Now pointy car purchase!

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  • juansolojuansolo Frets: 1773
    Sporky said:
    Congrats man! Looks like a sweet car, just drooled over the configurator.
    What's nice is that it comes as standard with stuff Porsche would want another £8k or so for... 

    The wheels are tricky though. I'm pretty sure I like the 17s best, so that means Pure spec. 

    Also the brown leather option has blue stitching, which pops rather. 
    Late to this thread... Owned a few of the cars mentioned (Elise, Cayman, MX-5), driven some of the others (Evora). You're right on the Cayman, 17's are pretty much essential if you live anywhere with poor roads. The suspension has awesome high speed stability, but man the ride is shit. I wouldn't get too hung up on the options. When I had mine (2.7 running 17's) I used to also play with my brother's Spyder (3.2 on 19's). Honestly, on our roads, I had more fun in mine. The 3.2 has loads more power and grip and all that does is push the fun into proper license losing territory. The narrow 17's just allow it to move around more, and you have to work the engine harder to make it go. Touring Scotland and the Alps with a friend in his V8 Vantage proved that in the real world, you don't really need any more power.

    The Evora is hands down the best driving and handling car I've ever driven. How it deals with our roads defies physics. It also smelled of glue and had a horrid gearbox (I believe the latter has been sorted now). I bloody loved it... However I didn't buy one because I'd just sold my Elise that seemed to be on a mission to disassemble itself every time I drove it. I had so much bother with it I just got rid and bought the Cayman. The flipside of this of course is my brother's Elise that he's had from new and never breaks. Also if you're a big fat bastard like me, getting in and out of it isn't fun.

    I'm currently on my 3rd MX-5. They are the answer to everything if you're actually pragmatic about things. Amazing cars in terms of fun at sensible speeds, reliability and running costs. It's just taken me driving/owning everything else and getting old to realise it.

    There's car stuff on my site. It's all old and out of date, but there it is: car stuff


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  • strtdvstrtdv Frets: 2356
    I see Litchfield have just announced their stage 1 Alpine kit, gives it an extra 50bhp. They're also developing an LSD for it (which I was surprised didn't come as standard)
    Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27586
    I'm not sure it needs more power - at full chat it was just short of proper scary. And even on pretty damp roundabouts it wasn't short of traction - it does the brake-shuffling thing, though I didn't notice it happen. On the same roads the Golf was shuffling power around more noticeably. 

    Others may be more hardcore than me when it comes to booting a mid-engined car around a wet corner, of course. :D

    I was just hoping to add that the post 2015 Evora are a lot "nicer" - the sills aren't a metre wide, the interior isn't awful, and the gear shift is quite decent. The Alpine is a lot more polished though, which will suit some and not others.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256

    Sporks, keep this info coming please - I think the Alpine looks like an ace car, so really interested on this odyssey. Wheels - for me, bigger almost always looks best. I'd live with the impact on ride.

    We are on the brink of getting a Cayman, just want to find out more info on what Porsche are doing with production and models before we go ahead. I hear the S is discontinued.

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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27586
    Well, happy to answer anything I can. I think (not having tried one, so read on that basis) that the Cayman will be more practical - the Alpine has very, very limited luggage space - and probably comparable fun.

    The Alpine didn't have the same steering wiggliness as the Lotus - in the Evora it was as if you could feel every bit of grain in the tarmac - but it certainly wasn't numb. I think it was about the balance; the Evora is more like I imagine a racing car must be like - loud, sharp, loads of feedback, and very mechanical sounding (I'd swear at low speeds I could hear the gear teeth engaging). The Alpine felt a little more like a GT in that respect - it felt lighter, skimming the road where the Evora felt like it was digging into it, still a pretty good gurgly wooshy noise when you push it. Both were fantastic, but I think I'll get more out of a car with just a bit more "sophistication".

    There are a lot of little things which aren't exactly important, but do add up - keyless entry and drive, an electronic handbrake that works perfectly, automatic wipers and headlights, better sat nav. And the interior was nicer. For all that you can very legitimately argue that these aren't what a sports car is about, they do make it more usable more of the time.

    Mostly though it was that it was involving but not hard to drive (unlike the Morgan), it was slightly happier trundling around at 30, and - quite importantly - it felt faster and more exciting at a 70mph cruise than the Evora did. All for a couple of grand less than a 2-3 year old Evora.

    Also the build time (9 months, think I've mentioned that) lines up nicely with other plans.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256

    I think the romance of a sports car that is almost a track car, like the Lotus, falls away after a few days of driving one, when you realise that its not comfortable around town, noisy on the motorway, and gives you a numb arse on any journey of substance! Sad, but true. Same reason I held back from the urge to buy a VX200 Turbo. V tempting, but I bet it would have been sold relatively quickly.


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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    these are pretty pointy


    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • Sham61Sham61 Frets: 26
    I'm jealous. if I had the money to spare I would get one
    Looked at an A110 1300 in the early eighties. Passed on it as I really wanted the 1600. And I couldn't afford the £3k asking price either. Bought an Alfa Spider instead which I still have. Only cost £1.5k. Think the Alpine would be worth a hell of a lot more then my Spider now. 
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27586
    Snap said:

    I think the romance of a sports car that is almost a track car, like the Lotus, falls away after a few days of driving one, when you realise that its not comfortable around town, noisy on the motorway, and gives you a numb arse on any journey of substance! Sad, but true. Same reason I held back from the urge to buy a VX200 Turbo. V tempting, but I bet it would have been sold relatively quickly.


    Amusingly I had exactly that thought about a Lotus Europa S ten years ago, which was pretty much the same car as the VX200 turbo. Great minds etc. 
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256
    edited December 2018
    Sporky said:
    Amusingly I had exactly that thought about a Lotus Europa S ten years ago, which was pretty much the same car as the VX200 turbo. Great minds etc. 

    Yep. I've got this sometimes pressing notion of having an older sports car, nothing really expensive, but something like a VX sitting on the drive, for a ponce around it. The reality I am sure is less glitzy. I also have a hankering for a Fiat Coupe Turbo. 20 odd years ago, I had Bravo HGT, which had the same 20V engine in it, minus the turbo. It made a great noise, and did go a bit too. Rattled like hell, but it was good fun. I remember driving it over the middle of a roundabout in Sheffield, cos I (stupidly) came at it too quickly.....

    Once we had a child, it soon went. Swapped it for a sensible 318 touring. Get all the baby stuff In you see...lol

    I also wanted a TR7, but thankfully saw the light (and not through the gaping holes in the body work, boom!)

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  • HattigolHattigol Frets: 8176
    Myranda said:
    The 17 and the 18 fuchs are my favorites, I don't like glossy black wheels at all. The 17 will be a smoother ride on UK roads for sure.
    I don't have these... Does that mean I have no fuchs to give? 
    The Fuchs can give an uncomfortable ride. Especially if your car is fully kitted out with them. 

    Seriously, four Fuchs ache.
    "Anybody can play. The note is only 20%. The attitude of the motherf*cker who plays it is  80%" - Miles Davis
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27586
    And just in case anyone didn't already think I'm an idiot, I have acquired a private number plate for it. Which no-one else will ever notice, because it could have come on the car if the DVLA hadn't reserved it.

    I didn't spend very much money on the registration. It was cheaper than the heated seats.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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