Done to death but... weekend car for £20k?

[Mashley Media]

As I say, I appreciate these types of posts come up every day and mines not much different. Essentially up to £20k to get a weekend car for fast road use, potentially occasional track day. It will be parked on the road all year, I live in a village in Scotland so not concerned about crime but just needs to be watertight etc (so no caterhams at this time). I'm happy to spend less on the car and upgrade it. For my business, which I won't go into due to forum rules, modifications would actually be welcome, essentially in very loosely worded terms it will also be a promotional vehicle.

My current list consists of the Lotus Elise, Vauxhall VX220, Megane R26.R, V6 Clio as well as cars such as Boxsters, Caymans, Z4M etc which are nice but don't feel as much of an occasion car as the ones previously listed.

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions?

[Mashley]

tektas said:

E90 M3

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

E60 M5 (readers Cars thread on this forum present)

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

R32 Skyline

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/n...

or an RS6? Would have a lot of room for advertising

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

All lovely cars, however other than the r32 I can't help but feel they are fast daily drivers as opposed to weekend specials. I have an S3 Sportback so the e60 m5, e90 m3 and RS6 just wouldn't feel distinctly different from that, they are more the cars that I would purchase to replace that, not so much go alongside it if that makes sense. The R32 in my eyes is definitely a weekend car, and an appreciating one at that, but quite an expensive gamble. Every person I know who's owned an R32/3/4 Skyline GTR is quite open about the costs of running one and they're eye watering.

[Mashley]

JS1500 said:

I've just bought a Porsche 996 and can highly recommended it. Should appreciate from current values too.
You could just about get a C4S for your budget, or a C2 or C4 and have plenty of money left over for whatever you want to do with it...

996 would be my dream in all honesty. It was my first choice but prices have risen quite sharply in the past year and you won't get much change from £20k for a good one. I remember seeing low mileage 40 jahre models comfortably in that budget in the last 24 months and now they go for £25k plus. Similar with the C4S, 2 years ago there was an 80,000 mile C4S for £14,500 about 20 miles away and I tried to persuade the missus that we should get it but realistically it would have been a bit of a daft choice at that time as we were saving for our first home. Still haven't forgotten it though and I remind her about it every time I see one haha. The love for the 996 is still there but the fear of an engine rebuild is not something I can shake. Funnily enough the 996 is now the one my missus wants the most.... Manual C2 at £15k with £5k upgrades would be very, very appealing... how long have you had yours? what model is it and how do you find the costs so far?

[Mashley]

ZX10R NIN said:

If A/B road fun is a priority get the R26 R it's a riot or you could get a last of the line Trophy:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

They are both very nice! one of those cars that appeals across the spectrum, more so in the R26.R, I see one of those and I covet it the same as I do a GT3 RS. The R26.R just looks like such a special piece of kit, every drive would be special. Have you owned one?

[Mashley]

ZX10R NIN said:

I've driven my mates one & it's a very focused & special car he also has a Trophy R the TR is even more intense but the R26 R feels that bit more special he sold his V6 Clio to buy the TR so that has to say something about how good it is.

R26 R

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

I'd say test drive both to see which one suits.

Sorry, very slow reply here. I think there are going to be a number of cars that I'm going to need to test drive....

[Mashley]

JS1500 said:

Mine's a 2000 C4 3.4 manual, Guards red (rare on a 996 apparently) with no sunroof.
I only bought it a month ago so can't really help with long term running costs, but it hasn't needed anything so far haha! A bit better on fuel than the car it replaced to (V8 Vantage).
Yes there's always the engine worries but time seems to be showing that the early 3.4 cars are less prone to the usual issues. Best keep some money aside just in case though.
Just get a narrow body 3.4 manual 996 that's had lots of work done (suspension, radiators etc) and you'll be laughing.

Fair enough, and I agree with all your points, just as long as you are enjoying it at the end of the day thats all that matters. Tbh I think I'm leaning towards an elise, its just another car to tick of the list and right now I can afford to have the absolutely daft car (No kids, bought a house last year, getting married in May) however in the near future I'll probably not be in a position to have a stripped out two seater roadster... at that point I can still have a weekend car but I imagine it'll need to be able to fit a baby seat in it and a 996/997 will fit the bill perfectly.

