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Motors Buying my first sports car - advice/thoughts?

Discussion in 'General' started by Unicorn, 29 Jun 2010.

  1. badders

    badders Neuken in de Keuken

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    Volvo S40 T5. It's the engine that the Focus RS later got.
    <3 my S40, but wish I had the 2.5 Turbo.
     
  2. 13eightyfour

    13eightyfour Formerly Titanium Angel

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    Atm i dont have a sports car, but before i bought my bora i was looking at gt4s and r34gt skylines, I gave adrian flux a call, the gt4s came out around £850 and the skyline a bit more at ~£1000 iirc

    imo confused isnt the best place to get quotes on those types of cars and some of the specialist insurers arent listed.
     
  3. Valo

    Valo Minimodder

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    as weird as it may sound from a fanboy, e30 M3 has a lot of merit.

    first of all, you can get one of a couple of power variants, with the most powerful (230bhp) being rather inaccessible due to limited nature of that edition, so most likely you'll end up with one thats around 200bhp and one of the best rwd chassi of all time.

    Secondly there are lots of bust E30 non m3s making maintenance relatively easy and inexpensive; there aren't a lot of technological gizmos, so you will probably not need to go to brand dealership to get your fixes done, just go to a trusted shop

    thirdly, for a couple past years these have been increasing in value. You can get a decent example for about 10-11 grand and given that you maintain the car well, you are probably looking at actually selling the care for more than you paid for it in a couple of years.

    And it sounds just glorious
     
  4. BentAnat

    BentAnat Software Dev

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    Not true, this (but close)
    The Focus RS runs a 300bhp version of the 2.5T engine that was in the Volvo S60R AWD. This is not quite the same engine as a T5.
    But yeah +1 to volvo T5.

    My choices would be difficult (min - I have no relation to pricing in the UK aside from what Top Gear gives me).
    I would STAY AWAY from the Golf Mk IV GTI. It's just a bit rubbish.

    the Mk V GTI is better. I owned a Mk V GTI for about a year, and hated it. It's quick(-ish), and not a bad drive, but it's SO controlled that it's essentially no fun to drive. Add to that the fact that the traction control can't be turned OFF all the way (you can turn of the stability control, but the fun-nazi of a traction control stays there). To really have fun in one of these you need to drive it HARD. Looking at the cost of spares, it's not something that a lot of people are likely to do.

    You could always try to get your hands on a Volvo S60R AWD for something really quite fast, safe, and probably rare and horribly expensive on juice as well as insurance. (with a bit of love, these ladies are eat-that-ferrari-fast)

    I'd probably look in the direction of Either a kit-car (Caterham, but they're probably a bit too steep, and don't have a roof), something italian or hold out for a while.

    The Caterham 7 has the advantage that it's a handling dream (RWD, no weight), comes with various size engines (all of them fast), and they're cheap to fix. Fibreglass does that. They are (obviously) roofless, and not particularly practical. Bound to be a GREAT fun car though.

    Italian cars would mean looking at Grande Punto sports, possibly a 2007+ Bravo. 1.4l Turbo engines that Fiat uses are GREAT fun, rev-happy, and sportier than you'd think (110kw sound good?). They're also less forgiving, and thereby offer a great driving experience. Those engines also warm up nicely... to the tune of 140kw with a remap, exhaust and intercooler, should you be interested in that kind of thing.

    Holding out is what I am currently doing (and I drive a 110kw Bravo). There look to be some rather stunning cars coming in the next year or so.
    One of them looks to be the Toyota/Subaru FT-86 (Or FR-S as it seems to be called now): 2+2 2000 pound 200hp RWD coupe with lexus IS styling in the size of an S2000 sounds about right. All of that for the price of a Golf FSI? Yesplease.
    The othe rone I am looking at is the rumored (apparently confirmed by an insider) Abarth car. Looks like 200hp, Lotus Elise based, 2000 pounds made in Italy. No word on price, but yesplease.
     
  5. Toka

    Toka Minimodder

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    Its a bit left field, but if you want something fun to drive at the weekend you can pick up an R32 for less than 10k.

    pistonheads

    GTROC

    They come with the obvious caveats, for a more sensible suggestion I would say a 182 Cup, used to have one of these as a daily driver (sold before I used the worlds oil supplies) and it was mighty might quick on the twisty stuff.
     
  6. oasked

    oasked Stuck in (better) mud

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    Good luck finding one that's not hideously expensive. Last time I looked they were £8-£10k. You can buy a 2003 car for that much!

    They're collectors items now, and far too expensive as a result. The E36 is much cheaper, but as with any M3 the insurance is horrendous.

