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If you wanted another Coupe?....What would it be?


givememorepower

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I had an S2 Exige S for 18 months and they are fine to use every day. Mine never leaked or ever let me down once. There is nothing else like it.

 

My weekend car is now a Honda Supercharged Exige S1.

 

Everyone has to drive a Lotus once, there is NOTHING like them for the money. My Exige is like a mini Mclaren F1!

 

The S2 Elise is also very good, and does not leak etc unlike the earlier S1's.

 

Exige-1.jpg

 

Yes, you are probably right, there is nothing like it - noisy, full of rattles, leaks water, creaks when driving, extremely difficult to get in and out of - just the sort of car everyone wants. Lotus Evora at £60K - are they mad? I test drove several Elise’s of varying power including the Toyota engine version. Still didn’t think they were fast and were extremely poorly made and finished.

 

You are right about driving a "Lotus once". Certainly "once" was enough for me! :)

 

IMO there is no substitute for power, and for today's road cars you need about 300hp or more. I would say 350hp in a Boxster or Cayman would be perfect.

 

I went through a similar exercise over the last few months - test drove about 30 cars. I already have a Boxster S (which is sublime). Sold my E46 M3 with SMG - nice well made car but a little outdated compared to the latest M3, as the E46 design goes back to the late 1990's. Also the rear axle is a weak point and needs new bushes every 12K miles - even with uprated CSL types fitted it still feels a little loose at the rear. Fantastic engine though!

 

I think the Zed is good value and is well made car. My only criticism of it are: I think the engine mapping is poor especially at low revs, also it could do with a more involving sound track, and of course there is that tire noise, which I am sure could be reduced by fitting better tires and a little strategically placed sound deadening. However I shall be visiting Mark at Abbey soon so hopefully he will be able to sort out the mapping.

 

Maybe when you do find some thing better for the money you could let us all know? :)

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A rear conversion of the interior by adding a set of seats would end my conquest for another car altogether I reckon,as long as seat belts were anchored properly and it looked as though they had always been there. Trouble is, I can't find anyone on the internet who has previously done this.

 

I've tried going for better fuel economy and interior space by looking at diesels, but due to my nature I ended up stuck between a V10 Touareg/M-Sport estate/Audi V6 TDi Quattro. I just couldn't justify at the end of the day, giving my 350 in for one of these. All of these are not that fuel efficient for a non-petrol car anyway. Basically I want a car that goes and handles like the 350, but is an estate for practicality(Dog), and costs almost nothing to run. I would never entertain another car if it wasn't RWD or 4WD, which rules most cars out.

Interested at one point a 300c Touring, but they only seem to come as an Auto, and I just can't get on with that Triptronic stuff.

Really close to getting an older RS4 I think, but the running costs (servicing mainly) really put me off.

 

I had to sell my van recently due to money issues (needed some),or everything would still be cool, now it isn't as my 350 is so far from being practical for what I need from a car.

If only I could win the lottery :teeth:

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Yeah I don't mind the skyline at all! Just doesn't float my boat like the 350Z does. Can't quite get over that front end, although the rest of it is awesome.

So am I right in thinking the chassis and shell are almost identical??

Is it the same engine/transmission/RWD/power as the 350?

Could I fit the rear set up from one of these into my 350? :bounce:

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