From: hippo on
su27dvr wrote:
>
> I'm looking to buy a used sports car for our family of 3 (2 parents around
> 50 and a 17 year old son) - 2nd car to replace an aging Commodore. -
> Considering an open roadster - 2 seater - used around year 2000. Budget up
> to $15k. Wife and son only know automatics but are both happy to learn
> manual or sequential shift. Want to keep maintenance costs reasonable. have
> been considering MR2 (series 3), MX-5, MG-F, Alfa Spyder, maybe S2000 under
> 20k. Are there any other models in Oz (sydney surrounds) that we should
> consider and what is the opinion on reliabilty on any of the above. Does it
> make any sense in the sydney traffic - maybe some sports car owners are
> happy to share their experiences.
>
>
>
>
>

MX5 - hard to go wrong within reason - try to get an unmodified one with
lowish kms and a verifiable history.

MR2 - if they won't drive an manual, they almost certainly won't want to
find out how to drive a mid engined car properly.

MGF - don't even think about it. (Son's FIL has one that was absolutely
fine for a few years and then started to self destruct in increasingly
expensive ways. The handling is at best 'disappointing' too.

Alfa Spyder - looks nice (in a gentlemanly sort of way) and the beginning
of ALfa's claims to making cars with some sort of effort at reliability,
but getting a bit long in the tooth.

S2000 - Personally? Yes I would in a flash, but then I live down the South
Coast where I could enjoy driving something that is best treated a bit
like a sports bike. Plonking round in Sydney traffic would be really
frustrating most of the time, becuase the poor thing would hardly ever get
enough revs on board to produce any torque.

FWIW, if they just want the top down experience & prefer an auto, maybe a
Golf or Astra cabrio might be worth considering too. Less money and more
seats. Cheers

--
Posted at www.usenet.com.au
From: Fraser Johnston on

"D Walford" <dwalford(a)internode.on.net> wrote in message
news:4bf6296a$0$27843$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com...
> On 21/05/2010 1:36 PM, Fraser Johnston wrote:
>> " Scotty"<scoter1(a)warmmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:4bf31cce$0$4811$afc38c87(a)news.optusnet.com.au...
>>> I seriously doubt that you have driven either, I picture you as a pimple
>>> faced weed with his face
>>> pushed up against the fence of the local clubman circuit salivating the
>>> thought that you could
>>> afford the spectator entry fee let alone being able to actually
>>> participate.
>>>
>>> And as far as knowing the vehicles, I'll admit that I've never owned an
>>> Elise
>>> but I've raced against
>>> one in an unmodified MX5, something that I'm sure is far inferior to your
>>> fantasies.
>>
>> I've driven both. And more than one modified MX-5. The Elise is way
>> quicker
>> off the mark, steers better, brakes WAY WAY better and is much lighter. I
>> can't see an MX-5 keeping up with one without at least 15 grands of mods and
>> some sort of major engine work.
>>
>> The elise however costs a bomb, is unreliable, leaks when it rains, has no
>> boot
>> and is a prick to get in and out of, even more with the roof on.
>
> There are quite a few different models of both the Elise and the MX5 so maybe
> if you compared an early Elise with a late model MX5 the difference may not
> be so great.
> The Series 2 Elises with the Toyota engines and gearboxes did a lot to
> improve reliability and should easily snot any MX5 and even more so for the
> supercharged version although the rare turbo MX5 would be no slouch.
> You don't actually get into an Elise, you put it on:-)

Elise and Mazda were both series ones.

Fraser


From: st3ph3nm on
On May 21, 4:59 pm, Oz...(a)Crackerbox-Palace.com wrote:
> On Fri, 21 May 2010 11:33:16 +0800, "Fraser Johnston"
>
> <ftr...(a)iinet.net.au> wrote:
>
> >> Interestingly at Wakefield, A lightly modified NC MX5 is only slightly
> >> slower than an Elise driven by a similarly skilled driver.
>
> >I highly doubt that.
>
> >Fraser
>
> Jeez Fraser,
> I posted the link to the last meeting, posted Youtube links to MX5s
> being "slightly slower" than Elises on other circuits
>
> You can doubt all you like...but the reality is as I've said.
>
> BTW the mods to that make the MX5 "slightly slower are in one case,
> springs on std shocks, a set of headers, a CAI,8"wide wheels with R
> specs and better brake pads on std disks.
> Another "slightly slower" has coilovers as well.
> The Elise is on R specs.
>
> OzOne of the three twins
>
> I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace.

