What do you think??

[mistralblue]

I need some help on what to do, all ideas gratefully received!

I want a car to have some fun in, do driver days on airfields and the odd track day.

I do not need a car to commute in or do long distances but would want it to be road legal.

The car would have to live outside on the road in a quiet street.

I have a mini one - don't laugh - which I could spend money on, mod and improve performance ???

Or I could sell the mini and buy something else??? Would spend up to £10K on an alternative.(but would rather spend less)

So far my ideas on 'something else' are S1 elise, MX5 ???.

I would rather have something cheap to keep on the road and fairly robust.

Thanks for any help.

[anonymous-user]

mx5 seems to fit the bill. comfortable enough for road use and plenty of fun on trackdays. can pick up early mk1 cars for less than 3k, might be high mileage but if its a second car does it matter?, easy to servioce and maintain, lots of tuning parts and rear wheel drive!....

i would not spend the money on the mini one, for starters, how comfortable would you be on the track in it if it is your only car? then there is the question of what to upgrade and what compromise to make between road and track, far better to have two cars!!!! hey its not my money i can say that! seriously though, mx5. not a lot else that offers the same practicality and fun, sure you could buy an early elise or something but this way you get to save lots of money for trackdays, they are highly addictive but have a lot of hidden consumables such as oil, tyres, petrol etc.....get an elise and do two or three trackdays a year or a cheaper mx5 and twelve trackdays a year?!??!

[Phil. S.]

An Elise is a good choice, and would be a lot faster on track than an MX5. Alternatively a Kit car with hood (something like a Fisher Fury like this) would be a bit different, and a lot of fun. My first track day car was a Peugeot 205 GTi. This is an excellent first track day car if you don't mind front wheel drive. But I'd get one with an M16 engine conversion. Still looks good, and with the M16 conversion would be very fast. It is worth getting something a bit faster than you think you would be happy with. It's no fun constantly having to pull over to let faster cars through and in any case you'll soon start yearning for something a little faster.

Edited by Phil. S. on Sunday 23 July 22:32

[GTWayne]

Sell the Mini, buy a volvo 940 turbo, a trailer, a wheel clamp (or two) and a caterfield and you should still have change.

[Phil. S.]

Or a stylus like this?

[pikeyboy]

I've bought an MX 5 mk 1 1.6 eunos to do a few trackdays in this year and generally have some fun in as i'm not racing that much this year. I took it to spa a few weeks ago for two days with gold track and I have to say all I did was put some race pads in and change the brake fluid for some race stuff and give it a once over and it was brilliant brilliant fun. Not the fastest car on the ciruit by far but easy to drive, very well balanced, brilliant steering, the engine loves to rev and the limits are very attainable certainly not a hair dressers car. If you can drive then you can keep up with some serious cars through the corners in one and it puts a massive smile on my face every time i drive it.

Personally I wouldnt waste money on the mini as I dont think it'll ever be that good on the track and you'll never get the money back once youve mod'd it.

Other option if you have room is to get a caterfield et al and a tow car and trailer but then starts the downward spiral of running two cars and siezed brakes on the trailer if you keep it outside etc etc

only my views though

Pikey

[bad_roo]

Yep - I'd go for a 1.8 MX5 or an E30 318iS.

[mistralblue]

Thanks for the prompt responses - looks like I am selling the mini and buying an MX5

[t40ora]

Yeah, MX5. Then you can easily add more power if you want even more fun....

[alicrozier]

Yup, I think MX5 is the right choice for you. I could be biased and say go for an early Elise but it'd be the top end of your budget leaving little for consumables and track fees etc. Mazda is more robust for on street parking and will probably be more reliable too...

You'll have just as much fun (albeit a wee bit slower maybe).

Cheers,
Ali

[anonymous-user]

not sure of the weight of the eunjos (used carfolio.com) but cant imagine it is 200 kgs more than an elise.

elise: 755 kgs 118 bhp
eunos: 970 kgs? 116 bhp

i still say the mx5 and save the money for trackdays, reckoning you need around £300 per trackday all in.