Sporty car suggestions

[finlay666]

Figure this is a good place to ask as I'm sure/hoping Guy will chime in with some advice

Started a new job in March, moved to a nice, low risk insurance area in April and my premium has barely gone down (due mainly to the car). But as I rely on public transport to get to/from work and my gf having her own car I'm thinking about something sporty and not very practical otherwise.

Moving from an Audi A4 (b5 facelift) 1.8T Sport

My car has just been serviced without any suggestions and no issues passing MOTs, it's old but with a bit of touching up to the door trips (still to replace after they disentegrated last week after a trip to the beach and the screws seized on the fixing) and in need of the upholstery cleaned, otherwise IMO for a 13 year old car it's in good condition (and considerably below mileage at 87k, average would be approx 140k)

For what I need:
A roof (soft/hard top, no Caterhams) as it's going to be on the drive (soft top with a hard shell preferred)
Good performance (I estimate I'd be driving about 6k a year now, but will be insured for 8k or so), doesnt have to be groundbreakingly fast, just feel it
Non molested (mods are the only thing that hurt my insurance)
Reasonable maintenance costs (as it won't get driven much)
Under £10k (that gets me a nearly new Fabia VRS which is the alternative, but sensible and frugal)

but most importantly....
Has to be enjoyable to drive!

With that in mind I have a slightly mismatched inital shortlist (basically anything I can see on Autotrader that takes my fancy)

Potentials:
Mazda MX5 (mk2)
Toyota MR-2 (mk2)
TVR Chimera
Nissan 200SX (but it's hard getting a good value unmolested one)
BMW Z4 3.0l (I'm not keen on the look of the Z3)
Mazda RX8? (Not sure on reliability/servicing costs with the rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishel engine)

Avoid:
Scoobies (insurance is dire)
Honda S2000 (same reason)
Octavia VRS (love the car, but insurance is a bit pants as well)

Any other suggestions?

I'm trying to make a list to show the gf as she would be driving it too, so no Audi TTs

I'm not too adverse to suggestions and as I said insurance seems ok for an unmolested car (a similar age S4 put my premium up to £600ish, a mk2 MX5 brought it to just £300, same as the new VRS)

[smargh]

Skoda Citigo Sport. Or the Elegance variety. Or SE. Whichever takes your fancy.

[finlay666]

I asked for sporty, that is slower than both mine and my gf's car

The A4 is reported to do it in 8.2, the gf's C2 vtr in about the same, that car is 14.4s which is horrendously slow in comparison....

[Butcher]

Yes indeed, despite having sport in the name a 59 bhp shopping trolley is anything but...

BMW M3 maybe? Not sure how old you want to go, 10k gets you a 2005 ish model. Insurance may be a problem.

[ekamdeep]

get the rx8 looks nice and has better perf

[AETAaAS]

Given the original list includes things like the MR2 and Z4 3.0, I'm guessing performance is important and practicality is secondary. A car that might do you good is a 350Z. Very usable engine on a solid chassis for an eager ride.

I'm not sure if 'unmolested' means you want a car to be stock for the insurance or just in case the previous owner was trashing about with it, but the 350Z has pleanty of aftermarket support, the reliable VQ35 and exceptional value. You mentioned what I assume is 0-60 which the Z does in an advertised 6.2s, but I know the 350 to take to turbocharging like a fish to water and even an entry level single GT28 turbo setup will push you into 400hp territory with minimal lag.

But you can keep it stock and still enjoy it with pleanty of used ones going for less than 10k.

[kalniel]

Porsche Boxter.

[cheesyboy]

Alfa Brera. Gorgeous, sporty, AND you like like a car enthusiast rather than a poser/hairdresser

[Biscuit]

Just as a heads up, make sure to check the road tax on some of the cars you are looking at and have been suggested. Its easy to overlook it at first but when you talk about £600 premium with some cars, check the alternatives don't basically add up to the same yearly cost by having £400-500 road tax.

RX8s are notoriously bad at giving up the ghost at low milage. You can pick them up cheap, but thats because they dont have a lot of life left in them and they take a lot of TLC.

As for the Z4, i have a mate who got a 2005 (i think) 2.0 one recently and has had to get the wheels repaired 3 times at a ludicrous cost. Im not sure i would say to avoid it, just be carefull i guess!

Looking at the saloon type BMWs, i dont think you would need to go 'm' to get what you need, plenty of lesser beasts in the range would offer a decent sporty experience, 330Ci for example.

How about a Mini Cooper S convertible? bit girly but the cooper S are great fun to drive.

Porsche Boxster?

Vaxhall VX220?

[jimborae]

Why no TT's, get a Quattro Sport and enjoy convincing everyone it's not a hairdresser's car. Actually speaking from personal experience it gets a bit boring after awhile but they are great cars.

350z is not a bad idea, great car, reliable well specced. An M3 will kill you on maintenance costs so if going the Beemer route 335D M-Sport or Z4 would be my vote.

[phil4]

My "toy" car is a Mk3 MR2, and I really do like it. Servicing is annual or 10k, but doesn't cost much, reliability has been good. Performance isn't bad, but its also a good fun car to drive.

It's the choice I made so profer it as an opinion.

[jimbouk]

Smart Roadster, partly because I've got one. Just make sure it doesn't leak...

[finlay666]

Just as a heads up, make sure to check the road tax on some of the cars you are looking at and have been suggested. Its easy to overlook it at first but when you talk about £600 premium with some cars, check the alternatives don't basically add up to the same yearly cost by having £400-500 road tax.

Vaxhall VX220?

Pre 2006 my tax will go from 225 to 280

Yes, I love the look of them but the gf isn't keen

[Smudger]

If you've got big, hairy balls, go for the TVR. But expect it to be in the garage a lot. You have to balance whether that is worth the smile you'll get when you hear that v8 growl...

Otherwise, what about the latest-gen Alfa Spider?

[DanceswithUnix]

If you've got big, hairy balls, go for the TVR. But expect it to be in the garage a lot. You have to balance whether that is worth the smile you'll get when you hear that v8 growl...

Otherwise, what about the latest-gen Alfa Spider?

They are getting temptingly cheap.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...1306257471000/

Spider is the same platform as the Brera someone mentioned above. You would probably get better performance and handling out of a 3.2l v6 in 147 GTA or a GT, but my god the spider is such a very very pretty car that if I could make do with 2 seats I think that would be my choice of the bunch. 4WD Q4 means you lose some 0-60 time down to 6.8 seconds through inefficiencies of the diffs, but then it does mean you get traction from all the wheels and ISTR a bias to powering the rears. I think the 147 is 0-60 in 6.1 and has the amazing Busso V6 engine so more of a driver's car, nowhere near as pretty though.

Porsche Boxter is the obvious choice.

Lotus Elise is the real hardcore one.

[Smudger]

Did they do a Prodrive one like they did with the Brera?