£35k raw drivers car

[jamckeown]

If it is a short stubby car then the answer is an Alfa Romeo 4C. Awesome cars with ECU upgrade.

[rotaryjam]

mrpbailey said:

Definitely the Noble. I recently sold mine after over 11 years ownership. Fantastic cars and most are now much better than when they left the factory due to upgrades/improvements. Plenty of big power ones out there too (700+bhp (mine was ‘only’ 520bhp)).
First 8 years it spent in a single garage, no problem at all, just be careful when opening the door (I stuck a bit of carpet on the wall).
There are a lot of Noble owners who are ex TVR and Ultima owners, and I’ve yet to come across one who doesn’t rate the Noble as a MUCH better drive. Much faster than an exige in a straight line and a match through the bends.
I purchased mine in 2008 after driving it back to back with an Exige S, drove the exige first and enjoyed it, however after 10 minutes in the Noble there was no way i was going to buy the lotus! In a way it feels like a better equipped, grown up exige.
Only issue may be your budget, it’s at the bottom end. Mine sold for 15k more than I pad for it in 2008.

Thanks for your views on this. Interesting you say the noble was much faster, on paper isnt it just about 0.3 seconds 0-60 difference? Presume the noble was tweaked?

I've come to the conclusion it has to be the noble, even if I place to pay a few £k more. The Exige S is tempting but less rare, much more expensive to insure (£859 Vs. £1,350) , not as good from what people say and doesn't have the nostalgia factor the noble does for me.

Thanks for your input all

[sjc]

rotaryjam said:

mrpbailey said:

Definitely the Noble. I recently sold mine after over 11 years ownership. Fantastic cars and most are now much better than when they left the factory due to upgrades/improvements. Plenty of big power ones out there too (700+bhp (mine was ‘only’ 520bhp)).
First 8 years it spent in a single garage, no problem at all, just be careful when opening the door (I stuck a bit of carpet on the wall).
There are a lot of Noble owners who are ex TVR and Ultima owners, and I’ve yet to come across one who doesn’t rate the Noble as a MUCH better drive. Much faster than an exige in a straight line and a match through the bends.
I purchased mine in 2008 after driving it back to back with an Exige S, drove the exige first and enjoyed it, however after 10 minutes in the Noble there was no way i was going to buy the lotus! In a way it feels like a better equipped, grown up exige.
Only issue may be your budget, it’s at the bottom end. Mine sold for 15k more than I pad for it in 2008.

Thanks for your views on this. Interesting you say the noble was much faster, on paper isnt it just about 0.3 seconds 0-60 difference? Presume the noble was tweaked?

I've come to the conclusion it has to be the noble, even if I place to pay a few £k more. The Exige S is tempting but less rare, much more expensive to insure (£859 Vs. £1,350) , not as good from what people say and doesn't have the nostalgia factor the noble does for me.

Thanks for your input all

Get yourself on the Noble owners FB page, amaxing amount of knowledge and likely the best cars coming up for sale as well.

[Zippee]

If it's purely a toy and you're likely to use it on track then I'd say a Noble or a supercharged converted S1 Elise if you really want raw.
I owned a 4.3 T350 for 10 years and it's a great car but I feel from what you say it just wouldn't suit you.
Anyhow - I can't believe no-one has asked for details of your RX7

[mrpbailey]

rotaryjam said:

Thanks for your views on this. Interesting you say the noble was much faster, on paper isnt it just about 0.3 seconds 0-60 difference? Presume the noble was tweaked?

I've come to the conclusion it has to be the noble, even if I place to pay a few £k more. The Exige S is tempting but less rare, much more expensive to insure (£859 Vs. £1,350) , not as good from what people say and doesn't have the nostalgia factor the noble does for me.

Thanks for your input all

0-60 there probably isn’t a lot in it (believe the noble is low to mid 3’s in reality if you can get the power down), but I was more referring to speed whilst on the move, where I think the noble has about double the torque of the exige. Effortless acceleration at almost any speed.

As above, get on the FB Noble owners group, fountains of knowledge on there.

[rotaryjam]

Zippee said:

If it's purely a toy and you're likely to use it on track then I'd say a Noble or a supercharged converted S1 Elise if you really want raw.
I owned a 4.3 T350 for 10 years and it's a great car but I feel from what you say it just wouldn't suit you.
Anyhow - I can't believe no-one has asked for details of your RX7

Ah interesting, What makes you say that about the T350? Though I've written it off it would be good to get your take on why you think it wouldn't be suitable.

Re: RX7, I know very rude... ha! Its for sale on pistonheads now, its a 1999 spec car and virtually unmodified, its a brilliant car but fancy a change now to something at the next level performance. I know the RX7 could easily be modified to higher levels but I wouldn't do it, I like cars stock how they were intended.

[Zarco]

C6 Z06

[Zarco]

samoht said:

As a fellow RX-7 owner I'm interested in this, always interesting to consider what alternatives there might be

If you'd consider LHD, maybe Corvette C6 Z06, 505hp, 1420kg (355 hp/tonne), £36k
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10642709

Yes, this!

[CraigV6]

Saw a Europa mentioned earlier-
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10967900
Perhaps not got the power of the others but a very rare car that drives very well, and saves yourself a few £££’s too. Shouldn’t lose you anything if you run for a few years either.
I can vouch for this one......

Edited by CraigV6 on Friday 23 October 22:04

Edited by CraigV6 on Friday 23 October 22:26

[Londonvaper]

What about a new bmw 235i that could be a great option

[fastraxx]

Londonvaper said:

What about a new bmw 235i that could be a great option

raw!

[Zarco]

fastraxx said:

Londonvaper said:

What about a new bmw 235i that could be a great option

raw!

[samoht]

I've occasionally heard that cars with transverse mid-engine layouts, like an FF drivetrain but at the back, tend to have higher centre of gravity, reducing handling ability and forgivingness. I'm not sure why this would be though. Obviously you typically end up with a rearward weight bias, but that has benefits as well as possible downsides. Having said that, the Exige and Noble have both been very highly praised for their handling, so perhaps this isn't an issue for them.

rotaryjam said:

Re: RX7, I know very rude... ha! Its for sale on pistonheads now, its a 1999 spec car and virtually unmodified, its a brilliant car but fancy a change now to something at the next level performance. I know the RX7 could easily be modified to higher levels but I wouldn't do it, I like cars stock how they were intended.

I have a suspicion the RX-7 is at its best at around 350hp, just the right amount for the chassis without losing response. So one could potentially go for 400hp, either pushing the sequential twin turbos to the limit or going for a reasonably responsive single turbo conversion, and it would hit your wants. However, it wouldn't have the natural traction of the MR cars, might be a bit much. In any case, financially it makes far more sense to sell your RX-7 in its near stock form as a clean '99-spec car.

[plenty]

Make sure you go in with eyes open when it comes to Noble build quality and required upkeep.

[Mr Tidy]

That shouldn't be a problem to an RX7 owner - an engine rebuild is only about £3K away!

[mattnoble]

Hi rotaryjam. My Noble 3R is currently for sale
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/44542179...

[samoht]

Possibly-relevant buying guide on PH front page https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guides/...