What to replace an MX-5 with?

[TheFungle]

I feel the time is coming to replace my mk3 MX-5, I've covered 25 thousand, mostly happy miles and it's made pretty much every journey enjoyable, I'd say well over half my journeys are with the roof down.

My dilemma is what to replace it with.

I've a hankering for a car with a real engine, I've never had bigger that a 2 litre before and that is clearly wrong.

I value ride quality a lot, the MX-5 can be quite unsettled on bumpy roads but overall it's not too bad, I guess that a BMW on blingbling wheels is not going to be an improvement hence ruling out a Z4?

So far I've found myself considering both a Jaguar XK and a Mercedes SLK, or of course there is the more obvious choice of a Boxster.

Perhsaps I should just enjoy the cheap running costs of the Mazda!

A slightly tricky one this, after owning a soft top I'd really miss not having that option and I also know I need a car that is a pleasure to own.

[TheFungle]

bennyboysvuk said:

I drove to work in my wife's R171 SLK200K today. It's more forgiving over bumps than my M-sport 1 series and has much more mechanical grip (rear tyres are 2cm wider than the BMW). So, driven at about 7 tenths it's brilliant. However, after that it goes downhill. The steering feel isn't as good as the 1 series, nor is the brake feel or gear-change. Come to think of it, the clutch has a very long pedal action as well. The pedals are too far apart for heel-and-toe. Added to that, it only does understeer (unless really provoked) and you have a car that looks the part, but can't reward on a drivers level like an MX5 can.

All in all, I'd say if you're not going to be pushing it really hard, then it's actually a very nice car to own. They're great for GT-esque driving, but not as good as the Boxster or Z4 for pure driving reward.

I do quite fancy an SLK, especially with the AMG trimmings, my main concern would be the apparently intrusive driver aids and lack of driver focus.