Time to replace the 350z - opinions...

[HollowPoint]

I did just that, which was my point. I got 3 cars, all do different jobs, all great cars and haven't regretted it. Not so far anyway.

 

My z is a money pitt no matter what, as it's pretty far from standard and we have high standards, so it just keeps costing more money lol. But that's personal choice for you lol.

 

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[bodeboo]

Well since I started this thread I should post something in response to what's been said! To be honest I've been busy with work since posting this morning but reading the posts have certainly made a few work meetings more interesting!

 

It's clear that there are so many views and so man different ways of looking at it and I knew its down to personal choice, but it's added some food for thought. In terms of the £25k, that's a max and up until a week ago then l was looking at £16k max. But a nissan dealer got me looking at a pre-reg 370z and got me thinking. To be honest the real cost of a car is the depreciation/running costs, not the initial buying cost. My first £3k 1.4l escort cost me more over 2 years than my zed has (ignoring fuel!).

 

I do agree with the people who have said its nice to own something a bit different and l know l need to get out there are try some. It just takes so much time and there arent a lot of any of the cars I am looking at within a close radius (Wirral). Il think l will steer clear of the older maseratis, tvr's etc and lotus is too compromised for practicality. I think I should add the cayman to the list though, seems quite a bit of support for that. I think the s5 may be a future car but while I am still young(ish) and have access to a more practical car then I may skip that this time.

 

Anyway, thanks again for the views, will post when I narrow down a bit more but feel free to give any further opinions.

 

 

[coldel]

VXR8?

[The G Man]

Ekona, I understand what you are saying about Porsche as drivers cars but these days unless you do track days, you cant exploit the cars full abilities and stay within the speed limit etc and IMO if your into track days then the choice is a Caterham or similar. My needs and desire is to have something a little different to drive and as good as a Porsche is, I would not choose to follow the pack but have something different, poseur car or not, actually I always fancied myself as a poseur!

Might as well buy an MX5 then, if we're going to start worrying about not being able to use all the abilities of the car. You can't get anywhere near either the 350 or 370 limits on the road, which kinda makes your point redundant

 

Exactly right, I dont get anywhere near the Zeds limit on the road ( couldnt afford to lose my licence) but then I dont worry about it either cos thats what track days and competing is for. I just like to drive something a little different thats not so popular and thats why we are all different. I didnt buy the Zed for its performance I purchased it because its different to the normal Boxster's, RX7's and the like that litter my way.

 

I think getting near the limit foggy's the debate a little bit, not all of it though. The 370 is a GT car, Grand Tourer, and that's it's strong point. Plenty of grunt on a motorway but more than enough fun on a twisty bit of road. Good boot space for two adults to pack enough for a GT tour of Europe or anywhere really, two or three weeks I'm talking here, the Cayman actually impressed me in this respect but would take a bit more thinking about the packing side.

 

If you were thinking of using whatever car you get as a GT car, stay away from a Cayman R, had a long chat with a fellow at Knockhill the other week re the GT capabilities and he said his back was almost broken and he'd just driven from Edinburgh, so not good then in that sense, superb on a track though he assured.

[Ekona]

The CR has the best suspension out of all the 9x7 stuff. It's perfect on the roads, even the crappy ones in Essex and in the c/f buckets. It flows sublimely and gives immense feedback without crashing and skipping. It's getting dangerously close to the Evora in that aspect. Hard and tough on the ol' back, it is not. I suspect the guy you were talking to is a bit of a wimp

 

Irrelevant though really, as you'll not get a CR for £25K!

[docwra]

2 things fom this page:

 

RX7's are not common by any means.

I also have a P38 Range Rover and while its not broken too badly yet, 15mpg has to be taken into consideration. Still love it though

[HollowPoint]

I assumed he meant rx8s tbh lol. I can get 20mpg out of my p38 at 55mph, down hill, on a motorway.

 

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[mouthwash]

I've no idea why people are saying x y z are too 'common' or that no one would be able to tell it from another model of the same brand.. Who gives an iota what other people think about your car, do you apply the same logic to buying a work shirt or eating in a restaurant?

 

'F*ck eating in one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants, no one will be able to tell if I have fish or chicken on my plate, let's eat in the bins instead it's much less obvious'

 

Get the car you want, not the one you want people to look at.

 

If it were my money, I'd be walking to BMW (yes, walking) to spend every last penny on an M3.

Edited September 11, 2013 by mouthwash

[coldel]

I've no idea why people are saying x y z are too 'common' or that no one would be able to tell it from another model of the same brand.. Who gives an iota what other people think about your car, do you apply the same logic to buying a work shirt or eating in a restaurant?

