RE: The best sports cars to buy in 2020

[CABC]

cerb4.5lee said:

The F-Type is a GT for me...albeit a very heavy one. Some F-Type models weigh in at around 1900kg.

I meant with so little baggage space....
Just teasing

[cerb4.5lee]

CABC said:

I meant with so little baggage space....
Just teasing

Ahh, ok.

[cerb4.5lee]

Funnily enough the chap who did my MOT was ribbing me about how small the boot was in my 370Z Roadster. He said he much preferred his TVR Chimeara because that has a nice big boot.

[otolith]

ash73 said:

thewarlock said:

...so what else do we categorise it as?

This is how I see it - a sports car is any car that is performance oriented, and there are lots of different types...

I don't think an E63AMG or a Porsche Cayenne Turbo or a Rolls-Royce Wraith is a sports car. I don't think an Audi A5 convertible is, even with the 265bhp petrol engine. I think a base 132bhp, > 8 seconds to 60mph MX-5 is 100% sports car and 0% performance orientated.

[Om]

ash73 said:

thewarlock said:

...so what else do we categorise it as?

This is how I see it - a sports car is any car that is performance oriented, and there are lots of different types...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_classification

and:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-segment

https://www.autoindustriya.com/features/car-classe...

It is a fairly broad church.

Also - https://web.archive.org/web/20150823000426/http://...

Though this does rather poke a stick in the whole coupe/sports car hornets nest...

[ddom]

ash73 said:

Performance oriented doesn't just mean power, it's also handling and driver enjoyment.

So of course a MX5 is a sports car.

The MX5 is not a sports car. It’s a 2 seater convertible. If not one of the most overrated things ever

[humphra]

ash73 said:

This is how my typical classified browsing goes...

Ok, if I was after a £5k-ish sports car I'd struggle to see past these two:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10805433
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10613884

Well, we could stretch to a bit more:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009284...

Did I say £5k:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010134...

In for a penny, in for a pound:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10604062
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10932891
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10938636

No point in half measures:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009043...

Ooh, look at that:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10883948

Er, what was the budget again?

You've just summed me up too!

[hyphen]

humphra said:

ash73 said:

This is how my typical classified browsing goes...

Ok, if I was after a £5k-ish sports car I'd struggle to see past these two:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10805433
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10613884

Well, we could stretch to a bit more:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009284...

Did I say £5k:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010134...

In for a penny, in for a pound:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10604062
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10932891
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10938636

No point in half measures:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009043...

Ooh, look at that:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10883948

Er, what was the budget again?

You've just summed me up too!

He may have summed me up too, but I'm not clicking 20 links as he couldn't be bothered to list models. So I will never know

[anonymous-user]

ddom said:

The MX5 is not a sports car. It’s a 2 seater convertible. If not one of the most overrated things ever

Another mind-bendingly stupid post from the stupidest PH contributor of 2020 with, of course, no cars on his profile and apparently having to save up for a wrist-watch.

ddom said:

Ok, so what can the collective knowledge tell me about the Grand Seiko SBGE253. Severe budget creep but.....

[StephMurphy]

Of course the MX5 is a sports car fgs, what else is it? My oldest son drives one and whilst not fast as such, it's 2 litres is enough to have plenty of fun in and at the same time make sense as an everyday workhorse. Great car. Small sports car.

[ddom]

rockin said:

ddom said:

The MX5 is not a sports car. It’s a 2 seater convertible. If not one of the most overrated things ever

Another mind-bendingly stupid post from the stupidest PH contributor of 2020 with, of course, no cars on his profile and apparently having to save up for a wrist-watch.

ddom said:

Ok, so what can the collective knowledge tell me about the Grand Seiko SBGE253. Severe budget creep but.....

Oh so wind it in, I know you’re frustrated buying the wrong Porsche and don’t understand rwd but stalking me isn’t the answer

[ddom]

StephMurphy said:

Of course the MX5 is a sports car fgs, what else is it? My oldest son drives one and whilst not fast as such, it's 2 litres is enough to have plenty of fun in and at the same time make sense as an everyday workhorse. Great car. Small sports car.

Facsimile of things that were.

[white_goodman]

braddo said:

I enjoyed reading the article and I find the idea that a 'sports car' must be a 2-seat convertible ridiculous. Quite why people need to get so worked up, especially when we know a separate article will come for soft-tops, is beyond me!

I don't think that people were suggesting that a sports car has to be a convertible, more that why were convertible sports cars being excluded and when it specifically said 2 seats, fixed roof, why were the TT/RCZ/GT86 (and possibly Evora?) included.

I would say that the TT/RCZ are more sporting cars than sports cars personally but if you stick rigidly to the brief, the sub 5k categories are kind of tricky. I quite like the TT and would prefer one to be honest to an NB MX5 but the MX5 is more of a sports car. BMW Z3, mk1 SLK and MGF/TF would all fit inside that budget too.

I quite like the RCZ to look at but again it's no sports car. FWD and available in a diesel, although if I'm right in thinking that the petrol shares it's engine with the R56 MINI Cooper S then the diesel is probably the one to have!

The GT86/BRZ is a car that I'm in love with the concept of but was too expensive when new for the performance and remains so on the used market. At 5k it would be a no-brainer but 10k for a 100,000 miler seems a little steep. Not a great commercial success I thought but they seem to hold their value really well, perhaps because they offer something fairly unique.

The rest of the suggestions seem pretty reasonable though and varied, although anything Italian or a TVR are noticeable by their absence. I'm not sure if they're technically sports cars but I'd be tempted to give the Fiat Coupe Turbo and Alfa Romeo GTV V6 a by or this reason. Is the F-Type a sports car or a GT? Perhaps when it first came out, the XK was still in production, so that was the GT and the F-Type was the sports car but it's borderline in my opinion. I love the F-Type but it would need to be the V8 for me. Go big or go home!

