Car change time
Discussion
As a reader of the forum every day, for a change thought i'd ask some opinions of the car passion-el.
Its been about 20 months since i bought a new Suzuki Swift Sport simply on common sense and necessity.Its been reliable, economical and fun but its time for it to go.I fancy a roofless car and have narrowed it down to Honda S2000, MK3 MX5,Z4 or maybe a Boxter S.Its just going to be a fun car so no need for too many practicalities but keen to not spend new car money.No hairdresser jokes please
Its been about 20 months since i bought a new Suzuki Swift Sport simply on common sense and necessity.Its been reliable, economical and fun but its time for it to go.I fancy a roofless car and have narrowed it down to Honda S2000, MK3 MX5,Z4 or maybe a Boxter S.Its just going to be a fun car so no need for too many practicalities but keen to not spend new car money.No hairdresser jokes please
Edited by pawsmcgraw on Monday 20th October 09:03
My vote would be for a Boxster S and thats honestly my unbiased view as you all know I like my Pork. If you buy carefully your resale will be better than the others. The Boxster is regarded as a very balanced car with good reviews. If the price is an issue you could always buy a non S. Entry leve Boxsters are as low as $25K now.
The MX5 has won many awards and comes with the large club following if your into that.
The S2000 although very powerful has to be revved hard to get the full benefits out of it.
Don't know much about the Beemer other than people haven't raved about them.
The best advice tho is probably to try and drive everyone of them in the spec you are wanting back to back on the same day. At least 30 minutes in each and draw your conclusion from there.
The MX5 has won many awards and comes with the large club following if your into that.
The S2000 although very powerful has to be revved hard to get the full benefits out of it.
Don't know much about the Beemer other than people haven't raved about them.
The best advice tho is probably to try and drive everyone of them in the spec you are wanting back to back on the same day. At least 30 minutes in each and draw your conclusion from there.
TBH I'd not bother with the boxster if it's not an "S"... they're a little lacklustre without the extra power so I believe.
As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
Esprit said:
TBH I'd not bother with the boxster if it's not an "S"... they're a little lacklustre without the extra power so I believe.
As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
Had an Elise in the UK, also a couple of Porsches in a 944turbo s2 and a 968cs.Both great.The Elise is a great car but the build and reliability was shocking(it was one of the very first ones)The new Elise i could live with, the Honda engine works so well in it and the car itself seems more sorted.However, it would be along way down my "what car" list at the thick end of 100k.As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
I thought the normal Boxter might be a tad weak, hence the S version.I feel some test driving is needed this next week
pawsmcgraw said:
Esprit said:
TBH I'd not bother with the boxster if it's not an "S"... they're a little lacklustre without the extra power so I believe.
As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
Had an Elise in the UK, also a couple of Porsches in a 944turbo s2 and a 968cs.Both great.The Elise is a great car but the build and reliability was shocking(it was one of the very first ones)The new Elise i could live with, the Honda engine works so well in it and the car itself seems more sorted.However, it would be along way down my "what car" list at the thick end of 100k.As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
I thought the normal Boxter might be a tad weak, hence the S version.I feel some test driving is needed this next week
My Exige is different but given that they were all hand-built by Lotus Motorsport... the difference is to be expected. When Vahuxhall commissioned Lotus to build the VX they had to adopt GM QC standards and this lifted their game somewhat.
and yes... test test test.... that's the only way you'll find what you can live with sensibly, and what will light your fire
Esprit said:
pawsmcgraw said:
Esprit said:
TBH I'd not bother with the boxster if it's not an "S"... they're a little lacklustre without the extra power so I believe.
As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
Had an Elise in the UK, also a couple of Porsches in a 944turbo s2 and a 968cs.Both great.The Elise is a great car but the build and reliability was shocking(it was one of the very first ones)The new Elise i could live with, the Honda engine works so well in it and the car itself seems more sorted.However, it would be along way down my "what car" list at the thick end of 100k.As has been said, the S2000 is a very Jekyll and Hyde car, the reviness not to everyone's taste, but if you love thrashing a car to get the most out of it, the S2k is a rewarding drive.
Have you thought about an Elise? There's a base S2 on trademe for 42k at the moment and as a base car they're VERY rewarding and more reliable than people would have you believe (in base trim at least anyway).
I thought the normal Boxter might be a tad weak, hence the S version.I feel some test driving is needed this next week
My Exige is different but given that they were all hand-built by Lotus Motorsport... the difference is to be expected. When Vahuxhall commissioned Lotus to build the VX they had to adopt GM QC standards and this lifted their game somewhat.
and yes... test test test.... that's the only way you'll find what you can live with sensibly, and what will light your fire
I agree with what your saying to a degree and they are beautiful cars but there are only a few K series out there that havn't had issues.They had issues when i worked for them before i came to NZ and that was in the late 90's.
I'm going to have a look and drive again though, it might sway me.
Beetle?
pawsmcgraw said:
As a reader of the forum every day, for a change thought i'd ask some opinions of the car passion-el.
Its been about 20 months since i bought a new Suzuki Swift Sport simply on common sense and necessity.Its been reliable, economical and fun but its time for it to go.I fancy a roofless car and have narrowed it down to Honda S2000, MK3 MX5,Z4 or maybe a Boxter S.Its just going to be a fun car so no need for too many practicalities but keen to not spend new car money.No hairdresser jokes please
Z4 .. gonna be hard to find a manual gearbox . prices are falling on theseIts been about 20 months since i bought a new Suzuki Swift Sport simply on common sense and necessity.Its been reliable, economical and fun but its time for it to go.I fancy a roofless car and have narrowed it down to Honda S2000, MK3 MX5,Z4 or maybe a Boxter S.Its just going to be a fun car so no need for too many practicalities but keen to not spend new car money.No hairdresser jokes please
Edited by pawsmcgraw on Monday 20th October 09:03
see
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx...
Kiwi Carguy said:
I saw that too, i thought quite appealing.Its been hanging around a while.One thing for sure is prices of pretty much everything are taking a bigger hit than the usual depreciation curves.I've been stunned what your money buys you today There is a crowd in Perth who remanufacture the mx5 from the firewall forward and fit a supercharged lexus 4l v8 with all new front suspension they market them as bullets 300hp in an mx5
http://www.bulletcars.com/
http://www.bulletcars.com/
Edited by nzsimon on Wednesday 22 October 04:30
Edited by nzsimon on Wednesday 22 October 04:30
But not really much point doing all that for 300bhp when you can get around 270 (limit of stock internals) by turbocharging the original motor - doing it properly (including aftermarket ECU, good turbo, intercooler, stronger clutch etc) would probably set you back $3-5k depending what else needed doing and how much you do yourself. Better option is just to buy one thats already had the work done.ETA: Should specify I'm talking about Mk 1 and 2 MX5, not sure about the Mk 3. But nobody really seems to like them anyway.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 22 October 05:08
Well AFAIK the mags thought it was still good but the Mk1 is considered by most to be the best driving experience of the lot, the late Mk1 1.8 probably the best (as standard) overall as it had more power, more chassis bracing and bigger brakes.The Mk3 is faster in a straight line but I've seen a few track tests where it was no quicker than the Mk1 or 2.
Certainly worth driving anyway to see if you like it - have you driven a Mk1 or 2?
ETA: Just done a bit more research into Mk3's and it seems there is an optional Eibach suspension kit for them, with it they handle pretty similarly to a Mk2.5, without it they wallow around and feel generally bland and imprecise. I haven't driven one myself just regurgitating 'internet knowledge'.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 22 October 11:33
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