Is this a mad idea?
Discussion
Been enjoying Exige ownership for almost a year now but over the last week or so I've been having some unusual thoughts in my head.
To be honest, the best bit about the Exige has been taking it on track; a complete blast and even more fun than I expected. Although I'm no great driver I love giving it a good thrash and have found the cars/my limits on more than one occaison. The problem is, this makes driving on our normal roads frankly tedious. Sure the car looks great but even driving along empty A/B roads there is no way you can get near this car limits without taking some pretty silly risks and knowing I can get all that out of my system safely on a track day, there seems little point in trying to make rapid progress on our narrow/crowded/bumpy roads. As its a weekend/track day car, I suppose the nearest analogy is like the frustration of having a very hot woman that you see once a week and only ever get to second base, however only every two months you have the night of your life.
Our first ever car after we got married back in 1995 was a little base 1.6 MX5; corking little car and frankly what got me hooked on proper cars and driving. We had to get rid when the kids came along but we always kind of promised ourselves we'd get another some day.
So these strange thoughts revolve around cashing in the lotus for 19-20k, picking up a cheap old MX5 and modding it into a beast of a track car but still looks as standard as possible from the kerbside. AFAIK you can get 250bhp from these little guys and certainly on 1 track day I did, one MX5 had no bother keeping up with me.
Has anyone driven one of these modded MX5s ? If so, how did it compare in the handling department to a elise/exige.
I love my Exige, but as a track car I just wonder if I could get the same excitement, plus a little nostalgia for less than half the price.
To be honest, the best bit about the Exige has been taking it on track; a complete blast and even more fun than I expected. Although I'm no great driver I love giving it a good thrash and have found the cars/my limits on more than one occaison. The problem is, this makes driving on our normal roads frankly tedious. Sure the car looks great but even driving along empty A/B roads there is no way you can get near this car limits without taking some pretty silly risks and knowing I can get all that out of my system safely on a track day, there seems little point in trying to make rapid progress on our narrow/crowded/bumpy roads. As its a weekend/track day car, I suppose the nearest analogy is like the frustration of having a very hot woman that you see once a week and only ever get to second base, however only every two months you have the night of your life.
Our first ever car after we got married back in 1995 was a little base 1.6 MX5; corking little car and frankly what got me hooked on proper cars and driving. We had to get rid when the kids came along but we always kind of promised ourselves we'd get another some day.
So these strange thoughts revolve around cashing in the lotus for 19-20k, picking up a cheap old MX5 and modding it into a beast of a track car but still looks as standard as possible from the kerbside. AFAIK you can get 250bhp from these little guys and certainly on 1 track day I did, one MX5 had no bother keeping up with me.
Has anyone driven one of these modded MX5s ? If so, how did it compare in the handling department to a elise/exige.
I love my Exige, but as a track car I just wonder if I could get the same excitement, plus a little nostalgia for less than half the price.
As an ex Mx5 owner, I've seen some good modified Mazda and they certainly handle welle on track. But no way for me you will have the same pleasure you get with the Exige.
And turning the Miata on a trackmachine, you will loose all the qualities of the car concerning the open road pleasure, the same way you find your Exige unadapted for this use.
Maybe the good point could be to keep your Exige for the trackdays and buy a non modified Mx5 for your "romantic week-end" with your lady.
That's what I would like to do if I had the budget to get my Elise and another Mx5.
And turning the Miata on a trackmachine, you will loose all the qualities of the car concerning the open road pleasure, the same way you find your Exige unadapted for this use.
Maybe the good point could be to keep your Exige for the trackdays and buy a non modified Mx5 for your "romantic week-end" with your lady.
That's what I would like to do if I had the budget to get my Elise and another Mx5.
Mmmm
Been out in it today and it still feels so very special, more than any MX5 ever will. Still right royally pissed off with just about every country road around my way being a 40 limit with more pointless 'traffic calming' than you possibly imagine. Maybe if I lived in the far north of Scotland or New Zealand it would slightly less of an issue.
