[Closed] Fast(ish) cars - insurance

Classic limited mileage insurance policy might help - ran an old Saab 900 turbo on this, pretty cheap premium and great to drive apart from the disconcerting turbo lag. Big hatchback too for bikes or kipping in when young.
Drove an old Fiesta 1.25 for a while, I'm sure they lie about their power output, seemed very quick at the time for a tiddly engine

Classics seem to be the way to go. I was quoted only £60 more for a 944 than I was for the Hyundai I eventually bought... £425 when I was about 28 with not much NCD.
My father, albeit a lot older than me, was quoted less than £200 for a Lotus Elan, the 90s FWD one.

I'd have to argue with the 'poor' handling diesels. How fast do you want to go round corners? Mondeos are fab handling cars, plenty good enough for realistic road speeds. They will out handle most of the VW/Audi cars that everyone seems to think are so wonderful.

It's all relative. Something like an MX5 will handle much better than any front drive rep-mobile. Mondeos do handle well, but only compared to other dull wagons. Anyway who says VW/Audis handle well? Most are very average at best. Lots of Audis I've driven have been sub-par on both steering feel and ride quality. Test drove a Passat the other day and it was frankly shite.

Also not a matter of how fast you corner, it's more about how much fun you are having. That's the thing with cars like the MX5 - they are immense fun at sane speeds. Put it this way, I'd rather do a track day in an MX5 than a Mondeo.

only £60 more for a 944

Now there's another great handling fun car to drive. But you need help buying one if you don't know anything about them. Most are rusty old junk now, but the few cared for examples can be awesome.

Also not a matter of how fast you corner, it's more about how much fun you are having. That's the thing with cars like the MX5 - they are immense fun at sane speeds. Put it this way, I'd rather do a track day in an MX5 than a Mondeo.

This is the crux of it. An RS6 will handle better, but without risking a hell of a lot of trouble (and/or driving like a complete tosser) it's going to be less exciting on public roads than (something like) an MX5.

What's the insurance like on an early Lotus Elise?

njee talking complete sense!!! 😉

I've had Evo's and Imprezas that would leave many cars for dead in the curves but my old MK2 escort was ten times the fun!

What's the insurance like on an early Lotus Elise?

probably not substantially worse than an mx-5, particularly if you joined the owner's clubs, but you're looking at getting on for 10k to get in to a decent one.

Or the Vauxhall VX220 "version"? Could be even cheaper and just as good (if not better) by many accounts

Or how about a Honda S2000? They handle and are pretty quick if you razz the engine hard. Not sure on insurance though.

MG ZT 260?

Porsche Boxster. They most definitely handle well and a decent early 2.7 would easily be sub £10K (what was the budget?). Again not sure on insurance implications at your age. Future depreciation would be minimal and not so expensive to run if you avoid buying a lemon in the first instance.

Again, MX5. They rock.
The grip around the corners is phenomenal and very controllable when it lets go.

Something that young people hate.

I gave up and got a motorbike, 0-60 in sub 4 seconds and the bike and insurance combined cost me less than the insurance for a crap car 😆

It's all relative. Something like an MX5 will handle much better than any front drive rep-mobile. Mondeos do handle well, but only compared to other dull wagons. Anyway who says VW/Audis handle well? Most are very average at best. Lots of Audis I've driven have been sub-par on both steering feel and ride quality. Test drove a Passat the other day and it was frankly shite.

Also not a matter of how fast you corner, it's more about how much fun you are having. That's the thing with cars like the MX5 - they are immense fun at sane speeds. Put it this way, I'd rather do a track day in an MX5 than a Mondeo.

Completely agree with this. I have owned an MX5 Mk3 (unfortunately not Mk1 or 2), Mondeo 2.0d and now a BMW 3 Series.

The MX5 was fun ish around the bends at slow speeds (although not as nice as a Mk1 or 2.) I bought the Mondeo when I was commuting 140 miles a day, and it did that very well, plus could still go round bends (to a fashion) still understeered though, which is not to do with engine weight, but the fact most road cars are set up to under steer.

Now in a new BM'er. Fantastic compromise between sports car and mile muncher. Unfortunately though to have fun, you are going around corners at probably 2/3 or double the speed of the MX5. Going fwd/rwd/fwd/ and now rwd has made me think I dont want fwd again.

It has opened my eyes to just how badly Audi's go around corners though, they even use the brakes to automatically assist and help the car going around corners (some thing they even admit in their brochures).

Seat Leon FR DSG - same engine as the golf, cheaper to insure - love mine. can remap up to 240-250bhp

I agree that an MX5 would be more fun on a track. I also agree that 3 series are fun, I've had two touring versions and really liked them. I was just trying to make the point that Mondeos are excellent handlers and most VW/Audi Group products are not, IME.

ow badly Audi's go around corners though, they even use the brakes to automatically assist and help the car going around corners (some thing they even admit in their brochures).

So do all cars with ESP, your bmw included.

You can turn it off in some cars if you want to see how much work the car is doing to make you feel like a good driver...

