my back-up toy bmw z3
Discussion
The cravings have been harbouring for a while and after a friend bought a convertible and the lack of reliabiity from the noble i wanted something that could give me some fun on summer days and nights. I had a shot of a friends s2000 and was unimpressed in how id have to drive it in order to enjoy the car. Imo vtec cars are for thrashing all the time and a convertable is more for a 6/10 run/ cruise. I have no doubts its a great car but i have a car for full on blasts. I thought about an mx5 based purely on the comments on this site but the lack of power put me off. The z3 seemed the logical choice but the 1.9, 2.0 and 2.2 are all too slow. The 2.8 was the best choice it has a nice spec leather seats, auto hood and a lovely straight 6. I managed to find a 98 with 85k miles on it for just over £2000.
The car got its first long run just this weekend at a yearly highland run we go on. I usually lead as i know the roads well on the way up but had to keep reminding myself that the car is not the same as the noble in handling terms so despite being in hoon mood id have a knock a few mph off each corner speed. I didn't need to worry as although the car is much more softly sprung once loaded up there was tremendous grip and the linear power delivery meant it was very predictable, also my first front engined rear wheel drive it was unusual to have a planted front end rather than floaty. The car came into its own on single track with passing places roads where even if it had been dry your speed is limited by how far you can see or if there is a blind crest, 3rd gear was all that was needed and 60mph the max speed.
After a 600 mile trip i still felt fresh. Given the choice of either fun car being available id honestly have a problem choosing which to take on a run as each has different qualities. Id have prefered the noble for the fast sections and tight A roads but it would have been too stiff too wide and the wrong type of power for the single track roads.
In summery a welcome addition to the fleet that will see plenty of use in summer AND winter. Now i must resist the urge to upgrade the peugeot
The car got its first long run just this weekend at a yearly highland run we go on. I usually lead as i know the roads well on the way up but had to keep reminding myself that the car is not the same as the noble in handling terms so despite being in hoon mood id have a knock a few mph off each corner speed. I didn't need to worry as although the car is much more softly sprung once loaded up there was tremendous grip and the linear power delivery meant it was very predictable, also my first front engined rear wheel drive it was unusual to have a planted front end rather than floaty. The car came into its own on single track with passing places roads where even if it had been dry your speed is limited by how far you can see or if there is a blind crest, 3rd gear was all that was needed and 60mph the max speed.
After a 600 mile trip i still felt fresh. Given the choice of either fun car being available id honestly have a problem choosing which to take on a run as each has different qualities. Id have prefered the noble for the fast sections and tight A roads but it would have been too stiff too wide and the wrong type of power for the single track roads.
In summery a welcome addition to the fleet that will see plenty of use in summer AND winter. Now i must resist the urge to upgrade the peugeot
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