Summer run around?

[ST270]

Recently sold a Lotus Elan M100 which was a weekend car, and with the nice weather I am kind of missing the country lane blasts. Was thinking of another little roadster albeit a little cheaper so I can save a bit of the Lotus sale proceeds too. I was thinking a budget of £3.5k ish and wanted to know peoples thoughts on what to look at;

I know many will scream MX5 but I wouldn't mind something with a bit bigger capacity or turbo

Z3 2.8? These are plentiful and within budget
Honda s2000 - slightly out of budget maybe?
Reliant Sabre - 1.8 turbo?
TVR Wedge - most likely problematic?

[TommyBuoy]

I own an S2000 and love it, but you are right; you'll need at least another £1K for the very early vehicles with higher miles.

For me the Z3 would be my choice, with the torquey 2.8 it should provide a bit of a thrill.

The other small roadster that I can think of is the FIAT barchetta - not sure what they're like though.

ETA How about a Turbo T-Bar MR2 - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2997647.htm

Maybe not that one, but certainly have enough power to entertain.

Edited by TommyBuoy on Friday 15th July 15:21

[vixen1700]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3030545.htm

[TommyBuoy]

^^^
Please disregard my previous post and get one of these

[andy-xr]

If you had the upgrade chip in the M100 the only thing I can think of that'll still be anywhere near would be an MR2 Turbo tbh

[ST270]

Ah The Fiat slipped my mind - they are FWD though and after the Lotus - as astonishingly grippy it was for a FWD I think I'd like to try RWD. A friend on mine had a Civic Type R and the Vtec motor was a gem I expect it is even better in the S2000 and you can hear it more with the roof down!

They do look to start around £4.5 - £5 but a couple of these I saw were CAT D so i would stay clear - the BM's have reasonable mileage and 190+ bhp isnt too shabby I guess!

[ST270]

vixen1700 said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3030545.htm

Now that I like! Ford V6 bomb proof engine and sounds quality - great find!

The M100 did have the mountain chip and the pre-cat was removed so it was making about 195bhp but it need revving quite a bit - MR2's are a classic shape but theres a lot been modded so not sure really.

[TommyBuoy]

ST270 said:

Ah The Fiat slipped my mind - they are FWD though and after the Lotus - as astonishingly grippy it was for a FWD I think I'd like to try RWD. A friend on mine had a Civic Type R and the Vtec motor was a gem I expect it is even better in the S2000 and you can hear it more with the roof down!

They do look to start around £4.5 - £5 but a couple of these I saw were CAT D so i would stay clear - the BM's have reasonable mileage and 190+ bhp isnt too shabby I guess!

If your planning on only keeping it for the summer I wouldn't be too concerned about a CAT D (an awful lot of the eralier cars are due to their 'twitchy' nature), if it's going to be a keeper I'm with you on giving them a miss. The Vtec engine is fantastic and more potent, but the exhaust not is strangly muted but with a nice tone (for a 4 cylinder!).

The TVR is your feeling brave, the BMW for the noise and the MR2 Turbo for the pace.

[ST270]

Well the Lotus was very reliable considering their reputation - although I did recondition the gearbox (wear and tear) along with the rear callipers needing a service that was it. I would hope it would be similar with the TVR (might be wishful thinking though)

[TTwiggy]

I'd also plumb for the 2.8 Z3. I think they're great little cars, and while not the last word in handling, that's a peach of an engine right there.

At that price point you can't go wrong.

[aka_kerrly]

Something a bit more off the wall....Suzuki Cappuccino?
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2856749.htm

or,
Mk1 Golf GTI Cabriolet
E30 or E36 BMW 3 Series cab

[Daaaveee]

TTwiggy said:

I'd also plumb for the 2.8 Z3. I think they're great little cars, and while not the last word in handling, that's a peach of an engine right there.

At that price point you can't go wrong.

Agreed. Biased a little I must add! I think they're great cars for the money, plump for the facelift if you can, it looks a lot fresher IMO.

[ST270]

Daaaveee said:

Agreed. Biased a little I must add! I think they're great cars for the money, plump for the facelift if you can, it looks a lot fresher IMO.

Just been looking through then on Autotrader actually the majority within £4k are 98,99 00 at a push - do you know what year the facelifts were?

[Daaaveee]

I believe it was in 2000. There are not many facelift 2.8s as they moved up to the 3.0 not too long after the facelift happened.

FWIW mine is a facelift 2.8 and was built in May 2000

[ST270]

Looks smart and probably the best colour too! The facelift rear lights - are they from an M Sport?

[Chris71]

ST270 said:

vixen1700 said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3030545.htm

Now that I like! Ford V6 bomb proof engine and sounds quality - great find!

+1

I can't recommend these cars highly enough.

£3.5k is still towards the lower end for a good S3 I'd imagine, but even at £4k+ for a smart one they're a bargain. Perhaps the most reliable of all TVRs and a lot closer to the V8s in performance than you might assume. You'd have to be driving a standard Chimaera 400 (or V8 Wedge) pretty determinedly to get away from a good S3 on a twisty road I suspect, and the character is very similar.

TVR even managed to make the Ford V6 sound like a V8 somehow. It's got a lovely deep bark to it that sounds better than most of the Rover V8 cars IMHO.

You need to buy careful with any of them (especially at the lower end of the price range), but there's loads of help and advice out there. Do it. It's a far richer experience than a mass produced roadster and with the right example it needn't be much more expensive.