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Corrado is a great suggestion but I feel they are getting into the realms of being a bit of an enthusiasts car now and are likely to need a bit of regular fettling. I think the 2.9 V6 they use is a lot more reliable than the 2.8 you find in MKIII Golfs. Personally I'd even have a (rebuilt) G60.
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Thanks, as I said before, i take the pokes at my expense on the chin, you have to expect that on any forum. The SX owners club forum is full of people who have said "yup.. happened to me too", sometimes luck kicks in and you get away with it, yesterday an experienced driver who had a 200SX for yonks spun 360 in it..
As also said before, even if I could learn how to handle such an exciting car safely, life is too short, and what about Mrs G who will be driving the car to and from her place of work, she certainly doesn't have the time (4 kids, busy job, me away a lot) to go on a skid pan etc. Interestingly she did do a police sponsored course on advance driving techniques, and I asked her if there was any mention of the different characteristics of FWD, RWD, etc, and she said absolutely not. It was largely about reading the road, anticipating events, etc. There was some coverage of using the right gears, but then in an Auto (without a tiptronic style overiider) you can't even take full responsibilty of that.
I go away next week, and have asked Mrs G to check out Pug 406 Coupe, Honda Accord Coupe, and Volvo C70. Even if they are not the actual examples I would buy, I have found her one of each locally to look at. When I get back next week, I will see what she is reporting about them, any she has taken a dislike too I will rule out what she doesn't like.
Guy
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If your wife has time to go around checking a number of car, perhaps she could also slip a skid pan session into her schedule? Good for her, that she has had an advanced driving session, but skid pan training is be useful for any vehicle, rwd, fwd, awd. What surprised me was how rapidly you had to respond once the car began to lose grip. Came in useful more than once.
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MX5
With a hardtop if you want.
And some track day tuition, which will be both educational and great fun.
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The 200SX is a bit tricky to drive - which is why in the past on here I have written that I am not keen on them. A combination of RWD, not much weight at the back, a turbo and auto means they can be a handfull. Its the sudden changes in torque that catch you out. My 500bhp GTR is easier and more forgiving than a standard S14a auto. There is a big roundabout near me that tends to get greasy. I well remember pulling out onto it in an SX one very wet day, the car was hardly moving forward, but the back end went sideways.
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Thanks for thaty observation, it confirms what I have been saying all along, in my case it was worse than a greasy roundabout, an amount of top soil and grass had been left on the road at the roundabout exit at a point where some earth moving unit had heaped up a bank of soil to keep travellers out of a feld and then driven on to the road. If you look at the photo on the sxoc web-site you can see that bank of soil. The soil on the road had turned in to slime on the road, and the fact that it is only a few feet from where I left the road to where the car came to rest shows there was NO time to take evasive corrective action.
I loved the car, but precisely because of its wayward handling characteristcs, I decided after long consideration (and concern for safety of others) that I would not have another one. Contributors can go down the "learn to handle your car" route, but those that know it, know it kind of does this, and as also said the owners club is full of stories of similar incidents from drivers who DO no on track days, learn the handling etc etc. Even un-modified these cars are often advertised as Nissan 200SX Drift Car, what's a drift car? something that likes going sideways i presume, fine if you are on the test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome, but not a lot of use on the A1081.
I think I will feel a lot safer in something like the Honda Accord of Volvo C70.
Guy
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There are so few Honda Accord Coupes around, I found one drove what felt like miles to see it and it was in terrible shape, the seller hadn't looked after it, some quite bad body work damage including to moulded bumpers, filthy dirty etc.
Looked at a C70 in budget, it was a tired old thing, felt like it had done twice as many miles as indicated.
Looked at a Cougar, same, 20,000 miles less on it than the Nissan I had, but felt like it had done 40,000 more. So much wear and tear in the cabin! drove nicely though so I may look for a cleaner one.
Drove a Pug 406 Coupe, 3.0 V6 auto. Found steering too light and lacking in feel, found the auto box very very responsive, kickdown is real slow. Not much urge to the car at all.
God that Nissan is a hard act to follow!
Cougar gets closest if I can find a clean one in budget, which should be possible given there are quite a few around.,
Guy
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So, I gave up trying to find a Honda Accord Coupe, the one I did see was so tired, and there were so few around as to make it too hard to find one. I looked at two Cougars, but even looking at one with under 40K miles on it, showed real signs of wear and tear on the interior. Leather seats wear through, centre console scratches easily and looks real scruffy around the hand break, nothing is screwed in tight, its a shame cos it drives beautifully, but feel like it was put together with less TLC than an entry level Ka.
Pug 406 Coupe, I tried a V6 auto as above, went back and tried it a second time, it just left me completely un-moved, not an involving drive at all, and certainly lacked any feel of sportiness. I did find a manual one advertised by a dealer a few miles away, but he messed me around, cancelled the test drive several times, and then told me it was withdrawn from sale, so I never saw it in the flesh.