Not a bad list but I might suggests the following alternatives:

<2.5k: mk3 MR2 - I went for the NB MX5 back in the day but I suspect that this is the one that I should have gone for and cheap mid-engined cars are few and far between these days.

<5k: has to be a 986 Boxster really doesn't it? RX8 as an alternative but I'm not sure if 5k is enough to bag you an R3, which is the one that you would really want.

<10k: for this much, I think that I'd rather have a really nice example of a 350Z

<15k: the Z4 Coupe is a really good shout to be fair but maybe a decent S2000 as an alternative?

<25k: Cayman is a pretty good choice, this would probably just get you into a 981 (non-S), which would probably be my choice but you could get a really nice Z4M Coupe for this money too.

<35k: Alfa Romeo 4C as a leftfield alternative (15-35k is also a pretty happy hunting ground for TVRs: Chimaeras, Tamoras, Tuscans, T350s etc).

<50K: Should get you into a really decent manual Audi R8 V8 or maybe even a 996 GT3?

<75k: 997 GT3

<100k: I'd want a "prancing horse" or a "raging bull" on my drive for this money. F430 or Gallardo (or are we dipping into "supercar" territory now? Surely if you were going for McLaren, you'd get a 570S, not a 540C?

[Mr Tidy]

cerb4.5lee said:

I know that I have a bit of a downer on the Z4M, but I genuinely couldn't believe how much better the ride/suspension/classis felt in the E92 M3 in comparison. So that proved to me that BMW can get it pretty much spot on when they want to.

I feel that the Z4 and Z4M are just a half hearted effort from BMW. Both the E90 330d/330i I had were better for me ride and suspension wise(even with the runflats). The Z4M has all the right ingredients for sure, but the recipe doesn't deliver sadly imo.

To be fair that hasn't been the same as my experience with them.

Both my 3.0Si Z4 Coupes were both Sport models with 18" run-flats so the ride was pretty terrible, and as a result poor road surfaces did get the TC light illuminating quite often even in the dry!

But my E91 325i and current E90 330i SEs on 17" run-flats are only marginally better.

Even on (very stiff) H & R coil-overs and 19" wheels with MPSS tyres my Z4M feels better than any of them in terms of ride and handling! Although for the next 6 months I'm not sure MPSS tyres are going to be offering too much grip.

But I am planning to go back to OE 18s and H & R springs with Bilstein B6s for a bit more compliance - and orignality so far as the wheels are concerned.

I did love my 3 litre Coupes as I thought they looked fantastic and a 6 cylinder N/A engine that revved to 7K rpm in the 21st century is something of a rarity.

But the M feels even more special thanks to the S54 engine, and the HPAS is so much better than the EPAS fitted to the 3 litre.

For anyone considering a Z4 Coupe I'd say the 3 litre is 80% of the M for 50% of the money, and much lower running costs. But after 5+ years I just had to scratch that M itch while I could!

[cerb4.5lee]

Mr Tidy said:

But the M feels even more special thanks to the S54 engine, and the HPAS is so much better than the EPAS fitted to the 3 litre.

Yes and I used to love starting the S54 engine up and listening to the noise it made bouncing off the garage wall.

I really liked the steering too, plus I even liked the fat feeling rim...and many people do seem to complain about that to be fair

I'm a big fan of the N52 engine and I love its smoothness, but the S54 engine does have a lovely specialness about it for sure.

[okenemem]

Skyrocket21 said:

I'd swap the Peugeot for a Nissan 350z for under 5k.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008112...

+1

[pycraft]

I think it's fairly simple: just think of "sport" in the old fashioned meaning - entertainment - rather than the current meaning - competition.

A "sports car" is one that is built for entertainment. The more that is true, the more of a sports car it is; which is to say, the less practical, the less comfortable, the less it's able to carry a load. It is what Ferrari call and "A to A car" (rather than an "A to B car") - one which is designed to be joyful to drive with intensity and commitment, but no good at actually being a car - actually going somewhere, or transporting passengers or luggage, possibly protecting you from the elements and so forth. To my mind the ideal is a Caterham (excepting the one I saw with a load of flatpack furniture sticking 6ft from the passenger seat once). Actually, the exact ideal is the Caterham that passed me on the M3 once, coming out of a wall of spray taller than the car (it was belting with rain) and driven by someone dressed as Biggles.

As Oscar Wilde might have said, all sports cars are quite useless.

[baconsarney]

Shirly for the average car/driving enthusiast one of the greatest measures of a cars 'sportiness' must be 'grin factor'... Obviously subjective, I mean some people I know don't even know how to smile... never mind grin

[anonymous-user]

IMO it's not a sports car unless it looks like a sports car - sleek lines essential and getting the roof off goes a long way.

4-seat cabrio's take a decent step in the sports car direction although generally don't quite get there. Ferrari Portofino?
Mid or rear engine layout helps 2-door coupes approach the sports car label even if it's not conclusive proof. Renault Alpine?
Super saloons and estates don't get anywhere near.

[CABC]

rockin said:

4-seat cabrio's take a decent step in the sports car direction although generally don't quite get there. Ferrari Portofino?

maybe, but certainly not a 3 series, A4 or C/E class. they become worse cars, heavy and floppy.
interesting that Autocar see "convertible" to mostly mean open saloon cars and the Merc SLC comes 10th, below the E and C class! Autocar's top 10 lists have become a confused mess on many levels though.

The Morgan Plus 4 is also a true sports car to my mind. Terry Thomas the original definition of "sports car driver".