 

'F*ck eating in one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants, no one will be able to tell if I have fish or chicken on my plate, let's eat in the bins instead it's much less obvious'

 

Get the car you want, not the one you want people to look at.

 

If it were my money, I'd be walking to BMW (yes, walking) to spend every last penny on an M3.

 

Exactly thats your opinion and a very valid one. Another opinion is that cars are as personal to someone as they are to themselves. I want people to be able to recognise my car as easily as recognising me. I want to have something different from the crowds. I just want to be original. Which is why some people veer away from the endless BMWs and Audi's that sit on UK roads and forge their own way with something a bit different. But thats their valid opinion too

Edited September 11, 2013 by coldel

[Ekona]

But would you buy something that was inferior just because it wasn't as popular? I think that's what Mouthwash and myself are getting at.

 

I bought the VXR as I wanted something light, 2 seater, convertible, mid-engined, but with a turbo engine. I drove a Elise 111R SR and it ticked all those boxes apart from one, which is why I ended up with the VXR. Had the Elise had a turbo engine I'd have bought that instead, no questions asked. I compromised on the looks and the weight because I had to have the turbo. The fact that the VXR was limited numbers meant nothing to me, I just wanted something that suited my needs.

[Jay]

god you are all sounding like a bunch of old sweetie wifes here chaps lol.

[mouthwash]

I think the thing is, you'll be doing yourself injustice if you look at a car and really like it but turn it down because there is another one parked two streets away from you, or you think others won't be able to tell the obvious difference between you car and an inferior model.

 

I'm going to come around your house and point out all of your big brand electronics and say how me and my mates have got the same thing, then watch as you hurl them out the window in a fit of 'wanting to be different rage'.

 

I suppose if you want an unpopular car and sacrifice performance / reliability / whatever for it then more power to you, I guess it's the same as sacrificing quirky looks for performance / reliability.

 

EDIT: That's not to suggest all less popular cars lack performance / reliability.

Edited September 11, 2013 by mouthwash

[coldel]

But that's the point, I don't feel a car I buy is inferior because it doesn't look like every other car out there. Its one of the 'factors' that we all build into what we consider important points of buying a car. So many people think that one car is better than another because its 0-60 time is half a second quicker but really on the road, it makes no difference at all. Top speeds are pretty pointless in the same instance, one does 190 one does 175 so what?

 

We all have our checklists, its just that for some people having a more unique car is equal in weight and important to making it a good car as a great 0-60 sprint.

[Ekona]

I agree, looks are very subjective, but how about this for a scenario:

 

Two performance cars, identical in every way apart from one has 200bhp and one has 250bhp. The 200bhp is much less common though, due to the way it looks.

 

 

Which one do you buy?

[Flex]

OP, how the hell will you ever choose, given all these options!

[mouthwash]

Surely you buy a car because you like the look of it? If you like the look of the M3 but so do 3 million other people, so what? Just suggests that the designers know how to make an appealing car.

 

I can relate to wanting your car to look a little different on the road but then I feel that most performance variants do have that extra something about them that makes it stand out enough. You always have tuning / modifying options after if it's not enough.

 

Even things like the Clio 172 etc look different enough for me to recognise its performance credentials.

 

It is all about opinion at the end of the day, if a Daewoo Matiz had 400bhp and was one of the best handling cars ever made.. I wouldn't buy one because it looks sh*t. But this is a forum and what fun would it be if everyone agreed

[coldel]

I agree, looks are very subjective, but how about this for a scenario:

 

Two performance cars, identical in every way apart from one has 200bhp and one has 250bhp. The 200bhp is much less common though, due to the way it looks.

 

 

Which one do you buy?

 

Higher BHP would be more expensive so the 200 BHP one but your question is unrealistic if you want a more realistic version I had the dilemma of turbo VX and NA VX which is slower, I went for the slower one because the higher power one is turbo and not a drive style I prefer.

 

If you want a 'formula' you can't simply add performance numbers - otherwise why do people buy an Aygo over a used Evo? When buying cars I have a formula that looks something like:

 

Performance x20% + Fun x20% + Uniqueness x25% + Driveability x10% + Modability x25%

 

A 911 owner might have something that looks like:

 

Performance x50% + Drivability x35% + Allroundability x15%

 

Which is why it would appear ridiculous for someone to buy something which from a performance perspective is so much inferior. In addition, performance can be measured easily using stats we see everyday. Fun? Fun is a personal thing. Uniqueness can mean many different things from colour, number of seats, country of origin, availability.

 

I didn't say I disagree with the 911 owners, I just offered up a reason as to why people sometime veer away from going with whats 'on paper' the best.

