What next after a Corrado?

[lizzie 0]

I'm new here - first post - please be nice to me!

 

I'm in what should be the enviable position of looking for a new car. I've had my Storm for nearly five years and I love her to bits and will be keeping her, but we need two cars now so am looking for something new/nearly new.

 

I've never been out testing loads of cars before because my previous cars all seemed to choose themselves and I can't honestly say I'm enjoying it much. Thought you guys might have some views on what I should get and/or what should be on the shortlist, just in case I've forgotten something.

 

The car will be used most days to get me to work, but we've no kids and the Corrado obviously has four seats so could be used when four seats are necessary. I've never particularly hankered after an out and out sports car/soft top but then again most saloon cars are dull. I like coupes, to be honest if the Corrado was still made it would probably still be my first choice, however I do want a car that looks classy, is not too common (in both senses of the word!), is enjoyable to drive and goes pretty fast. I don't drive seriously fast but then again I have been known to exceed the limit ;-) but hubby, who will drive it regularly, drives quite a lot faster than me. I've got a little over £30,000 max to spend. I can buy new or a couple of years old, but no older. I drive about 12,000 miles per annum andI can wait a while if need be.

 

So you can see my thinking, I've ruled out the following (or at least I think I have!!):

 

All Mercedes, Jags and BMWs - too middle aged (despite the onset of middle age here, I don't particularly want to advertise the fact!). I particularly hate the Z3/Z4.

TVRs - build quality, just a bit too impractical (and the demonstrator broke down)

Evos and Impreza - too boy racer

TT - claustrophic and too trendy

Audi S4, Alfa 156GTA - still basically quite stylish saloon cars, just don't light my fire

Alfa 147GTA, Ford Focus RS etc - jumped up hatchbacks (though I do quite like the Alfa)

 

So the current shortlist is:

 

Boxster - prob 3.2S, maybe 2.7 - not driven either yet. Good reputation, classy, expensive to run? Obviously would be 2nd hand.

Nissan 350Z - great fun to drive, nice torquey engine but not at all sure about the looks, bit like the offspring of a TT and a 911

Mazda RX8 - cheap, quite attractive, not enough torque, appalling petrol consumption, but four seats

Honda S2000 - nice looking inside and out but didn't feel as powerful as the Corrado. Again, all the power too high up the rev range making it tiring to drive. Relatively high insurance (£10 less than the Porsche)

 

Any constructive criticisms/thoughts/additions?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Lizzie

[chrishill 0]

Theres been alot of talk about the RX8 where i work, i think its going to go the way of the TT turn into a trendy car which to me reduces the desirablity. IMO the s2000 is lovely but dated, it wouldnt suprise me if it was replaced in the next year or so given the release of the RX8 and 350z. I've never rated Boxsters, they have that stigma of a poor-mans 911 but that said it is still a porsche.

 

not very practical but i'd be looking at a lotus elise, fast, fun and not that common. I'd say a skyline, but then that will probably fall into the same catagory as the evo/impreza as being too boy racer. Toyota supra maybe? quick and a bit more practical....

[godskitchen 0]

hello lizzie, go for the boxter! no question. its German and built like a brick poo house! also a fact you might be interested in is its the slowest deprecating car on the UK market, ok not such a good point when your looking at a second hand one but at least when you do come to sell it you wont loose a shed load of money like you would with an alfa! You not thought about an Audi S3? also there is a A3 coming with the same engine that was put in the golf R32!!

[Gaz154 0]

there is a golf R32 in a kinda light metallic blue full body kit and HUGE wheels

 

it is the best looking golf i've ever seen :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

have to try and get my self a weekend test drive 8) 8)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The Boxster 3.2 S is quite rightly at the top of your short list. I don't care what people say about them as they are just about perfect in all the key areas. Zero scuttle shake, punchy and smooth engine, very reliable, good looking and handle amazingly well.

 

The majority of people that run-down a Porsche have never driven one, and as for some folk branding it the 'poor man's Porsche', yeah right, I didn't see any Boxters outside the benefit office last time I drove past it.

