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Have to admit the old mix and match was what I started to consider, rather than run the zed as a daily which is what I initially intended due to a combination of factors such as having to get shot of my current car as a part ex or private sale and parking space. Then I actually started thinking (unusual for me of late ) about just how much the restoration of the old Coupe's going to cost. I think I'll hold off for a little while, buy a decent spec MG ZS (180 for preference but I can put up with a 160), get shot of the Merc, restore the Coupe then buy a zed, be it a 350 or 370 depending upon prices at that particular time.

True, never really thought of it like that.

Maybe, I suppose it would be wiser to get the Coupe back on the road before I go getting something like the 350z, at least then I've got a car that isn't quite so ruinously expensive to run alongside it. As for budgeted bits n bobs, insurance is actually quite cheap (£261 fully comp, cheaper than my Merc by £140 and the Coupe by about £40, I suppose this rather fueled my enthusiasm), as for my out goings, not a lot really, internet and website costs but that's about it (and I do some freelance graphic design work that brings in extra). Slush fund? you could say that, I've enough to buy one of the cheaper 350z's for cash with enough left over for a couple of sets of tyres, changing engines? been there done that (albeit on a diesel). However I suppose I'm itching to get rid of the Merc that I've currently got (hate the damned thing) and get back into a NA petrol car and the 350z being the top of my list I focused on it a bit. Thanks alot though, you've all helped me more than I could've reasonably expected, I'm still curious at the cost of locally available super unledaed though . I will have one one day though (just not the 2005, 19,000 miler Roadster that I've seen).

Don't worry I'm not, that's why I'm doing all this trying to make sure that it isn't going to cost me a third of my pay packet. I also view it as complete madness and wouldn't do it regardless of how much I love the car (I'm not quite certifiable just yet), £70? that's only about £20 more than what my Coupe cost on a weekly basis and is an acceptable bump in fuel costs (in comparison of the relative performance of the two cars), £100 a week? not a snow flake in Hell's chance. it all very much depends on how much the local fuel costs really (and it's generally cheaper than most other places surprisingly considering where I live) and how much I could potentially eak out of a gallon based around my commute. I'm really trying to weigh up just how much one of these things would set me back a week before laying out cold hard cash, pity you can't get these as hire cars, hire one out and see how much it costs for a couple of weeks.

At worse case, based on the national average of 134.9per ltr and 20mpg it'd cost me £92 a week which I have to admit is boardering on the unaffordable (the £100 a week mark is the cut off point as it'd mean a third of my monthly pay packet going into the tank), from a sustained cost perspective anyway, occasional, that's a bit different (and I can have a bit of a heavy foot at times).

I can accept 26mpg and I realise the actual major cost of running a car isn't the up front purchase price. You don't want to see what I've spent on keeping the Coupe on the road, I don't want to see what I've spent (I'm sure I've forgotten stuff out some sort of self defence mechanism). I love the car, from the way it looks to the handling and feedback but I've easily spent the amount it cost me to buy (and then some) just fixing all those little things that go wrong on a fifteen year old car... plus a couple of head gaskets... and the engine rebuild it's currently undergoing :cough:... rust... and the respray... and leather clean up.... and a new steering rack... lets just say I'm not adverse to splashing the cash. Thing is if I love the car I'm happy to pay for it, fuel, maintenance, etc... if nothing else the ownership of my Coupe bares that out, I realise that running a performance car will never be cheap and it's something which I'm willing to accept, I just don't fancy spending a third of my wages a month putting fuel in the car (though if it took about £77 a week, based on an average price of 134.9 a ltr and managing the claimed 24mpg, that's affordable and it eventually wouldn't be my only car as well... looks like man maths is starting to win out ) and sacrificing the Coupes rebuild. My commute is about 90% dual carriage and fast single (with an average speed of 60 unless some numpty pulls out in front of me or I get stuck behind a bus/HGV, or as it turns out lately a flatbed transit who insists on doing 40 everywhere), the rest is the dual carriage into Hartlepool (40mph) and about 5%, if that, is at 30mph. Yep I can see me talking myself into buying one now.

