RE: The best sports cars to buy in 2020

[anonymous-user]

ddom said:

rockin said:

RWD makes very little difference in everyday driving

Yup, it's still true today - and MX5 is still a sports car.

Lotus pioneered the front wheel drive sports car with their highly regarded Elan M100.

[CABC]

cerb4.5lee said:

I'd love a 30th anniversary model for sure.

30AE probably the best sports car on sale, if you agree with the older (simpler) definition of sports cars.

if i had a very large garage, enough room for 5 new sports cars (in addition to sports coupes, GT, performance cars, track cars etc)
i'd have:
MX5 30AE - purity
Morgan Plus 4. - this is open air sports driving
Elise - feel and feedback
Boxster GTS - touring. that engine.
Vantage Roadster (ideally 2015 model) - touring in chateaux!

normally i'd say lightweight and not too much power or grip.

[threespires]

MyV10BarksAndBites said:

ddom said:

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

This..

I think the large number of MX-5's one can see most weekends competing in club motor sports events proves that an MX-5 is definately a sports car. Racing, rally, sprint, hill climb, autotest, auto solo, trials. No matter what the discipline, there's always a lot of MX-5's entered these days. More power? Easy, how much do you want.

[biggbn]

A 1.5 mx5 on the smaller wheels is one of the only cars I would consider swapping my current car for. They get fantastic reviews, ride and handling are said to be wonderful. A proper no frills but practical fun car.

[ddom]

rockin said:

Yup, it's still true today - and MX5 is still a sports car.

Lotus pioneered the front wheel drive sports car with their highly regarded Elan M100.

Just goes to show how clueless you are.

[baconsarney]

ddom said:

rockin said:

Yup, it's still true today - and MX5 is still a sports car.

Lotus pioneered the front wheel drive sports car with their highly regarded Elan M100.

Just goes to show how clueless you are.

Are you two guys the same person?

[cerb4.5lee]

baconsarney said:

cerb4.5lee said:

baconsarney said:

My first car when I was a yoof was a Lotus 7

Very nice!

Cheers Lee.. I rebuilt the engine in my bedroom much to my Mothers disgust bought the car from Caterham Car Sales (on the hill) which was a twenty minute drive away... when I’d got the car back together they offered me a job, which I took at that time folk were buying the ‘kits’ to avoid purchase tax, we had a steady stream of 7’s, Elans, Tuscans and Vixens coming and going... happy days....

That is quality for sure.

[ddom]

baconsarney said:

Are you two guys the same person?

No, I can distinguish between front and rear wheel drive

[b80]

cerb4.5lee said:

baconsarney said:

cerb4.5lee said:

baconsarney said:

My first car when I was a yoof was a Lotus 7

Very nice!

Cheers Lee.. I rebuilt the engine in my bedroom much to my Mothers disgust bought the car from Caterham Car Sales (on the hill) which was a twenty minute drive away... when I’d got the car back together they offered me a job, which I took at that time folk were buying the ‘kits’ to avoid purchase tax, we had a steady stream of 7’s, Elans, Tuscans and Vixens coming and going... happy days....

That is quality for sure.

In your bedroom?

Haha, amazing

[mike-v2tmf]

biggbn said:

Having just skipped through this thread, are people genuinely arguing about the Mazda Mx5 sportscar credentials? Only on PH!!

LJK Setright is spinning in his grave

[ddom]

mike-v2tmf said:

LJK Setright is spinning in his grave

And the circle is complete.

[anonymous-user]

ddom said:

rockin said:

Lotus pioneered the front wheel drive sports car with their highly regarded Elan M100.

Just goes to show how clueless you are.

Well, so you say.

Fiat followed up with their front wheel drive Barchetta. A decent enough sports car which they built for around 10 years, although only in left hand drive. Very few made their way to UK.

And then there's the front wheel drive Alfa Romeo GTV, nominated by Jeremy Clarkson as best sports car of 1998.

[Mr Tidy]

rockin said:

Yup, it's still true today - and MX5 is still a sports car.

Lotus pioneered the front wheel drive sports car with their highly regarded Elan M100.

I'd agree the MX5 has always been an affordable sports car.

But if FWD was so great I have to wonder why every Lotus since the M100 Elan has been RWD!

[dinkel]

Sports car... So this roadster makes a lot of noise, isn't exactly agile and has a 0-60 in 10 secs. Maybe 9 when it's a hot one on Webers:

Any MX-5 would make the Triumph TR6 owner cry in terms of performance. Are both sports cars? Of course they are.
FTR: a Golf 1.6 is not a sports car. Can we carry one please?

[biggbn]

mike-v2tmf said:

biggbn said:

Having just skipped through this thread, are people genuinely arguing about the Mazda Mx5 sportscar credentials? Only on PH!!

LJK Setright is spinning in his grave

I suspect Leonard de la veloce Setright would have adored the latest version of the wee mazda!

[white_goodman]

baconsarney said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I was always in the MX-5 is a 2 seat convertible rather than a sports car camp, but the current one does actually have decent performance which in my mind now makes it sporty.

