Recommend me a new motor (£8-ish)

[slapmatt]

I'm hoping your Jap car experts can help me out. My current drive is an 2000/X Alfa 156 2.5 V6. I like the luxury (leather, electrics etc), the V6 and the fact that they are relatively rare. However, it's time to move on.

I'd prefer my new car to be RWD and have a turbo (not essential though), not be too in-yer-face, the Supra is too Fast & Furious for my taste and my budget is around 8 grand.

I have been looking at RX-7s, but I don't like the sound of spending £2000+ on a engine rebuild and the fuel economy is a nightmare. - this car would be my daily drive.

What expert recommendations do you have for me?

[turbo-tastic]

You could get a nice Skyline for £8k, either an R33 GTS-T or an R32 GTR, both superb cars.

Or if you dont want the 6cylinder thirst, you could go for a late spec S14a 200SX Touring. Excellent comfort for daily driving, and not too bad on fuel either. Someone on the SXOC regularly gets 36mpg

[choc]

R33 GTS would be luuurvly!

[RobGTO]

I know I shouldn't say this...but you did put £8... not £8k.
hehe

Decent powerful RX 7 ?
Good standard Supra [TT]

OR, buy something fairly cheap and spend the rest on doing SERIOUS work on it.

EX:
J.Clarkson bought this old Rover 3500 p6?, anyway the one with a V8 in it from the 80's, he put a new gearbox in, and did a bunch of other techy stuff that I couldn't understand and made it sound like one of the best v8's ever. car was £250, he spent around £4.5k on all the other stuff... 380Bhp

[tuttle]

[pedant mode ON]Rover P6 from the '60's actually[pedant mode OFF]
I love these & have had a cunning plan for some years to modernise/modify one when I have the time/money.

Other <>£8k cars:
Mitsi EVo
Scooby
Lexus
Rex
Skyline
Supra..............
DOH! this is pointless , you could buy a ton of stuff for that money. What floats your boat SlapMatt?

>> Edited by tuttle on Wednesday 1st March 09:44

[timmy30]

Well Gazboy hasn't suggested it yet so, here I suggest you take a look at this beast....

www.pistonheads.com/sales/54812.ht

Mid engined, turbo charged, lovely.

[slapmatt]

tuttle said:

DOH! this is pointless , you could buy a ton of stuff for that money. What floats your boat SlapMatt?

Fair question, I'll go through your examples:

Mitsi EVo - the guy I sit next to at work has an Evo 8. I can't compete with that, so I won't even try!
Scooby - poorman's Evo
Lexus - yes, I like the GS300 Sport, but I'd like someone a little sportier (maybe 2 seats?)
Rex - yes, but see above comments about engine rebuilds and fuel economy
Skyline - I think anything before the R34 looks a bit dated, so it's a bit out of my price range.
Supra - a bit too over the top to be honest.

As for that Turbo MR2 - it's a bit too Fast & Furious for my tastes.

Jeez - I'm a fussy bastard!

One other question - who do some people spend £££ on mods, but neglect basic servicing? I'm not against a car being serviced by "a mate", but if you're going to do that you have to keep receipts of everything you buy and detailed records of the work that's been done. Just my 2p worth.

[turbo-tastic]

Taken from here. Asking £4750 with 12months MOT.

I know it doesn't use all of the budget, but it gives you an idea what you can get.

[gofasterrosssco]

www.pistonheads.com/sales/67161.htm

Seen this one. Its not in anyway - TFTF in my opinion, and at this price its a steal for one of the very last Mk2 Mk2's ever made. Leave it standard and I think it looks reasonably discreet, will be very reliable, 'slightly' faster than your Alfa, and if my Revision 5 is anything to go by my, will be great to drive. What more could you ask for unless you really need rear seats....... I am biased though obviously.......

[slapmatt]

Both very good suggestions. I like the 200SX and there's one on the owners club I'm keeping half an eye on, but it's far too very-priced in my opinion as it stands.

