We all love a 'what car' thread...

[BriC175]

So let's have another! Basically, I'm thinking of getting rid of the M5 and getting something a bit cheaper. Not because I can't afford it, but I'd like a bit more spare income, as I'm finding most of my disposable income is going towards running / insuring / maintaining the beast!

So, my criteria is:

- Cheap (think £1000-2500)
- Reasonable insurance (I class reasonable as preferably no more than £1000, although I'm quite fortunate as I'm 23 with full 6 years NCB and no points)
- Fun.
- Something I can get my hands dirty with.
- Reasonably cheap to run (essentially, almost anything apart from an M5, where a set of front discs and pads are around £600, and 4 tyres are around £800 )
- Not too bothered about MPG as I don't use my car as a daily driver.. I cycle to work.

So far, I'm thinking along these lines:

Nissan S14 200SX
Mazda MX5
Honda CRX Vtec (the early 90's shape - not the del sol)
Clio ph.1 172

So yeh - feel free to chip in with your personal opinion / summaries of cars you think would be suitable!

Cheers

[crosseyedlion]

e36 328i Sport

Ticks every box

[BriC175]

crosseyedlion said:

e36 328i Sport

Ticks every box

I thought about a 328i Sport, but I could imagine it just making me want an M3, and I'll just end up in the same situation!

How do they cope in the twisties? I fancy something a bit more chuckable next..

[anonymous-user]

BriC175 said:

I thought about a 328i Sport, but I could imagine it just making me want an M3, and I'll just end up in the same situation!

How do they cope in the twisties? I fancy something a bit more chuckable next..

very good for twisties, great handling with just the stock 'sport' package.
m3 is out of your budget? and if you like getting your hands dirty theres plenty upgrades.

[markbuck14]

Fiat coupe 20 valve turbo. Cheap (if you buy carefully and maintain it yourself) reliable (for an italian) and an absolute hoot to drive. I've had a couple, lots of smiles per mile. 2.5k should get you a decent one.

[BriC175]

duckhunt said:

m3 is out of your budget?

Yeh, well, I could theoretically afford one, but I'd like something fairly cheap and fun so that I have more disposable income for upgrades / coke and hookers :P

[markbuck14]

Mmm, having reread your thread, get an insurance quote first. It might be pricey.

[BriC175]

markbuck14 said:

Mmm, having reread your thread, get an insurance quote first. It might be pricey.

Just got one. £990, so not too bad

Not a bad shout - are they nimble/fun in the corners? I would have personally thought a high powered turbocharged Fiat would be quite a costly car to maintain. I've also heard they're not the most user friendly cars to work on.. the engine bay is supposed to be quite cramped is it not?

[PH lurker]

Not sure on running costs but something along the lines of http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C307011 perhaps?

[BriC175]

PH lurker said:

Not sure on running costs but something along the lines of http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C307011 perhaps?

Ooo, now that is interesting!

Edit: Not so much... insurance is £1700! M5 is cheaper than that lol!

Edited by BriC175 on Thursday 14th June 20:13

[anonymous-user]

BriC175 said:

Yeh, well, I could theoretically afford one, but I'd like something fairly cheap and fun so that I have more disposable income for upgrades / coke and hookers :P

Its about what you want at the end of the day, you could spend M3 money on a 328+ supercharger, etc. M3 will be alot more costly in maintanace (especailly a 'cheap' one) Get a 328, get it running perfect and enjoy getting around under the bonnet.

Do not want to hijack thread with e36 328 vs m3 again though I understand its been gone over at length.

basically, i have a a 328 and its a blast.

[PH lurker]

BriC175 said:

Ooo, now that is interesting!

Thought promted by the 924 as a first car thred, in readers cars. Take a look, very well written.









ETA:
Thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by PH lurker on Thursday 14th June 20:24

[BriC175]

Does anyone have any experience with DC2s? Insurance check came out at £995, and they seem to be fairly cheap! I like the idea of a chuckable revvy Honda!

[sjc]

A bit left field...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3845783.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3599777.htm

Not sure about the bodykit...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3984735.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3984791.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3965673.htm

Great valuee and all important belts done...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-03-MG-ZT-2-5-190-Sa...

[BriC175]

Hyundai - good prospect for a cruiser, but not what I'd call a fun car.
205 GTI - not a bad shout!
MR2 turbo - yep, thought about one of those too. A lot of performance for the money
Spitfire - I'm sure it would be fun, but it's not really the sort of car I'm after.
MK2 gti - I'm just outright not a fan of these.
MG ZT - as with the Hyundai, nice, and a lot of the car for the money, but it's more of a cruiser.

[sjc]

BriC175 said:

Hyundai - good prospect for a cruiser, but not what I'd call a fun car.
205 GTI - not a bad shout!
MR2 turbo - yep, thought about one of those too. A lot of performance for the money
Spitfire - I'm sure it would be fun, but it's not really the sort of car I'm after.
MK2 gti - I'm just outright not a fan of these.
MG ZT - as with the Hyundai, nice, and a lot of the car for the money, but it's more of a cruiser.

As I said, they werea bit left field!
As a previous owner of a 1986 CRX 1.6i-16 that I bought in 1987 and did 40K in,and replaced it with brand new facelift/new-shape CRX 1.6i-16 in 1990 that I did 60K in two years, I can highly recommend that from your list. However, 20 odd years on, I've no idea what they'll feel like today!

[sjabrown]

A 205 is a good choice if you want to work on the car - even a good example will have a list of jobs needing done. In standard trim will feel slow until you're on a twisty single track road at which point it'll feel very very fast

[Face for Radio]

sjc said:

As I said, they werea bit left field!
As a previous owner of a 1986 CRX 1.6i-16 that I bought in 1987 and did 40K in,and replaced it with brand new facelift/new-shape CRX 1.6i-16 in 1990 that I did 60K in two years, I can highly recommend that from your list. However, 20 odd years on, I've no idea what they'll feel like today!

I loved mine.

Bought with 120k in a st state as a stop-gap car, which burnt 1litre of oil for every 500miles. But I did 6-months and 10k miles in it, and it never missed a beat and was great fun to drive. 40mpg+ too.

It really was a wreck though.

Might fish out the pictures of the snakeskin paintwork later.

It is imperative that you buy one which isn't rotten, and I think Honda have now withdrawn parts-support for them. Shame really, they're only about 900kg, and can hassle Clio 172/182s on a B-road.

[300bhp/ton]

FTO maybe, you'll likely get a better one than you will a DC2 at this budget.

Rover 200 BRM

Rover Tomcat 220 TURBO

TR7 V8

MR2 MK3

MR2 MK" Turbo

Rover SD1 Vitesse

[Captain Muppet]

How about an R32 Nissan Skyline GTS-t?

I've seen them go for under a grand for a tatty one, so nice ones must be available somewhere for not much more.