Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) If not a Morgan??

Mario, it seems they managed to set up two really different and genuine types of car and mentality.

Here is a test drive comparison, I know there are a lot like this, but he can really describe the differences in terms of handling and feel. It is not the Abarth so far.

https://youtu.be/4wFuuAfYdnw

If in Germany the difference of costs would be just 3000€ the Abarth would be a very attractive alternative. Here the Abarth is around 41.000€ and that is what you pay. The MX5 2.0 officially with the best trim is around 30.000€ but you can always find on "mobile.de" new MX5 2.0 or such with a dealer registration and 10km on the clock for about 23.000€ to 24.000€. And that is up to 18.000€ difference to the Abarth.
On the other side the Abarth looks really cool, special ad is much more a rare beast. Perhaps in Portugal I would also decide for the Abarth.

We are in the market also, want to sell the old SL of my wife and buy a practical nice cheap to maintain car for my wife, a car which just drives every time you want it. It will be a MX5.

Regarding Lotus, I would prefer an Abarth or an MX5 against a 136 PS Elise. I know her in different power versions. The 136 Elise drives awesome through curves but has not enough punch to play with her a bit out of the curves. It is somehow boring when the chassis could do so much more than the engine power allows.

One addition, the Fiat or MX5 are real cars, the Lotus is a toy...with all the advantages and disadvantages.
(In this sense to me a Morgan is more a special lightweight real car than a toy.)

Have you test driven a Fiat or MX5? I was sitting in a MX5. The drivers position is very very good. But the passanger leg room is much smaller. I'm 1.86 m and I'm on the very limit to sit on the passanger side.

However, the new MX-5 is very good, reasonably parctical and handles well if you want to press on

In the end a toy car is all about what appeals to you and SWMBO. The Lotus is definitely more hard core than the MX5 but the Caterham is worse still so I cant see that appealing to your wife. I'm not even sure I would call it a car. Of the two MX5 variants, its a personal choice.

I have never been impressed by FIAT quality and even on the Ferrari the build was such that exhaust manifolds are a 20k mile consumeable ( seriously!) at £5k a pop and clutches on the F1 boat are 10km to 20km items at only £3k a pop. The FIAT saloon that I bought my son was a rolling disaster with so many major faults you wouldnt believe. So my choice every day would be the Japanese built car.

Interestingly I'm looking at the Cooper S for MrsW. But she would like the old spec Clubman.
I'm not sure about the new shape with its big fish face.
But who knows when we start looking seriously. The best one at the moment is down the A3 and a bit more than I want to spend. But with full leather and sunroof so tempting.
If it wasn't four hours away I would go and 'look'.

Dave, recently bought a 2012 clubman s in BRG for Mrs K, all the bells an whistles, goes like stink, only downside so far has been an an aircon pump and today an alternator belt, (you cant even see it from above) unfortunately these engine are put in with a shoehorn so labour is expensive, a warranty is a must. Make sure you get 2 keys as they are £250.

Great minds eh? Thanks for that info. Not yet tempted to look but scoping autotrader. Jays had a Clubman when we visited Lotus but I don't know which version. It was BRG and looked well.

If reliability is the issue then yes, the 100% japanes MX5 is the safest bet. About them all being toy cars, that's true I guess, none of them will ever be neither a family car nor a "seriously fast" supercar.

The logic behind the short list I posted, from the Caterham to the Lotus is that of someone looking for a "fun affordable car". And reliable, preferably. I hear you on your son's Fiat or the Ferrari's 20K mile exhaust manifolds, but I can raise you with my own M3W and its 2K mile exhausts. I just wouldn't call my Brooklands - the only M3W that can have more problems than a ... normal M3W - a rolling disaster because I can't get over the love I have for that under-engineered piece of ... kit.

And the Caterham was originally put into that list precisely because at some point I started to wonder if I should keep or sell the M3W. The little 165 might be a suitable replacement for a more extreme experience. However, in the end, I decided to keep the M3W, so the Caterham fell out of contention for my next fun car.

And decidedly I need something that is both:
a) somewhat unique - that rules out the Mazda;
b) different from the Plus 4;
c) different from the M3W - that rules out the Caterham;
d) affordable;
e) fun

So, only the Lotus and the Abarth fit this set of criteria. The Lotus is a bit more extreme, and expensive, the Abarth a bit more "bourgeois" if you like, but not so much that you won't feel pleasure when driving it (not a taxi to go from "A" to "B").

Both have character. Both are "head turners". Both will lose value at a much lower rate than regular cars. And if any of them is a possible rolling disaster (something I doubt), I guess by now I'm a veteran in that department so I'm not too scared!

Mario I like your attitude IMO you should not always pick a fun car using a spreadsheet. A little emotion matters!

In your position and criteria I would plum for the Abarth. That said I have had great fun in my Caterham (10 +k miles this year) but Head Office has only been in it once!

Reluctantly I am going to sell the Caterham and gone more hard core LOL!

"Reluctantly I am going to sell the Caterham and gone more hard core LOL!"

Atom or Nomad?

There isn't anything more hard core than a 7 !