[Mashley]

Again, apologies all for the slow reply.

Bikes are great, however just too impractical for what I'm after right now.

The cars listed are all good cars, however the majority of them are good daily drivers, not what I would regard as a weekend car.

The clio V6 is interesting, definitely appreciating in value at this time, a very interesting conversation starter when filling up with petrol however they are realistically now collectors cars and when the time comes to sell it on then the person buying it will most want a vehicle with minimal modifications. In all honesty I'd rather own a 182 Trophy or 172 Cup just because you could rag them more without the concern that you will prang a bumper and wing to which the value of parts, fitment and paint would legitimately write off your car.

R26.R will need to remain on the list of potential purchases for one day, however for the moment the good news is that myself and my better half test drove an early series 2 Lotus Elise (122bhp) at the weekend. Our experience was that the particular car we drove was tired (although it was almost half our budget to be fair) but the idea, the experience, the design, were exactly what we are after. We have since placed a deposit on a Toyota engined S Touring model, which being slightly more modern has a couple of extra creature comforts such as the Probax seats (having sat in both the original seats and the Probax seats we both felt it was night and day), electric windows, a bit of extra carpet and sound deadening, and the short roof design which is supposedly much improved over the original design to reduce water ingress which is very important given the car will remain outside all throughout the year in Scotland. It also has a little extra power at 135bhp, lots of tuning potential given the origin of the engine is the Toyota Corolla/MRS/MR2 Spyder, and of course significant increased reliability over the older Rover K Series engines.

We are travelling to see the car on Friday, all being as described we will be driving it home. Then I'll be enjoying it as is for the next month, have my wedding and honeymoon in 7 weeks, so will look to start the build around mid june!

[Mashley]

LordHaveMurci said:

Nice to see a conclusion (wel, hopefully)!

Good luck with the car & don't forget the pics if you do bring her home.

Thanks, fingers crossed... and forget the pics, I own a media business, this wee beast is going to be video famous!

[Mashley]

CABC said:

good choice.
is that a 135R or 135hp with mods?
A 135R is a particularly nice variant of the species.

As James said its the 1ZZ-FE motor so 134bhp to be exact. Not sure about the comment regarding not much tuning options as there are a number of turbo charger and supercharger kits specifically for the 1ZZ powered Lotus. Supposedly the 5 speed gearbox is tougher than the 6 speed and the 1ZZ can carry higher boost too. The 1ZZ is widely modified in the US, admittedly you may require some thought/fabrication when fitting parts originally designed for the Toyota MR2 Spyder but thats just part of the process.

[Mashley]

CABC said:

yep, had a senior moment there. the "135" rather than "134" created an image in my head of the K series 135R, doh!

Strongly recommend enjoying the car before modding first. it has sublime handling (maybe need a refresh?) that would, imo, be ruined with a turbo. SC maybe. Even then, they're not underpowered when driving properly along a b road.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see which route I take as currently I have a modified 323bhp Audi S3 Sportback and a 140bhp Mazda MX5 track car so I can appreciate lightweight low power is very entertaining as you can drive it at 9/10's without really worrying about losing your license.

My initial route will be handling and cosmetics, I'm a big fan of these splitters/diffusers etc, I really love the styling of the Cup 220/250, exiges, especially the 380 with its canards and heavy dose of carbon fibre. You have to remember that this a promotional vehicle as well as a great weekend car, so its a very different ownership prospect to simply buying a car and being able to take your time to enjoy it. It needs to be loud and brash and divide opinion, it needs to appeal to the young kids who aren't old enough to drive but take a picture to share with their 100,000 social media followers, and I also need to keep in mind that next year is a new show season and as such there is every possibility that the Elise will be sold to fund that years promotional project.

