New Car - Quick - Handles - £3500-£5000 budget

[stevekoz]

Hi All,

I've got a friend who currently owns an FN2 Type R, late plate car, low miles and typical honda reliability.

He is bored of it.

So he's been looking at r53 mini cooper s as a new alternative. But he can't make up his mind - mainly as i think the mini doesn't set his world on fire either.

So the criteria is as follows

Any make or model - nothing is out of scope.

Limiting factor is a budget of between £3500 - £5000.

Manual

Quick(ish) - 0-60 under 7 seconds.

Petrol

Handling - Needs to be a good handling fun car. Lots of Grip. Fairly chuckable. Ride wise doesn't really matter much as will be short ish journeys and weekend blasts. But nothing spine shattering i guess.

No preference on drive type. FWD.RWD.AWD - all welcome.

He's open to any type coupe/saloon/hatch. But something easier to drive around a town would perhaps be easier.

Can be two - five seats.

Its a wide criteria and i thought where best to ask than with you lot as you always come up with some great leftfield ideas.

thanks in advance.

[Shiv_P]

350Z
Mk2 Focus ST
Z4
E46 330?
mk5 Golf GTI
Clio RS 197
Leon Cupra

[tigamilla]

Mark 5 GTI and a stage 1 remap (with change to spare) is a lot of fun

[Tyre Smoke]

tigamilla said:

Mark 5 GTI and a stage 1 remap (with change to spare) is a lot of fun

What exactly is a "stage 1 remap"?

Yes, sounds really exciting, slightly rally-like using the word 'stage' but in reality?

[Butter Face]

https://www.tts-performance.co.uk/single-post/2017...

[stevekoz]

Butter Face said:

https://www.tts-performance.co.uk/single-post/2017...

Whilst im sure he'd like teh SC for the FN2 - there is more to it than the initial payment on the work and i'm pretty sure that he is also just not wanting to drive the Honda anymore - he gets bored easily.

For me i think the 350z is probably a good choice or an R26 F1 - but i've broached both with him and he seems stuck on the idea of an r53 cooper s.

Thank you for the advice guys. I wonder what he'll go for.

[kiethton]

BMW 130i? - should fit the bill

Get a ~’55 plate for £3-5k so get best of both cheaper tax, hydraulic steering and the better engine.

[rustyuk]

Tyre Smoke said:

tigamilla said:

Mark 5 GTI and a stage 1 remap (with change to spare) is a lot of fun

What exactly is a "stage 1 remap"?

Yes, sounds really exciting, slightly rally-like using the word 'stage' but in reality?

I always thought Stage 1 was a remap with no parts changed, Stage 2 was a remap with some specific parts and so on.

So it's correct to state Stage 1 as it's the first step.

[Chestrockwell]

Z4 3.0i with the M54

[DoubleD]

tigamilla said:

Mark 5 GTI and a stage 1 remap (with change to spare) is a lot of fun

I had a MK5 GTI and I found it rather dull. But that could have been because it was an automatic.

[Chestrockwell]

DoubleD said:

I had a MK5 GTI and I found it rather dull. But that could have been because it was an automatic.

I had an EP3 CTR and I’ve driven a MK5 GTI manual, a lot more grown up, felt quicker but wasn’t exciting compared to the Honda.

[ZX10R NIN]

Megane F1 R26 if he wants another hot hatch:


350Z if he doesn't:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

If he's open to a sports car or a Honda S2000 for something in between & you can assure him the S2000 will be nothing like his Civic:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-S2000-LOTS-OF-SER...f:0

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-S2000-silver-9700...f:0

[ericmcn]

stevekoz said:

Manual

Quick(ish) - 0-60 under 7 seconds.

Petrol

Handling - Needs to be a good handling fun car. Lots of Grip. Fairly chuckable. Ride wise doesn't really matter much as will be short ish journeys and weekend blasts. But nothing spine shattering i guess.

Could do worse than a Legacy R SpecB - ticks all the boxes with some to spare but good luck getting a manual saloon, seriously underrated cars, below is a comment regarding a 530D from a bloke on UK Legacy, sums up the Subaru well.

"I can give you some insight on 530Ds - I went from an Impreza WRX wagon to a 2012 530D in 2016 as the kids were getting too big for the Impreza. I expected at least a bit of the M5 halo effect to be present in the 530D but it was seriously disappointing. Maybe the earlier generation are better but the F11 doesn't do fun.

