What sports car for the Alps? S2k?
Discussion
So I thought I'd jump on the 'what car' bandwagon..
I am currently selling my motorbike as desire for self preservation has started to outweigh the enjoyment!
My criteria so far are: RWD, convertible, 5-6k budget. It's going to be used as a weekend toy & track day car but it must be comfortable enough for touring.
My first choice is probably an S2000 as I see it being reliable and relatively cheap to run? A few people have said I might not get on with the lack of torque in the Alps?
I'm scared of getting an old boxster as I guess my budget is not quite enough for a tidy one.
And before anyone says it, the MX5 is too girly for me
I think another option would be a Z3 2.8/3.0?
I am currently selling my motorbike as desire for self preservation has started to outweigh the enjoyment!
My criteria so far are: RWD, convertible, 5-6k budget. It's going to be used as a weekend toy & track day car but it must be comfortable enough for touring.
My first choice is probably an S2000 as I see it being reliable and relatively cheap to run? A few people have said I might not get on with the lack of torque in the Alps?
I'm scared of getting an old boxster as I guess my budget is not quite enough for a tidy one.
And before anyone says it, the MX5 is too girly for me
I think another option would be a Z3 2.8/3.0?
Edited by Janosh on Friday 30th September 19:38
Edited by Janosh on Friday 30th September 19:39
Myself and a number of friends do alpine (or similar) runs every year and from my experience the S2000 or a Z3 will be fine although potentially a little tight of luggage depending on where you’re planning on staying (we camp). One of our guys had an s2000 this year and had no problems keeping up as long as he kept the engine spinning.
Also consider some of the jap coupes which seem to offer a fair chunk of performance for the cash.
Generally make sure it has enough grunt to get you out of tight hairpins, decent luggage space, some kind of aircon, decent reliability, reasonable fuel economy on a run and finally some kind of driver aids.
I only mention the driver aids as on the way down it’s easy to get tired spit the back end of your car out on a wet motorway. (It happen to one of our party despite them having owned said car for 3 years previous). Feel free to turn them off when you’re haring up a mountain but first you need to get there.
Stay away from kit cars or pseudo kit cars like TVR’s. On the positive side you will get a lot of attention because there just isn’t anything like that on the other side of the channel but the down side is 3,000 mile round trips of high speed motorway work and fast mountain roads is usually too much to ask of these cars. Everything we’ve ever taken which falls in to that category has broken down in some way or form.
Sometimes it has been fixable (clutch linkage in 36 degree heat at the side of a motorway) and other times it hasn’t (melted piston & an internal oil leak).
Trying to get a BMW fixed in rural france is a pain, trying to get some small volume manufacturer stuff sorted just doesn’t happen and it back to blighty on a trailer for you.
Also consider some of the jap coupes which seem to offer a fair chunk of performance for the cash.
Generally make sure it has enough grunt to get you out of tight hairpins, decent luggage space, some kind of aircon, decent reliability, reasonable fuel economy on a run and finally some kind of driver aids.
I only mention the driver aids as on the way down it’s easy to get tired spit the back end of your car out on a wet motorway. (It happen to one of our party despite them having owned said car for 3 years previous). Feel free to turn them off when you’re haring up a mountain but first you need to get there.
Stay away from kit cars or pseudo kit cars like TVR’s. On the positive side you will get a lot of attention because there just isn’t anything like that on the other side of the channel but the down side is 3,000 mile round trips of high speed motorway work and fast mountain roads is usually too much to ask of these cars. Everything we’ve ever taken which falls in to that category has broken down in some way or form.
Sometimes it has been fixable (clutch linkage in 36 degree heat at the side of a motorway) and other times it hasn’t (melted piston & an internal oil leak).
Trying to get a BMW fixed in rural france is a pain, trying to get some small volume manufacturer stuff sorted just doesn’t happen and it back to blighty on a trailer for you.
