My next car... help! Unbiased Opinions!
Discussion
Hi all I'm new here!
This is one of those long winded "which car is best type threads" so I apologise for that. Also sorry if I sound a bit chavvy - I'm not.
Basically I'm on the hunt for a long term toy and need some opinions.
The kind of basic loose criteria is:
Budget: £10-12K don’t really want to go much over this
Power: 350+ BHP/ton
Drive train: RWD maybe 4WD - Transmission loss VS grip
Capacity: 2.5L + Probably turbo’d
Age: 1994+ preferably
It’ll be limited mileage (weekends etc) and I want to be able to do bits and pieces DIY
So to help me decide I picked a few cars which are about in budget with the basic criteria, and compared them detailed (yes very uncool I know but I really don’t know what to buy)
The detailed criteria is as follows:
Twisties – Scottish A&B roads and trackdays are the main territory little lag and good handling
Rare – I like my cars to be a little different, not like when you go some where and park next to 10 of the same
Reliability – Something that doesn’t break every time I get in and thrash it
Tunability – I enjoy tuning and modifying, but I’m past the stage of bespoke parts so good bolt ons are a bonus
Running cost – Older cars I’d be happy to tinker with DIY but more modern stuff needing PC hook up is not so good.
Age – I am slightly deterred by an older car as in experience they break and rust more often
Weight – Lower = better
Economy – Not really a big factor, but if I chose to take the toy on hol etc cruising economy would be nice
Image – Don’t really want to look like a chav, boy racer, old man, fool, Want it to look good too
Useability – Being able to park on street from time to time with out continual fear of it being smashed would also be nice
Is this a fair result? E.G. will a M3 out handle a Supra TT on the twisties?
Any contenders I've overlooked?
Any input will be welcomed.
This is one of those long winded "which car is best type threads" so I apologise for that. Also sorry if I sound a bit chavvy - I'm not.
Basically I'm on the hunt for a long term toy and need some opinions.
The kind of basic loose criteria is:
Budget: £10-12K don’t really want to go much over this
Power: 350+ BHP/ton
Drive train: RWD maybe 4WD - Transmission loss VS grip
Capacity: 2.5L + Probably turbo’d
Age: 1994+ preferably
It’ll be limited mileage (weekends etc) and I want to be able to do bits and pieces DIY
So to help me decide I picked a few cars which are about in budget with the basic criteria, and compared them detailed (yes very uncool I know but I really don’t know what to buy)
The detailed criteria is as follows:
Twisties – Scottish A&B roads and trackdays are the main territory little lag and good handling
Rare – I like my cars to be a little different, not like when you go some where and park next to 10 of the same
Reliability – Something that doesn’t break every time I get in and thrash it
Tunability – I enjoy tuning and modifying, but I’m past the stage of bespoke parts so good bolt ons are a bonus
Running cost – Older cars I’d be happy to tinker with DIY but more modern stuff needing PC hook up is not so good.
Age – I am slightly deterred by an older car as in experience they break and rust more often
Weight – Lower = better
Economy – Not really a big factor, but if I chose to take the toy on hol etc cruising economy would be nice
Image – Don’t really want to look like a chav, boy racer, old man, fool, Want it to look good too
Useability – Being able to park on street from time to time with out continual fear of it being smashed would also be nice
Is this a fair result? E.G. will a M3 out handle a Supra TT on the twisties?
Any contenders I've overlooked?
Any input will be welcomed.
Edited by weetruck on Wednesday 11th August 15:06
Forget the scoring - what will that achieve? Pub banter points? Top trumps?
Drive a few, buy the one that you like the most within budget. If you want the best car of any of those point to point, then save £1000 from your budget and take some advanced (track/pursuit) driving lessons - you'll get more out of the car, and your driving
Drive a few, buy the one that you like the most within budget. If you want the best car of any of those point to point, then save £1000 from your budget and take some advanced (track/pursuit) driving lessons - you'll get more out of the car, and your driving
weetruck said:
scoring was trying to help choose with some kind of head screwed on!
