Something RWD to replace the Trophy

g40steve · Sep 6, 2009

^^^Merlot?

When i was carless last yr my mum lent me her 1.8 sport while on holiday.
As mentioned what a laugh esp in the wet, powerslides at will

Seen a few on track & seem to go very well with little wear & tear =D>

vamos · Sep 7, 2009

I have been playing with similar thoughts, and my shortlist currently looks like this:

Exige S240
135M Coupe
E46 M3 CSL
Spec C RA-R (obviously not RWD - but I love these JDM specials)

All in the 25k -ish range.

I could see a Litchie MX5 in my future as well though.

In any case, I will postpone the purchase until next year, so in the meantime I shall lavish some TLC on the T.

Johnnytheboy · Sep 7, 2009

g40steve said:
^^^Merlot?

Correct. Bit of an in joke, given Mrs Theboy's love of red wine, and the wine-bottle-caused dent in the boot when she slammed the boot on some shopping...

As for track-day suitability, if she ever sells it and I have the room/money, I'd seriously consider buying it and stripping it out for just such use. It's just such fun to drive.

jhlcr · Sep 7, 2009

taking mine to ring next month, will be silly slow!!! but fun...... hope it rains, as for your list csl all the way, god i love them

Matt X2C · Sep 8, 2009

vamos said:
I have been playing with similar thoughts, and my shortlist currently looks like this:

Exige S240
135M Coupe
E46 M3 CSL
Spec C RA-R (obviously not RWD - but I love these JDM specials)

All in the 25k -ish range.

I could see a Litchie MX5 in my future as well though.

In any case, I will postpone the purchase until next year, so in the meantime I shall lavish some TLC on the T.

The guy who I mentioned earlier who had the VX220T now has a 135i. Very nice cars and very very fast. The pull on them is amazing. Very good all-rounders too, not bad for a trackday either.

vamos · Sep 8, 2009

Yep, the 135i is a great car. Add an LSD and £300 remap (380bhp), and you have an M3 beater. Add KW Clubsport suspension and you have a seriously focused machine. Best of all, the brakes are good as standard. It's a little odd in appearance, but I can live with that.

mike@rentech · Sep 8, 2009

I just changed mine for a BMW 740i , 4.4ltrs of power and rear wheel drive pulls like a train

Cue · Sep 8, 2009

you wont be getting 35mpg then...

Jimboss · Sep 8, 2009

careful of the vx220 in the wet, a lack of concentration can lead to expensive repairs.... those clam-shells are not cheap!!

135/335 would be very enjoyable if they fall within your budget!

Matt X2C · Sep 9, 2009

vamos said:
Yep, the 135i is a great car. Add an LSD and £300 remap (380bhp), and you have an M3 beater. Add KW Clubsport suspension and you have a seriously focused machine. Best of all, the brakes are good as standard. It's a little odd in appearance, but I can live with that.

Yeah he is after some KW's for next year, not worth the remap otherwise it will be too fast for its cornering ability. The car is a little flawed with its weight (as everything can be I guess, depends what you are used to) but it doesn't do too bad at all. He found the pads not lasting any time at all so he changed them for some serious Carbotech ones and now it is much better. There wasn't a problem with the original brakes fading, its just the pads wore out so fast. The electronic monitor came down by 3-4000 miles every trackday :lol:

vamos · Sep 9, 2009

Matt X2C said:
vamos said:

Yep, the 135i is a great car. Add an LSD and £300 remap (380bhp), and you have an M3 beater. Add KW Clubsport suspension and you have a seriously focused machine. Best of all, the brakes are good as standard. It's a little odd in appearance, but I can live with that.

Click to expand...

Yeah he is after some KW's for next year, not worth the remap otherwise it will be too fast for its cornering ability. The car is a little flawed with its weight (as everything can be I guess, depends what you are used to) but it doesn't do too bad at all. He found the pads not lasting any time at all so he changed them for some serious Carbotech ones and now it is much better. There wasn't a problem with the original brakes fading, its just the pads wore out so fast. The electronic monitor came down by 3-4000 miles every trackday :lol:

Standard pads - I don't think any manufacturer has the guts to put pads on their car that will be noisy around town, so I guess track day afficionados will forever be changing pads as the first thing they do to a car

I meant caliper/disc size combo is good as standard, unlike the M3

I agree about the weight though, that's it's biggest weakness.