Coming way out of left field, how about a Honda CRX? I really fancied one but the wife said it was ugly.

Crxs wernt cheap to insure when i were a lad( 10years ago) they had an horrendous safety record worse than mr2s at the time iirc, rexs were quick and handled well , mr2s were just tail happy in the wet and had a nice big rear crumple zone. , ive lost a couple of mates in rexs and seen a few others seriously hurt.

The Mk7 Golf R (300bhp) is cheaper to insure than my 1.2 Skoda Rapid.

Its down to the anti-collision radar at the front apparently.

^ I guess that is what passed me today whilst I was on my bike, one of the young boys on the fishing boats with a habit of buying lairy cars I guess, a 54 plate blue golf with 4 unusual shaped exhausts – all I heard as it passed was a woomph due to the insane speed of the thing, by the time I looked up I could just make out the rear end.

Wasnt a mk7 on a 54 plate kenny.

My buddy swapped his 350z for one of them golf rs , says its a more practical family car now he has kids but says its nit a patch on his 350 ( he had a souped up 200sx before that- it wasnt silly money to insure…..just liked to rot)

In 2004 no Golf has 4 exhausts so that was just something chavved up. 2004 also would’ve been the V6 so you’d likely have known about it!

Moshimonster – you are quite probably correct. 3rd gear in the MX5 and back end out would be about 45-50. In the BM its about 65+ that’s the scary bit, getting it wrong and its a much bigger accident. Should add my BM is the ‘eco’ version with much taller gearing and skinny tyres 😀 never got it under 40mpg yet despite rapid driving…

As to Elise changes, well all they did was fit skinnier front wheels. You could actually spec fatter fronts at new, but not many people did!

Was my mistake typing 54 for the plate, just heard that it was a golf r and it does belong to one of the boys on the boats, he picked it up spanking new earlier this week so not bad going for a 24yr old, let’s hope it lasts longer than his previous pro drive Subaru wrx sti.

He’s on one of the smaller queenie/scallop boats so I’ll have to tan him for a drive in it, my mate skippers the largest boat in the harbour so I’ll get him to lean on him 😀

Legend : I’m a long time VW geek, here’s my 197 BHP ABT (german tuning company) engined MK2 Golf, currently stripped back to a bare body shell as it’s getting acid dipped as i want to make sure it will last another 30 yrs on the road.

And here’s a proper 300bhp+ engine from another play car, shame it doesn’t get used often enough, Hmm – Judd power 😀

We have a 944 S2 and a Mk1 Octavia 4×4 1.8t. They both cost about the same to insure (£300 for some nearly 30 year olds). One cost less than a belt change on the other though. Octavia is for bikes and not having to go slow on the lane to work. Remap could get it pretty close to the 944’s output.
The Porsche is a great car to drive, and still not too shabby as a Golf R driver found out trying to pull away the other night, big torque upto 4k and then a surge of power.

Also had a Mk2 MX5, good fun to drive, limits can be found at sensible pace. Mk3 Mondeo tdci estate I had at the time was probably quicker a to b due to the pull and pace it could carry, but not so engaging, although good for what it was (huuge).

I like the sound of the 172. I’ve had a look and they really dont seem bad for the money! £1100 is the best I’ve got on a quote for one so far though.

I’ve tried to get a quote for the vRS (130bhp), less power than the clio, but they wont even give me a quote…

How are you getting on with your Porsche quotes? 😉

How about something old but entertaining like a Mk2 Folf GtTi?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410118127459/sort/atcustom/make/volvo/usedcars/model/s60/keywords/T5/price-from/500/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/page/1/postcode/ch71gu/radius/1500?logcode=p

Volvo s60 t5. Lunacy with airbags. 😀

ryderredman – Member
I like the sound of the 172. I’ve had a look and they really dont seem bad for the money! £1100 is the best I’ve got on a quote for one so far though.

Head to Cliosport.net for all the info you could ever need, also a good place to pick one up from

somafunk – Member

Hmm – Judd power

I’d like to get that tuned by Nelson Racing, just for the sticker combo.

Loving the mk2 ! Long time VW fan here too. Been through a few, including a G40 which was a hoot

Mk2 Golfs need to be the later big-bumper variants!

My Dad had a star letter in VW motoring some years ago when he owned mk1/2/3/4 Golfs at the same time, still has the mk1 GTI cabriolet and the mk3 VR6, plus a mk6 GTI!

Just FWIW on the 3 series vs MX5 grip and a 3 series taking a corner much faster, a 3 series can pull about 0.8g and an MX5 can do 0.9g

legend – Member
ryderredman – Member
I like the sound of the 172. I’ve had a look and they really dont seem bad for the money! £1100 is the best I’ve got on a quote for one so far though.
Head to Cliosport.net for all the info you could ever need, also a good place to pick one up from

Thanks legend! Have gone and signed up.

I’ll just drop the Citroen Xsara VTS here.
Same engine/chassis as the 306 Gti6 but you can pick them up for much less.

Small bumper mk2s can look easily as good – 16v G60 for a start!

Cheap to insure even when modified a mk1 bmw mini. Blufin remap takes it to Cooper who and insure with Adrian Flux. Add some cash for handling improvements and you’ve got great car. Loads to choose from as well, as opposed to the other recommendations which Arlene easy to come by

How are you getting on with your Porsche quotes?

You might laugh, but I’ve always found Porsche cars cheap to insure and especially classic ones. A 944 would be cheap for sure. I pay about £150 a year on a classic 911 on limited mileage. I’m in my mid 40’s and a safe postcode which obviously helps, but it wasn’t much more when I was mid 20s.