[Ekona]

I agree with all of your points, but I just cannot ever fathom picking a car over a rival simply because it's not as common. That just seems a very odd thing to remotely consider. Tbh even the looks of a car don't really rate that highly on my scale, I get more excited by the drive (hence buying the 350 ragtop and the VXR!).

 

I kept the question simple as I wanted a like-for-like comparison. I get that people wouldn't buy an Evo if they wanted a run-around, but I was more querying if you were specifically after a performance car and those were the two you'd narrowed it down to.

[docwra]

I agree with all of your points, but I just cannot ever fathom picking a car over a rival simply because it's not as common.

 

Yep. A young lady friend was telling me in the pub the other day how she really wanted an MR2, but wouldnt buy one because my missus has one. I asked her what would happen if she fell out with Tasha and didnt see her again and she wasnt really sure what to answer

[coldel]

I agree. Its just one of those traits some people have. I find it hard to understand why someone would buy a car that everyone else has. I get your question, I guess the same thing could be said of two cars identical performance in every way except one looks the same as all the other cars in the road, one looks different. What would you go for?

 

Back on topic though...have to say despite all our ideas, the 370 looks a decent bet! Not that I would go for it

[vansman66]

I agree. Its just one of those traits some people have. I find it hard to understand why someone would buy a car that everyone else has. I get your question, I guess the same thing could be said of two cars identical performance in every way except one looks the same as all the other cars in the road, one looks different. What would you go for?

 

Back on topic though...have to say despite all our ideas, the 370 looks a decent bet! Not that I would go for it

 

It's looks that win the day for me not how fast I could travel down an A or B road but if I was looking at a sensible choice out of the suggestions here then I would go for the 370, then again I tend not to choose sensible cars so would spend my 25K on one I listed earlier.

[rabbitstew]

I agree with all of your points, but I just cannot ever fathom picking a car over a rival simply because it's not as common. That just seems a very odd thing to remotely consider. Tbh even the looks of a car don't really rate that highly on my scale, I get more excited by the drive (hence buying the 350 ragtop and the VXR!).

 

I kept the question simple as I wanted a like-for-like comparison. I get that people wouldn't buy an Evo if they wanted a run-around, but I was more querying if you were specifically after a performance car and those were the two you'd narrowed it down to.

 

Have to say I can understand the picking the less common car totally. Ive always been one to want to be different to the usual run of the mill person and that has been true of some of the vehicles ive bought in the past. Back in the 90`s most of my mates had Ford Escort XR3i`s, RS Turbos, XR2`s and that kind of thing. I bought a Renault 5 GT Turbo. A couple of reasons I went for that. Firstly it was quicker, handled better, it was easy to mod and rarity. Around my way, at that time, only a few people had them. I had narrowed the choice down between a 205 Gti and the 5 Turbo and what swung it in the end was that the 5 Turbo wasnt as common. So it wasnt a case of picking a car just because it was rare, but that was one of the deciding factors.

 

It turned out to be a great choice, I had loads of fun tuning it and improving it and I still own the car now. It used to get lots of looks and was a talking point whenever you went anywhere. Likewise, many of my mates, they loved their XR3i`s etc and for them it was the perfect choice for them.

 

With other cars, ive made the choice on what was important for me at the time. For example a MK4 Golf TDI I had for a while was purchased because I liked the styling, it was the perfect balance between performance & economy and after test driving all the other cars in that same market I felt the golf felt better to drive. The MK4 Golf was a mega common car and for that particular choice that wasnt something I even considered.

 

Then with the 350z, I had quite a wide choice of cars for my £17k budget at the time, and rarity was again a plus point for me when I had finally narrowed my choice down to a short list of cars including a porsche, bmw z4, rx8 & s2000. Again, I didnt buy it solely because it was a rare car (in my neck of the woods), but it was certainly one of the factors on the list which I considered after I had driven a few different cars and narrowed the choice down.

 

So for me, I think Coldels formula does apply.

[hensh65]

I don't know why people are keen to mention the GT 86 ,,, it really is rubbish and just don't get it it isn't that cheap, just about every hatch back with the word hot infront of it will leave it at the lights (deal breaker itself) but we are forgetting its rwd, so is an much cheaper mx5 which is still faster than that. Anyone want to explain the appeal ?

[sipar69]

There are clearly two schools of thought here and not much prospect of them coming together. It does look as though those of us who like to have something a bit different are in the majority though....... which I suppose means that we're not that different after all

[coldel]

There are clearly two schools of thought here and not much prospect of them coming together. It does look as though those of us who like to have something a bit different are in the majority though....... which I suppose means that we're not that different after all

 

Within this sample frame we aren't, in the grand scheme of things, we are