Ok. But this is PH - irrationality and passion matters!Can I throw in an Audi S4 (either a good 2.7TT or a 4.2 v8) to your mix - added soundtrack with the v8 and a great car in the Scottish winter... less ideal for track, but very adaptable.
Edited by plg on Wednesday 11th August 13:16
plg said:
Ok. But this is PH - irrationality and passion matters!
Yeah - Trying to be 1/2 sensible - Having a second car is the irrationality and passion 
I like the A4 Idea.
350bhp/ton is more of an aspiration than "necessity" last car was 250 bhp/ton and I'd like to trump that. - Tuning seems "easy" enough these days.
Gun said:
Loving your work with the spreadsheet! From the list I'd be looking at the E46 M3 or the 350Z but, if you can get a decent one on budget, which is a tough ask, I'd get an NSX.
I wouldn't touch a £12k NSX.£70k car will produce bills for a £70k car. Even more so with a £12k example...
There is one that keeps re-appearing on autotrader at 12k ish; but as has been noted on PH before, don't touch with a bargepole.
I'd go for something with a good owners club (free advice), plentiful parts at reasonable prices (ie, something not tooo niche and still plenty of bits available), that has a good history (for when you want to resell) and for where I live, has a local indy with a good reputation.
[quote=plgI wouldn't touch a £12k NSX.
£70k car will produce bills for a £70k car. Even more so with a £12k example...
There is one that keeps re-appearing on autotrader at 12k ish; but as has been noted on PH before, don't touch with a bargepole.
[/quote]
Yeah I have seen this over the last wee while. As much as I love the NSX - I think thats a step out of my depth.
What do you guys make of the Jap stuff e.g. RX7, R32GTR, S15 Silvia? S15 is a lot of cash for what it is I feel.
Do Cerberas eat money? I have a bit of spare cash, but not an endless pool!
£70k car will produce bills for a £70k car. Even more so with a £12k example...
There is one that keeps re-appearing on autotrader at 12k ish; but as has been noted on PH before, don't touch with a bargepole.
[/quote]
Yeah I have seen this over the last wee while. As much as I love the NSX - I think thats a step out of my depth.
What do you guys make of the Jap stuff e.g. RX7, R32GTR, S15 Silvia? S15 is a lot of cash for what it is I feel.
Do Cerberas eat money? I have a bit of spare cash, but not an endless pool!
weetruck said:
Hi all I'm new here!
This is one of those long winded "which car is best type threads" so I apologise for that. Also sorry if I sound a bit chavvy - I'm not.
Basically I'm on the hunt for a long term toy and need some opinions.
The kind of basic loose criteria is:
Budget: £10-12K don’t really want to go much over this
Power: 350+ BHP/ton
Drive train: RWD maybe 4WD - Transmission loss VS grip
Capacity: 2.5L + Probably turbo’d
Age: 1994+ preferably
It’ll be limited mileage (weekends etc) and I want to be able to do bits and pieces DIY
So to help me decide I picked a few cars which are about in budget with the basic criteria, and compared them detailed (yes very uncool I know but I really don’t know what to buy)
The detailed criteria is as follows:
Twisties – Scottish A&B roads and trackdays are the main territory little lag and good handling
Rare – I like my cars to be a little different, not like when you go some where and park next to 10 of the same
Reliability – Something that doesn’t break every time I get in and thrash it
Tunability – I enjoy tuning and modifying, but I’m past the stage of bespoke parts so good bolt ons are a bonus
Running cost – Older cars I’d be happy to tinker with DIY but more modern stuff needing PC hook up is not so good.
Age – I am slightly deterred by an older car as in experience they break and rust more often
Weight – Lower = better
Economy – Not really a big factor, but if I chose to take the toy on hol etc cruising economy would be nice
Image – Don’t really want to look like a chav, boy racer, old man, fool, Want it to look good too
Useability – Being able to park on street from time to time with out continual fear of it being smashed would also be nice
Is this a fair result? E.G. will a M3 out handle a Supra TT on the twisties?
