£30-40k, two seats, convertible, for trackdays and touring
Discussion
coldel said:
Hmmm looking better is subjective, I think the slug look of the 911 is a poor design by modern standards. It looks dull and uninteresting. Sounds worse, it sounds like a diesel or there is something wrong with it, listen to a Maserati drive by and you hit cloud nine. My VX at the time had the VSE on it and sounded absolutely amazing. Faster yes, more practical yes yes, more comfy yes yes yes! More reliable? No! The VX220 has a bog standard vauxhall lump in it tried and tested over millions of cars and sits in a lightweight car so very unstressed, if you have something go wrong its a cheap Vauxhall parts bin repair. Ask any 911 owner just how many years off their life they lost when that engine light pops up on the dash. The word Bork was invented with Porsche in mind 
Tell me you’d like you’d like one but can’t afford one…. Vx220 or Lotus S2 is a great car, but drive even an early 2.5 Boxster 986 and the engine howl and handling is addictive.
For 30-40k I’d buy a late 981 Boxster S. Porsche will warranty up to 15 years of age.
F type v8 or v6 is a blast, better for touring, but not really a track day kind of car.
bennno said:
Tell me you’d like you’d like one but can’t afford one….
Vx220 or Lotus S2 is a great car, but drive even an early 2.5 Boxster 986 and the engine howl and handling is addictive.
For 30-40k I’d buy a late 981 Boxster S. Porsche will warranty up to 15 years of age.
F type v8 or v6 is a blast, better for touring, but not really a track day kind of car.
lol funny comment up top. Look, If I wanted to spend 40k on a car, I wouldnt buy a Porsche no. My car history for those that know me, know that and what I prefer. Vx220 or Lotus S2 is a great car, but drive even an early 2.5 Boxster 986 and the engine howl and handling is addictive.
For 30-40k I’d buy a late 981 Boxster S. Porsche will warranty up to 15 years of age.
F type v8 or v6 is a blast, better for touring, but not really a track day kind of car.
What OP needs to do is think about the percentage splits of use of the car, would I worry about track use if it goes on track 1-2 times a year, not really. My mate has a 981S cayman and deliberately doesn't use it on track and has an MX5 for that. You will get miles more smiles on track in an MX5 than a Porsche.
Appreciate the OP has too many cars already though ;-)
coldel said:
lol funny comment up top. Look, If I wanted to spend 40k on a car, I wouldnt buy a Porsche no. My car history for those that know me, know that and what I prefer.
What OP needs to do is think about the percentage splits of use of the car, would I worry about track use if it goes on track 1-2 times a year, not really. My mate has a 981S cayman and deliberately doesn't use it on track and has an MX5 for that. You will get miles more smiles on track in an MX5 than a Porsche.
Appreciate the OP has too many cars already though ;-)
To be fair in the past I’d always decided against boxsters when new as a Griffith 500 was more appealing for a similar price.What OP needs to do is think about the percentage splits of use of the car, would I worry about track use if it goes on track 1-2 times a year, not really. My mate has a 981S cayman and deliberately doesn't use it on track and has an MX5 for that. You will get miles more smiles on track in an MX5 than a Porsche.
Appreciate the OP has too many cars already though ;-)
Wind on 10-20 years and the early ones are sublime as are the 981 models (all six cylinder). They’d leave a decent chunk of change from the budget.
As a GT and cruiser than the F Type V8, especially a rwd model, is a hoot - closest thing to a modern day Griffith.
A sharper alternative to either would be an exige with soft top option, but I think the op wouldn’t fit.
coldel said:
bennno said:
Tell me you’d like you’d like one but can’t afford one….
Vx220 or Lotus S2 is a great car, but drive even an early 2.5 Boxster 986 and the engine howl and handling is addictive.
For 30-40k I’d buy a late 981 Boxster S. Porsche will warranty up to 15 years of age.
F type v8 or v6 is a blast, better for touring, but not really a track day kind of car.
lol funny comment up top. Look, If I wanted to spend 40k on a car, I wouldnt buy a Porsche no. My car history for those that know me, know that and what I prefer. Vx220 or Lotus S2 is a great car, but drive even an early 2.5 Boxster 986 and the engine howl and handling is addictive.
For 30-40k I’d buy a late 981 Boxster S. Porsche will warranty up to 15 years of age.
F type v8 or v6 is a blast, better for touring, but not really a track day kind of car.
