Driver's car or less driver's car?

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tony1311

tony1311

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tony1311
I'm looking for my first car and i have narrowed my choices down to three. Honda s2000 04'(driver's car) , elise 04'-06' (122 hp) (crazy driver's car), bmw z4 2.5 05'-08' (less drivers' car). What would you choose and why?
 
Depends on

a) Where you live.
b) What you intend on doing with the car (daily commute, short journeys and track days etc).
 
TheCracker
Depends on

a) Where you live.
b) What you intend on doing with the car (daily commute, short journeys and track days etc).
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a) I live in the suburbs of Athens ,Greece. Great twisty roads and low traffic if you don't go downtown.

b)All three.
 
I think you'd be best off driving all three first to see if you could realistically live with it. Personally I'd pick the Lotus, but whether I would in Greece or not is a different matter...
 
homeforsummer
I think you'd be best off driving all three first to see if you could realistically live with it. Personally I'd pick the Lotus, but whether I would in Greece or not is a different matter...
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^This.

The Lotus is probably the least easy to live with as a daily, although i know people who do so without any difficulty. It would be my choice too.

With the Honda and the BMW, it totally comes down to personal choice. The BMW will be softer yet still a good drivers car, but the Honda probably has the edge on it.
 
It depends on your taste for NVH.

If you enjoy the car constantly buzzing and chattering, the order should go Elise > S2000 > Z4.

If you prefer refinement and low noise, then Z4 > S2000 > Elise.

If I were going to a track day, I'd take the Elise.

If I were going for 5 hour drive up the coast, then Z4.

The S2000, being the perfect middle ground between the two, might be your best bet.

If it were my own money (and it was) I went for the Z4 M :D But if the M were not an option, I'd have gone with a Boxster :p


M
 
tony1311
I'm looking for my first car and i have narrowed my choices down to three. Honda s2000 04'(driver's car) , elise 04'-06' (122 hp) (crazy driver's car), bmw z4 2.5 05'-08' (less drivers' car). What would you choose and why?
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First car? NONE OF THE ABOVE.

Why? Because you're extremely likely to wreck your first car under any circumstances, and extremely extremely likely to wreck your first car if it is a sports car that encourages driving beyond limits you don't even know you have yet.
 
Or a white '87 Corolla DX Sedan...or whatever the 1.6 carb'd model was over there...


UNLESS the OP is talking about the first car he's actually owned, rather than driven. If he's an experienced driver, I see no problem with any of the above. The Elise, though, I'd recommend taking a high performance driving course before stepping in that one.
 
What Duke said. You are aiming a bit too high for your first car. Regardless of your age, if it's your first car, then you must have little to no experience driving cars. Unless you have spent your time driving friend's/familiar's cars.
 
Jim Prower
Or a white '87 Corolla DX Sedan...or whatever the 1.6 carb'd model was over there...


UNLESS the OP is talking about the first car he's actually owned, rather than driven. If he's an experienced driver, I see no problem with any of the above. The Elise, though, I'd recommend taking a high performance driving course before stepping in that one.
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Exactly.The OP (what does that mean?) is talking about the first car he's actually owned. It is my fault i didn't clear that up earlier. :guilty:

I'm driving for nearly two years now (i am 20 years old) which included long trips and half a dozen track days but i never owned a car.Always drove company/family cars.

I have quite a big ''collection'' of cars i have driven even though none of the above mentioned are included. ( best one was an evo 6 t.m.e a.k.a. 6.5)

p.s. I'm an ex-kart race driver so you can say that i almost drove an elise. :lol:
 
OP = Original Poster

If you've been driving karts in organized events and have 2 years of roadwork under your belt, plus a few track days, then I guardedly withdraw my objection and pretty much go with ///M-Spec's analysis. But I still say keep the fast stuff on the track.

