What happened to lightweight, simple and fun cars?

BigDaveDogg said:
The Monaro/GTO is a boat. Anyone who considers it a "lightweight" is out of their fucking mind.
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That's true, but I don't think he was saying it was a "lightweight" car. The GTO we got here in the states weighs nearly 3800lbs, but that's still about 250lbs lighter than a 5 series. Not to mention a GTO would probably be a tad bit cheaper :lol:.
 
So stupid of me. What about a lightly modded Nissan Silvia (aka 200SX)?

The monaro is definitely a bit of a boat. My bosses own GTS weights like more than twice that of my elise thanks to all the extra cooling gear he has to carry for his race-spec supercharged engine and the luxury goods that comes standard with the car. One of his seats is like the total weight of both the seats in my elise.

I do realize the M5 is very heavy, even the older V8 E39 ones which I've bee looking closely at. I'm just a bit worried about the electronics going haywire given the age and how overpriced parts for European cars are in Australia. I'm not exactly a practical person when it comes to cars. I don't really care too much about depreciation and all that stuff, but at the same time I don't want to be in a garage every second day to fix something. My old S600, which I loved driving, was sold off because it was so unreliable and expensive to repair. I had manifold problems, aircon problems, suspension problems and the occasional break failure (which in such a big car is downright scary). For those of you with a plan on buying an old S, there's a joke amongst owners that the whole car was designed around the air con.

If I do end up buying the M5, chances are I'll have to sell of my E55. There's no point in having two superfast sedans as my E55 sees little mileage every year. My little jazz and elise (when it was still here) took up the bulk of miles covered every year, thus leaving my poor merc to basically sit in the garage for the occasional long distance drive to really stretch its legs.

Worst case scenario: Buy another elise, supercharge it and be prepared for another scolding from the family and girlfriend (especially when she attempts a dignified exit in the city :p). I'm not much of a badge snob, I just want a car that's really fun to drive and a bit practical this time around.
 
The good ol' days of the lightweight, fun and simple cars are gone thanks to increased safety and emissions regulations....save for a few small time companies, including kit cars and Lotus.

Your best bet is to look for a used MX-5.....1000kg of pure adrenaline rush.
 
I half-own an MX5 in Asia already, and yes it is pure fun, especially if you have a turboed one like ours
 
The_Finn said:
if you are considering a M5 why not get an E30 M3? EVO just did an M car comparison test and said that the E30 M3 was the best out of basically every M car ever built. with a budget of 40k you could get a really well kept car (15kish avg for a near perfect car on S14.net) and then still have $25k left over for any repairs or maintainance. I would like to point out that because the E30 M3 is considered to be special by so many car enthusiests they tend to be kept in imacculate condition so it is very possible to buy a car that will not cost you tons in maintance or repairs.
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One problem. E30 M3's are left hand drive, which makes them ineligible for rego in Australia. While there are a couple of right hand drive ones getting around, they are very very very rare and would pretty much take up the entire budget.

quick search on car sales confirms this.

E30 M3 Evo II 170,000k's+ $60,000

similar money gets an immaculate E39 M5. One is a heart choice, the other a head choice. I love them both though.
 
The 200SX is a fun car, and it is fairly light as well. Quick, and love getting the tail out. I was looking at one before I ended up getting the BMW. The Jap. Imports are even quicker.

If your family wants to take the train :p, then it's all good. The 200SX doesn't really have that much room in the back to be comfortable, even though it is a 2+2.
 
What about maintenance? Are they reasonably reliable?
 
Insurance will rape you on that car
 
No more than an M5 though. Given the fact he seems to be a well off family man I reckon he would have a decent insurance rating.

An S15 200SX would be a great car.
 
Very reliable, the engine isn't complex at all and there is nothing really to go wrong in it otherwise. As long as you get one that is stock (I was looking for ones that didn't even have a aftermarket exhaust) then more than likely it hasn't been driven like a hire car. Insurance is reasonable. I did a quote check, and it was cheaper then a Clubsport R8, and a WRX. You can always check online just to be sure.
 
I was reading through my new issue of wheels, and that LS7 powered GTS is mighty tempting. Corvette Z06 power with four doors? Sounds good to me.
 
Are you interested in a warranty with this car? If you're considering a car that wouldn't support a family still, and even modifying it...here are a couple ideas:

-Mallett Performance LSx swapped Solstice
www.mallettcars.com
-Hinson Supercars (LSx swapped FD/240sx/whatever your heart desires)
www.hinsonsupercars.com
-944 Turbo with Lindsey Racing parts
www.lindseyracing.com
Just throwing some ideas out there, I don't know where you're located, so if you're outside of the States or Canada it'd be kind of a PITA to acquire suggestions. I've got some other suggestions, but it all depends on warranty and your interest in modifying the car with parts to get what you're after.
 
BigDaveDogg said:
The Monaro/GTO is a boat. Anyone who considers it a "lightweight" is out of their fucking mind.
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Well, it's not horrible. 1600kg isn't bad in my books. My dad's old 3.2 XJ6 is 250kg heavier!
 
I'm in Melbourne at the moment, so those US conversions won't be applicable to me.

The LS7 powered commodore was just an idea. Its over my budget (Wheels magazine reports the cost of the car and conversion racks up to $112,000 AUD), and is really quiet heavy.
 
I think the S15 could be fun. You might also want to look at a 300ZX 2+2, but I think that it would probably cost you more in maintenance and insurance.
 
Dsemaj said:
Well, it's not horrible. 1600kg isn't bad in my books. My dad's old 3.2 XJ6 is 250kg heavier!
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It's heavy when compared to his previous car, an Elise, which weighs close to 1000kg.
 
Hidden_Hunter said:
I did a quote for one and it even more expensive for me than a wrx
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Of course its going to be expensive for you, you are 19!!

DTMracer said:
I was reading through my new issue of wheels, and that LS7 powered GTS is mighty tempting. Corvette Z06 power with four doors? Sounds good to me.
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I doubt they will make this for a while yet.

What about something like a Renault Clio Sport 182?? Not sure how good the back seats are but they are light and fun?? Yet something a bit different to the elise.
 
Necx0 said:
Of course its going to be expensive for you, you are 19!!



I doubt they will make this for a while yet.

What about something like a Renault Clio Sport 182?? Not sure how good the back seats are but they are light and fun?? Yet something a bit different to the elise.
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Yes but it's even more expensive than a WRX to insure and both attract extra excess because of the amount they're stolen.

Ps insurance is bullshit in this country, guys my age are lumped with drink drivers horah! (I think girls start one "rating" above us as well)
 
vanMould said:
It's lighter than a (an?) M5, which seems to be what DTMracer is aiming for right now. I'm not gonna argue with him though, as he seems to be alot more experienced than me.
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so if a fat 300 lb guy is standing next to a fat 500 lb guy, that makes the 300 lb guy a lightweight, correct?
 
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