EVO: Best drivers cars for £20K (12 cars)

[Just_me]

Most inspired drive for the money and good for every day use.
The cars are: Honda NSX, TVR Cerbera, Nissan Skyline R33, Maserati 3200GT, Lotus Exige, BMW M5, Ford Escort Cosworth, Toyota MR2, Golf GTI (brand new), Mazda MX-5, Impreza WRX, Renault Clio 182



New or used: The £20K Question
We choose a dozen brilliant driver's cars on a £20,000 budget and head off in search of the most inspired drive for the money.

Round one will comprise a long day's driving on B-roads and test track, at the end of which we'll choose six cars to go on to round two, in the Welsh mountains. But which ones will go through?

The two finalists are BMW M5 and TVR but only one can win. The winner is:



The M5 is just too complete, too sensible, too fast and too brilliant to be ignored. Of course it's the pragmatist's choice. But for once logic is on our side. For when it leads to a car blessed with a chassis that gives the driver endless option and never runs out of ideas and the creamiest 400Bhp V8 built, we'll happily put on our sensible shoes and head for the best roads we can find, over and over again....

For those who want to read the 22 pages and more about the cars, go buy the latest number of EVO.

Now my question for you. Which of these cars do you choose and why?


What do I choose?
Well, I choose M5, is practical, fast and beautiful. If I could choose two cars I would choose TVR Cerbera but its not a very practical and I can only choose one car, so give me the BMW M5.

[RC45]

A Golf GTi costs as much as a used up NSX?

[komotar]

What can I say , I'm a sucker for Masers.

The M5 comes second and the WRX third.

The M5 is just perfect, but nothing beats Italian elegance.

Wrx is one of my favourite cars. Great allrounder and I love that boxer sound.

Exige is just to extreme to be an everyday car...

So I'd put it behind the Golf and in fron't of the Clio.

I'd love to put the NSX higher, but I just dodn't like it that much any more.

[GTO]

Your telling me that a used; Honda NSX, Maserati 3200GT, Lotus Exige, BMW M5 are in the same price braket as a WRX ???
Maybe if they were planted into a power pole, if not hey are two to four times a WRX, M5, even a early 90's model still is more than twice a WRX.

Whatever, take the WRX, the rest would have milage spanning Jupiter's orbit and interior smelling like a corpse.

[Just_me]

Originally Posted by GTO Your telling me that a used; Honda NSX, Maserati 3200GT, Lotus Exige, BMW M5 are in the same price braket as a WRX ??? Maybe if they were planted into a power pole, if not hey are two to four times a WRX, M5, even a early 90's model still is more than twice a WRX.

yes, thats excatly what Im telling you. buy the mag and read what they say

[dingo]

Originally Posted by GTO Your telling me that a used; Honda NSX, Maserati 3200GT, Lotus Exige, BMW M5 are in the same price braket as a WRX ??? Maybe if they were planted into a power pole, if not hey are two to four times a WRX, M5, even a early 90's model still is more than twice a WRX. Whatever, take the WRX, the rest would have milage spanning Jupiter's orbit and interior smelling like a corpse.

you have to remember that these cars are alot cheaper in the UK then Australia, but I agree it still seems a little odd

[crayzayjay]

Originally Posted by GTO Your telling me that a used; Honda NSX, Maserati 3200GT, Lotus Exige, BMW M5 are in the same price braket as a WRX ??? Maybe if they were planted into a power pole, if not hey are two to four times a WRX, M5, even a early 90's model still is more than twice a WRX.

You seem to be quite the expert on the UK used car market for someone who lives in Sydney.

Those numbers are spot on. You can get a used M5, 3200GT or NSX, for the same price as a new WRX. The M5 and 3200GT will be in very good condition and will have a very reasonable amount of miles on them, the NSX however would be quite high mileage.


First ones to go for me would be the MR2, Golf, Escort Cossie, WRX and Clio. Not special enough in this company.
A £20k NSX would have gone around the world twice for that sort of money, and the Exige just wouldn't work as an everyday car. The Skyline is cool but just doesn't do it for me. The Cerbera is awesome but potentially a very troublesome car to own.

I'd be incredibly tempted to go for the Maz, but common sense would prevail and i'd go for the M5. It's a brute of a car and as composed at 160mph as my car is at 90. In black, and with a black grille 8)

[SPEEDCORE]

Seems i started something

GTO: Yeah the market in UK is crazy, Australia has a very small car market soo prices stay high, why do u think the import scene is soo huge in oz and they getting rules to make it harder to import, japan's market is similar.

