The cars and bikes thread!

[Raza]

I'll say this. If I saw the value in fixed roof performance daily drivers, I would be all over one of these:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...delCode1=EVORA



Many can be had for less than $50K, with low miles. Simple cars with Toyota running gear, it'll likely be one of the most reliable cars on the road. Looks fantastic. It's an exotic for used Cayman money with the reliability of Toyota.

[mlcor]

I drove an Evora when they first came out. Light years ahead of the Elise in terms of interior comfort, ingress/egress, etc. Steering and handling not as razor sharp as the Elise, but still excellent. However, the engine, while smooth, was nothing to write home about for a car in that price range. The new ones have 400hp, which should solve the problem, but they cost as much as a base 911 or a top of the line Cayman, which is tough competition.

i ruled them out because there's still no convertible or targa version a year after it was supposed to come out. Can't speak to reliability.

[geoffbot]

I've been looking at fun cars for future - elise, s2k (a perpetual grail of mine), boxster/cayman, z4. I'd want something properly visceral so ideally no electronic steering etc. Even Caterhams. My saloon is just not a whole lot of fun to drive.

[gnuyork]

I'll say this. If I saw the value in fixed roof performance daily drivers, I would be all over one of these:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...delCode1=EVORA



Many can be had for less than $50K, with low miles. Simple cars with Toyota running gear, it'll likely be one of the most reliable cars on the road. Looks fantastic. It's an exotic for used Cayman money with the reliability of Toyota.

I can see one of these as a daily driver one day.

[Raza]

I've been looking at fun cars for future - elise, s2k (a perpetual grail of mine), boxster/cayman, z4. I'd want something properly visceral so ideally no electronic steering etc. Even Caterhams. My saloon is just not a whole lot of fun to drive.

Get an AP2 S2000 (electric steering isn't the worry you think it is). It's probably 80-85% the care an S2 Elise is, but far more livable. The E85 Z4 is also a great choice (don't worry about the steering, it's fantastic), but not a screamer like the Elise and S2000 are. The E85 is visceral in a different way--it takes work, it's throatier, it's more old school than the S2000. Don't go near the E86--super softie with a hardtop. Boxster and Cayman are great cars, but the Cayman has a fixed roof and the Boxster is better, but less fun than the Z4. You guide the Boxster along at incredible pace, like a scalpel during brain surgery. But the Z4 is more rapier--slashes and stabs with gusto. The S2000 (surprisingly, I've never driven one) is probably somewhere in between.

The S2 Elise is--and I say this with full confidence and no hyperbole--the greatest driver's car of all time. But it is as singleminded as a factory road legal car can get, so expect there to be concessions everywhere else. A plug and play radio (at least if it's stolen you can just get a new one from Amazon), no carpets (which gives the interior an industrial beauty), almost no boot space, a contortionist's ingress and egress with the roof on; it's not a complete car, it's a specialist car.

[Raza]

I can see one of these as a daily driver one day.

Yeah, absolutely.

"The new Lotus has wowed everyone with its ability to soak up bumps and float across the road; it made even a Cayman S feel a little heavy-footed when we drove them back to back at the launch event in Scotland."

http://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/evora/6768/lotus-evora

It's probably more comfortable than my Z4 is, and I drive that everyday.

[Raza]

I drove an Evora when they first came out. Light years ahead of the Elise in terms of interior comfort, ingress/egress, etc. Steering and handling not as razor sharp as the Elise, but still excellent. However, the engine, while smooth, was nothing to write home about for a car in that price range. The new ones have 400hp, which should solve the problem, but they cost as much as a base 911 or a top of the line Cayman, which is tough competition.

i ruled them out because there's still no convertible or targa version a year after it was supposed to come out. Can't speak to reliability.

276hp in a car that weighs basically the same as my Z4 (maybe 100 pounds more). That's plenty, while still being not too much to exploit on the roads. The engine may not be the most special--in fact, if memory serves, it's based on the Toyota Camry's V6. But when you put a reliable, exploitable drivetrain in a car that light, it becomes something really special, which can't be measured in a 0-60 or 1/4 mile time.

Yes, right now, the 400hp model costs about as much as a 911. But, used, you can get an Evora with as few as 3,000 miles for less than $50,000. That's more than $5,000 less than a base model, no options, four cylinder Cayman.

[geoffbot]

You're right - I deffo need a drop top. Rain drop...

[geoffbot]

So my motorbike theory test runs out soon and I have 5 days spare holiday to take before the end of May. I'm going to France 1st week of June so I won't go away. I should really use those 5 days to do my bike test which, after all takes 5 days. I can't really afford the £500 but whatever. I could sell my omega or something. I really don't want to have to do the bike theory test again - it's a pain! But as soon as I pass my test I'm going to want to get a bike for sure. So I'm looking at bikes.

Now the advantage of pcp purchase is that you only pay off half the balance of the new bike over the term, roughly. So £202 a month for 36 months for a new r6. The downside is that that's 10% APR so a load of interest. Or I can get a loan for 4%, and buy it outright. But ever over 5 years that would still be like £200 a month cos it's an £11k bike. Brainwave - get the pcp then pay off the balance with a 4% loan immediately! On a 5 year term I could have a brand new r6 for £90 a month. I'm a genius.

[Raza]

That's what an R6 looks like nowadays? What happened to the giant headlights?