Best everyday sports car?

[Paul 8v]

I'm getting a bit bored of my current car and I fancy replacing it with something a bit quicker/sportier. I do a 40 mile commute every day so it can't be too juicy and I want it to be fairly reliable for obvious reasons.
It would ideally be something rear wheel drive, not bothered about number of seats/boot space etc as we have a family car for that sort of thing.
I'm looking to spend under £10k ideally, I was wondering what suggestions people had?

The car that keeps coming out on top is the S1/S2 Elise, seems to be fast enough to be fun and should handle well (I've yet to drive one) and also returns pretty good mpg figures.

The only other cars I can think of are some sort of Porsche (possibly 944) but I'm not sure on the mpg and the age of them or the obvious MX5 but I'm not sure if I could handle the constant abuse that I'd get from clueless workmates.

Does anyone have any other suggestions/advice?

Many thanks

Paul

[ZesPak]

Maybe stretching the budget a bit, but an early boxster?

[Uhura fighter]

Should get a nice one for £6/£8000

Why not ask your work mates what they want you to drive

[BlueEyedBoy]

VX Turbo I think is a bit more reliable and cheaper/easy to service.

[Paul 8v]

Uhura fighter said:

Should get a nice one for £6/£8000

Why not ask your work mates what they want you to drive

Yeah I know, they're not exactly the most open minded of people, I'd get hairdresser comments all day from them.
Don't worry I'm looking for another place to work lol

[freenote]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1843375.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1250623.htm

[edo]

Elise, Z4, S2000, Mx5, SLK

[Paul 8v]

You have a point about the watertightness! I did see a mk2 MX5 earlier today that'd been stripped out and messed around with, it did get me thinking, how harcore are they compared with the mk1? I would assume they got a bit heavier

[stuckmojo]

freenote said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1843375.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1250623.htm

bloody hell that Supra is good value. I wish I had not seen that.

[Cock Womble 7]

You know what I'm going to suggest, don't you?

[kambites]

10k is good value for a 16 year old Toyota Supra? I thought they were half that.

[kambites]

What kind of forty miles is your commute? 40 miles of B-roads or 40 miles of dual carriageway?

[stuckmojo]

kambites said:

10k is good value for a 16 year old Toyota Supra? I thought they were half that.

D'oh, I feel like Homer Simpson. I thought I'd seen 4995£. Wishful thinking and I am slightly less sad now

[Chris_w666]

Paul 8v said:

Uhura fighter said:

Should get a nice one for £6/£8000

Why not ask your work mates what they want you to drive

Yeah I know, they're not exactly the most open minded of people, I'd get hairdresser comments all day from them.
Don't worry I'm looking for another place to work lol

Grow a pair of bks and buy the car you want.

HTH.

[Paul 8v]

kambites said:

What kind of forty miles is your commute? 40 miles of B-roads or 40 miles of dual carriageway?

It's a little bit of dual carriageway but mostly twisty B roads

[Paul 8v]

Chris_w666 said:

Paul 8v said:

Uhura fighter said:

Should get a nice one for £6/£8000

Why not ask your work mates what they want you to drive

Yeah I know, they're not exactly the most open minded of people, I'd get hairdresser comments all day from them.
Don't worry I'm looking for another place to work lol

Grow a pair of bks and buy the car you want.

HTH.

Your probably right, sod em!

[kambites]

Paul 8v said:

kambites said:

What kind of forty miles is your commute? 40 miles of B-roads or 40 miles of dual carriageway?

It's a little bit of dual carriageway but mostly twisty B roads

An Elise or VX220 (I'd argue that in that price bracket, you'd get a better VX220) would be good then if you're not obsessed by toys or NVH. Something like an S2000, Z4 or Boxster would be more civilised but wont handle as well and will probably cost more to run.

[Shnozz]

As much as I adored my various Loti, I would have quickly tired of them if they were my everyday car. Yes, lots of people do use them as a daily, but too many compromises to make for me.

Mx5 is the obvious choice. Either that or an s2000.

[Plotloss]

S2000 or if you can put up with the thirst I was very pleasantly surprised by a chum's SLK32AMG Barberoppowagen.

[braddo]

The Crack Fox said:

How watertight is an old Elise in February ? Not sure I'd want one as a Daily Driver myself.

It depends on the alignment of the windows and the condition of the softtop.

I had both a hardtop and softtop for my '99 Elise and the car was 100% watertight and dry all year round. With the hardtop they make a cozy little car in February .

That said, I thought the Boxster has had the 'best everyday sports car' title wrapped up for some years now? Still, buy an Elise!