Panda 100HP - Am I nuts?

Scottland said:
I've had it 4 years now, and I'm bored of it essentially. I originally wanted something a little bigger, but I can do without if it means having something I enjoy driving and I can have fun in.



Insurance for MX5 vs S2000 is about £300 difference, which isn't a huge amount. From what I've read, the fuel economy and running costs aren't hugely dissimilar either - the main cost with the S2000 is making sure the geo is setup right and possible replacing all the bushes at some cost (about £1000).
Click to expand...

I've been looking into them as well and I'm getting the same story with insurance. I'm getting quotes of around £700, an MX5 will be about £450. Definitely not an amount of money that would sway my decision.

If you could live with an S2000 as your everyday car, it says to me that you definitely don't need a bigger car than the 172. Save up for the S2000. What year and price would you be looking at?
 
S2000 quotes aren't bad for me either, about £700 and I paid (from memory) about £450/500 just now for a civic diesel. 28 with 5 yrs no claims. I've never noticed them to be particularly expensive to insure compared to any car with similar performance. Not even that much more than my old mr2 really
 
Malc said:
If you could live with an S2000 as your everyday car, it says to me that you definitely don't need a bigger car than the 172. Save up for the S2000. What year and price would you be looking at?
Click to expand...

Day to day it isn't an issue, its for the times when I want to take trips with luggage, or other people. But I've come to the conclusion for the amount of times a year I need to do it, I'm quite happy to borrow a car or hire one.
 
Awesome car to drive, had one as a company car when they first came out.

Took it to Scotland on a course and the dealership got 2 phone calls complaining about my driving! I normally drive well but this thing made me drive like a hooligan.
 
The Panda 100HP is supposed to be a great drive. Never tried one, but if its comparable to a Twingo 133 Renaultsport you'll enjoy it.

The conversations comparing MX5's in here are simple to answer as an ex S2000 owner..

The MX5 is a fantastic car. Amazing handling, a fantastic entry into cheap soft top sports car action. Comparing it in any way to an S2000 in any way other than 'its a soft top' is like me claiming I bought the S2000 as I couldn't quite stretch to a Gallardo Spyder. Totally different classes of cars. The MX5 is a fantastic car for cheap bits and bobs and comparable running costs to a Fiesta Zetec S. The S2000 is on a totally different level for fuel, servicing, repair, and generally any costs at all. Its closer to a Boxster/Z4 of decent flavours in terms of overall cost of ownership.
 
Conanius said:
The Panda 100HP is supposed to be a great drive. Never tried one, but if its comparable to a Twingo 133 Renaultsport you'll enjoy it.

The conversations comparing MX5's in here are simple to answer as an ex S2000 owner..

The MX5 is a fantastic car. Amazing handling, a fantastic entry into cheap soft top sports car action. Comparing it in any way to an S2000 in any way other than 'its a soft top' is like me claiming I bought the S2000 as I couldn't quite stretch to a Gallardo Spyder. Totally different classes of cars. The MX5 is a fantastic car for cheap bits and bobs and comparable running costs to a Fiesta Zetec S. The S2000 is on a totally different level for fuel, servicing, repair, and generally any costs at all. Its closer to a Boxster/Z4 of decent flavours in terms of overall cost of ownership.
Click to expand...

If you wouldn't mind Conanius, could you run through some of the running costs on yours?
 
I looked at these a short while back and found them to be quite expensive for what they were, nearly 2x the price of a similar age slower panda. Thats perhaps a good sign though, that people seem to be prepared to pay well for them.

Not sure if i could do it though, I'd probably be thinking about the extra power a fiesta ST or clio 197 would give for similarish money and those two aren't short on handling and fun.
 
Scottland said:
If you wouldn't mind Conanius, could you run through some of the running costs on yours?
Click to expand...

As several owners on here will comment, I am on the mental side of enthusiast when it came to running my S2000. I dealt with issues others accepted due to the value/age of their car.

Insurance when I bought the car in 2007 was £2000 for the point of this thread. I was 22 and I had no experience of anything quicker than a Puma VCT. This made insurance tough as specialist brokers wanted a years experience in a comparable performance car to insure me. By the time I sold it in 2010 I was paying the right side of £600.

Fuel was, hmm. I always used V Power as I was a fuel snob and figured what the hell. If I was an angel I think I once managed 290.something before I literally cried at the joy of seeing a fuel pump. Worst case was sub 100miles to the fuel light on a track day.

I did every single service at a Honda Main Dealer as Jorge at Crown Honda Bushey was _THE_ Honda mechanic you wanted servicing your car in the owners club circles. He quit Crown Honda in 2009 so my last Service was with a guy called Hamish from Moto Dynamics near to Chiswick, an NSX Trained Honda Service Tech. I had everything done by the book and services varied wildly in price garage to garage. I went above and beyond required service intervals as I was tracking the car (and giving every ounce I could whilst on track) so fluid changes like diff+gearbox oils happened more regularly for me. I think my biggest ever bill was £800 for a clutch change as you had to take the subframe off and I went for a 'better' clutch as earlier ones used to buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The Tyres are actually amazingly cheap. I was paying circa £350 for a set of Potenza RE050AZ's with S2KUK discount which is amazing. I had 16's on my car, I think the 17's are slightly more pricey.

Doing 'stuff' to the S2000 is criplingly expensive. Fancy getting Coilovers? a grand. minimum. Fancy a new intake? a grand, a new Exhaust manifold? a grand. etc. Granted, this is with JDM TYTE YO bits, but the ones worth having are silly prices.

I am openly admiting I was beyond I fanboy, I absolutely adored that car and would buy another in a heart beat but I'm not getting younger and I want to own a home someday soon. The S2000 was in my eyes the best car I've ever owned for enjoyment and performance (possibly not hard considering my car history) but the thrill of hitting a decent road on a summers night, roof down and airbox lid off just can't be beaten. The only thing thats come close is a friends 355 Ferrari with aftermarket exhaust. But again, thats a totally different price point.

It saddens me seeing adverts for cars at the 4-5k mark. I've seen some of these examples and they are TOTAL rotters. Unfortunately people buy them and go OMG ITS GASH. Really. You don't say. I'd say 6k is the minimum you can pay for a goodun unless you drop on. DRZ recently had a load of info off me on buying one before he got the MX5 he's done work to. He's an unbiased guy and agreed with me that you just can't get one worth having for cheap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom