I've become bored of cars.

I've become bored of cars.

Author
Discussion

Tlandcruiser

2,788 posts

198 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Personally for fun cars, it has to be roof off…..driving my Elise with the roof on is fun….but roof off it’s completely different experience.

While your m3 is a fantastic car, I bet you would have more fun in a mx5/Porsche boxter with the roof down on a summers day or my favourite time of year; evening driving in the summer with the roof off.

marksx

5,052 posts

190 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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V1nce Fox said:
Bike.
Is the correct answer.

Fast. Check.
Fun. Check.
"Involved experience". Check.
Strong chance of injury/death if you cock up. Check.

How driving used to be.

Porsche guy

3,465 posts

227 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Funkstar De Luxe said:
Gone are the day of the M-cars being "driving machines".
Seems like any BMW nowadays has an M badge on it!

964Cup

1,425 posts

237 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Buy an old car, but one that's well-maintained and reliable. The whole trouble with moderns is that everything is too easy. Get a 964, or a 360 manual (there's an oddity of a coupe on CC at the moment that may end up being a bargain - non-matching numbers engine, but apparently no-expense-spared maintenance, and you wouldn't need to be afraid of putting miles on it) or something like that. The 964 in particular is a car you can use every day, that has proper luggage space and so on, but which will give you a sense of occasion and need some talent to drive quickly.

walm

10,609 posts

202 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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bencollins4 said:
keo said:
Try a Caterham or Lotus

Yep, this. Try a Lotus Elise S1. Lots of fun at sensible speeds. Mine feels more relevant as time goes on and 45mpg is quite welcome at 1.80 a litre for super!
I went from an Exige S2 to an E92 M3 and while it wasn't boring, I know where you are coming from, OP.
I missed that Lotus EVERY DAY.

If I were you, I would try an Exige S3... still very near the top of my bucket list.

DT1975

470 posts

28 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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billshoreham said:
I agree with the OP,I've got a 440i and my wife has a Panda 100hp. much more fun in the Panda!
Funny you say that. I've got a 340i but used my daughters C1 for a few months when trying to sell it. I became really attached to the thing, handled like a go kart, fuel gauge hardly moved, no great expectations and cheap everything from tax to parts. It didn't matter where I parked it, had a throbbing 1 litre lump under the bonnet, stereo was crap but all part of the charm.

anonymous-user

54 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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OP. I can totally relate. I think it’s called growing up.

cerb4.5lee

30,440 posts

180 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Tlandcruiser said:
Personally for fun cars, it has to be roof off…..driving my Elise with the roof on is fun….but roof off it’s completely different experience.

While your m3 is a fantastic car, I bet you would have more fun in a mx5/Porsche boxter with the roof down on a summers day or my favourite time of year; evening driving in the summer with the roof off.
I love my 370Z Roadster for the roof off experience/noise, but I also really appreciate the F82 M4 for the performance/torque thrust as well.

I don't know how the OP can be bored of the F80 M3. I recommend swapping the M3 for something like a Dacia Duster/Nissan Juke etc, then surely he/she would understand the real meaning of boredom then.

SuffolkDefender

Original Poster:

160 posts

96 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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964Cup said:
Buy an old car, but one that's well-maintained and reliable. The whole trouble with moderns is that everything is too easy. Get a 964, or a 360 manual (there's an oddity of a coupe on CC at the moment that may end up being a bargain - non-matching numbers engine, but apparently no-expense-spared maintenance, and you wouldn't need to be afraid of putting miles on it) or something like that. The 964 in particular is a car you can use every day, that has proper luggage space and so on, but which will give you a sense of occasion and need some talent to drive quickly.
I've had a 360 and a 964 back when they were cheap, I'm not a believer in buying the same car twice as there are too many cars out there. I had an Elise S1 briefly ... one of the most memorable things was getting in it one morning after it had been raining, I hit the brakes and about a gallon of water went into the heels of my shoes.

Finglescave

219 posts

24 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Step 1 - Sell the M3
Step 2 - Drive and enjoy the Focus and Pulsar.
Step 3 - Attend some car shows between now and the end of the year and enjoy the cars you have.