[steven]7 of us just done the alps one in a new porker 6 in kit cars and all drove home 2800miles,and it was best thing i have done,the porker couldnt keep up,and he has done a lot of track days,i uesed to race bikes so i do like things to move a bit,my westy has over 200hp and my wifes 180hp,so donnt think kit cars wont do big runs,if they are done right and maintaned they are as good as any other car,ho and the kits were home made,and mines done 62000 miles and 13 years old 
Things I learned this summer:
(not embarrassingly slow, but it needs an awful lot of rowing through the gears to stay in the powerband. Dogleg box, shorter diff and a less cack-handed driver might help. In its defence, the inline 6 sounds divine when booted in the tunnels - far better than the 7's buzzy four-pot)
'punt
- A Caterfield/7 on Zurich plates is a formidable tool for hoofing through the Gran San Bernardo pass.
- A twenty year-old mid-level 3-series is not.
(not embarrassingly slow, but it needs an awful lot of rowing through the gears to stay in the powerband. Dogleg box, shorter diff and a less cack-handed driver might help. In its defence, the inline 6 sounds divine when booted in the tunnels - far better than the 7's buzzy four-pot)
'punt
gingerpaul said:
7 style cars are great for it. Mine did 3000 miles in 2 weeks a couple of summers ago.
Paul, your lucky I'm away from home as it means I can't post a picture of you fixing said car with a table knife and a pot of honey, whilst balancing the front wheels on some maps next to a toll booth in france or trying to work out how your mates ipod had blown the fuse to the fuel pump in the middle of rural spain :-)That said it did sound epic going up that mountain in andora.
steven said:
Paul, your lucky I'm away from home as it means I can't post a picture of you fixing said car with a table knife and a pot of honey, whilst balancing the front wheels on some maps next to a toll booth in france or trying to work out how your mates ipod had blown the fuse to the fuel pump in the middle of rural spain :-)
That said it did sound epic going up that mountain in andora.
At least my car made it back in one piece... That said it did sound epic going up that mountain in andora.
steven said:
Generally make sure it has enough grunt to get you out of tight hairpins,
Since I've seen little one-litre shopping trolleys up over 9,000 feet,I wouldn't take this comment too seriously.
50 BHP probably about the minimum requirement for almost any
Alpine road.
steven said:
Stay away from kit cars or pseudo kit cars like TVR’s. On the positive side you will get a lot of attention because there just isn’t anything like that on the other side of the channel but the down side is 3,000 mile round trips of high speed motorway work and fast mountain roads is usually too much to ask of these cars. Everything we’ve ever taken which falls in to that category has broken down in some way or form.
+1 Not many TVR dealers across Europe, so be prepared to fix it yourself,
when it breaks.
steven said:
Trying to get a BMW fixed in rural france is a pain, trying to get some small volume manufacturer stuff sorted just doesn’t happen and it back to blighty on a trailer for you.
Fair comment, but OTOH, getting a BMW fixed in Munich is easy and cheap. E15 the last time.
dcb said:
steven said:
Stay away from kit cars or pseudo kit cars like TVR’s. On the positive side you will get a lot of attention because there just isn’t anything like that on the other side of the channel but the down side is 3,000 mile round trips of high speed motorway work and fast mountain roads is usually too much to ask of these cars. Everything we’ve ever taken which falls in to that category has broken down in some way or form.
+1 Not many TVR dealers across Europe, so be prepared to fix it yourself,
when it breaks.
This year I took my 3.0i Z4 (now sold) to the Alps and it was brilliant. Not once did I have worry about it breaking down and just concentrated on enjoying the trip instead!
S2000 all the way, £6k should get you a good one, I've owned my 1999 model for 3 years, big service should be sub £300 at a specilist and the rest you can do yourself.
Keep the revs high and you'll be fine.
see here if you havent already
http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/forum/25-uk-s2000-commun...
Keep the revs high and you'll be fine.
see here if you havent already
http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/forum/25-uk-s2000-commun...
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