I had one of the older MX-5's try to out drag me when I had the E92 M3...god knows what he was thinking was going to happen! After that I always thought that the MX-5 looked sporty but they certainly don't go sporty. All mouth and no trousers if you like, and if a car looks sporty it should go sporty for me.

Lee, are you suggesting an E92 M3 is a sports car? Or that anything slower can't be?

I'd have to agree that MX5s aren't that fast but that doesn't preclude them from being sports cars. I had an NB MX5 for about a year or so and it wasn't as quick as I was expecting it to be, so it was replaced with an E30 325i, which although not a quick car by modern standards was much more the level of performance that I was after at the time. My counterpoint though would be the S1 Lotus Elise. It only has a 1.8 K-Series with about 118bhp (less than many MX5s) but is that not a sports car? I came off a DC roundabout in the right hand lane one day, dry conditions in the E30 and there was an S1 Elise in the left hand lane, which I thought that I would swiftly dispatch before the next roundabout...he left me standing! Never underestimate the benefits of gearing and power-to-weight! Perhaps if I had been a d*** and kept my foot in until 3 figures, I would have caught him but he easily pulled about 6 car lengths on me and left me feeling like a bit of a mug!

[SidewaysSi]

biggbn said:

mike-v2tmf said:

biggbn said:

Having just skipped through this thread, are people genuinely arguing about the Mazda Mx5 sportscar credentials? Only on PH!!

LJK Setright is spinning in his grave

I suspect Leonard de la veloce Setright would have adored the latest version of the wee mazda!

Why do people still care about Setright's opinions?

[cerb4.5lee]

white_goodman said:

baconsarney said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I was always in the MX-5 is a 2 seat convertible rather than a sports car camp, but the current one does actually have decent performance which in my mind now makes it sporty.

I had one of the older MX-5's try to out drag me when I had the E92 M3...god knows what he was thinking was going to happen! After that I always thought that the MX-5 looked sporty but they certainly don't go sporty. All mouth and no trousers if you like, and if a car looks sporty it should go sporty for me.

Lee, are you suggesting an E92 M3 is a sports car? Or that anything slower can't be?

I'd have to agree that MX5s aren't that fast but that doesn't preclude them from being sports cars. I had an NB MX5 for about a year or so and it wasn't as quick as I was expecting it to be, so it was replaced with an E30 325i, which although not a quick car by modern standards was much more the level of performance that I was after at the time. My counterpoint though would be the S1 Lotus Elise. It only has a 1.8 K-Series with about 118bhp (less than many MX5s) but is that not a sports car? I came off a DC roundabout in the right hand lane one day, dry conditions in the E30 and there was an S1 Elise in the left hand lane, which I thought that I would swiftly dispatch before the next roundabout...he left me standing! Never underestimate the benefits of gearing and power-to-weight! Perhaps if I had been a d*** and kept my foot in until 3 figures, I would have caught him but he easily pulled about 6 car lengths on me and left me feeling like a bit of a mug!

What baffled me most was that he thought that he had a chance to out drag me off the lights. That was what I was most confused about. The M3 does 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds and his MX-5 would be around 8 seconds to 60.

Anyone who's anyone knows that the older MX-5's are slow, so I was just shocked that he took me on that's all.

Talking about the S1 Elise and I remember having some fun with one(4 up) years ago, I knew he had a quicker 0 to 60 but I knew that I'd stand a chance on the top end...so I did keep my foot in! The only problem with that though was slowing down...and I remember my brakes fading terribly and I nearly didn't stop!

I do class the Elise as a sports car and I've always fancied the idea of one. Whereas I've only warmed to the MX-5 with the current generation, because it now has some performance to match the sporting looks.

[StuntmanMike]

dinkel said:

Sports car... So this roadster makes a lot of noise, isn't exactly agile and has a 0-60 in 10 secs. Maybe 9 when it's a hot one on Webers:

Any MX-5 would make the Triumph TR6 owner cry in terms of performance. Are both sports cars? Of course they are.
FTR: a Golf 1.6 is not a sports car. Can we carry one please?

That is stunning.

[white_goodman]

cerb4.5lee said:

What baffled me most was that he thought that he had a chance to out drag me off the lights. That was what I was most confused about. The M3 does 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds and his MX-5 would be around 8 seconds to 60.

Anyone who's anyone knows that the older MX-5's are slow, so I was just shocked that he took me on that's all.

Talking about the S1 Elise and I remember having some fun with one(4 up) years ago, I knew he had a quicker 0 to 60 but I knew that I'd stand a chance on the top end...so I did keep my foot in! The only problem with that though was slowing down...and I remember my brakes fading terribly and I nearly didn't stop!

I do class the Elise as a sports car and I've always fancied the idea of one. Whereas I've only warmed to the MX-5 with the current generation, because it now has some performance to match the sporting looks.

Perhaps he didn't realise it was an M3 or else was hoping to catch you napping?