Skeptisk

7,438 posts

109 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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As Syndrome says in the Incredibles, “when everyone is special…no-one will be”. I think that now applies to cars.

Hot hatches, saloons, EVs and even SUVs can and do offer performance well beyond what supercars offered just a few years ago. The ability to exploit such power has dropped sharply in many places yet the likelihood and consequences for doing so have increased. So I agree that performance cars have become fairly pointless and as any gains in performance are really only noticeable north of 100 mph then I can’t get very excited about them.

As others have said, buy something that is older and far less capable, which demands more of the driver. An early 911 weighing around a tonne with 180-200 bhp is about perfect.

cerb4.5lee

30,440 posts

180 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Skeptisk said:

As others have said, buy something that is older and far less capable, which demands more of the driver. An early 911 weighing around a tonne with 180-200 bhp is about perfect.
One of my all time favourite cars was the S14a 200SX, and that was running around 250bhp and it weighed around 1200kg. It felt just about perfect for me at the time. driving

Julian Thompson

2,526 posts

238 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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You’re definitely correct. These cars are too quick to enjoy on the road.

Six months ago I would have agreed that the Elise is the best answer.

Now, I would still say the Elise is a perfect answer but having had an old AC Cobra now for a few months I would say that a big engined classic with an open top might even be a better answer.

You feel at one with the elements. 70mph feels quick, the challenge is to control the weight, make smooth progress, enjoy the sights and sounds. It’s bloody mesmerising.

Ryyy

1,473 posts

35 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Sell the f80 and replace with an e36 or e46, lovely jubbly wink

ddom

6,657 posts

48 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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OP, don’t care.

Plenty of cars to enjoy, and far too many moaning. In a few years you won’t actually have much of a choice.

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

234 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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walm said:
bencollins4 said:
keo said:
Try a Caterham or Lotus

Yep, this. Try a Lotus Elise S1. Lots of fun at sensible speeds. Mine feels more relevant as time goes on and 45mpg is quite welcome at 1.80 a litre for super!

I went from an Exige S2 to an E92 M3 and while it wasn't boring, I know where you are coming from, OP.
I missed that Lotus EVERY DAY.

If I were you, I would try an Exige S3... still very near the top of my bucket list.
Nah, has to be an S1. The S3 is a fat old thing... smile

Slow

6,973 posts

137 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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Buy something different like a old 70s American pickup

swisstoni

16,935 posts

279 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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I think the Op may have grown up thinking the best cars = Ferraris and Porches.

They may be the best at certain things, but the world of cars is far bigger.

Personally I will never be tired of cars. There are just too many interesting possibilities for me ever to get through.

keo

2,043 posts

170 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
quotequote all
SidewaysSi said:
walm said:
bencollins4 said:
keo said:
Try a Caterham or Lotus

Yep, this. Try a Lotus Elise S1. Lots of fun at sensible speeds. Mine feels more relevant as time goes on and 45mpg is quite welcome at 1.80 a litre for super!

I went from an Exige S2 to an E92 M3 and while it wasn't boring, I know where you are coming from, OP.
I missed that Lotus EVERY DAY.

If I were you, I would try an Exige S3... still very near the top of my bucket list.

Nah, has to be an S1. The S3 is a fat old thing... smile
My brother had an E46 M3 when I had my Elise 111R. Nice car and fantastic sounding engine but to me it was just a normal fast car.

I have an S3 Exige now. I went for it as I wanted a more characterful engine than a four pot while we can still buy ice cars. Also I like the fact it is still fairly useable. Road trips with the Mrs etc. Weekends away so I can actually use it.

S1 Exige/ caterham would be more pure but because of that I don’t think I’d use one as much this not as much fun overall. Horses for courses. My S3 is still only 1100kg.

Shappers24

816 posts

86 months

Wednesday 18th May 2022
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The most driving fun I’ve had was in a 16 year old R53 mini. Hilarious noises from supercharger and epic exhaust note too. Can easily thrash it on the roads without risk of losing your license as well.