Fun car conundrum.

davemorton

Honda S2000, best car I have ever owned. Also consider a westfield. Cant comment too much on them as only owned mine for about 2 month, but bloody quick!!

darich

vx220 mechanically will be fairly standard as far as vauxhalls go. essentially an astra/vectra/cavalier engine, sometimes with a turbo bolted on. should be easy to get parts.

MR2 turbos aren't everything they're cracked up to be. was always a car i fancied but i'd never touch an import. also with the 2.0 16gt model able to hit 60mph in about 6seconds, why pay more for a turbo?nightmare for insurance and parts.

never owned an mx5 - and less keen on the latest model.

honda s2000 is a car i seriously considered buying but decided that i didn't fancy revving to 8000 to get decent power from the vtec engine.

You don't mention your budget tomstickland so not sure what you're limit is. i've got a 3.0 SE Z4 and it's awesome. removed some foam silencer from the engine bay and it sounds like a V8 under hard acceleration. faster than most cars on the road too. it's a marque you're familiar with so may be easier to work on.
i often forget how powerful the car is - i was leaving traffic lights the other night and once in second gear put the foot down as i turned a corner. the back end was sliding out on a dry road. great fun but shreds tyres so i don't make a habit of it!

AdrianHi

Brother bought a VX220 of around the 2001 vintage, he owned it 9 months, only drove it for 3, the rest of the time it was at the Vauxhall dealers or back with Lotus to have problems fixed, few of which ever were. Engines OK, but boot did not shut, paint flaked, rear light clusters didn't fit and more....
Lot's of fun when it was in his possession. Eventually with the help of solicitors he got his money back minus a bit for the 3 months use he did have.

Get something Japanese, S2000 gearing a bit short, MX5 excellent but not particularily quick, why not a BMW Z3.. or 10-12K on an E46 M3 (warning: a nearly impossible act to follow!) which could also be your daily driver.

LandyAndy

Don't know your personal circumstances but I can say that the Mazda RX-8 has been a great buy for us and early ones are now around £5k. DS2 who is 14 years old and 6'2" still fits in the back.

rednose66

'96 onwards Alfa GTV or Spider. Cheap as chips. Get a good one and they are as reliable as any other older car. The GTV in particula goes like clappers and has extremely good road holding. Relatively easy to maintain for someone like you and far more stylish than anything German or Jap. Then again I am a GTV owner myself so I would think so!

tomstickland

I'm thinking more along the lines of this:
http://www.mevltd.co.uk/specification.html

MX5huggy

Which brings you to one of these:- http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/ which might be a bit past your budget but we can dream.

Another vote of an MX5 other wise!

AdrianHi

tomstickland wrote: »

I'm thinking more along the lines of this:
http://www.mevltd.co.uk/specification.html

Ah those lines, Lotus Elise is the answer then.

davemorton

tomstickland wrote: »

I'm thinking more along the lines of this:
http://www.mevltd.co.uk/specification.html

Never seen one of those, but if it is a kitcar you are considering, you would get loads of ideas, and top tips if you went along to Stoneleigh next bank holiday weekend, is the biggest kit car show in Europe I believe. Ill be there!

tomstickland

AdrianHi wrote: »

Ah those lines, Lotus Elise is the answer then.

VX220.
But I wouldn't build it myself.