What OP needs to do is think about the percentage splits of use of the car, would I worry about track use if it goes on track 1-2 times a year, not really. My mate has a 981S cayman and deliberately doesn't use it on track and has an MX5 for that. You will get miles more smiles on track in an MX5 than a Porsche.
Appreciate the OP has too many cars already though ;-)
cerb4.5lee said:
braddo said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I'm picking up a Caterham next weekend
Looking forward to hearing about this. 
Elise and Caterham take some practice to get in and out easily. And just because you can get in and out on the driver's side, it won't make the passenger side easy
I'm really excited about it too.
I've been clearing out the garage for the last 2 days getting ready for it to fit in! It should squeeze in next to the 370Z all being well, so that will be 2 cars that I hardly ever end up using probably!
I'll more than likely get a readers car thread going once I've sorted everything out.
As someone above said, the Porsche is an annoyingly good car in spite of it not seeming special/exotic/characterful enough. Obviously not a Boxster, however I got a 987.1 Cayman earlier this year. It is the 2.7 with the 5sp manual box so pretty much as basic as it gets. But, it has really got under my skin. Over the past 7mths or so I have had it, I have done some work on it - got to know it - and driven it a few thousand miles.
It continues to surprise me. It has a fantastic engine, excellent weighty steering with good feedback and a nice nimble feel to the chasis with a lovely balance through twisty sections. It feels solid and generally a nice if dated place to be. Most surprisingly it doesn't feel boring or competent or even particularly modern in the way it goes down the road. It feels more like a car from the 80s/90s in the way it interacts - at any speed. Yet at motorway speeds it is perfectly comfortable. We recently drove down to Surrey from Anglesey to do the Shere Hill Climb. It handled the long journey with aplomb, in my opinion looks good, and once we were there was good fun to rev out and run up the hill. Obviously this isn't a trackday but illustrated how good it is at the mundane but then more than capable of being great fun when the need arises.
I think it is a car that you should give a chance to - preferably more than a short drive - you may be pleasantly surprised.
It continues to surprise me. It has a fantastic engine, excellent weighty steering with good feedback and a nice nimble feel to the chasis with a lovely balance through twisty sections. It feels solid and generally a nice if dated place to be. Most surprisingly it doesn't feel boring or competent or even particularly modern in the way it goes down the road. It feels more like a car from the 80s/90s in the way it interacts - at any speed. Yet at motorway speeds it is perfectly comfortable. We recently drove down to Surrey from Anglesey to do the Shere Hill Climb. It handled the long journey with aplomb, in my opinion looks good, and once we were there was good fun to rev out and run up the hill. Obviously this isn't a trackday but illustrated how good it is at the mundane but then more than capable of being great fun when the need arises.
I think it is a car that you should give a chance to - preferably more than a short drive - you may be pleasantly surprised.
Om said:
cerb4.5lee said:
braddo said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I'm picking up a Caterham next weekend
Looking forward to hearing about this. Elise and Caterham take some practice to get in and out easily. And just because you can get in and out on the driver's side, it won't make the passenger side easy
I'm really excited about it too.
I've been clearing out the garage for the last 2 days getting ready for it to fit in! It should squeeze in next to the 370Z all being well, so that will be 2 cars that I hardly ever end up using probably!
I'll more than likely get a readers car thread going once I've sorted everything out.
The exhausts are generally quite loud on them because you're sat so close to it(even though it is only a 4 cylinder engine), so I'm sure I will end up having a little moan about it at some stage in fairness!
Ear plugs might be the answer now that I'm getting on a bit though!
I am getting really excited about it now to be fair, and I always enjoy getting an incoming car for sure.
Cheers.
C70R said:
mikiec said:
More touring biased but an SLK55? Lose some dynamics but gain some noise.
Positives: Wonderful engineNegatives: Fischer Price interior and slushbox
It's a no from me.
cerb4.5lee said:
I've always fancied an SLK55(mostly for the engine), and I know a chap who went from a Cerbera to a SLK55, and he always seemed happy with it. If they did one with a manual gearbox I think I'd prefer that to the slusher as you say though.
I’ve had two, almost brought another recently.In sport mode the gearbox is sharp, x pipe and they sound lovely.
Apologies if it's been done to death already but I've not read the entire string. I know you've said a Boxster just doesn't do it for you but....see if you can borrow one for the weekend. I've just traded in my 2010 Boxster base PDK. Had it 2 years and it was epic. I loved every minute, recently did a 3000 mile European trip with it, so it's not too harsh, and always drove it like it was meant to be driven. Only got rid as the roof started to let in a tiny bit of water and it wasn't garaged.
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