The other problem is I'm now approaching the modification 'tipping point' with the Exige. It already has some basic stuff but feeling it squirm around corners a bit on track, I know that before I know it my wallet will have been drained of £2k for suspension/brakes and then there's the Katana question as well... age old question of better to keep the car you know has been looked after and do the mods yourself, or get rid and buy something thats already modded and suffered the depreciation. So if I'm going to do mods (and deep down I know its going to happen at some stage) is it time for a cheaper 'base unit' such as MX5/MR2 and go from there? It just the MX5 tugs on the emotional heart strings. I still want a car I can love, rather than just a pure track s
g. You can pick a serviceable mk1 MX5 for less than £2k-hard to get cheaper than that.
Sorry to ramble on, but hey, a problem aired is a problem shared....
Been out in it today and it still feels so very special, more than any MX5 ever will. Still right royally pissed off with just about every country road around my way being a 40 limit with more pointless 'traffic calming' than you possibly imagine. Maybe if I lived in the far north of Scotland or New Zealand it would slightly less of an issue.
The other problem is I'm now approaching the modification 'tipping point' with the Exige. It already has some basic stuff but feeling it squirm around corners a bit on track, I know that before I know it my wallet will have been drained of £2k for suspension/brakes and then there's the Katana question as well... age old question of better to keep the car you know has been looked after and do the mods yourself, or get rid and buy something thats already modded and suffered the depreciation. So if I'm going to do mods (and deep down I know its going to happen at some stage) is it time for a cheaper 'base unit' such as MX5/MR2 and go from there? It just the MX5 tugs on the emotional heart strings. I still want a car I can love, rather than just a pure track s
g. You can pick a serviceable mk1 MX5 for less than £2k-hard to get cheaper than that.Sorry to ramble on, but hey, a problem aired is a problem shared....
Edited by mrh3113 on Friday 27th June 16:27
Edited by mrh3113 on Friday 27th June 16:28
Some of the pros and cons of modded MX-5s vs. standard Elise/Exiges discussed here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by Risotto on Friday 27th June 16:55
mrh3113 said:
So if I'm going to do mods (and deep down I know its going to happen at some stage) is it time for a cheaper 'base unit' such as MX5/MR2 and go from there? It just the MX5 tugs on the emotional heart strings. I still want a car I can love, rather than just a pure track sg. You can pick a serviceable mk1 MX5 for less than £2k-hard to get cheaper than that.
Sorry to ramble on, but hey, a problem aired is a problem shared....
You will regret it!g. You can pick a serviceable mk1 MX5 for less than £2k-hard to get cheaper than that.Sorry to ramble on, but hey, a problem aired is a problem shared....
I don't think you will regret it.
I sold my Honda'd Elise S2 and bought a nicely modded S1 with less power, and I have just as much fun on A&B roads, if not more, because I have to use the car more to generate the same pace.
Having driven a mates boggo 1.8 MX5 (well, engine is boggo, it does have some other mods - suspension, brakes and a few bits) I have to say it's remarkable fun for the £2k he paid for it. Sticking a blower on would take it to about 200bhp with mild boost, and you'd not need to change anything whatsoever.
On track it's a hoot as it is, but just needs a bit more grunt so you can use the throttle to balance the back of the car more.
Go for it - you can always get another Exige!
I sold my Honda'd Elise S2 and bought a nicely modded S1 with less power, and I have just as much fun on A&B roads, if not more, because I have to use the car more to generate the same pace.
Having driven a mates boggo 1.8 MX5 (well, engine is boggo, it does have some other mods - suspension, brakes and a few bits) I have to say it's remarkable fun for the £2k he paid for it. Sticking a blower on would take it to about 200bhp with mild boost, and you'd not need to change anything whatsoever.
On track it's a hoot as it is, but just needs a bit more grunt so you can use the throttle to balance the back of the car more.
Go for it - you can always get another Exige!