Jam bo - ok googled BMW have it too lol. (cornering brake control)

Doesn't stop the fact that the chassis is way better than Audi. The Way BMW word it is as if you make a tit of driving around a corner, I wont let you stab on the brakes too hard. Audi words I as a sytem to help the car steer around the corner...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RcIfUoaGQ80

All marketing bollocks. I drove a new 3 series recently and it practically drove itself there was so much electronic gizmos going on.

Can you get a Mini Cooper S?

My Cooper S Clubman was only £158 a year to insure, admittedly with full no claims and over 25, but still..

Jambo - yep, but it is very easy to turn them off, half esp is great fun, you can drive around corners with opposite lock on and not have yo worry about the tail going too far full off is more interesting but still very controllable 😛

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mazda-mx-5-questions

Hate to blow the trumpet again but they are good. My wife was 24 when we got ours and it is cheapish to insure at about £600. I think it was about £450 for me on my own (26, 1 year's no claims but 7 years driving as a named driver/company vehicles).

I own a 2012 Skoda Fabia of medium-sportiness. They are about £6k and about £450 to insure also. It goes lots faster round bends than the MX5, since it has big low profile tyres and modern suspension. But it's nowhere near as exciting. To call an MX5 fast is exaggerating quite a bit.

Clio 172. Insurance will barely matter when you've only spent £1,500 to get a mint one. Obviously not RWD, but will still happily get the tail out 😉

My Lotus Elise 111R (the 190hp version) is £200 fully comp (I didn't miss a 0 off the end). This is parked on drive in Herts and regularly commuted into London.

as is a Panda 100BHP they don't get thrown through hedges like Clio RenultSports or Elise's.

Have you ever driven one? Have you ever been a passenger in one? I reckon you could take pretty much any corner in one 50% more quickly than you could in a Panda. The handling is sooooo far superior to something like a Panda that they can comfortably handle [b]way[/b] more than most drivers would dare push them to.

Oh, if you do go MX5 and want lower insurance the 1.6s are still a laugh.

johndoh - Member

I have never known an Elise to be binned

erm, some pristine looking Elise's that have never been binned. 😀

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Problem with cars like Elise's on public roads is that you are going so much faster than you would in a 'normal' car, because they grip/handle so well that when it does go wrong you suddenly realise that A) you aren't Seb Loeb and B) that lampost is only a few feet away.

Probably not what the OP is after, but I reckon Toyota/Subaru got it right with that GT86 coupe thing. Not that powerful with skinny tyres and fun to drive in everyday situations. Stick it on a track and you'll be left for dead, but that's not what it's meant for.

Problem with cars like Elise's on public roads is that you are going so much faster than you would in a 'normal' car, because they grip/handle so well that when it does go wrong you suddenly realise that A) you aren't Seb Loeb and B) that lampost is only a few feet away.

The middle pic was a pair of journalists on a track in Belgium.

Driving the Elise every day isn't a problem. I don't find myself going too fast, in fact it's just as nice to drive it slowly. More people can admire me that way. 🙂

I'll write more later, just leaving work.

Problem with cars like Elise's on public roads is that you are going so much faster than you would in a 'normal' car, because they grip/handle so well that when it does go wrong you suddenly realise that A) you aren't Seb Loeb and B) that lampost is only a few feet away.

I was actually relieved to get out of the car!

I have never known an Elise to be binned (apart from at track days).

I used to have a B7 A4 3.0 (233) TDI Quattro. Certainly not as involving a drive as a BMW 3 series 330d or 335d and the feel from the steering was dead in comparison. However my current A6 again a 3.0 Quattro compares very favourably with its comparable 5 series... Steering still lacks feel but the handling is comparable. I will test drive some of the xdrive BMW models when I change the car. It will be interesting to see if they lose some of their dynamic feel to gaining grip...?

As for less 'premium' cars cornering more quickly than VAG cars. I think that's right in my experience. I consistently corner at speeds where I can brake in the distance I see. So many people don't...

Now in a new BM'er. Fantastic compromise between sports car and mile muncher. Unfortunately though to have fun, you are going around corners at probably 2/3 or double the speed of the MX5.

I get your point, but I think your factoring is a bit optimistic. So a 50 mph corner in an MX5 is a 100 mph corner in a 3 series BMW? I think not. Probably more like 50 v 65 in reality, although it feels much faster. To double your cornering speed requires truly immense difference in grip levels.

Audis saloons are notoriously bad handling engines too far forward- but they are nice cruising cars with lots of interior space due to this. ..so saying a mundano is better than that is like saying its better than my land rover at cornering. Rs models handle better as does the 3.2v6 tt - the 2.0tdi was a serious let down although the owner said the tires on it were shit.

A mondeo is not a good handling car when pitched against good handling cars.

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 [i]woomph[/i] 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 [i]54[/i] 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 [i]tan[/i] 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.

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And here's a proper 300bhp+ engine from another [i]play[/i] car, shame it doesn't get used often enough, Hmm - Judd power 😀

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We have a 944 S2 and a Mk1 Octavia 4x4 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...