Im keeping the vote till I actually read the article 8)

[gobs3z]

I would have thought it would have been a landslide for the Exige since it's the most hardcore of the choices, and obviously the most drivers oriented. The M5 is a drivers car but it's also a saloon, and not a fully bread drivers car, but also a family car. I just can't beleive a Maserati is selling for so little, if they sold for that here, i'de be all over it, you lucky Brits.

[No.1]

Originally Posted by crayzayjay Originally Posted by GTO Your telling me that a used; Honda NSX, Maserati 3200GT, Lotus Exige, BMW M5 are in the same price braket as a WRX ??? Maybe if they were planted into a power pole, if not hey are two to four times a WRX, M5, even a early 90's model still is more than twice a WRX. You seem to be quite the expert on the UK used car market for someone who lives in Sydney. Those numbers are spot on. You can get a used M5, 3200GT or NSX, for the same price as a new WRX. The M5 and 3200GT will be in very good condition and will have a very reasonable amount of miles on them, the NSX however would be quite high mileage. First ones to go for me would be the MR2, Golf, Escort Cossie, WRX and Clio. Not special enough in this company. A £20k NSX would have gone around the world twice for that sort of money, and the Exige just wouldn't work as an everyday car. The Skyline is cool but just doesn't do it for me. The Cerbera is awesome but potentially a very troublesome car to own. I'd be incredibly tempted to go for the Maz, but common sense would prevail and i'd go for the M5. It's a brute of a car and as composed at 160mph as my car is at 90. In black, and with a black grille 8)

Thanks for saving my breath

crayzayjay is exactly right. In fact, there is an X-reg (2000) M5 at the garage down the road from me at £18k. Pehaps it's not going to be the tidiest example out there, but it's an example for you to see.

With the NSX, i can't really say as there aren't that many here anyway, but £22-25k is a reasonable estimate, even less for an earlier model.

Massers are sooooo cheap. I was trying to convince my uncle to get a 3200GT instead of an SLK320, but alas, servicing would have cost much more


Of course, my choice has to be the Cerbera. I's only need two seats as i dont have any kids It may be a bit of an unreliable beast, but it would be satifying on those days when it ran perfect. For the same reason a Masser would be tempting, but the M5 is the most realistic proposition.... except this isn't realistic as i don't have £20k.... so fuck it! I'm going for the lairy Exige. In lime Green That car grips like a bitch and is small enough to thread down the narrowest roads at high speed 8)

Originally Posted by gobs3z I would have thought it would have been a landslide for the Exige since it's the most hardcore of the choices, and obviously the most drivers oriented. The M5 is a drivers car but it's also a saloon, and not a fully bread drivers car, but also a family car. I just can't beleive a Maserati is selling for so little, if they sold for that here, i'de be all over it, you lucky Brits.

You're a funny guy. The car has to be an everyday proposition.... not a balls out trackcar. You even wrote "family car" describing the M5... precisely the reason it won. Yes, an Exige offers greater thrills, but the M5 is a great car in it's own right. BMW struck a chord between driver thrills and passenger comfort that turns out to be, not only a class winner, but an allcomers beater.

[5vz-fe]

Definitely M5 for me. Well, the NSX would be a pretty good choice too if one doesn't mind the age of the car.

BTW, the article has always been in the Magazine Scan section. (Just a little heads up)

gobs3z, Maserati can be that cheap is becoz of its poor reliability, and parts avaliability. M5 would be the most logical choice for it's the best all rounder and it space for golf clubs

[Just_me]

Originally Posted by SPEEDCORE Seems i started something Im keeping the vote till I actually read the article 8)

yeahh, do so, 22 pages of entertainment

[Caplax40]

Well I haven't read the print article just this thread, but my top three are:

1.) Nissan Skyline GT-R R33
2.) BMW M5
3.) Honda NSX


And there ya have it.....

[TransAm]

Front wheel drive has to be marked off the list immediately IMHO, otherwise the Clio is a good choice, although I would never buy a brand new car. So, 12k on a 18 month old clio and 8k left for other toys...FF doesnt sound too bad all of a sudden! The wife would think I'd bought a nice small sensible car too

Exige gets my vote as the best drivers car, MR, Rover/Toyota engine (I forget which) so cheap maintenance/parts, great MPG, best handling of the lot, surely? I would add a tow hitch and pull a small trailer for the dog! (joke). I prefer the styling of the Elise but trying not to stray from the poll here...

While I hear they are the most reliable supercar, if it wasn't for the potential moneypit issue of a 15 year old supercar I'd take the NSX, as I am a powerband junkie at heart!

[No.1]

Originally Posted by TransAm2001 Exige gets my vote as the best drivers car, MR, Rover/Toyota engine (I forget which) so cheap maintenance/parts

It's the Exige S1, so it's using the K-Series Rover