Don't get me wrong, I'm huge fan of Lotus, I can happily discuss everything from my love for the M250 concept car (which should have been made!) to my work experience spent at Hethel in the design centre drawing cars and helping work on the full size clay model of the series 2 Elise prior to its unveiling (when I say working on, I clearly mean watching skilled people work with clay as I watched haha). This will be a great car to own, however I can see that fitting a big carbon fibre spoiler may upset some of the purists, but I think they look good, and it will help tick the boxes previously mentioned above.

[Mashley]

CABC said:

yep, had a senior moment there. the "135" rather than "134" created an image in my head of the K series 135R, doh!

Strongly recommend enjoying the car before modding first. it has sublime handling (maybe need a refresh?) that would, imo, be ruined with a turbo. SC maybe. Even then, they're not underpowered when driving properly along a b road.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see which route I take as currently I have a modified 323bhp Audi S3 Sportback and a 140bhp Mazda MX5 track car so I can appreciate lightweight low power is very entertaining as you can drive it at 9/10's without really worrying about losing your license.

My initial route will be handling and cosmetics, I'm a big fan of these splitters/diffusers etc, I really love the styling of the Cup 220/250, exiges, especially the 380 with its canards and heavy dose of carbon fibre. You have to remember that this a promotional vehicle as well as a great weekend car, so its a very different ownership prospect to simply buying a car and being able to take your time to enjoy it. It needs to be loud and brash and divide opinion, it needs to appeal to the young kids who aren't old enough to drive but take a picture to share with their 100,000 social media followers, and I also need to keep in mind that next year is a new show season and as such there is every possibility that the Elise will be sold to fund that years promotional project.

Don't get me wrong, I'm huge fan of Lotus, I can happily discuss everything from my love for the M250 concept car (which should have been made!) to my work experience spent at Hethel in the design centre drawing cars and helping work on the full size clay model of the series 2 Elise prior to its unveiling (when I say working on, I clearly mean watching skilled people work with clay as I watched haha). This will be a great car to own, however I can see that fitting a big carbon fibre spoiler may upset some of the purists, but I think they look good, and it will help tick the boxes previously mentioned above.

[Mashley]

Ok so I appreciate it's not the best photo however at the weekend I picked this up, drove to wales to collect it and back to Edinburgh the same day. It was a long drive home along the motorways which of course is not the best place for these cars, however it did the trip extremely well! I've hardly driven it since (which explains the photo taken from my bedroom this morning...), but this is not to say it hasn't been driven, but merely that my missus loves it so much that she's hijacked it for the last two days!

I appreciate that some of you guys are well versed with the Lotus Elise, however for those of you that haven't had the opportunity to drive one I can honestly say they are something else unlike any other modern car of the last 20 years! Also the difference between the 2001 K series engined car that I drove 2 weeks ago, and this Toyota engined car is absolutely night and day. I know the Elise fans will have their preference, and for me the preference (based on solely driving these two examples, so hardly a well rounded review) is the newer car. The sound deadening was much improved and more like my old, old, old MX5, the probax seats are a lot more comfortable (again we drove from Wales to Edinburgh with only one tea break, the earlier car hurt both our backs just on the 20 minute test drive) and most importantly the brakes are vastly improved compared to the earlier cars which felt downright dangerous.

Now before I upset any K-series owners, please take into account that I'm 30, my missus is 29, when that 2001 car was built we were both still school children, so I hope you can understand that our view of a normal driving experience is from an era where traction control, abs and power steering are basic elements of any car. I do however also regularly drive modern supercars multiple times per week, Ferraris, McLarens, Porsches etc etc, and of all the sports and supercars I've driven, the one that I can say is a relatively comparable driving experience would be the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Of course the performance stats are completely different ball fields, but the physical experience of sliding in over the sill and closing an extremely lightweight door that slightly rattles when you slam it, and then hearing every stone hitting the floorpan as you drive away AND actively avoiding EVERY pot hole even when you're driving at 70mph on the motorway, is something that I had only ever experienced previously in the Superleggera.

It is a fantastic little car, and for my usage of driving the narrow twisting roads round the lochs and mountains of Scotland, taking into account the variety of performance cars I've owned and driven, it still vastly more fun to drive a "slow" car at 9/10's than a fast one at 1/10.