👍
 
The S2000 is mostly a no brainer, unless if your after a 'badge' then pick a BMW. But if you don't want to take care of yourself then the Elise is right for you. :indiff:

I have another question thou. Why not a reasonable-priced, fun to drive, easy on the wallet Mazda MX5 (aka. Miata/JDM-name Roadster)? 💡
 
EvolutionWRX
The S2000 is mostly a no brainer, unless if your after a 'badge' then pick a BMW. But if you don't want to take care of yourself then the Elise is right for you. :indiff:

I have another question thou. Why not a reasonable-priced, fun to drive, easy on the wallet Mazda MX5 (aka. Miata/JDM-name Roadster)? 💡
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I must admit your idea is spot-on. 👍 I thought about the mx-5 and i still have it under consideration but i couldn't fit it in this post as it is a much lower priced car(I am talking about mk.1 , mk.2 is a less authentic mk.1, and mk.3 even less authentic so if i were to buy an mx-5, mk.1 would be my choice.) Nice username :confused: ---> :lol:
 
The S2000 and the BMW will be able to do the entertaining bit, as well as have some room for a picnic basket if you ever fancy a meal in the fields. The Lotus will lack any sort of room for storage, unfortunately. The Lotus will, most likely, be the most fun to take out on the weekends... but it lacks a more "all-around" feel to it. Something with more leg room, a proper storage space, and a little more creature comfort would be the car for me.
 
Any of those three will be one heck of a first car. lucky you. Insurance on any of those will be killer for a new driver.

Duke
...you're extremely likely to wreck your first car...
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And you DO NOT want to wreck a Lotus. I hear they are very very expensive to repair even small fender bender type stuff. Something about the body panels or how it's constructed.

That said, I'd probably ignore my own advice and go with the Elise. :dopey:
I don't think it's a good first car, but get what you want.

...just looked on ebay. Wow. I did not realize you could get an Elise under 30k (USD). Now I want one.
 
As a track-rat, nothing beats a good Mk1 MX-5... stuff a real rollbar under the hardtop, brace the chassis, fix the brakes, get some rubber, and you're done.

If you can actually afford it, I'd go for the 2.5 Z4. Not as big a firecracker as either of the other two choices, but definitely easier to live with.
 
ultrataco
And you DO NOT want to wreck a Lotus. I hear they are very very expensive to repair even small fender bender type stuff. Something about the body panels or how it's constructed.
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The bodywork is fibreglass and it's made in quite large parts. Any accident has to have new fibreglass smoothed and matched onto the old and then colour matched, though I suspect usually the whole section is just replaced, which I doubt is too cheap!
 
The Lotus too over the top for a daily drive.
eco_elise_450op.jpg

The Z4 tooo expensive to maintain.
Z4-1.jpg

The S2000 may be just right.
2007_Honda_S2000_ext_1.jpg
 
Wait, this will be your FIRST CAR? Jesus christ. I'm struggling to get an insurance quote a 1.25 Fiesta....
 
Alex.
Wait, this will be your FIRST CAR? Jesus christ. I'm struggling to get an insurance quote a 1.25 Fiesta....
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What you are about to hear will make some of you laugh, others cry, and others consider leaving their country.

Here in Greece, insurance doesn't work like in any other country.

There are only two factors that are taken under consideration.

-Whether or not you are under 23 years old (not how many years you drive or posses a driver's license. (30% up if you are less than 23)).

-Engine displacement of the car (not horsepower like any other serious country).

You do the math.
 
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Hm. Our insurance doesn't take anything but the price of the car into account. Unfortunately, anything costing over $18k gets charged 100% in tax, but what can you do... :(
 
tony1311
What you are about to hear will make some of you laugh, others cry, and others consider leaving their country.

Here in Greece, insurance doesn't work like in any other country.

There are only two factors that are taken under consideration.

-Whether or not you are under 23 years old (not how many years you drive or posses a driver's license. (30% up if you are less than 23)).

-Engine displacement of the car (not horsepower like any other serious country).

You do the math.
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I have just the car for you then :lol:
ferrari-288-gto-1.jpg

2.8, no problem :sly:
 
Hmm seeing as insurance works like that...

/moves to Greece

But yeah, MkI MX-5/Miata/Roadster GET. Or the Elise. The Miata would be cheaper to make very fun and if you wreck it at a track day you're not out near as much as you would be if you wrecked an Elise.
 

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