I feel like I have the same issue. The 160 is getting to the point now where its got so many track mods done to it, it becomes a pain in the arse to drive on the road. I still love it though. I have a second car for day to day use, but I feel if I want to track a car more, best to do it in something cheaper than the elise maybe...
The thing is the elise is a Lotus and thats cool at the end of the day. An MX5 never will be in the same sense...
like others say, you can always get another lotus later on..
The thing is the elise is a Lotus and thats cool at the end of the day. An MX5 never will be in the same sense...
like others say, you can always get another lotus later on..
Brain all over the shop, frankly. Now considering a S1 111s with suspension upgraded; say I get 19k for my Exige, 12k for a nice 111s, gives me funds to spend on more track days, 888s, brakes etc etc.
Had a pax ride in a 111s at Cadwell a while and was impressed by how gutsy the engine was. You could also tell the weight difference; the Exige does feel like a lard ball after an S1...
Or will I soon crave more power; should I just blow 15-16k on a Honda Elise?
Had a pax ride in a 111s at Cadwell a while and was impressed by how gutsy the engine was. You could also tell the weight difference; the Exige does feel like a lard ball after an S1...
Or will I soon crave more power; should I just blow 15-16k on a Honda Elise?
Edited by mrh3113 on Saturday 28th June 20:19
Problem with power is that the more you have, the more you want. Why not consider an S1 or Caterham as a second car (assuming you don't already own a weekday workhorse), you could spend £10K on an S1, then a few more on getting some choice mods on, or around £12-14 on a Caterham. It'll give you all the track fun you'll crave, plus you should still get your B-roads blasts in.
You also won't feel too bad about leaving a smaller amount of money tied up in it or too precious about spinning it on track.
You also won't feel too bad about leaving a smaller amount of money tied up in it or too precious about spinning it on track.
mrh3113 said:
...is like the frustration of having a very hot woman that you see once a week and only ever get to second base, however only every two months you have the night of your life.
Sod the cars, Im so damn busy I,ll take the hot women, 6 times a year! (its also gonna be cheaper than insuring the exige......maybe not)kevin ritson said:
Problem with power is that the more you have, the more you want. Why not consider an S1 or Caterham as a second car (assuming you don't already own a weekday workhorse), you could spend £10K on an S1, then a few more on getting some choice mods on, or around £12-14 on a Caterham. It'll give you all the track fun you'll crave, plus you should still get your B-roads blasts in.
You also won't feel too bad about leaving a smaller amount of money tied up in it or too precious about spinning it on track.
Meh, you'll always want more power. As you know mate, I just realised I couldn't use as much of it as I'd like to, or as much as I could safely use on the road. Plus, like you say, I'm much happier now that I've only got £12k tied up in a car with no finance, and I have as much fun in the current steed as I have in any car. However, if it ever goes bang, I can't deny that I'd be on the phone to MSC pretty quickly.You also won't feel too bad about leaving a smaller amount of money tied up in it or too precious about spinning it on track.
Whilst I love the power of the fast Elises, I crave the rawness and front-engine/RWD of a Caterham.
Seriously thinking about testing the water and putting the 'zige up for sale. All washed and pics taken today... Not the end of the world of the world if no biters but if the right person's out there....
Decided against the MX5 for now but the more I think about it, the more I'm fancying the rawness and lightness of the S1 elise. I know this will probably have been done to death but briefly, if I took the plunge, where is my money better spent? 135/111s/160?
The honda option does appeal but I imagine all the ancillary bits will wear out quicker?
Need to drive some I guess but there's not exactly 100's out there; only 1 on PH at the moment.
Decided against the MX5 for now but the more I think about it, the more I'm fancying the rawness and lightness of the S1 elise. I know this will probably have been done to death but briefly, if I took the plunge, where is my money better spent? 135/111s/160?
The honda option does appeal but I imagine all the ancillary bits will wear out quicker?
Need to drive some I guess but there's not exactly 100's out there; only 1 on PH at the moment.
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