14N Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 E46 M3, drive one and you'll be hooked Is that to be read "Come and have a go in mine, see if you like it"? Quote
Stevew14 Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Boxster S / Cayman are fantastic IMO, handle superbly, steering feedback is excellent, enough power that you wouldn't feel like you were losing out but you might need to stretch you budget a bit to get something a bit newer / lower mileage as obviously prices are a bit more steep. RX8 again handles well but unless you are looking to go FI the lack of torque does start to annoy as you have to thrash it all the time to get a decent pace out of it. Speaking from experience they do depreciate fast (my wallet can testify to that) but that means they are a bargain at todays prices. Just make sure if you thinking about one that you get a compression test first, I believe that the facelifted version added a 3rd oil injector which was meant to help with the apex seal / tip wear. Wouldn't personally go down the FWD hot hatch route as I would see it as too much of a compromise. I really like the 350 but definitely has a different feel to the RX8 / Boxster which both felt a bit more nimble. Edited July 30, 2013 by Stevew14 Quote
Siman350z Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Mmm...gearbox can be slow in the Z. S2000 gearbox is stunning, cliche rifle-good. Rear end is tricky though. Quote
coldel Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 S2 Elise for good on road driver focus - or if you are not so badge conscious follow my lead and get a VX220 (you will all be converted soon enough!) - as far as 'driver focus' goes its a country mile ahead of the 350z. Be prepared for lack of creature comforts, the most humiliating entrance and exit of a car you will ever have to take part in, lots of rattling, dashboards that are held on with sticky tape and plenty of engine noise behind your head. But for 'driver focus and involvement' these cars are epic. Quote
Ekona Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Agreed. Everyone should own one once in their life, they're amazing. Quote
coldel Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Agreed. Everyone should own one once in their life, they're amazing. +1 and there are a lot of people that do for very short periods of time - when looking into these I found its not uncommon for an 8-10 year old VX/Elise with circa 50k miles on it to have had 7+ owners Quote
Bems Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Not the most driver focused but that engine...... http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/mercedes-benz/slk/mercedes-slk55-amg-2005-stunning-looking-car/1567580 Quote
coldel Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Shame you missed out on this, convertible and very erm focused... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vauxhall-cavalier-convertable-turbo-engine-c20lep-/330960160886 Quote
Bems Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Shame you missed out on this, convertible and very erm focused... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vauxhall-cavalier-convertable-turbo-engine-c20lep-/330960160886 Someone actually bought that Edited July 30, 2013 by Bems Quote
Dynamic Turtle Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Mmm...gearbox can be slow in the Z. S2000 gearbox is stunning, cliche rifle-good. Rear end is tricky though. Numerous nurburgring fail videos will attest to this. My highly unscientific 2c ;-) If an e46/e92 M3 is a bit of a stretch I've only heard good things about the 335i (once quaifed and remapped) looks nice, can be boosted to silly bhp and has decent MPG if that matters to you. Not sure whether it would be dynamic enough for your missus though. Maybe she has the right idea on the whole megane RS / Focus ST thing. Way too much snobbery surrounding the "superiority" of RWD... DT Edited July 30, 2013 by Dynamic Turtle Quote
Ekona Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Any BMW is not a more focused driver's car, so you can rule out any of those. Likewise any Merc. Both make great cars, but they're not more focused than a Zed. If you want more focused, but without going silly (like a Caterham, for instance) then either you get an Elise variant or maybe a Megane R26.R, or you strip all the weight out of the Zed and modify the stopping, handling and power parts, in that order. I don't think an S2K is a much more focused car to make it worthwhile changing. Quote
rabbitstew Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 What does she mean by driver focused? Porsche (boxster S) might be an option For £12k you could probably buy 7 or 8 of them now, they are very cheap to buy. To be honest, theres so many cars out there now you can pick up for £12k. Porsche 996`s are like 6k, Im sure I saw 997`s were even within that price now. Escort Cosworth. How about an Elise for 7grand? VX220 Turbo for £12k. You can pick up E46 M3`s for 5 or 6grand now. Endless amount of choice really. I remember my missus never liking the zed and said I should get something better. When I asked her what, her answer was an Audi TT. Sigh.. and not the TTRS either, just some ancient Audi TT. Women eh? Quote
Dynamic Turtle Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Budget a grand a month for repairs to the 996/997 in that price range though Quote
Dblock Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Budget a grand a month for repairs to the 996/997 in that price range though Why? Quote
modd1uk Posted July 30, 2013 Author Posted July 30, 2013 I'm 6ft 3 and 19 stone so i think the smaller cars even though i do appreciate them are just out of the question. Just been out for a quick blast in the zed and it is growing on me, think i need to get an exhaust on it and enjoy it for what it is tbh, mrs can put up or shut up. 1 Quote
SimonPG Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 At 6ft 6 there wasn't much more choice for me in the 2 seater range, the only other car i'd consider if I had a wallet big enough and shares in BP is a Merc SL55 AMG Quote
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