I found another much nicer C70 and was tempted, but could not get comfortable in the driving seat, there were two "height adjustment" controls but both rock the seat, albeit on different axis, problem with a rocking action is that if the front edge comes up, bum goes down, and vice/versa, that is NOT height adjustment in my book. I also found the steering and clutch very heavy in traffic.
Found and tried a Hyundai V6 Tiptronic Auto. Drove it back to back after the Pug. very nice. Much more get up and go to it then the pug, I like the looks ( a bit Porsche like from some angles) the one I found was same colour scheme as my Nissan which I lost, (sounds trivial but I think dark blue and black leather looks great on a coupe). Easy to get comfortable in it, quite a classy bespoke interior not lifted out of another model (a la Pug coupe)
It was more than I intended paying, but research showed it was a very fair price for that car/age/spec, and depreciation seems good.
I bought it.
very happy so far, only had it 1 day though.
Guy
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SNIP (and if you were wondering why) - www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=33415
DD
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Did you get the Gen 1, the pug ugly restyle (aka GenII) or the Ferarri-360-a-like Gen III?
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I got a 2002 3rd generation model (i think it is the 3rd) - anyway I do know it is the current one, albeit one of the first imported (feb 02) - I think it is the best looking of all versions.
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I'd agree it's a great looking car and if you squint a bit it has the look of a Ferrari that's shrunk in the wash a bit.
I'd imagine the V6 suits the autobox well. Good luck with it.
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Hope you enjoy it; after stoically enduring the worst that this site has to offer (see above), you deserve to.
Alternatively, here's the usual-
*insert self-righteous post about how I'm such an expert driver here*
*insert sanctimonious post about how the OP needs driving course/skid pan day/potty training here*
*display keyboard warrior's personality defects here*
(this does not apply to all by any means- Aprilia for one is always informative, polite and articulate- but the ego disease seems to be spreading...)
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*display keyboard warrior's personality defects here*
Pot, kettle, black.
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Congrats on the Hyundai. Its been good to read of the buying process and will be interesting to hear your comments as your ownership progresses. This one is certainly on my list as a possible "me car" once I am in a position to move on from the Mondeo.
_______
IanS
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An old thread, but as the person who kicked it off, I thought I'd post an update..
As reader may recall, I had a Nissan 200SX turbo S14 Touring Auto, which went off the road in slippery wet conditions and was declared a write off. Lets not go down the "learn to drive route", that discussion was exhausted at the time of starting this thread...
however to update
To replace the 200Sx, I bought a Hyundai V6 Tiptronic Autoi Coupe, but after a weeks of ownership I realised this was a mistake. The suspension is just so hard, that driving it around St Albans area with its awful road surfaces, potholes left right and centre, and speedbumps in every turn was just a dreadul experience. I would literally brace myself physically when going over a bump even at 10 - 15 mph, and I realised it had to go when one night I had to pick up my daughter from the railway station, and I couldn't face driving it, and without any thought instinctively went for my Mitsubish 7 seater Grandis MPV!
At this point another car I had seen during the search, a Peugeot 406 V6 Coupe, was still on the same garage forecourt, and had been dropped in price by about £1k since I had seen it first. To cut a long story short, I sold the Hyundai and bought the Pug.
Far happier now...
BUT... I can't see myself keeping it for too long, largely because although it is much more compliant in it's suspension, and far more comfortable for driver and passengers, and goes well too, this particular one is 9 years old, and shows it in places, and still is not as responsive to drive as the 200SX.
I would love another SX, but SO many SX owners contacted me saying "yes they do that" that I can't see it happening,
So, I have been thinking Skyline GTR, similar to SX, but with 4 wheel drive, traction control etc. Wouldn't need a tuned one, a base model with 280bhp would be more than enough for me, but to be honest I don't know where to start looking. There are loads of R33 and R34s around, but I don't know enough about the car to know UK official import from grey import, one version from another, dodgy mods, to sensible mods etc etc. its a specialist motor and I would not want to make a bad mistake buying a bad one.
I would love to find a specialist reseller of these cars or similar, would anyone like to recommend a dealer? As with the 200SX I owned I would want an un-modded, un tuned model in really nice condition.
Other thought is an early RX8, but have not driven one.
Guy
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subaru svx - but allow for possible gearbox problems
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Guygamps, you sound as if like all of us you want two vehicles in one, have just reread the thread and i don't think you want driving lessons but maybe you should be giving lessons in patience cos mine would have snapped at some of the patronising comments you recieved.
Don't care how binking good you are when the conditions go wrong for you as in your case a sudden change in road surface things can turn nasty.
Have you thought about going down the Merc route i'm thinking of maybe a c class with the 230 kompressor engine. surprisingly powerful and lovely RWD handling, also very comfortable ride quality, i make this suggestion as you didn't like the ride in the hyundai, pity cos i reckon theyre good cars my son had two and he couldn't break them and thats saying something (he isn't a saint unlike me of course) hmm.