It's a fantastic place to be, the space, the leather, the build quality, etc, the fuel consumption is good (I got about 36mpg), the separately opening tailgate glass should be compulsory on all wagons - but the driving experience is non-existent. It's just a big, boring bus, with everything designed to isolate you from the experience of driving rather allow you to revel in it. As I've mentioned on here before, it's the ideal car for a German taxi driver who has to spend 10 hours a day in the vehicle and do 100mph runs down the autobahn to the airport.

Maybe the X Drive version is better, but I doubt it - the car is too big and too heavy and too dull. Maintenance costs are ridiculous even if you go to an indy, god forbid if anything goes wrong (6 grand for a new gearbox...). And it turns you into a BMW driver (by which I mean the typical, tailgating dwad). Seriously.

Lived with it for a bit over a year until one day I realised I didn't have any interest in driving it and had no connection with it whatsoever. Sold it and bought a Twinscroll wagon and am much happier despite spending more time visiting petrol stations!"

[sixpistons]

Plenty of choice about, just depends what you want

R53 cooper s
Clio 197 might sneak into budget
EP3 Civic Type R
Boxer (liable to be ruinous to run)
MR2 - lovely car to drive. I wouldn’t want to use it everyday though

130i was mentioned above but handling ain’t up to much as standard - too bouncy. If you don’t need the practicality a 6 pot z4 is much better to drive as standard. I was surprised how nicely they drive actually (once the runflats have been binned), nicely balanced with accurate (albeit numb) steering

[Scobblelotcher]

sixpistons said:

Plenty of choice about, just depends what you want

R53 cooper s
Clio 197 might sneak into budget
EP3 Civic Type R
Boxer (liable to be ruinous to run)
MR2 - lovely car to drive. I wouldn’t want to use it everyday though

130i was mentioned above but handling ain’t up to much as standard - too bouncy. If you don’t need the practicality a 6 pot z4 is much better to drive as standard. I was surprised how nicely they drive actually (once the runflats have been binned), nicely balanced with accurate (albeit numb) steering

To be fair to the 130i though, it’s engine is in a different league to the other cars above which I’ve owned a few with the exception of the boxter.

The 130i’s suspension can be sorted fairly easily and then you’ve got a RWD car with a superb engine. The 130i’s is amazing regardless of if you’re crawling around enjoying its low down torque or working it hard. That engine is also reliable and they seem to go forever. I like the fact the 130i is also under the radar and without the badge, nobody knows what it’s about.

[sixpistons]

Scobblelotcher said:

To be fair to the 130i though, it’s engine is in a different league to the other cars above which I’ve owned a few with the exception of the boxter.

The 130i’s suspension can be sorted fairly easily and then you’ve got a RWD car with a superb engine. The 130i’s is amazing regardless of if you’re crawling around enjoying its low down torque or working it hard. That engine is also reliable and they seem to go forever. I like the fact the 130i is also under the radar and without the badge, nobody knows what it’s about.

The engine is an absolute peach, but same engine available in Z4 3.0si in a (as standard) better handling car. I should point out I’ve owned a 130i for the last 5 years and love it to bits, but unless modified with good dampers (which mine is), it’s bouncy and skittish and most of the other cars on the list would murder it down a B roads as a result. With a few mods it’s a great car though.

[Scobblelotcher]

sixpistons said:

Scobblelotcher said:

To be fair to the 130i though, it’s engine is in a different league to the other cars above which I’ve owned a few with the exception of the boxter.

The 130i’s suspension can be sorted fairly easily and then you’ve got a RWD car with a superb engine. The 130i’s is amazing regardless of if you’re crawling around enjoying its low down torque or working it hard. That engine is also reliable and they seem to go forever. I like the fact the 130i is also under the radar and without the badge, nobody knows what it’s about.

The engine is an absolute peach, but same engine available in Z4 3.0si in a (as standard) better handling car. I should point out I’ve owned a 130i for the last 5 years and love it to bits, but unless modified with good dampers (which mine is), it’s bouncy and skittish and most of the other cars on the list would murder it down a B roads as a result. With a few mods it’s a great car though.

I do agree although the 130i and Z4 are obviously designed for very different purposes!