Ross - that MR2 is very nice indeed. No, I don't need rear seats! What bhp is that?

[timmy30]

Gazboy said:

245bhp- it's the same as the purple one.

There are so many MR2 turbos for sale at the moment, at tempting prices too...

I wonder if I bought a red t-bar one, and collected it one weekend when the Mrs is away wether she'd notice the change over

[MrFlibbles]

gofasterrosssco said:

www.pistonheads.com/sales/67161.htm Seen this one. Its not in anyway - TFTF in my opinion, and at this price its a steal for one of the very last Mk2 Mk2's ever made. Leave it standard and I think it looks reasonably discreet, will be very reliable, 'slightly' faster than your Alfa, and if my Revision 5 is anything to go by my, will be great to drive. What more could you ask for unless you really need rear seats....... I am biased though obviously.......

Poverty spec GTS though! Who wants cloth seats?

[turbo-tastic]

Plus, it says its been standing for some years

I'd prefer to buy one that had 12k miles a year on it, than one had been stood. IMO anyway.

[flat_steve]

This is just about in your budget - rare late-model RX-7. You know you want to!



I know what you said, but I've been using this as my daily drive for two years and it's been great. And it's for sale too!

[gofasterrosssco]

MrFlibbles said:

gofasterrosssco said: www.pistonheads.com/sales/67161.htm Seen this one. Its not in anyway - TFTF in my opinion, and at this price its a steal for one of the very last Mk2 Mk2's ever made. Leave it standard and I think it looks reasonably discreet, will be very reliable, 'slightly' faster than your Alfa, and if my Revision 5 is anything to go by my, will be great to drive. What more could you ask for unless you really need rear seats....... I am biased though obviously....... Poverty spec GTS though! Who wants cloth seats?

What a BGB....(and Im not talking about the Toyota maintenance manual)

seriously though, who wants leather seats anyway, too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer. For all the difference (reference below) there is between GT and GT-S; and it weighs a few kilos less also. Would be my personnal choice.

And as for it being in storage, whats up with that, Im no car expert, but personnally I would rather it sat somewhere (inside by the look of it, but that would have to be confirmed) than had another 24k on the clock. So when you get it spend a few hundred (at most) and get all the fluids / filters changed, maybe some new rear pads or at worst a few suspension bits and bobs (just going by past Toyota experience)...... You would be able to check all these things relatively easily during a 'healthy' spin (no pun)

As I said before, I am biased a bit.


www.cars-directory.net/specs/toyota/mr2/1997_12/

[slapmatt]

flat_steve said:

This is just about in your budget - rare late-model RX-7. You know you want to! I know what you said, but I've been using this as my daily drive for two years and it's been great. And it's for sale too!

Shhhh. You're not allowed to show me that car.

When I see it my bank balance starts to groan and that Russian bloke's offer to buy one of my kidneys seems increasingly attractive.

[_VTEC_]

What about a Celica GT4 ST205?

[_VTEC_]

These are fantastic cars too: www.pistonheads.com/sales/65975.htm

They even say 'VTEC' on the engine bay. What more could you want?

[Wildfire]

flat_steve said:

This is just about in your budget - rare late-model RX-7. You know you want to! I know what you said, but I've been using this as my daily drive for two years and it's been great. And it's for sale too!

Mwhhaaa..... Must sell Griffith.........buy RX 7.......... No! No enough of the madness!!

Anyhow to be more constructive, the 200SX is a good bet for a daily drive. I have been looking at one of these for when I sell my mini, to use as my daily driver/hack ( I commute on the train). Unobtrusive, quick and comfortable. Would still plump for a R 33 GTST with a nice kit on it though, but balancing desire with sensibility.

[tuttle]

Yup! an s14 200sx would be a good balance between performance, practical size & reasonable costs,easily in your budget too. Great cars, not exactly beautiful like a Rex tho.

>> Edited by tuttle on Thursday 2nd March 11:10