Any contenders I've overlooked?
Any input will be welcomed.
I like a lot of your choices. How about something V8 though?This is one of those long winded "which car is best type threads" so I apologise for that. Also sorry if I sound a bit chavvy - I'm not.
Basically I'm on the hunt for a long term toy and need some opinions.
The kind of basic loose criteria is:
Budget: £10-12K don’t really want to go much over this
Power: 350+ BHP/ton
Drive train: RWD maybe 4WD - Transmission loss VS grip
Capacity: 2.5L + Probably turbo’d
Age: 1994+ preferably
It’ll be limited mileage (weekends etc) and I want to be able to do bits and pieces DIY
So to help me decide I picked a few cars which are about in budget with the basic criteria, and compared them detailed (yes very uncool I know but I really don’t know what to buy)
The detailed criteria is as follows:
Twisties – Scottish A&B roads and trackdays are the main territory little lag and good handling
Rare – I like my cars to be a little different, not like when you go some where and park next to 10 of the same
Reliability – Something that doesn’t break every time I get in and thrash it
Tunability – I enjoy tuning and modifying, but I’m past the stage of bespoke parts so good bolt ons are a bonus
Running cost – Older cars I’d be happy to tinker with DIY but more modern stuff needing PC hook up is not so good.
Age – I am slightly deterred by an older car as in experience they break and rust more often
Weight – Lower = better
Economy – Not really a big factor, but if I chose to take the toy on hol etc cruising economy would be nice
Image – Don’t really want to look like a chav, boy racer, old man, fool, Want it to look good too
Useability – Being able to park on street from time to time with out continual fear of it being smashed would also be nice
Is this a fair result? E.G. will a M3 out handle a Supra TT on the twisties?
Any contenders I've overlooked?
Any input will be welcomed.
If it's a weekend toy.
Very rare, but these beasts can be had for £10k.
DOHC 4.6 V8 and an Eaton Roots M112R blower. Lots of off the shelf mods too. 500-550hp pretty easy and even bolt on kits to support 1000-1100hp!! IRS, T56 6 speed manual. 2+2 coupe (or vert).
2003-4 Mustang Cobra "The Terminator"
Your budget would also net you a ZR-1 I would think. 375hp DHOC 5.7 litre LT5 engine. RWD, 6 speed.
NSX sounds cool, but can you get them for £10k? Also I suspect slightly less tunable for big HP on a budget.
Supra offers loads of tuning potential and is a great car. More common than the yanks though and IMO doens't sound as good. Also most of them in the UK are horribly Chavved up these days.
R32 GTR is very cool, high running costs would be a concern though (there's a good thread in the Jap section on these).
RX7 could be huge bills, and a lot seem to swap in a V8.
3200 GTO looks quite nice, is a tank, over complex, expensive and under performing (IMO
)A Hot Rod would be very cool, but more info would be needed to know what you mean.
And a TVR would also be on my list. Probably a Cerbera V8 (not keen on the S6). But the only thing with a TVR is, it offers similar thrills to the Yanks, but more fickle and likely requiring more TLC.
Edited by 300bhp/ton on Wednesday 11th August 13:50
weetruck said:
Great input so far - Thanks a lot!
Hot rod - well that was kind of a loose bracket for somthing totally impractial, pre WW2, V8 etc!
Like a model A or T?Hot rod - well that was kind of a loose bracket for somthing totally impractial, pre WW2, V8 etc!
I think £10-12k probably isn't enough for a build and you'd have to be lucky to find a used one how you want.
Personally I'd love to build a 5 window 32 Ford Deuce coupe, much like the Milner Coupe in American Graffiti. Only running a modern LS engine and 6 speed box (lot of hot rodders only like classic stuff and would hate this).
There are some companies that sell the chassis rails and fibreglass tubs. But costs quickly spiral.
Justayellowbadge said:
I win.
Speak up man!
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