 

I despise TTs, love Imprezas/Evos from a pure performance point of view, like the look of the S2000 but not it's aesthmatic engine or it's easily invoked oversteer, and Alfas....Yuk. Garish interiors and hideously unreliable electrics.

 

Nope...the Boxster wins hands down :-)

 

K

[dubster82 0]

Porsche all the way 8)

[Henny 0]

yup... Porsche gets my vote too... 8)

 

The RX8 is a stunning looking thing (in a kinda odd way! ;) ) but I think that it's just slightly too underpowered... maybe get one and have someone tweak it? ;)

[Bally 0]

Porsche all the way 8)

 

I agree.. 8)

[PhatVR6 0]

Spend the money on the Corrado! :-P

[G60Dan 0]

Porsche all the way 8)

 

I agree.. 8)

 

8) all the way!

[OSV 0]

S4 Avant, gets round the saloon issue. Great tool stylish and practical.

[Ice White Socks 0]

I'll put my vote with the porker, thats exactly what I hope I will be replacing my storm with in a couple of years time :)

[chrishill 0]

as for some folk branding it the 'poor man's Porsche', yeah right, I didn't see any Boxters outside the benefit office last time I drove past it.

 

It does have that stigma though. i'm not knocking it for how it drives/handles, its an amazing motor, but as alot of lizzies minus points were related to the cars image (too trendy, too boy racer etc) i thought it was worth pointing out that some people do have that view of the boxster...'oh, couldnt afford the 911 then?' type attitude. Its like skoda, dispite the fact that the octiavia RS won great critical acclaim and skoda is now owned by VW/Audi (it is isnt it? :wink: ) people still go 'but its a skoda!!'

[Kevin Bacon 5]

It does have that stigma though.

 

Only among biggoted and narrow minded individuals.

 

but as alot of lizzies minus points were related to the cars image (too trendy, too boy racer etc)

 

Only Poseurs overly concern themselves with what kind of image their car portrays. Serious drivers care more about what the car can do and the satisfaction it gives.

[Storm 0]

Go for the 3.2S, the 2.7 does not give you the felling that you've spent 30k+. A specced 2.7 is near 3.2 money. I want to get rid of my 2002 3.2S, but cant find anything to replace it with, its the best car in the class.

 

If you want more info in terms of what to pay, what the right spec is etc. pm me, I've had 3.

[lizzie 0]

Looks like the Porsche is favourite then. Test drives of both the 2.7 and 3.2 are being arranged as I write! I did think about the Elise (saw one whilst out driving the 350Z) and probably should find out where the nearest dealer is. Did also think about the S3 and would probably give it more thought if I wasn't allowing myself to be persuaded that I can manage with two seats!

 

I belong to one of that apparently small minority that actually prefers the looks of the Boxster to the 911 family. To me, the lines of the Boxster are more flowing and the 911 is just too muscular. A pit-bull terrier (though no doubt a well-behaved one) versus a red setter if you like. I've admired the Boxster since it came out though I never really thought about owning one until recently.

 

As far as other's views of it being a poor man's Porsche, I really don't care what other people think. My Corrado sits in the car park at work, a pearl among Mercedes swine, and every time I look out of the window it makes me smile. Everyone else sees an eight year old car among a sea of 02 and 03 plates and feels sorry for me. I'm happy in the certainty that my car is more fun to drive and better looking too.

 

So that brings us on to image. I'm perfectly happy to admit that the looks of a car are important to me, but more because I want one that fits my idea of beauty rather than because of others views of the car. I don't think that alone makes me a poseur, but if you think differently, fine. The looks of a car provide more than a little of the satisfaction to me and much as they are no doubt fine cars, the Imprezas of this world just don't do it for me. I'm well aware that I won't use any of the cars I am considering to the full - I don't (and won't) do track days in any car, though I spend a fair amount of time spectating at bike events and may one day do a bike track day, not imminently though - so I'm less likely to compromise on looks than I am on performance, although performance and handling are obviously still major factors. The Corrado ticks all the boxes, so far none of the cars I've tried do the same. I'm hoping the Boxster will....

