Does anyone have any suggestions for a £10k car for weekend fun? I have a Primera GT that i use for Track days, its huge fun, but at 150bhp, its also less powerful than mine and my wifes daily drivers (320d Msport 163bhp & 330d Touring 231bhp). My Rover 216 race car also falls short on the speed front even though its perfect for a budget championship.
I'd like to get a sports saloon in a few months, and the E39 M5 and C32 AMG Kompressor (both circa 2001) seems to be the best bets.
The M5 appears to have some very expensive inherent issues if you buy a lemon, I havent read so much on the Merc, but it appears to loose nothing in perfomance to the BMW. I'm not bothered about Auto or Manual boxes.
The 3rd option was the Audi RS4/RS6. I haven driven a moddified RS4 2.7T V6 (circa 480bhp) from a colleague in Germany, it was certianly a very quick car, but again, i dont know about long term relibility.
I also like the Monaro 5.7V8, seems alot of car for your money, and a few are starting to break close to £10k now, but i'm worried that the lack of ESP may make it a bit of a handful on wet/greasy roads, and wouldn't feel happy about my wife driving it in those conditions (She is only used to driving a FWD hard on Track days).
Any other ideas, comments or suggestions?
Neil
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Coincidentally I saw an E39 M5 today. It was in that metallic blue colour that seems to suit it so well, and on the standard alloys as well. Looked really good.
I briefly toyed with buying one a few years back but decided in favour of an E46 M3 on the basis that it was a more sporting drive. The M5 is not as razor sharp as the M3 and generally feels heavier. On the plus side it is undoubtably a better long distance prospect and the V8 sounds awesome. Also, in Germany anyway, it was difficult to find an M5 that hadn't already covered a zillion miles as an executive company car. I guess the main problem you'll have is finding one that has been well looked after, as servicing is not cheap, and where one of the 10 previous owners has not been tempted to "enhance" the styling or chip tune the engine.
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'Weekend fun car' and 'saloon car' sort of negate each other. To be proper fun, you'll be needing a 2-seater 'proper' sports car. Can't do better than an Elise!
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boxsterboy, thats very true, and I have considered both the Elise, and older Elan 1.6 Turbo as both are light enough for my trailer so I could take to track days further afield, however, I want something that will also cruise the motorways/Autobahns in comfort as I make 5-6 trips a year to Germany to see relatives, and an Elise just doesn't appeal there.
I guess my criteria includes a big 6 / 8 cylinder engine with over 300bhp too :-)
Edited by NeilT on 28/07/2008 at 14:31
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Thats a good point to add, I do want a totally standard car, both in looks and tune. If I did decide to make changes at a later date it certainly wouldn't include styling changes, but I would consider performance/brake etc upgrades from one of the 3 or 4 big BMW tuners (such as Hartge).
I am not a fan of the E46 M3, They are very common around my area, and normally driven by the sort of people I wouldn't want to be stereo typed against (some arent obviously). The M5 is alot more rare, and in my eyes better looking.
Of course, if I had £65k to spend I would be at my BMW dealership today ordering an M5 Touring, In stead, i'm taking delivery of my new company car, a 520d M Sport Touring next month.
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