Good to know R35Lee beautiful part or the world isn't it? with some great roads. Oh I've no intention of skimping on the fuel, I know these puppies run only on Super (having read a few threads on here about it all) and going in eye's open on this matter, I'd never consider putting 95RON in. It'll have to be Tesco (or Havester, which seem to have taken over all the old Shell, Esso and BP stations round my way, there's one that sells super just up the road in Fir Tree) as the nearest Shell station is a good half hour drive away in Darlington. The last time I saw the price of super was the better part of a decade ago so I've no idea on the price difference these days, just as I say on diesel, and Darlington is generally always more expensive than my little corner of County Durham. The cars I've had in the past have either used diesel (three including my current barge) or have never required the tender ministrations of higher octane fuel with my car history being a tad checkered (having had, petrol, two Austin Metro's, a Rover 214SEi and the 1.8VVC Rover 200 Coupe that I've been running for the past nine years and now restoring, the K series engines apparently never really benefited from higher octane fuel by all accounts). As for driving, well considering some of the muppets I come across on my commute it might, admittedly, be a bit difficult to drive sedately, but it's possible I suppose, what with the lemming run keeping speed down it might just manage this, mind you stuffing an old biddy in the boot would help (though right now I've started to consider getting an old diesel snotter to go alongside it, a 205 diesel or an oil burner Alfa, a GT/159, finding parking space at home or near could be a bit of an issue mind). I suppose I just needed a wee bit of reassurance it it was vaguely possible

Right now I'm trying to convince myself that running a 350z as a daily (until I get my 200 Coupe back on the road which did 30mpg regardless of how it was driven and it'll do a shared commuting with the zed when it's back up and running) and doing 300 miles a week, isn't going to bankrupt me in fuel costs (I'd have to get rid of the oil burner of a Merc that I'm currently running, a car which, frankly, I hate so that'd be a bonus). All I need to know is can I realistically hit 30mpg on a commute (keeping in mind thanks to general traffic my average speed bandies between 40-60 though I do get clear stretches of dual carriage and stop start is limited to the A19 junction, weekends could be fun, and costly, though as I live on the edge of the Durham Dales) and what the cost difference is there between standard fuel and the super unleaded variety, something which I've yet to ascertain (though this weekend I should find out if my local Tesco sells it and at what cost). I know the price difference between the Nitro V Power+ diesel I recently treated my current motor too and the stuff I normally put in, made my eyes water at 10p a litre between the two. If the difference between bog standard petrol and the super is bordering on this kind of difference it could present a bit of a struggle even to my heart overhead approach to car buying (I'm sticking to this approach, every time I used the head over heart approach I've been lumbered with, usually costly, crap), a £100 a week drinking problem might put a crimp on the Rover restoration a bit.

Well it may be a bit boring (and lord knows I'm as addicted to the loud pedal as anyone) but I kinda need threads like this as I need a wee bit of convincing I can get an average of thirty on a run as when I do get one it'll be my daily runner to work and back (an average of 50 mile round trip, limited to a max of 40-60 thanks to traffic... well mostly but I get to head off into the Durham dales) until I get my Rover 200 Coupe back on the road (itself only averaging 30mpg, then again it's fifteen years old). Mind you it'll be a mighty battle not to prod that pedal when I get on the clear stretches, I just don't want to bankrupt myself putting juice in it (and jeopardising the Rovers restoration into the bargain), man maths can, after all, only go so far .

I stand corrected that looks really good on the Roadster as well (drat it looks like I'll be erm... investing in a little extra after I buy one at some point, the rear of the Roadster's starting to look a little unfinished now ).

Nice, I think it finishes off the tail end of the car really nicely (part of the reason I prefer the Roadster over the Coupe, the tin top just doesn't look quite finished to me) and while I'm not one for modding cars from their orginial shape I wouldn't say no to one (when I finally get a 350z anyway).

Thanks for the warm welcome, I'll definitely be rootling around the guides, hoovering up everything I can .

Thought I'd drop in say hi, haven't got a zed yet but it's something I've coverting for quite some time (the roadster version especially). Graham