Zippy car recommendation

bbchien said:
Then you want a Miata.
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Being in the south, with warm weather, a convertible would be a big plus. Add that I can buy using Ford A plan (real employee prices, Sherry's dad retired from Ford), and it may be the winner. I need to drive it, the Scion tC, and a few other inexpensive cars.
 
Bill Jennings said:
We had a Z3 2.8 before child,
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A Z3 is NOT an M-Roadster.

Comparing the two is somewhat of an insult to M-Drivers actually. The M is a high performance car and only looks a little like the Z

I have had great succes with my M, I have three coworkers who also have them and all of our experiences have been the same. No rattles nor other problems. I only drive mine for fun while two of the other people drive their years round, even in the snow.
 
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Bill Jennings said:
Looking for a zippy (good acceleration), fun, good handling, fairly economical car to drive when I'm by myself just for having fun. Must be stick shift. Don't want to pay a lot, because this car will in all likelyhood be driven hard and put away wet.

Thinking, Civic Si, Scion tC, Mini, Miata, etc. Any recommendations?
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If you are going new, lots of good choices.

If you want cheap and used, a Ford Probe GT (actually a Mazda RX7?, with a Ford body) is worth looking at. I've got a '93, not real fast off the line but 20 to 90 MPH is quite impressive. A good match with the 2.5L OHC V-6 and a five speed. Has a good wide torque range and its fun to watch the tach and the speedometer both climb at the same rate in fourth gear. Handles and rides like a dream, supurb seats and can still put two golf bags in the back plus the cooler with room left over. Fold the rear seats down and the carrying capacity is huge! Has four seats, but really its a two person car. Been bulletproof so far!
 
You can pick up a Lotus 7 in the $15-17K range.

No doors, no top, barely sufficient fenders -- your basic 4 tires, 2 seats and an engine type of car. You get 1100 lbs of car and, depending on the engine up to 250 hp (typical weight to power is 3.7 lbs/1 hp).

Bruce
 
Bill Jennings said:
We had a Z3 2.8 before child, and while it was a nice car, it had far too many rattles, squeaks, and things underneath that went floppy floppy for a $40k car. All these things were surfacing at about 35000mi.
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Try the Honda S2000. Same performance, $10,000 less, legendary Honda reliability, no rattles, handles like a slot car.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Looking for a zippy (good acceleration), fun, good handling, fairly economical car to drive when I'm by myself just for having fun. Must be stick shift. Don't want to pay a lot, because this car will in all likelyhood be driven hard and put away wet.

Thinking, Civic Si, Scion tC, Mini, Miata, etc. Any recommendations?
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Drive the new Jetta before you decide. You can even get a diesel, and it gets 45 mpg.
 
Shipoke said:
Bill ,my vote is for a MGB, Fun to drive,good on gas, and not to pricey,
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Not too pricey until you add up the mechanics' bills. I had a 1976 MG Midget a little over 20 years ago. You didn't walk up to that car without a wrench and a screwdriver in your hands. A mechanic's delight, it was. And don't get me (or anyone else on this board) started about Lucas electrics. :D
 
Anthony said:
You forgot, never runs in the rain (Lucas, Prince of Darkness elec sys.) is a b*tch to work on and the only place to get parts is Moss Motors. :D

(Former MGA and MGB owner)
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Or off the road behind another MGB. :D Back when I bought my Midget there was a shop in Santa Clara that restored MGs. They had a bumper sticker that I should have purchased. "I'll have you know that the parts falling off this car are of the highest British quality!"
 
Ken Ibold said:
The problem with the non-turbo 924 is that cursed underpowered VW-Audi engine. Odds are previous owners have thrashed the thing trying to wring Porsche performance out of it. But there is the later model 924S, which had the 944 engine and the 924's bad rep, so you could probably find a deal there.
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True, but they handle thrshing pretty well, we used to run a lot of NO2 through one that never blew. They are stoutly built for their annemic power and they are cheap and easy to rebuild. Parts are available to jack performance.
 