We tried a skyline a few years back and the very hard ride (noisy too) put me off completely plus parts and service/repair costs could be high and difficult to source everything.
I know mercs have their rust issues and beemers have their own problems (flashing indicators missing being one) but you will have to service and repair the car and the parts and indy backup for these two is good.
Another unusual and fast car the previous shape lexus is300 in saloon or sport estate form, very fast and quite unique but you do need traction with this vehicle also.
Sorry to waffle on so long good luck in hunt
ttfn
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You're brave, sticking your head above the parapet again! Aprillia's got a Skyline if I recall correctly so hopefully he'll chip in before long.
Have you considered a Mitsubishi FTO? There was a thread on here a little while back singing their praises as exactly the sort of car you're after. It's here :
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=51502&...e
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Soupytwist !
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I'm slightly unnerved that a fairly standard saloon car is so prone to being written off under fairly normal driving conditions and that it is so dangerous that a driver should have to take additional training before sitting behind the wheel.
Somewhat irresponsible of the manufacturer, perhaps? You might imagine you needed further training to drive a Porsche; but a Nissan saloon?
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Thanks for the suggestion of the Mitsubishi, certainly worth investigating. As for being brave, the nonsense thrown at me just makes me smile, it doesn't offend, the value of suggestions from the forum outweighs the nonsense you have to accept from some contributores. As I said somewhere above, to one extent I have to accept it was me that had the accident, so to a degree I take on the chin, but then I take comfort in story after story after story either on the SX owners club site, or e-mailed to me privately of similar incidences in this car.
To defend Nissan a little perhaps, it is not a standard saloon, it is a rear wheel drive coupe, with 200bhp. That in itself is not the issue, what I came to learn is that the combination of the automatic box and the turbocharger means that as the revs increase, a huge amount of torgue goes to the rear wheels, and they can loose grip on slippery surfaces at that time. On a manual you could just dip the clutch if your reactions are fast enough, but there is less you can do with an auto.
In my case the distance from the loss of traction to final resting place was about 10meters, maybe less, and the speed was fairly low (though I was accelerating, hence the torque), but there was probably no time to take corrective action, it was all over before I knew it.
I do like the look of the FTO... is it a 4 seater? or 2? I need a 4 seater, but I want a sports coupe NOT a hot hatch. Having said that, the Alfa 147 or new shape Seat Leon have coupe"ish" overtones which i rather like, but a hot Golf/Focus type euro box does NOT appeal.
Guy
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How about a nice example of the best model of the best car VW ever built (or are ever likely to on current form)
tinyurl.com/27pa8d
Ticks all your boxes. 4 seats (just), coupe, brilliantly built and with the added bonus that you will always sell one of these on easily and for good money if you keep it in good condition.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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£5k for that load of old pony!
I have vivid memories of standing on my drive, car keys in hand, with my wife laughing at the sight of my Corrado, engine running and wipers going nuts.
The car that convinced me never to get another VW.
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I have vivid memories of slinging one around the Brands Indy circuit and laughing so hard into my lid that I had to remind myself to concentrate on what I was doing.
The VR6 engine is a peach, and the chassis is without a doubt the second best front driver I have ever experienced (only behind the Pug 306). Balance and feel by the bucketload.
£5k is too much though, I agree. There are good ones for a grand less.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Can't really help much, but can comfirm the FTO is, supposedly, a four seater, as I have sat in the back of one. However, it was only for 10 minutes, and I wouldn't want to be in there longer than that, tbh. It was a tight fit even for a racing snake such as I.
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Gosh this looks tempting, anyone know much about these....
tinyurl.com/2vc534
incredible looking machine for something 16 years old..
Anyone know a specialist who could check it out for me?
What does the forum think....
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Any recommendations regarding insurance - complications being a) it is an import, and I don't know which questions to ask the seller about SVA etc, nor would I know the answers if asked anything by a telephone sales person in this area, what are the issues in insurin an auto, b) it is a very powerful performance car and some insurers will charge over the odds, c) I just had that incident in the Nissan this year, my only accident in 18 years but still likely not to help me get a good quote.
Got a quote on line for insurance from the AA - approx £1000 per annum, 25% the cars value... doesn't feel right.
Guy
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i'd advise against the mitsi - a friend of mine had one for a while and now now sold it to buy something less expensive to run - he's got rid of the GTO and got an EVO FQ MR320. He took ages to find a well looked after genuine UK car but it cost him a fortune to run. Last bill was £2.5K for a full gearbox and transmission rebuild.
However if you do get one go for a UK spec one, strangely enought you get a better spec with leather interior and also slightly more powerful.
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Whatever you buy spend some of the budget on a book called "Roadcraft"
Will tell you what to look out for e.g. loose road surface or mud on road.
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