BMW 1 series diesel + Remap. a 120 would be nice. rear wheel drive ... 55 plate hard pushed, but they are around.But you can squeeze 200bhp out of one easily .
I suggest you look at : Celica VVTi 1.8 for about £1000- £1300. Keep the other £700 -1000 to get it splendid. A 190bhp is a lovely thing, but maybe stick with the lower engine power and look for a Blue edition.
A vvti celica is an option but I'd always be thinking that I could have had the vvtli version for very similar money. Sure they are a LOT easier to find but I'd also have to go for a post facelift version to be sure of getting one that doesn't also drink oil...
Those have indeed been looked at. I'd love an RX-8 but I'm a little concerned about the engine quality that I'd get for £2,000... MR2 is not a bad option, however, I'm not a huge fan of the more recent body shape and the one before (which I love the shape of), are getting on a bit now. Iv'e seen what a later model MR2 can do with the 2ZZ-GE engine from the Celica T-Sport can do and it is mighty tempting as a longer term objective. At the moment, I'd still love a 03-05 Celica T Sport, but the MK2 MX5 is still right up there, if I can find the right version (there's so many). I'm not going to be going for the Swift or the Fiesta ST, both great fun, I'm sure, but not really what I am looking for. My wife came up with a pretty good description after looking at my list of ideas - "So you're looking for a car that shouts mid-life crisis then? You sure that you're not just going buy a pair of red trousers and get your bike license instead?"
an older Z-BMW? Z3? No idea what the retail on those is around your parts, admittedly. Basically it seem your requirements are: RWD, Manual, preferably no rear doors, drop-top negotiable and >150bhp - does that about sum it up?
Manual yes - 100% requirement. RWD - flexible on that, driven FWD, RWD, AWD, 4WD, had fun with all of them. I have no need for rear doors, or even rear seats for that matter, there are only the two of us and my wife has her Mini Countryman. As for power, the Mini has 143bhp and 300Nm (2.0 Cooper SD) so somewhere around there as a start would be great, especially if it is in a lighter car (not difficult, the Mini's a brick). I have found a gorgeous light blue MX5 that's not too far away that I am going to be taking a look at. 2002 with less than 70k on it. 1.8l with 6 speed manual. Includes a hard top. Just under £2000. Ok so it doesn't have the initial power of the Celica T Sport but still, it's a lighter car. My only concern is how well I fit in it. I'm 6' tall but I only have short little 29" legs so I am very tall when sitting down. That was the problem that I had with my old Yaris T Sport, it had the chunky sports seats which made you sit quite high up. As for the Z3, not one that I had considered. Drove a 3.0l one a while back but that was an automatic and put me off them a bit.
Small world. RX-8 can be scary, but you might be able to find one with a recent-ish engine rebuild / replacement though it's definitely worth getting it inspected pre-purchase regardless. MR2, yeh, the 3rd gen is crap, you want a 2nd gen. Mechanically they are reasonably sound, the main problem is rust. Easy enough to inspect for it, or not too hard to sort it. Again, you might be able to find one that has had the rusted parts cut out and replaced.
You can even stretch to a 1st gen, if you can find one. Sold mine for £1850, luckiest day of the buyer's life IMO.
Fixed. I have a mk3 that has just failed MOT for rust similar to all the older models, same for the RX8 (which the MX5 Mk3 essentially is) and pretty much any other Mazda! It's not a joke when I say I wish Fiat would have built the ND/mk4, it would at least not rust! All told though find yourself a decent one, there are plenty of cheapies out there and you can have a lot of reliable fun, just be sure to keep and eye on oil levels if you buy either an RX8 or an MZR/Duratec based MX5. I bought a mk3 mx5 as a temporary vehicle 3.5yrs ago to learn RWD handling, that I still have the rusty shitbox now and still throw money at it (tuning, not repairs) is a testament to how much fun it has been as I don't like convertibles as a rule, this was only supposed to be a 6 month educational tool, really wish it was a Coupe. As a package it has good balance, good weight, fully tunable chassis and enough power. Done over 30k or hillclimbs, solos, sprints and trackdays, the car most spends its time buzzing the limiter, laps it all up.
What is it that you're linking to? I just get the search screen Screen by Almightyrastus posted 11 Sep 2017 at 22:27
Was an RX-8, but can't see to find it now. No matter, there's plenty with recent rebuilds for <£2k if you have a search. (Just put "rebuild" or "rebuilt" in the keyword search)
I'd say have a look at the MX5 - it seems to check the right boxes and is an absolute blast to drive, provided you fit in. FWIW (not much in this discussion), I am 6'4", and I tried test driving the new MX5... my knees were up against the steering wheel, my head 1/2" from the ceiling... i got out and cancelled the test drive... I know a few people that are 6' that drive cars like that, though.
I'm 180cm tall and fit perfectly in a first gen MX5. Worst case scenario you either perform a "foamsectomy" aka cutting out some foam from your seat or replace it with bucket seats.