 

I'll let you know...

 

Thanks very much for all your comments.

 

Lizzie

[lizzie 0]

Oh and VR6-er, thanks for the offer. Once I've driven them both and if it looks like it's a goer, I'll be in touch. Why do you want to get rid of yours, though?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well it's all subjective at the end of the day. Buy what you feel happiest living with.

 

I'd definitely go for the Boxster S....I think it's worth the £8000 premium over the 2.7. You get the big brakes off the 911, bigger (and nicer) wheels and few other extra bits.

 

Another car worth a look is the Vauxhall VX220 Turbo. Extremely under rated and naturally has the Vauxhall stigma attached to it, but it's just an Elise with the engine the Elise should have got to begin with. It's a phenomenal car.

A friend who bought one last month left me in my VR6 and another friend in his Cupra R for absolute dead.....and he was on part throttle :shock:

 

K

[Matt GTi 0]

Gotta agree on the VX220 Turbo, drove one on a track day last year, and the performance is out of this world, and the handling is top class. I would have one if I could afford it, over all the above cars mentioned.

[Scott 0]

It does have that stigma though.

 

Only among biggoted and narrow minded individuals.

 

but as alot of lizzies minus points were related to the cars image (too trendy, too boy racer etc)

 

Only Poseurs overly concern themselves with what kind of image their car portrays. Serious drivers care more about what the car can do and the satisfaction it gives.

 

 

- Couldnt have said that better myself Kev... people dont understand why I paid so much for technically a 'ten year old car'... I dont buy it for the registration plate I bought it for the driver satisfaction!!!!

[Storm 0]

Oh and VR6-er, thanks for the offer. Once I've driven them both and if it looks like it's a goer, I'll be in touch. Why do you want to get rid of yours, though?

 

I'm coming at this from the other direction, had the boxsters before the Corrado. At one point I thought the Corrado was better fun than the boxster and thus the reason for moving it on. On reflection though its a different experience, the performance of the 3.2 is awesome. Red line it in the first three gears and your well over the ton with other cars miles in your rear view mirror - thats an ego thing. If I can get out of the Boxster at sensible money, I could have a Ferrari 355 (£5000 deposit, 500 per month, £1000 servicing p/a) and thats the way I'll go if everything pans out.

 

My VR gives me immense pleasure, it reminds me of me of my Mk2 GTI, which in its day would eat most other cars alive. Its totally safe very chuckable and in reality I prefer front wheel drive. In comparison to the Boxster it cost me nothing and I dont mind where I park it (within reason).

 

If your partner is going to drive it be careful, I've had girls screaming at me in Porsche, lid down music up etc....

[lizzie 0]

Oh well, that was so easy. All that hand-wringing and heart searching and so on and all for nothing! Why? Drove the Boxster at the weekend. Or to be exact drove a 2.7 and a 3.2. I am smitten; all the other cars we've tried vanished from my mind in an instant.

 

I'd be happy with the 2.7 but hubby didn't reckon it was any faster than the Corrado so it's got to be the 3.2S.

 

Anyone know of any good 01/02 S's for sale out there? Also any good websites to find one on other than Autotrader or Exchange & Mart? Finally, anyone know of any users/owners/drivers clubs/forums (like this one) on the web? i've tried to find one but failed so far.....

 

Thanks for your help gentlemen.

[Henny 0]

There are several Porsche owners clubs...

 

Try:

 

http://www2.uk.porsche.com/english/gbr/ ... efault.htm

 

http://www.porscheclubgb.com/

 

http://www.tipec.org.uk/

 

http://www.911-classified.com/

 

8)

[Storm 0]

Buy Mine 2002 02 silver with Black great Spec Pay the finance off + a little bit and its yours.

[lizzie 0]

Hi VR6-er, can't say silver is my favourite but it's about the right age. Send me a PM with spec and money details and I'll have a think!