Ghery said:
Not too pricey until you add up the mechanics' bills. I had a 1976 MG Midget a little over 20 years ago. You didn't walk up to that car without a wrench and a screwdriver in your hands. A mechanic's delight, it was. And don't get me (or anyone else on this board) started about Lucas electrics. :D
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I'll have to find a photo of an MGB a friend of mine owned in high school. It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen (up to that point - and it still ranks high). He spent a TON of money restoring it... original color was called Black Tulip which was black with just a hint of purple when the sun shone on it... then after it was restored being an 18 yr old kid proceeded to thrash it.

sigh.
 
Listen to Bruce. Best bang for the buck is a used Miata. Lots available, great aftermarket go fast goodies and mods.
 
Actually ... it's an MX6 ... the RX has the rotary engine.

That trunk space is a real bonus ... I call it a three body trunk. I can actually haul a 24' extension latter in my 89 Probe GT with the back seats down and close the rear hatch.

If you haven't already, look at adding front/rear strut tower bars. Any cheapie set off of E-bay will do just fine. The difference in handling is profound.

Gary said:
If you are going new, lots of good choices.

If you want cheap and used, a Ford Probe GT (actually a Mazda RX7?, with a Ford body) is worth looking at. I've got a '93, not real fast off the line but 20 to 90 MPH is quite impressive. A good match with the 2.5L OHC V-6 and a five speed. Has a good wide torque range and its fun to watch the tach and the speedometer both climb at the same rate in fourth gear. Handles and rides like a dream, supurb seats and can still put two golf bags in the back plus the cooler with room left over. Fold the rear seats down and the carrying capacity is huge! Has four seats, but really its a two person car. Been bulletproof so far!
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this morning on the way to work an OLD (but pristine) Silver Shadow came onto the Toll Road right in front of me. Just some guy commuting to work - he looked fairly young, too. (mid 30s).

rsh1_lrx21368.jpg


it looked like this only brown.
 
I've kinda been looking for a clunker to keep in a distant city instead of renting. Ran across a guy selling a 1972 Ford Maverick - asking price $4,000. He called it a 'classic'....
 
wsuffa said:
Ran across a guy selling a 1972 Ford Maverick - asking price $4,000. He called it a 'classic'....
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Now that's a classic. Run away fast. They were a dog when they were new.
 
Anthony said:
Now that's a classic. Run away fast. They were a dog when they were new.
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Not sure they sold for as much as $4000 new, either. Run, don't walk, the other way.
 
Well, if Porsche is what you want, I know where you can find a sweet '88 911 Carrera Cabrio with 39k original miles, new top and tires at a good price. I, oops, I mean the owner can't drive it very much these days.

If not, I say Miata. It's what an MG (or Spitfire) would be if it had Japanese quality. Great little buggy! For a little more money, that S2000 is definitely a nice set of wheels.

As far as the Probe goes, been there, done that, in a V6. You can do a lot better for handling. Nice car, but better options are out there.

Maverick? The Pinto on steroids? One word -- UGH!
 
woodstock said:
you know, I don't think one single guy has responded to the females on this thread...
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Well, I'm not a single guy (;) ), but I did see your responses. Lotus would be interesting, but there is no dealer within at least 2 hrs one way, BTDT, not interested in a 4 hr+ roundtrip for service or parts. What a PITA.

I saw the Rolls, and don't think of that as a nice small zippy good handling car. :no:

I'm going to test drive the Scion tC and the Miata this Saturday, and see if either of those hit the fun button. As I said, I don't want to spend a lot because I'm going to drive it hard. Per Missa, I'll also give the GM twins (the Pontiac Solstace and Saturn whatever) a whirl as well.

If I didn't have such bad past experience with VW, I'd even look at the turbo Beelte convert, but I don't think I can give VW any more money.

I kinda like the Honda Civic Si, but I'd rather have a root canal than deal with most Honda dealers. (Why is it the Japanese dealers are SOOOO infested with sharks and leisure suit Larrys??? I need three showers just to get the slime off after visiting a Honda or Toyota dealer.)
 
woodstock said:
this morning on the way to work an OLD (but pristine) Silver Shadow came onto the Toll Road right in front of me. Just some guy commuting to work - he looked fairly young, too. (mid 30s).


it looked like this only brown.
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I got to ride in a RR Silver Shadow. A colleague/potential business partner picked me up at LHR to take me to a meeting. NICE.

Then I learned about why not to buy Land Rovers/Range Rovers, which are, as best I was able to learn, typically British cars (got a spanner in the boot?).
 
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