Has anyone out there had experience of these cars? I am look at buying a new car, spending upto £10k but just want some help narrowing down my search, the Z3 will be the 1.9 as I have had enough of gas guzzlers. Any thoughts, on them or what to look for when buying would be extremely helpful.

simple choice really, for out and out mental fun, handling and the fact you can upgrade far too many things on them , i would go for the elise, slap a stage 2 system on the back, upgrade the brakes, change the set up etc and you have a excellent road car thats perfect for those little track weekends.

forgot to add for info and lots of help goto the seloc website

The elise is a great driving car, if you can turn the wheel quick enough it will go round almost any corner, only compomises is it is in NO WAY practical, you have to post yourself in and out of it due to the high sills, the roofs all leak between the screen and the roof, a fault known to lotus but there seems to be no fix or recall for it, they are not very quick at high speeds (80 or above) but due to how close to the floor they are they feel alot quicker. They have a zero comfort factor, very thin unpadded seats, manual windows on most, no air con and very poor heaters which are awful at clearing a foggy screen in the wet, no carpets so quite alot of road noise. But bearing that all in mind still a great car to drive, cant rate the others as ive never driven them, but the z3 looks a bit girly!

i would be tempted by the Vauxhall VX220 its an Elise that is comfortable every bit as quick , easy to get in and out of , doesnt leak and has great handling and is cheap to service , a great trackday car as well ..only prob is that Griffin badge on the nose

I have no direct experience with any of them but the Z3 has never had great reviews as a sports/drivers car and I would'nt even give it a 2nd thought plus its quite dated now.

 

Both the Lotus Elise and Honda S2000 are supposed to be just about the best 2 seater roadsters in that price range out there...the elise being a no thrills stripped out toy and the s2000 being more of an all-rounder. Depends on the sort of driving you do in it really.

 

I'd take the S2000 I reckon.

Mx5 is well rated as well.

I had an Elise and would recommend it. I only had the 120bhp and it still beat an S200 off the mark, may well loose after 80 mph though but who cares. It was about level pegging upto 80 mph against a WRX Impreza with PPP (260bhp)

So definitely go for an Elise. I loved every minute of it. However not cheap to service if done by Lotus. I remember it being about £500 and that was back in 2004.

Finally goes for Series 2, the later the better as the roof was made simpler to handle and hence probably less chance of leaking although I never experienced leaks on a 02 plate. They are also far easier to get in and out of.

I also remember the Series Elise being a far firmer ride, don't get me wrong the Series 2 is firm but the Series 1 is too firm.

You will find a S2000 sluggish off the mark, only feels quick when you are 6K+ in the rev range, but very fun car to drive and more practical than the Elise...

S2000 for me, love them. However they are still a bit of a gas guzzler, you won't see 30mpg in one.

Depends whether you want an out and out sports car, a comfortable cruiser or a combination of both.

 

If it's just a racer then the Elise is the way to go. However for a bit of comfort and practicality then the S2000 would be better.

 

I would not bother with the Z3 1.9; instead I would go for the Merc SLK 230 kompressor. I used to have one - it was comfortable, quick enough (although not as quick as the Elise or S2000) and you have the luxury of a proper metal roof that folds into the boot at the touch of a button. It didn't cost the earth to run either......

 

...................plus you'll find that women will find the SLK the most impressive of the lot!!

 

Richard:cool:

S2000 all the way for me. Well built, fast, reliable, great fun to drive.

only trouble i found with an s2000 is if you have big feet or are just big they are uncomfortable

Elise is a track day car and a real pain in the back if used on the road everyday. Z3 is not a good car really. The S2000 just ticks all the boxes.

My Business partner has just got a series 2 , as mentioned above very firm ride.... very low down(theres a knack to getting in and out) his hasn't got power steering/electric windows/sero brakes or a clock!!! But its very fast and will give you at least 30 mpg all day long !!! Horses for courses.

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Mate at work just bought an MGTF 1.8 the big girl!