A tough choice - another what car.

[WorAl]

My OH has only been driving a few years, even though she's in her 30's, and has never had the experience of regular jaunts in a quick car, never mind having owned any due to her lack of experience.

On the other hand I've been quite fortunate, I've had a Civic Type R, a couple of Subaru's, a T-5 and a Cerbera among many other cars.
Unfortunately when I met her my second Subaru died and went to the metal graveyard in the sky, so she only ever went out in that a couple of times and never on any 'fun' runs.

Now over the last couple of weeks we've been talking about our cars and some of the comments from her have been along the lines of "your Subaru was really good value for what you paid", "it would have been cool had you been able to keep the Cerbera", "wish you had the Cerbera to go out in today" etc etc

Being the petrol head I am, this obviously directly translates to "we should buy a silly car for the weekends" so I'm on the lookout. This time it's rather a lot harder to find due to my criteria.

1. I don't have the money this time round to own a TVR.
2. she has to be able to drive it so can't be too aggressive, again TVR out.
3. has to be appealing (looks) to her indoors. So there's a plus for TVR.
4. it's got to be reliable, I don't have the money to be ploughing into repairs.
5. RWD
6. fairly powerful (200bhp ish per tonne?)
7. light (again ish)
8. nimble/agile
9. last but not least, fun.

My shortfall is going to be budget and what I'm willing to pay for certain cars. For example, I've been looking at circa '98 M3's for about £4.5k, and that's probably the most I'd like to go to unless there is a real corker out there. Plus, I'm not sure how much she'd like the looks of an M3, same reason that another Scooby isn't on the list.....but she may be swayed on a test drive?
However, Porche Boxter S's are around £6k-£6.5k for decent examples and I could be tempted.
Mk 2 MX-5's and add a turbo? Could that be done for less than £5k?
Z3M's are around £7k, so a little too much, but could be tempted for the right car, but there are many 3.0 examples for £4k, so the question there is, would I buy the 3.0 then always regret not having the M car?

You see my dilemma? What other cars could be on the short list? Links would be nice to see too.

Thanks chaps.

Edited by WorAl on Saturday 26th May 09:28

[forzaminardi]

How important is the fun to drive / fun to be seen driving ratio? i.e. how much are you concerned about your pleasure of driving it versus her pleasure of being driven in it?

S2000 if you want to drive it.
Big-engined Audi A4 cab / TT / Alfa Brera / Spider if she wants to be seen in it.
M3 coupe / convertible for a bit of both?

[sawman]

honda S2000

or maybe a TVR s series, with the ford v6

or even RX8?

[WorAl]

I do appreciate a nice looking/sexy? Car, however having owned a couple of subarus, that's not most important to me, the driving experience is and since I'll be doing 90% of the driving that is the most important bit. S2000 is a good shout as they look good as well as (so I've heard) drive very well.

[fozzymandeus]

A Z3 3.0 is a good choice IMHO.

They are starting to look quite unusual on the road, the large engine brings the rather old fashioned chassis to life and they have a comfortable cabin. They are probably a better package than a Z3M roadster: I recall owners having to spend lots on chassis modifications to create a handling package that could keep up with the engine.

A Boxster is a lovely car but I believe they can be costly to keep on the road. Gearboxes can fail, even changing the spark plugs is a big job because of access.

A good car for your budget is a Mk1 R170 Mercedes SLK320. They are better to drive than urban legend suggests and they are reliable and pleasant to use for a variety of purposes. The V6 engine is pleasant too. Just check for rust on all four arches and in the sills/underbody. Best to buy one that's been well kept - some owners will have waxoyled them.

Edit: the SLK320 came with a rare manual gearbox btw.

[sawman]

WorAl said:

I do appreciate a nice looking/sexy? Car, however having owned a couple of subarus, that's not most important to me, the driving experience is and since I'll be doing 90% of the driving that is the most important bit. S2000 is a good shout as they look good as well as (so I've heard) drive very well.

I couldnt help but notice hexham horseless carriages had a tidy looking s2000 on their website last week when I was browsing idly....

[WorAl]

sawman said:

honda S2000

or maybe a TVR s series, with the ford v6

or even RX8?

I'm not saying I'm a driving god but, what are the S series TVR's like to drive? With her lack of experience of anything remotely powerful I would like something that would be forgiving if things went a little wrong in the corners, obviously I wouldn't want to put her off another fun car in the future.

RX-8 although nice to look at, I just can't get past the engine. It would have to be bought as a project car and have a MPS engine fitted

Edited by WorAl on Saturday 26th May 09:52

[sawman]

WorAl said:

sawman said:

honda S2000

or maybe a TVR s series, with the ford v6

or even RX8?

I'm not saying I'm a driving god but, what are the S series TVR's like to drive? With her lack of experience of anything remotely powerful I would like something that would be forgiving if things went a little wrong in the corners, obviously I wouldn't want to put her off another fun car in the future.

I have no idea to be honest, Ive always fancied one myself, but never got as far as trying one for size, but I was under the impression when they were launched that they were a bit of an entry trevor, in the days of the wedges (dim and distant memory of a top gear review with mike smith) ..... just off to google...

edit: re reading your original post, you might be as well getting a tidy mk1 mx5 to learn RWD for beginners, then move up a notch next year, you probably wont lose much on one of those.

Edited by sawman on Saturday 26th May 09:57

[kiethton]

An early Porsche boxster 2.5/2.7 should be in budget, light, convertible and rated as fun to drive

Edited by kiethton on Saturday 26th May 11:23

[Fittster]

Caterham\Westfield\7 Clone?

Bit of summer fun, which should be relatively cheap to run and probably won't depreciate significantly.

[V8Triumph]

I'm a bit confused on budget - circa £5K?

How about a classic?

MG Midget / AH Sprite (Mk.II-IV) - you could afford from a '62 onwards Although perhaps '65 onwards would be best. Remember these have 3 syncro 'boxes but it's very easy to get used to
MGB (1968 onwards) - you'd get a cracking RB car but a decent '68-'74 car, early 60's cars tend to be more expensive. Up to '67 are 3 syncro and up to '65 have the weaker 3 bearing B series.
Triumph GT6 Mk.III - for a really good one earlier examples are more. Mk.I's could prove a bit of an odd driving experience for one not used to driving old cars, treat with care and respect. However, Mk.II/III's you can be as silly as you want really.
Triumph Spitfire (Mk.III - 1500) - see above
Porsche 944 - don't believe that they don't rot - they do ... a lot!
Porsche 924 turbo - as above!

[The Big G]

WorAl said:

sawman said:

honda S2000

or maybe a TVR s series, with the ford v6

or even RX8?

I'm not saying I'm a driving god but, what are the S series TVR's like to drive? With her lack of experience of anything remotely powerful I would like something that would be forgiving if things went a little wrong in the corners, obviously I wouldn't want to put her off another fun car in the future.

RX-8 although nice to look at, I just can't get past the engine. It would have to be bought as a project car and have a MPS engine fitted

Edited by WorAl on Saturday 26th May 09:52

I'd definitely suggest an S Series. I don't think you can get more bang for your buck. The noise too is unbeatable for the money. The V6 engine is reliable and shouldn't cost too much to run, its only a granada engine so pretty simple really. Just make sure the chassis isn't rotten as that's the one thing that'll cost the most.

The car is quite basic to drive, but feels completely different to a modern eco box. There is no power steering though and as such can be heavy at low speeds, the rest of the handling characteristics are quite docile. Have a test drive of one at a dealer and see what you both think. Have a look on the S Series forum too, lots of good info and buying guides there.

A car like this may be a good one to go and look over:



http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3923488.htm

[WorAl]

Thank you for all of the feedback gents, an S2000 is looking good, as are MX-5's and Z3's, we'll just have to see which would tickle her fancy.

[FreeLitres]

Gaz. said:

Does the V6S need fairly accurate rev matching to avoid locking the rears like some of the lairier wedges/5.0 V8's?

What's this now? It sounds like something I needs to know about...

[The Big G]

FreeLitres said:

Gaz. said:

Does the V6S need fairly accurate rev matching to avoid locking the rears like some of the lairier wedges/5.0 V8's?

What's this now? It sounds like something I needs to know about...

News to me too!!

The V6 is basically just a lighter manual Granada/Capri, so should pose no problems. The only issue is the heavy steering at low speeds. If set up correctly the cars are very predictable. Take one for a test drive and find out for yourself. It's the only way you'll know for sure if its the car for you.

[WorAl]

Well aparently "we're" not buying a fun car for weekends. So that opens the field right up for choice. I've been thinking about M3's and Boxters so, I think I'll be looking at a few of those over the coming months.

Someone mentioned a confusion with budget, well that'll depend on the car if that makes sense. £6.5k would be absolute max, no matter what, but if I was going for an M3 or Subaru, I'd not be wanting to pay more than £4.5-£5k as there are plenty out there for that sort of money. A Boxter S on the other hand, if I was to pay less than £5.5k I think I'd just be opening up a complete money pit. Hope that clarifies?

A classic would be nice, but I'd really prefer something more modern, purely for reliability issues.
My Grandad had a great saying. "they don't make cars like they used to....thank god".

Edited by WorAl on Sunday 27th May 10:13

[scotty_d]

I would look at Boxters and S2000. The boxter just wins it for me between the 2. You could get a Chim for cheap but it would not handle as well as your Cerbera did so deffo not good for your lady.

[V8Triumph]

WorAl said:

A classic would be nice, but I'd really prefer something more modern, purely for reliability issues.
My Grandad had a great saying. "they don't make cars like they used to....thank god".

Edited by WorAl on Sunday 27th May 10:13

WorAl - If you buy something from the 1960's era onwards and use it regularly, there will be no more reliability issues than a modern car and not to mention parts are VERY cheap compared to modern cars.

I drive old cars everyday (newest is 1976) and never have any problems getting from A-B. Yes, like all cars they need maintenance. With a budget of £6.5k: if you shop about you could get an MGB GT V8 or a Triumph GT6 Mk.1. The GT6 will feel very old fashioned, however and the V8 will feel much newer. The Rover V8 is very tunable and is very reliable.

I must admit I see '70's cars as something for everyday and the real toys being '50's cars and pre-war stuff but thats because I wouldn't attempt to rely everyday on pre-war technology.

Try a few old cars and see if you like driving them first.

[WorAl]

Let's bring this topic back.
Ok, budget has been cut down a little to around £3k and I think I've narrowed the field to either an MX5 or a Z3. What are people opinions on these? Which would be the better car?

The reason for narrowing to these two is because the car is going to be used as an everyday car and not just for w/ends. Plus SWMBO has to cut her teeth on something RWD so it's 1.9-2.2 Z3 or the 1.8 MX5. Not too powerful and decent MPG for the daily grind.

[redgriff500]

Very simple if you are only looking at those two.

Are you a driver - MX5

Do you want more refinement - Z3

Or another way - what is your daily drive as whilst I'm a HUGE MX5 fan they aren't great on motorways etc