Fun car for 1500 ?

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I had a mk2 mx5 was a brilliant car and my apprentice has a b16a2 civic which is a lot fun aswell but there 2.5k for an ek4 and ep3 would be a dog at the price He wants to pay.
 
Diddums said:
For what it's worth, the R50 Mini One is a Cooper with a shorter gearbox and the throttle is limited to 77%. This can be undone with a Bluefin Superchips (£250) which means that you have a Mini Cooper with shorter ratios, and it's great fun to drive
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You're kidding?
The sneaky sneakersons.
 
Nope, true story :D

Really makes a big difference to the car too. Add in an good airbox and some people have reported 45bhp extra. That's a 50% boost to the car's power for a fairly small layout.
 
Salting of UK roads usually is the additional factor for rust problems. The MX-5 Mk3 (NC) was a lot better in terms of rust proofing. However, the paint is still painfully thin.
 
mx5 is a great choice.
There isn't much to go wrong.
Parts are cheap and tires are small. Engines seem strong mine is on 156k now and it's still going.

Mine went rusty on the sills but it wasn't expensive to get it through the mot. Being black helped a I didn't bother with proper gloss paint, but it looks OK.

Abs sensors fail so check the light isn't on.

I also had to buy a new cat and alternator.

Other than consumables that's all I've spent in 5 years.

I would be lucky to get £1000 for mine, there are loads about.
I went to look at 6 in a weekend and bought the best one.
Probably buy another when this one has a major problem.
 
Saxo VTS. I drive new rental cars quite a lot. Always wish I was in my VTS.

I've had the old owners of my VTS (the guy I bought mine from - who bought a Civic Type-R - and the guy before him) ask me for mine back.

One day I'm going to get that rear axle replaced and back to fun.

Or of course get the 106 GTi which is the same thing, but some say more sophisticated.
 
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Schism said:
Or of course get the 106 GTi which is the same thing, but some say more sophisticated.
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And cost rather a lot more than £1500 these days.

Something a lot of people are ignoring / forgetting is that whilst loads of these cars may cost £1500, they will want similar again spending on them to fix / refresh loads of components to get them driving really well again.
A decent condition one of any of the above examples will be more than £1500.
 
I have owned a 1992 MK1 for 4 years now.
Rust aside, everything else lasts. They are easy to fix, cheap to fix and very reliable.
As rust is 99% of the reason for scrapping, all other parts are totally worthless. An engine is £150, a gearbox for £20 goodness sake, because they just never die.
Heck, a brand new roof fitted along with four midrange tyres fully fitted can be done for £500.

It really is the perfect blend of looks/hassle/cost/fun.
You can find a non rusty mx5 for under a grand still. They really are outstanding cars.

Yes other cars are sportier looking, faster and overall 'better' but as previously mentioned, the £:fun ratio goes to the MX5 every single time and it has done for years.

Youtube and forums cover absolutely any modification or repair you will ever need to do.

My MX5 was £900 with zero rust.
This time of year is perfect for buying them.
Buy one and slap four new tyres plus a full laser allignment and thank me later :). I often use mine for the 80 mile round trip for work!

EDIT: Everything you need to know about the MX5. https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=25477468&postcount=3
 
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robfosters said:
My dads RX-8 was a fun car.
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One of these I would recommend very highly if the op can afford the fuel bills and don't mind having no low end torque


Am Missing mine...:( I never goy bored of driving it even after 5 years and doing 37,000 miles in it
 
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InvaderGIR said:
And cost rather a lot more than £1500 these days.

Something a lot of people are ignoring / forgetting is that whilst loads of these cars may cost £1500, they will want similar again spending on them to fix / refresh loads of components to get them driving really well again.
A decent condition one of any of the above examples will be more than £1500.
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Yeah true. I did paid £900 for mine a few years ago, though I haven't kept up with how much they are worth now. Of course there's the 8 Valve VTR which is probably cheaper, but then I'd personally be considering an MX5 if not the VTS/GTi.
 
Xsara VTS. Had one years ago, they were great fun. With almost 170bhp, basically a 306 GTI-6. Bit rarer these days, a very quick car that handled really well.
 
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