    I looked about a week ago and insurance would have been £2400 for a 2004 M3 with a normal insurance company. Not sure what Adrian Flux would offer though. I'm 24, had a clean license since 18 and 2 years no claims.
     
  7. Da_Rude_Baboon

    Da_Rude_Baboon What the?

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    MKIV Golf R32 is a nice looking car and i've seen a couple of nice ones around £8k.
     
  8. murraynt

    murraynt Modder

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    a mark 5 gti it more of an every day car.the best bang for buck would be an Evo, Impreza, skylive R33. an evo 7 would be pretty sweet
     
  9. okenobi

    okenobi What's a Dremel?

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    An R32 is a weekend car for sure. But it's £400 to tax and very difficult for it to put a foot wrong. They run on rails. If that's your thing (along with the noise, which is epic) buy up.

    However, BioSniper is onto something with the Corrado. Find yourself either a VR, or a G60 and you have a lush sounding, rapid, weekend car with a great driving position. They're pretty rare these days in decent condition and with some BBS rims, and decent suspension they look the part and will drive awesomely. No money either (relative to the other suggestions here).

    V GTI is nice, and I'd have one as my daily. But it's not weekend enough and it's still just a Golf.

    I think BMW is another interesting shout on the RWD big power front. E46 M would be cool.
     
  10. Rogan

    Rogan Not really a

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    Not guilty.


    e:

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    These are all very interesting suggestions! I knew it would be worth asking here. I'll have to make up a shortlist and give it lots of thought. The nice thing is that I won't be buying for at least another 12 months. As this will be my first ever sports car, I want to make sure that I make the right choice and end up with a car I love, and I won't be able to afford a second car in the price bracket I'm looking at until then anyway.

    Can I just reiterate (with a purrdy picture) how amazing I think this car looks, especially considering it's factory stock. After years of being a fan of the 6th gen (especially GT-Four) Celicas, I remember seeing a gen 7 for the very first time and hating it. It just looked all wrong to me, but then I saw the GT-S. That's better I thought... then I saw a VVTLi GT and just fell in love. The day I got driven round town in one by a colleague who had just bought it was one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had in a car. Like I said, If I got one in black, I'd treat it like a pet and never sell it:

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: 30 Jun 2010
  12. 13eightyfour

    13eightyfour Formerly Titanium Angel

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    We used to have a GT drive about near me, but i havent seen it for a while, it was red slightly lowered on white wheels and looked quite nice, But i find it difficult to like the styling if im honest and for the money i think there are better cars.

    But cars are a very personal thing so if you like it just get it, theres nothing worse than talking yourself out of something and the regretting it later.
     
  13. _crazy_crazy_

    _crazy_crazy_ mi mum say's that i'm special

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    BUY AN RX7 :D :clap: ... or the r32 ... i wish i could get the prices and the cars you have there ... damn taxes if i bought an r32 there an brought it here it would be like 19.149,36€ € just for taxes ....:wallbash:
     
    Last edited: 30 Jun 2010
  14. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Call me crazy but I'm actually a huge fan of the Evo 10. Takes away some of its rally car looks and makes it sportier. The front end almost looks like it's got a bit of Skyline merged in there.

    But Uni, it's plain that you love Celicas. Make yourself happy and get one if you can! You'll just be wondering "what if" if you go and get anything else just because someone one a forum prefers some other car! :D
     
  15. oasked

    oasked Stuck in (better) mud

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    Not likely to be affordable on the insurance, I wish it was though. :grr:


    I think this man might be on to something. :)
     
  16. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    It certainly ticks all my boxes and flicks all the right switches :thumb: I'm totally open to other suggestions, but like I said, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to own a high performance Celica. I say that because it's actually feasible. Sure, I'd love to own one of my favourite Ferrari models, the F430 some day... but the possibility of walking out the door one morning and driving home in a Celica the same afternoon is only about 12 more months of hard work and sensible saving away :)
     
  17. murraynt

    murraynt Modder

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    The reason i look the evo 10 is becuase is doenst look like 14 year old got a hold of the family car and put a big spoiler on it.it look more purpose built, same withe the GT-R (R35)
     
  18. Chombo

    Chombo What's a Dremel?

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    [​IMG]

    All for under 1500 pounds
     
  19. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    I'd say you're pretty sold. The ST models are totally pimp too, love that naughty bonnet vent. :D

    [​IMG]

    Do it.
     
  20. Solidus

    Solidus Superhuman

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    dont buy french cars or italian cars.

    you have been warned.Dont make me say "I told you so".
     

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