This one suits the spirit of the car better than a traffic jam. Happy memories too [ORIGINAL: flat6 [] please post the pic you'd like me to use. Otherwise I might fail you again[
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Are Spyders Becoming Extinct At OPCs!
- Thread starter daro911
- Start date
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The only thing I may consider if they're as good as people say is a GT3, although I have never driven one I would have to have a good try 1st
My brother had a N400 Vantage Volante which was one sweet sounding machine so I borrowed a manual Volante from the local Aston dealer for a weekend. Picked it up Saturday at 10.00am and had to drop it back by 5.00 the next day. 4 Hours later with very few miles but many gallons of fuel consumed I returned the car to the dealer. It was heavy, it felt enormous, it drank fuel like something from the 1970's would have done and fun factor wise it was just not happening for me. I deliberately drove it on regular rat runs I did in my then Boxster S it was seriously hard work. Heavy clutch heavy slow truck like gearbox and all the time a lot of metal to worry about. Apart from the soundtrack the car didn't tick a single box for me and the servicing costs are in a different area code to a Porsche[
] After your obsession for light weights I would suggest borrowing an Aston for 48 hours and see if you can adjust to a heavy weight BIG drinker ... I couldn't 
MrD the difference between you and I is that I don't drive my car on a daily commute or for work. It is for pleasure only, therefore practicality is not a problem. (Other than the Lotus which I had to remove the roof to get out [:-] )
One of the differences between you and MrD is that you don't use your car as a daily driver [] I can see you in a GT3 Andy. Like your new profile pic, something I recognise on there!
] I can see you in a GT3 Andy. Like your new profile pic, something I recognise on there!
The Gt3 thing is personal issue for me that's all, for me no good to do 12k miles in every year as a daily run about. And no good on the roads where I live. Mine did my head in. A nice 2nd car , but I have my Spyder as a 2nd car so no good having two cars like that. I spent a day with Aston and drove them all through out the day. 4.3 , 4.7 , 4.7 with sport pack and the vantage S Ended up with the M3 competition but soon sold that off in 3 months for my R. I must say the 4.7 with sport pack is night and day better than the older n400 and the 4.3 cars. The N420 being the best of the lot, nice body kit, amazing sports exhaust and with the buckets a great place to sit. The feel good factor of driving a Aston just feels nice, yes petrol and car tax is a issue, but that n420 noise is wonderful. I see the new ltd ed is a vantage S in manual, but £90k lol. A turbo car for daily use fits the bill better, usable performance In a turbo as it cuts in so fast and no need to rev it out. Gt3 only comes to life above 6k and with the long gearing it's not possible to rev the car out in 3rd on B roads. It' A good euro track day hack, no good in the UK where I live where 85mph is the exciting B road speed. 85mph puts a GT3 in no mans land down in low revs in 3rd gear ,very fustrating. It's not easy finding a exciting daily hack which is ok on fuel and does not drop like a stone in value if you put another 15k miles on it. Was always a hot hatch man when I had the Lotus and nobles as my weekend cars, my Clio trophy was a right hoot. I'll see what gen 2 911 turbos are like next year would quite fancy one of those.
mn
Interesting as I like my cars to be a lot of fun low down the rev range and I can't stress how disappointed I recently was trying out a 20k mile Porsche Cars GB 997 Gen 2 GT3 demo car because my hours drive was all below 4500 rpm and down there not only was it feeling very mundane it sounded it too[&o] I was later told had I been up the rev range it would have been a different story which is fair enough but not how I like to drive I think a Gen 2 Turbo would be a far better bet as a daily driver on UK roads My daily driver a Mini Cooper S is the perfect A-B town car for me with plenty of punch without ever having to rev the nuts off it and still manages 30mpg around town I have read the later AMV are vastly improved over the N400's era but the running costs and frequest servcing still remain unchanged and after a Porsche that is all a little old school in this day and age of 2 year intervals
They just don't really have the presence of a Porsche and not a bargain at 63k IMOORIGINAL: daro911 Looks a good replacement for any Cayman R owners [
Agreed but probably excellent value used[ORIGINAL: Andy FaganThey just don't really have the presence of a Porsche and not a bargain at 63k IMOORIGINAL: daro911 Looks a good replacement for any Cayman R owners [
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I also have a Mini Cooper S, great fun. Thinking of swapping that to the fiesta ST. I let the gf use it , but I use it to go shopping and short 2 mile trips. And the odd long business trip to save petrol and keep the miles off the R a bit. Also does the tip run and any shit jobs
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You mention you have been happy with hot hatches for the everyday motor. I was very pleased with my Megane RS its a little basic inside but as a drivers car absolutely brilliant and for everyday in my opinion better even than the Focus RS that followed it. If you have not tried one take a test drive you won't be disappointed. Geoff
What is build quality like these days[&o] [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5BhaxIs8Co]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5BhaxIs8Co[/link] [link=http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/renault/megane/first-drives/renaultsport-megane-250]http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/renault/megane/first-drives/renaultsport-megane-250[/link]
It,s the cost, they drop like a stone and 2nd hand they are tatty and fall apart. Had 4 renaults a whole lot of fun but you need to sell before 30k miles lol A ford focus RS is solid value, would be my choice with a 400bhp upgrade. Again it was either the RS or the m3, I choose wrong and should have had the RS, But the m3 caused me to buy the R so not all bad. Smaller cars the Clio 200 is king, but again not great with miles on them.
I put 25000 miles on my Megane RS in a year it was a demonstrator 6 months old with 4000 miles on it when I bought it, paid £23K for it and traded it against the Focus RS for £17K. Nothing fell off it, it had 1 service at just over £100 and a pair of front tyres which I thought was more than acceptable. The build quality was ok not up to Porsche standards, it didn't rattle but the quality of the interior lets it down however as a driving machine it was superb on both main roads and B roads. The Focus was 18months old and cost me £24k but only had 2000 miles on it, I used it for 10months and put 22000 miles on it and sold it for £18750 and again 1 service and a full set of tyres although I had swoped them front to back as it does wear front tyres and shoulders them. As an everyday car on main roads its great and the noise is something you never tire of hearing, the pops and bangs don't let you forget your driving a performance car but on British B roads as an everyday car it is just a bit to hardcore, it attracted far more attention than the Megane but the wife thought it was chavvy so it went and was replaced with the current everyday car a 330D M Sport which is a bit sensible !! Just my opinion. Geoff
Powerful arguments for BMW as daily driver. Have put over 50000 miles on mine now - still on original brakes/ battery and 100% fault free with room in the back for my 2 little ones - although son and heir is as tall as me now at 15! I don't do the annual mileage that some of you boys do and have had it 4 1/2 years now which is unprecedented for me.
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