I'm not a corner man myself. Had a few incidents driving now, so I'm constatly thing "what if". So i rarly drive erraticaly round the twisties

I think the 16v will be more cost effective though, less servicing, better mpg ect.

carrado 16v's aint to dog slow are they? use the same lumps as both mk2 and mk3 Gti right?

A G40 will be better on fuel in standard form than a Mk2 16v but ultimately lose out in a straight line. Corrados use either the 1.8 16v from a Mk2 on mechanical injection, or a 2.0 16v (not from the MK3) with electronic injection. The 1.8s are best. They aren't dog slow no, from over 100 a Corrado 16v should be able to pull away from a Mk2 Golf 16v. They don't get off the line very quickly though.

And yeah regarding Supras. My mate has a 306 Rallye with a few bits done to it and it feels damn quick inside it, but I had a play with it when borrowing my step-dads Supra and just walked all over it, wasn't til I looked at the speedo and saw 150 coming up to a 90 mph bend I realised just how fast I was actually going...

you dont realy get into a supra, you fall into it

rados something to keep in mind then, quick and gorgeus looks

Performance figures don't tell you very much about a car.

On paper an Evo X FQ300 is more impressive than a Honda S2000, but I can tell you which one is more fun and more rewarding to drive.

Sometimes it's the rampant little cars that feel so willing to be ragged and hang onto the road with every spec of grip that put the biggest smile on your face. Not the turbo'd powerhouse that needs to be doing twice the speed to feel like it's on the limit.

From the list above, a Passat V6 Synchro and Mk2 Golf GTI 16V are similar on paper. But I tell you which one I'd rather be driving.

And hating to preach, but straight line high speed isn't exactly a 'safe' option either compared to back road fuck-aboutery.

Exactly as Alex says.

Paper means fuck all tbh. Big numbers are cool, but its the driving experience that counts

Indeed. That 172 is definitely the best car for the money if you could guarantee it's reliability. Unfortunately I just cannot get used to the driving position in them. Strange, because I have absolutely no problem with the crappy Saxo/106 driving position, but the Clio is just shite for me.

I have decided the most fun car for £1500 that should be infinitely reliable, reasonable to insure and OK on fuel is an E30 318is.

i knew i would get a comment like that alex

you do speak the truth about little cars

Unfortunately I just cannot get used to the driving position in them. Strange, because I have absolutely no problem with the crappy Saxo/106 driving position, but the Clio is just shite for me.

Everybody i know whos driven one has said this. Stupidly placed pedals

318s are to slow... I've owned one. No doubt the engine was shit in it though.

sold it within a week as it was a shed :(

felt weird inside, like the interiors to big for the car?

Don't forget the 318iS is the all-forged, 16v lump with a slippy diff. Don't mix it up with a 318i which is an gutless old guffer.

whoops, mega fail

bhp?

Roughly 140. Plenty in a perfectly balanced 1100kg car.

Saab turbos are super cheap, and easy to turn the boost up. Engines are bombproof up to mega bhp.

Volvo T5s go for nothing

Nissan Pulsars go for not-a-lot these days and there a bit of a weapon

Even stuff like mitsubishi GTOs go for around £1k!

Theres loads of stuff for sale for cheap tbh, id be looking at Saabs or summit jap though for best power and reliability.

VR6s just sound good.

Mk3 Cavalier 4 x 4 turbos or just the 2wd turbos are cheap as well, or you can pick up nova red top conversions for good money.

Mk3 Cavalier 4 x 4 turbos or just the 2wd turbos are cheap as well, or you can pick up nova red top conversions for good money.

No they aren't!

And a "2wd Cav Turbo" is a broken four wheel drive Cav turbo (it's quite common for them to shit transfer boxes and not actually be putting power to the rear wheels)

My bad, just checked and they indeed do not seem to go for cheap money!

A friend of mine had a 4 x 4 turbo which he paid £500 for a couple of years back, said it was one of the best cars hes owned (and hes a trader). I presumed that they must be cheap!

Indeed. That 172 is definitely the best car for the money if you could guarantee it's reliability. Unfortunately I just cannot get used to the driving position in them. Strange, because I have absolutely no problem with the crappy Saxo/106 driving position, but the Clio is just shite for me.

I have decided the most fun car for £1500 that should be infinitely reliable, reasonable to insure and OK on fuel is an E30 318is.

4 rubber bungs about 1.5" tall underneath the driver seat. Remove these and the position is much better. The Pedals are offset, but are spaced perfectly for heel-toe action.

I paid £1500 for a Cat-D Phase 2 172, great little cars, but the fuel costs do mount up, cambelt change is about £300, and if you're driving it hard, budget for a set of tyres every 10k or so.

Reliability wise, the engine is probably the best bit about the 172- I sold mine (for a nice profit) before the interior melted...

Also speed, reliability and a £1500 price tag don't usually go hand in hand.

Yeah it's the height of the seat that bothers me, didn't realise that you could drop the seat as easy as that!

The pedals on all French cars are like that, it's something I can easily get used to, but I can't get used to essentially sitting on a perch. Dropping the seat would sort things.

Yoof's 172 was a great all-round package for £1500. Now's probably the right time to buy one, in a few years time they'll be all thrashed to death or expensive pampered low-milers.

You could get a Saab 9000 Aero and chip it for under the budget, but it'd never handle like the Clio - speaking from first-hand experience of both! On the other hand, if you mainly drive on A-roads and motorways, the Saab makes more sense - straight-line performance somewhere between an E36 328i and M3. Have now got a 9-5 Aero, but a decent facelift one is out of budget and they're not so good for tuning - though handle a lot better than the 9000.

id go for an nissan S13 £800 - grand gets you a solid standard car with CA18DET engine 1.8T and get a set of coilovers and maybe power mods and weld the diff = funfun slidy fun.

and tuned 20vt's bone all... lol

Ask Ash how your car fared at Santa Pod compared to a certain 1.3 8v.

id go for an nissan S13 £800 - grand gets you a solid standard car with CA18DET engine 1.8T and get a set of coilovers and maybe power mods and weld the diff = funfun slidy fun.

Can you still find a decent one for that kind of money? Got to be a cheap way to go sideways quickly if you can find one. An S14 was on my short list before I bought another Saab, but I struggled to find anything for sensible money that hadn't been hit with the JDM/drift spec/5" exhaust stick.

id go for an nissan S13 £800 - grand gets you a solid standard car with CA18DET engine 1.8T and get a set of coilovers and maybe power mods and weld the diff = funfun slidy fun.

Pretty sure there's no such thing as a solid S13, certainly not at £800. Sure you might get a few years out of one if your MOT tester doesn't poke about though.

Yoof's 172 was a great all-round package for £1500. Now's probably the right time to buy one, in a few years time they'll be all thrashed to death or expensive pampered low-milers.

You could get a Saab 9000 Aero and chip it for under the budget, but it'd never handle like the Clio - speaking from first-hand experience of both! On the other hand, if you mainly drive on A-roads and motorways, the Saab makes more sense - straight-line performance somewhere between an E36 328i and M3. Have now got a 9-5 Aero, but a decent facelift one is out of budget and they're not so good for tuning - though handle a lot better than the 9000.

9000s had always been on my will-own-one-day list, but I went to look at a 2.3 non-Aero high pressure turbo and couldn't get comfortable. Got any tips like Yoof has with Clios? Basically I found nowhere for my clutch foot to go when not changing gear, and the steering wheel wasn't ever really where I wanted it. I'd still happily have a 9000 if I could get comfy.