Yet another 'what car', 8k - fast, unusual - bring it on!
Discussion
Ok,
Firstly my apologies for yet another 'what car' thread but I really would appreciate some input.
Changes are a'happening at Paolow towers so I may move from walking to work to driving to a new location. It will entail a journey from Eastbourne to Brighton (circa 35 mile round trip) and the journey will mainly be on NSL single/dual carriageway roads (along the a27 for those that know it).
I absolutely love the fact that I can currently walk to work so am not looking at the prospect of driving every day with any degree of pleasure. To minimise the pain I have given a budget of 8k to the most fun and best car to do the job. I can take a whack of maybe a grand a year in servicing/costs and obviously I dont want to be forking out too much on petrol; But then I am used to cars delivering about 20 to the gallon so it would have to be pretty horrific for me to really take note.
I am married with no kids and have all the no claims to make insurance a non-issue no matter what the car is. The deal made with my wife is that I can have whatever I like as long as its not a motorbike.
Current top of the list is an S1 Elise (which I have always promised myself but have the K series) followed by an RX7 (blimming gorgeous but a rotary question mark?), a bike engined mini (bit hardcore for a commute?) Honda S2000 (not really sure it will float my boat), TVR Cerbera (obvious questions with it being a daily driver) and any kind of older Porsche - 944, 928 etc (will get keyed by morons and issues with an older Porsche?).
Have I missed anything obvious? I dont really want to go the Impreza/Lancer route and nissam 200sx have been done before. I did fancy a skyline but that seems just a bigger 200sx. I quite fancy something small and nippy - hence the Elise idea. I am more than open to the idea of kit cars etc but it has to be able to 'sleep outside'. Im not fussed about a convertible but I would like aircon if we are getting down to the nitty gritty....
Firstly my apologies for yet another 'what car' thread but I really would appreciate some input.
Changes are a'happening at Paolow towers so I may move from walking to work to driving to a new location. It will entail a journey from Eastbourne to Brighton (circa 35 mile round trip) and the journey will mainly be on NSL single/dual carriageway roads (along the a27 for those that know it).
I absolutely love the fact that I can currently walk to work so am not looking at the prospect of driving every day with any degree of pleasure. To minimise the pain I have given a budget of 8k to the most fun and best car to do the job. I can take a whack of maybe a grand a year in servicing/costs and obviously I dont want to be forking out too much on petrol; But then I am used to cars delivering about 20 to the gallon so it would have to be pretty horrific for me to really take note.
I am married with no kids and have all the no claims to make insurance a non-issue no matter what the car is. The deal made with my wife is that I can have whatever I like as long as its not a motorbike.
Current top of the list is an S1 Elise (which I have always promised myself but have the K series) followed by an RX7 (blimming gorgeous but a rotary question mark?), a bike engined mini (bit hardcore for a commute?) Honda S2000 (not really sure it will float my boat), TVR Cerbera (obvious questions with it being a daily driver) and any kind of older Porsche - 944, 928 etc (will get keyed by morons and issues with an older Porsche?).
Have I missed anything obvious? I dont really want to go the Impreza/Lancer route and nissam 200sx have been done before. I did fancy a skyline but that seems just a bigger 200sx. I quite fancy something small and nippy - hence the Elise idea. I am more than open to the idea of kit cars etc but it has to be able to 'sleep outside'. Im not fussed about a convertible but I would like aircon if we are getting down to the nitty gritty....
Edited by paolow on Sunday 28th August 00:44
paolow said:
RX7 (blimming gorgeous but a rotary question mark?)
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3124563.htmDevil's advocate; IME the K-series really isn't a bad engine. I'm not sure on the version fitted to the Elise, but once the head gasket goes if fixed properly with uprated parts it shouldn't go again. It is light and relatively high powered for a NA engine of its capacity of the era. If it does develop HGF, it is an easy (cheap!) fix. I'm happy to be corrected but there aren't any other major issues with the K-series that I can think of off the top of my head?
Steameh said:
Very good call but I'm scared off by just how shoehorned that '25 lump is!Mastodon2 said:
Elise, bike engined mini, S2000...I take it your employer won't mind if you don't turn up for a few days when it snows? Not a huge concern but in some jobs, saying "My car couldn't get out of the street!" won't cut it!
Not a problem as I CAN take the train if be need be or work remotely albeit for a limited basis. Mrs Paolow also has FWD that can cover other issues....vit4 said:
Devil's advocate; IME the K-series really isn't a bad engine. I'm not sure on the version fitted to the Elise, but once the head gasket goes if fixed properly with uprated parts it shouldn't go again. It is light and relatively high powered for a NA engine of its capacity of the era. If it does develop HGF, it is an easy (cheap!) fix. I'm happy to be corrected but there aren't any other major issues with the K-series that I can think of off the top of my head?
Oh I appreciate that - just its the one question mark everyone bands about when talking about an Elise! My idea of a thousand a year should cover it though. From my perspective its almost a shame they seem to have the most rock solid residuals on the planet!
If not, get a Chim, and then you should have enough freeplay in the budget to make sure it's a pretty sorted one.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff