Second car choice

[Adamantium]

Hi all,

Just want some opinions from potentially unbiased types.

As some may know I bought a tdi quattro sport to cover the daily mileage I do so as not to put it on my Gtr.

I've had so much fun tinkering with the Audi it's made me re-evaluate Gtr ownership.

I've decided to sell up the Gtr, because the new model has just been announced, I won't use it much over the summer and it is barely used now.

I can't have a 65k car not bringing me as kuc fun as the Audi does.

I'm probably going to have one car for a short while but am contemplating what to replace the Gtr with and wanted your thoughts.

This is a car for pure fun only. I'd like to do track days but just don't get the time really, so it's going to be driven just for the fun of driving.

This means it won't get much use.

For that reason, since it's purely a luxury/toy, it has to be something cheap, whose value won't bother me too much or change too much.

This means either a very old car or a cult car.

My choices are, s2 Elise with 1.8t Audi coversion which will cost me close to 25k or an e46 m3 for sub 10k.

The Elise is convertible, lightweight and awesome on track, whilst being nearly Gtr fast in a straight line. The BMW is cheap, has loads of tuning potential too but is more mainstream, and won't be modified to the point of making it harder to sell on. My concern is that as a normal everyday type car it might not be so different an experience from the a3, so again will never be used.

Thoughts? Or other suggestions?

Btw, key thing is I ave to like the way it looks.

 

[Farhan]

 

[PaulAr]

Im looking at something like this as a toy.
Had a G60 and VR6 before, love the idea of a tidy converted one. With an unlimited budget I would idealy comission a fully resto`d project with a Synchro 4wd set up from a Mk2 Golf on which these are based.

More of a fun daily than a track slag though.

Volkswagen : Corrado 1.8 20v Turbo

Volkswagen : Corrado 20vt BAM engine was G60

Paul

 

[audigex]

Just for driving? Ariel Atom.

 

[Adamantium]

Thought about atom but still 45k and not something easily sold.

 

[paddy]

I think you are looking at normal everyday cars with M3's etc and the fact is unless its different you will only use the same one all the time. ie the better one. ( Audi )
I would look at classics. Tune the balls off an MGB or a Austin Healy 3000. its not expensive
Maybe a MGB V8 or MGC straight 6, add some Sebring arches, some minilites and race harness's and you have a great fun road car and a brilliant classic car racer for racing or track days.

i built one based on a MGC years ago

Even now it makes me smile to think of the back hanging out and literally balancing it on the edge of a 4 wheel drift on the last bend of my local by-pass. You could do that at 80mph...you probably couldnt do it at 180mph in a S3
I guarantee you will have as much fun in that as anything else without having to do double the speed limit....and it will probably go up not down in value.

 

[Adamantium]

I could say the same about a mk1 mx5 but like the mg, it just doesn't excite me.

Think you are right about the BMW option, not sure the Elise falls into the same category.

 

[paddy]

Elise is plastic.

If you dont want a classic, you dont want extreme like an Atom, you don't want normal like an M3 and you dont want muscle car like a GTR then get a bike ...sorted. great fun quicker than any car and cheap.

http://www.madeinitalymotorcycles.com/new_page_6.htm

I happen to be able to lay my hands on 5 of these brand new at just £15k each or if you want a track day thing then what about this

http://www.madeinitalymotorcycles.com/yellow_guzi.htm

Just £66k and i might get you a discount

 

[rOb_A]

S2 Elise or S2 Exige with the toyota lump or vtec conversion if funds can stretch.. had a S2 for 3 years great to live with

 

[nally]

sorry about you having to sell up. what about an s3 as daily driver and weeked car ? just a racing set of tyres and revo ?

 

[Farhan]

S2 Elise or S2 Exige with the toyota lump or vtec conversion if funds can stretch.. had a S2 for 3 years great to live with

mhmm the toyota lump...Nothing beats the 8250rpm on a light car through some country bends!

 

[Adamantium]

I'd kill for a proper bike, sadly they are a MUCH more expensive option as they come with a divorce!!!

S3 not for me, no offence but if it were one car, I'd prefer the Gtr. The s3 or even the rs3 are a bit too tame.

As I expected, conversations like this help to draw me towards the right conclusion which for me is a stock S2 Elise if I like it with a view to modifying.

 

[brough74]

Ive had an elise and its fantastic fun and highly recommended, buy a exige and get the type R engine conversion. Best of both worlds then and it can even be supercharged. Apart from that a good all rounded is a MK5 GTI

 

[Adamantium]

Btw, I'll be going for a k series based car not the Toyota, as the wiring is difficult to integrate with the 1.8T Audi lump.

360bhp in an Elise sounds like muc fun to me!

Ps. I'm not being forced to sell the Gtr, I've convinced myself that I want to. I blame the Audi as I've had more fun tinkering with it than I've had driving the Gtr. It now does maybe 10 miles a week, and the smile from going fast is not as big as from retrofitting toys!

If it's a mistake I can rebut one next spring and save myself maybe 8k in depreciation!

 

[flying oyster]

saw a v8 mg at brighton speed trials sounded awesome

 

[rOb_A]

go for the 111s if you are getting a early S2 elise, these can be picked easy enough + winter coming so prices may fall off.

Lotus : Elise S2

 

[Jules86]

M3 CSL

/thread

 

[1inchpunch]

I have a friend who was in a slightly similar position. He was running a GT3 RS as his special car (996 i think, the bright orange one) and had an 06 Focus as his daily. He wanted to do track days but the reality of driving the GT3 RS all over the country and a new set of tyres every time he tracked it just didn't make sense.

He decided to sell the GT3 and bought an E46 M3 CSL. I can honestly say it was far from an every day car. It's rock hard, can be chucked around like a cheap whore, sounds absolutely awesome and also spits flames out the back (we all know how cool that looks). However, he still found it was a problem with the cost of tyres and driving to and from track days. Especially since the suspension and seating in the CSL would give Wolverine back trouble.

He considered an S2 but after talking to a few people he decided against it and has hooked up with a company that hire Caterhams for track days. He sold 2 of the cars he was then running, CSL for track and a new 997 GT3 (kept his old Focus as his daily) and has done a year hiring with the Caterham company. The years hire cost about as much as a couple of sets of tyres on the other cars and so far this year he has been able to drive Spa, Donington, Brands hatch and the Ring a couple of times while only taking a few long weekends off work. he recently got his racing license and plans on racing Caterhams in the near future. His thought is that it's great to not have to worry about the car, it allows him to show up at great tracks across europe without having the headache of shipping a car and he says the cars are so well set up and prepared that they are equally as fun as anything he's ever driven.

To top it off, with the money saved from the other cars he bought a MkV GTi and has been modding it to the absolute hilt. Like you with your A3 he says that although it can't even sniff the bum of some of the cars he's had over the years it's given him so much more satisfaction and is still great to drive.

Bit of a long story that but might plant some seeds. So many people find that the fastest cars aren't always the most satisfying or fun.

 

[Farhan]

How comes you wont consider the toyota lump, slap a vision function charger on it 280WHP!

 

[MartayMcFly]

My mate was at the 'Ring I think 2 years ago and met a guy with a 20VT Elise... he's got a video of him chasing it in his Honda engined Elise and the Audi lump literally throws that thing out of the corners. Looks fast as
Get a tidy enough Lotus and you've got quite a few good engine options.

 

[N8]

What a lovely postion to be in

 

[One Spoke]

Just for fun - it would be an Atom for me.

 

[Jules86]

Simples with regards to above.

Buy a trailer, buy a car as your daily which can tow, tow the CSL to the track

Win

 

[Adamantium]

CSL is lovely but a relative heavy weight for special use only.

I like the hiring caterham idea and it's making me think that whatever I do, I should take a long time deciding to make sure it's right. I always jump in to things too quickly.

I doubt I'll do the track work, young family doesn't give me huge freedoms. Maybe I should join a rent a supercar club thing.

N8, you are right, it is a nice problem to have.

Re the choice of engine in the Elise, the Toyota wiring is much more difficult to integrate the BAM 1.8 into. Supercharging Toyota us not as good an engine as the Audi lump. We know what the 1.8T can be safely tuned to.

 

[pinterovski]

Just keep the GT-R mate,Tune it and never regret it!!!
It's an awesome machine!!!

 

[FranA3]

I'd kill for a proper bike, sadly they are a MUCH more expensive option as they come with a divorce!!!

S3 not for me, no offence but if it were one car, I'd prefer the Gtr. The s3 or even the rs3 are a bit too tame.

As I expected, conversations like this help to draw me towards the right conclusion which for me is a stock S2 Elise if I like it with a view to modifying.

my sisters boyfriend has not long bought a ducati 996 R it cost him something like £6000 ish but what a machine its sooo fast and the sounds it makes are awesome , just a thought

 

[The Cardinal]

I'd consider an Elise, Caterham or RenaultSport Clio (if on a budget).

 

[rOb_A]

V6 clio would be wild card

 

[paddy]

OK solved your problem

have a look at the promo video on this home page. watch it anyway even if its not your thing..0-60 in 3.2s

zcars.org.uk

Pee all over a RS3 and a TTRS