How about some lap times?

MX5 club last year's Sandown results (September) - fastest Modified
(and a lap record, apparently) 1:32.95. Unmodified (a standard NB):
1:42.075.

http://www.mx5vic.org.au/

MSCA sprints at Sandown in January this year, only the two slowest ran
slower than 1:39.26. Of the rest of them, 4 Elises did 1:31's or
better, the fastest pulling a 1:28.75! Four seconds faster than the
fastest MX5.

http://www.msca.net.au/2010results.htm

I think it's fair to say that bang for your buck, the MX5 is a pretty
damn impressive car. But not nearly as quick as an Elise.

Cheers,
Steve
From: Noddy on

"st3ph3nm" <sgam(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:e0cc666f-ec7d-4299-847b-

> I think it's fair to say that bang for your buck, the MX5 is a pretty
> damn impressive car.

A great drive, sure, but terribly under-powered for mine. Then again,
they're aimed at the "hair dresser" demographic, which is more about show
than go. Some time ago there was a company that did a V8 conversion on the
things (pretty sure it was an MX5) and apparently they were an awesome
drive. Used a GenIII V8 if I remember correctly.

Now that's a car I'd like to have a steer of :)

> But not nearly as quick as an Elise.

Not even close, but then our resident world champion who can't even remember
what class he raced in or didn't keep any of the trophies he won will tell
you otherwise.

Of course, it pays to bear in mind that he *also* believes his supercharged
awd Magna is a world beating car too :)

--
Regards,
Noddy.



From: D Walford on
On 25/05/2010 2:02 PM, st3ph3nm wrote:
> On May 21, 4:59 pm, Oz...(a)Crackerbox-Palace.com wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 May 2010 11:33:16 +0800, "Fraser Johnston"
>>
>> <ftr...(a)iinet.net.au> wrote:
>>
>>>> Interestingly at Wakefield, A lightly modified NC MX5 is only slightly
>>>> slower than an Elise driven by a similarly skilled driver.
>>
>>> I highly doubt that.
>>
>>> Fraser
>>
>> Jeez Fraser,
>> I posted the link to the last meeting, posted Youtube links to MX5s
>> being "slightly slower" than Elises on other circuits
>>
>> You can doubt all you like...but the reality is as I've said.
>>
>> BTW the mods to that make the MX5 "slightly slower are in one case,
>> springs on std shocks, a set of headers, a CAI,8"wide wheels with R
>> specs and better brake pads on std disks.
>> Another "slightly slower" has coilovers as well.
>> The Elise is on R specs.
>>
>> OzOne of the three twins
>>
>> I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace.
>
> How about some lap times?
>
> MX5 club last year's Sandown results (September) - fastest Modified
> (and a lap record, apparently) 1:32.95. Unmodified (a standard NB):
> 1:42.075.
>
> http://www.mx5vic.org.au/
>
> MSCA sprints at Sandown in January this year, only the two slowest ran
> slower than 1:39.26. Of the rest of them, 4 Elises did 1:31's or
> better, the fastest pulling a 1:28.75! Four seconds faster than the
> fastest MX5.
>
> http://www.msca.net.au/2010results.htm
>
> I think it's fair to say that bang for your buck, the MX5 is a pretty
> damn impressive car. But not nearly as quick as an Elise.

That was a very hot day with strong north winds but my mate in his
Clubman who was 25th fastest that day did his best ever lap at 1.29.9449.
It was so hot at the end of his last run that without gloves you
couldn't touch the gear lever.
The GT40 that was third fastest blew a tyre coming onto the front
straight which made lots of interesting noise getting everyone to run
out of the pit garages to see what the hell was going on:-)
Believe it or not the Clubman that was 4th fastest is powered by an old
Ford Kent engine and the bloody thing is ballistic.



Daryl