Having had my S2K written off by my insurance, I'm left with a choice to make - what do I go for next? Criteria are as follows:

1. Must handle as good as or better than the S
2. Straight line performance at least as quick as the S
3. I've had plenty of years of open-top motoring, so this isn't essential
4. It is a car for fun only, not a daily driver...
5. ...that said, it must be able to do a trip to Europe reasonably comfortably
6. It must be reliable
7. Most importantly, it must be at least as much fun to drive as the S - the driving experience is paramount.

I was expecting to keep the S for another year or two, and was planning to supercharge it (I think that chance is long gone after this claim), so I'd expect to keep this for a year or two.

Things I've thought of:

I test drove an Exige S over a year ago, and to cut a long story short I was happier with the S, even though I thought I was looking for something more hardcore.

Lotus Evora is along the lines of what I'm looking for, but not test drove one yet and I don't think I can bring myself to splash so much on a car. Maybe in a year or two?

DC2, I'm itching to try one because of how revered they seem to be, but I don't want a tatty, old car. Maybe DC5, but they're not meant to be as raw as the DC2?

Any good ideas?

My mates have a Boxster S (too civilised and not good VFM) and Z3M (too heavy and looks ridiculous), so I don't really want to go there.

 

DO NOT test drive an Evora - the price suddenly doesn't seem to matter .....

Great car and for me a good move up from the S - expensive? yes - worth it? absolutely

 

Evora just thows price thoughts out the window!

 

BMW M3 CSL
Honda NSX (NA2)

 

Especially the CSL having heard one again at Snetterton last weekend.

How are the prices holding up these days?

ETA:
You make no mention of track work, why worry about the weight too much?

 

Z4M without a shadow of doubt for the money must be the best value car and lots are still in warranty.
CSL.
Boxster S without Pasm and 18s (If you think a PASM car is dull).
All the other Hondas will be a step down bar NSX.

 

Very well - 25-30k for a good one, and they have been like that for some time. Good ones are actually starting to go up (good ones being not tracked non fiddled with)

I was due to test one this weekend but rain stopped play.

 

I'd be quite tempted to run a CSL for a year whilst I haven't got a Caterham but I'm not sure what I'd actually do with it.

There's no point in it sitting in the garage looking shiny IMO but if I could find the time to use it as intended it's value would plummet almost as quickly as my bank balance

And I'd buy an E30 M3 instead anyway

Sounds ideal for the OP though.

Its engine sounds ideal too.

 

I think you could get away with it Graham, I think miles is what kills the value from what i've seen. Bit like a GT3, you just have to assume it's been tracked a % of it's life! WHich it's designed to take I guess.

 

using a CSL on track doesn't affect its value to much as long as it's a low miler and maintained correctly.

Hint: if you're looking for a CSL and want to tell if it's been tracked, look at the service intervals. they come along alarmingly quicker if you take it on track.