£1500 to play with, what shall I get?
£1500 to play with, what shall I get?
Author
Discussion

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
No requirements, anything goes. What £1500 machines would you go for? Should help me decide as I'm looking for something new over the next coming months.

Hoofy

79,113 posts

302 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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Give you have a Honda with a VTEC engine, I'd opt for something that's the opposite in nature eg with a V8 lump if possible.

parabolica

6,931 posts

204 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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I would find the cheapest, most interesting/left-field car on ebay/gumtree/etc and start a project to restore to factory finish if possible, assuming said car was fixable.

hondansx

4,697 posts

245 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
Clio 172 Cup (with the belts done). Pretty much the greatest hot hatch; lightweight and an actual homologation special. Unbeatable at that price bracket IMO.

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
Give you have a Honda with a VTEC engine, I'd opt for something that's the opposite in nature eg with a V8 lump if possible.
Yeah going to the opposite end of the spectrum would be good. What cheapo V8's are out there? 535i? LS400?

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
hondansx said:
Clio 172 Cup (with the belts done). Pretty much the greatest hot hatch; lightweight and an actual homologation special. Unbeatable at that price bracket IMO.
This has been very high up in my shortlist of possible next cars. The 172 & 182 is one of the greatest B road warriors I've heard. Where I live is mostly tight backroads with random sharp corners. Would be amazing in any hot hatch really.

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
parabolica said:
I would find the cheapest, most interesting/left-field car on ebay/gumtree/etc and start a project to restore to factory finish if possible, assuming said car was fixable.
I have seen an FB RX-7 barn find pop up for sale on ebay (£1500 i think). Doesn't get much more left field than a rotary from the eighties!

egor110

17,612 posts

223 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
JoshRoss. said:
hondansx said:
Clio 172 Cup (with the belts done). Pretty much the greatest hot hatch; lightweight and an actual homologation special. Unbeatable at that price bracket IMO.
This has been very high up in my shortlist of possible next cars. The 172 & 182 is one of the greatest B road warriors I've heard. Where I live is mostly tight backroads with random sharp corners. Would be amazing in any hot hatch really.
Or £500 on the fabled rust free puma and pocket the other grand .

I think you'd be very lucky to get a 172 cup for your budget that doesn't need the belts doing , ordinary 172/182 is more likely .

The alternative is get a saab aero but there very different cars , handling vs power.

baconsarney

12,274 posts

181 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
Just (over the weekend) bought a £1500 addition to the fleet, near mint low mileage Volvo 850 T5 Estate biggrin Picking it up on Wednesday... Serious amount of car for the money...... smile 150mph shopping trolley hehe

ZX10R NIN

29,749 posts

145 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
RX-8

Hoofy

79,113 posts

302 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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JoshRoss. said:
Hoofy said:
Give you have a Honda with a VTEC engine, I'd opt for something that's the opposite in nature eg with a V8 lump if possible.
Yeah going to the opposite end of the spectrum would be good. What cheapo V8's are out there? 535i? LS400?
I think you need to look at the running costs. smile

Dave.

7,770 posts

273 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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A crash damaged EP3/FN2 and k-swap your EP2...

garytl1000

8 posts

158 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
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R53 cooper s, I have just bought one and it's lots of fun to drive and very tuneable, great sound from the supercharger!

SCEtoAUX

4,119 posts

101 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
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MR2 Roadster

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
I think you need to look at the running costs. smile
I do like 2 miles a day. Only big issues are insurance and tax. That said in my area insurance rates are absolutely superb. I'm 18 and the kinda cars I'm looking at are stupid cheap to insure (for my age that is) I budgeted £2k for insurance but even stuff like MR2's, RX-8's & 330Ci's are around the £1000 insurance mark for me. (compared to £2000 for my civic?)

Assuming it's because of some insurance companies broken algorithms. Computer sees less 18 year olds wrecking RX-8's compared to Civic's must mean they're safer. When actually theres just more 18yo with civics to crash. So essentially if the car is a bit left field and uncommon. For me it'll be cheap to insure


Edited by JoshRoss. on Tuesday 31st July 09:40

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
baconsarney said:
Just (over the weekend) bought a £1500 addition to the fleet, near mint low mileage Volvo 850 T5 Estate biggrin Picking it up on Wednesday... Serious amount of car for the money...... smile 150mph shopping trolley hehe
Those Volvos are deceptively quick. Like a car that big and boxy shouldn't be able to corner and accelerate the way a T5 does. Volvo definitely pulled some physics bending magic with that one.

Am I right in thinking those engines appeared in the old Focus RS?

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
egor110 said:
Or £500 on the fabled rust free puma and pocket the other grand .

I think you'd be very lucky to get a 172 cup for your budget that doesn't need the belts doing , ordinary 172/182 is more likely .

The alternative is get a saab aero but there very different cars , handling vs power.
A rust free Puma? Don't think I've seen the "Rust-free" trim level before wink

Met a few Puma guys, odd breed. They do praise it's handling and reliability however. It's a very marmite car looks wise, some love it, some hate it.

Seem to find the Saab's a bit mundane to me, very good price wise though for the car.

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
Dave. said:
A crash damaged EP3/FN2 and k-swap your EP2...
This thought keeps going through my head...

I fear that having my civic over the past year has somewhat turned me into a honda fanboy.

JoshRoss.

Original Poster:

20 posts

92 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
garytl1000 said:
R53 cooper s, I have just bought one and it's lots of fun to drive and very tuneable, great sound from the supercharger!
I didn't know these were supercharged! That's mad!

Hoofy

79,113 posts

302 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
JoshRoss. said:
Hoofy said:
I think you need to look at the running costs. smile
I do like 2 miles a day. Only big issues are insurance and tax. That said in my area insurance rates are absolutely superb. I'm 18 and the kinda cars I'm looking at are stupid cheap to insure (for my age that is) I budgeted £2k for insurance but even stuff like MR2's, RX-8's & 330Ci's are around the £1000 insurance mark for me. (compared to £2000 for my civic?)

Assuming it's because of some insurance companies broken algorithms. Computer sees less 18 year olds wrecking RX-8's compared to Civic's must mean they're safer. When actually theres just more 18yo with civics to crash.
Brilliant. biggrin

I really meant in terms of things a V8 might need, like 8 injectors vs 4 or the cost of brakes with the Lexus/Mercedes tax. wink