

Agree on the S2000, I found them small (and I am 5'11'' but with a weirdly long torso in comparison to my legs so always have headroom trouble) cramped and not a nice place to be for a period of time.

Me and some mates hired a track for a day, I had the VX220 at the time my mate took his 981, another guy had a Vantage V8 convertible, and he was second fastest it absolutely beasted the track, fantastic grip, I took a passenger ride and even from that seat could feel how good it was.

You could look at a cheeky Merc SLC V6 AMG? Pretty rapid cars, no idea on handling. Historically not that great!

But keep coming back to an F Type, Boxster or stick with the Z4 and enjoy it without fear of big budget fails.

[coldel]

In terms of refitting an Exige...I had a VX220 and basically went for it on the interior, noise deadening, refurbished seats, carpets, redid the steering wheel etc. all documented here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Still was hard to live with longer term as you still had to crawl in and out, getting in and out of it in a car park was hell. And it is hard on you on longer trips / adverse weather ie very hot or very cold. I do prefer the Z4!

[braddo]

C70R said:

If someone just took an Elise Sport 220 and scaled everything up by 20%, we'd be left with what's pretty much my perfect car.

Being tall and broad is an absolute pain when it comes to cars.

That is the 987 Boxster Spyder. They're the lightest porsche since the original 2.5 Boxster.

Buy one privately and depreciation will be zero in both the short and long term, so upping the purchase budget will give you lower overall ownership costs.

However, their roof is like a S1 Elise. That might be a step too far in which case you need a 987.2 Boxster S. Don't go for a 981/718 Boxster as they have numb steering.

A 987 Boxster/Spyder can be sharpened up nicely:
- aftermarket lower front arms for more camber/castor
- GT3 brake master cylinder for better brake pedal feel
- a geo from somewhere like Center Gravity can set the car up how you want it
- add GT3 brake ducts and better pads/fluids


ETA - and then, some driver coaching on driving a mid-engined car and using trail braking effectively. Trying to balance the car on turn-in, with feelsome steering and brakes, and then flooring it after the apex (well before you can floor it in a FR/FF layout) is good fun.

Edited by braddo on Thursday 14th September 10:41

[coldel]

Its a good car, but its still something like 300-400 kgs heavier, which is a lot.

Reality is you will never get near an Elise/VX220 for handling and characteristics in a modern more 'normal' car. The Boxster is closest I suspect, but its not going to be that unique raw Elise chassis experience.

Given OP you are happy with the Z4, any Boxster will have better feel to it (as the electronic steering in the 3.0si is so maligned) so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I would also consider how often you are actually going to track, if its once or twice a year I would definitely be going F Type route just because its rarer than the very common porsche and oof if you can get a V8

[C70R]

coldel said:

In terms of refitting an Exige...I had a VX220 and basically went for it on the interior, noise deadening, refurbished seats, carpets, redid the steering wheel etc. all documented here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Still was hard to live with longer term as you still had to crawl in and out, getting in and out of it in a car park was hell. And it is hard on you on longer trips / adverse weather ie very hot or very cold. I do prefer the Z4!

Yeah, I've sat in (or attempted to sit in) a VX220. It's just not happening.

Ideally I'd have two cars doing this job - a convertible for road trips with a V8 and flappy paddles, and something I can abuse at the track.

I think this is probably what I'm going to end up heading towards, to be honest. I just need to somehow justify two cars that only do about 4k miles a year, alongside another V8 that averages 17mpg.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th September 10:50

[C70R]

coldel said:

Its a good car, but its still something like 300-400 kgs heavier, which is a lot.

Reality is you will never get near an Elise/VX220 for handling and characteristics in a modern more 'normal' car. The Boxster is closest I suspect, but its not going to be that unique raw Elise chassis experience.

Given OP you are happy with the Z4, any Boxster will have better feel to it (as the electronic steering in the 3.0si is so maligned) so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I would also consider how often you are actually going to track, if its once or twice a year I would definitely be going F Type route just because its rarer than the very common porsche and oof if you can get a V8

I think the ePAS stuff is largely overblown on the Z4. I've driven 987 Boxsters and S2000s, and I couldn't honestly tell you that the steering feel was significantly better. Good, yes. Amazing, not really.

Had a great chat on a driving coaching day recently. The instructor is a tutor at the Porsche Academy at Silverstone, and said that he used to like playing tricks on journalists during launches. He met a journo who was convinced that ePAS was the death of the 911, so he offered him a ride in a car with hydraulic PAS retrofitted. Said journo leapt out of the car proclaiming it to have fixed all the failings of the ePAS, only to find out that it was actually a car with ePAS.

There's far too much internet chat and journalistic introspection about stuff like this, when the impact to mere mortals like us is largely imperceptible.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th September 10:53

[braddo]

This one's PDK - I prefer manual - but would otherwise be perfect. Private sale, the nice seats, the nice wheels, aircon, low miles. £42k.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306068...

You REALLY need to try these seats. Although they're buckets, they are a bit wider than most and are extremely comfortable. They hold you in really nicely on track days.



Personally I'd change the wheels to silver too as they're great looking wheels which are wasted when black.

Silver:

[braddo]

coldel said:

Its a good car, but its still something like 300-400 kgs heavier, which is a lot.

Sure, but the Spyder is literally the only option up from the Elise which is a light, manual, engaging convertible sports car. The next jump would be a Ferrari 360/430 Spider! Or a Zonda, or the upcoming Gordon Murray car

[C70R]

braddo said:

This one's PDK - I prefer manual - but would otherwise be perfect. Private sale, the nice seats, the nice wheels, aircon, low miles. £42k.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306068...

You REALLY need to try these seats. Although they're buckets, they are a bit wider than most and are extremely comfortable. They hold you in really nicely on track days.



Personally I'd change the wheels to silver too as they're great looking wheels which are wasted when black.

Silver:

That's really quite a lovely thing. The seats look very similar to the most recent GT3 ones, which are bloody excellent at balancing comfort and support.

As sad as it is, and as much as I acknowledge the personal failing, there's just something about Boxsters that doesn't excite me. I've driven 986s and 987s, and they are really really good cars. But they just don't feel special in a way that makes me want to lob forty grand at them.

[cerb4.5lee]

What about a Caterham of some description?!