Think it needs to be darker. Porsches should be black imho.

If I had 30k to spend on a car, I'd get one that was iconic, rare and a head turner.

3 such cars:

Aston Martin DB7
Ferrari 355
Honda NSX

*memory incoming*

See this for surprising fact on ceramic discs

For the record, it would be a Noble 3R or M400 for me with a £30k budget. It'd destroy anthing mentioned above and have a lot more presence on the road. I'd imagine the fun/ sense of occasion facor would be higher also...

Not everything.

Incidentally Trappy - don't you have some timing gear...?

Well I've found out how much a set of rotor's are to replace which is £4,000 per corner. Yes, thats correct. GT3 owners have been replacing these as early as 15,000miles.

What sort of running costs would I be looking at for a Noble.. I thought they were ridiculous money?

You see for me, they tick more boxes than anything else without having driven any of them of course. I just see them on the road and they stick out more than anything else. I love what they stand for, how they upset the establishment, trampling all over the big hitters in test after test. They have respect from Supercar drivers, don't have the snotty image of prestige performance cars, yet aren't perceived as rough quasi kit-cars like a TVR or Marcos.



Nope. Always wanted a Performance Box, but never found £350 I didn't want or need for something else.

I would recommend looking at the Porsche UK used car locator. Cayman Ss are on there from about £27, and you get a year's w'ty, and the cars go through a pretty rigorous inspection.

Ceramic discs are expensive but not that expensive. Buy one with ordinary rotors if you are worried. Have a look here at JZMs prices - and they are more expensive than Northway:

http://www.jzmachtech.com/shells/service...4&year=2007

SIGH....they aren['t everydays cars are they, maybe the NSX but thats it. The others are pretty dated now, 355 awesome but high running costs and same goes for the DB7 (which wasnt even that good really anyway).

Also not much point asking us what we think of a Caymen advert, go ask the Porsche forum as they are in a far better position to judge, and of course adverts mean little - you need to go inspect the car in the metal.

If I was spending £30k on an everyday performance car I'd probably go for a BMW M6, or if I needed a bit more practicality and a bit more head room in the back, an M5.

Not the fastest thing for the money and not the most exciting, but they're still great cars, there's still very little on the road that can get near you, and you get all the build quality, kit, practicality that you'd expect.

I almost said reliability there too but then realised that the 3 people I know who've had M5s have all had issues.. though I daresay nothing like what you'd get with a TVR or whatever.

That is a damm good shout! They are beasts, roomy, comfy, toys, sound good, reliable, quick and still relatively new. Plus you don't see too many, I also think they actually look ok!

Too big for me but good cars.

I'd be tempted by one of these;

Bit older but a great all rounder.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1818397.htm

But I'd probably still go for a 911T.

Some interesting cars there, very similar to what I was looking at. I tried the Cayman 3.4 and Z4MC, the Cayman blew the BMW away for me. I've yet to try the 996T but will before I commit to a new car.

Another car that dawned on me last week was a SLK55 AMG. I’ve done a little home work on them and they sound good. Yesterday I took a SLK350 out for a spin as a lot of reports said not to over look the 350 if you're in the market for the AMG.

Long and short was that in terms of power it wasn't enough of an improvement on the coupe and the handling wasn't as crisp as the Cayman. Don't get me wrong it wasn't bad, and was the nicest car to be in, but just didn't have the WOW factor. I think the AMG might be a contender to the Cayman though and I'm looking forward to taking her out.

Its not everyday that you have 30k to spend on a car either.

Could you stretch to 32k ?

http://pistonheads.com/sales/1758972.htm

To be honest I'd rather it be nearer £25k mark but between £20-29k

Plenty on Porsche's site for that sort of money - maybe not with ceramic brakes though.

I wanted the Cayman originally, but after looking decided on the Boxster. Still have the Coupe as my hardtop! Both are probably slightly better balanced than a 911, and the engine noise is closer to hand, which I like.

Go and check them all out to what you think.
http://www.planet-9.com/ is a good forum for all Porsches, mostly US based, and boxa.net is also good one, mostly UK

hello! [/wave]

I have moved on from the Cayman S. Was a fantastic car, and to be perfectly honest it was quick enough for the road - probably the right amount of power for a road car, and still did the 1/4 mile in 13.4s so not really a slouch! To be fair though, it's wasn't mega quick and could easily have dealt with another 80bhp or so I would say, and on track you would want more power definately to really test the chassis.

My car covered over 30k in my hands in the 2 years I owned it, and it had one problem with an O2 sensor, a few rattles in the interior sorted under warranty, a set of discs and pads, a set of tyres, 2 RMS changes (car had a bit of an RMS problem - not massively commen in 987s/Caymans although not rare) and a clutch changed. Running costs were ok, insurance was reasonable also. I took a hit selling after 2 years (car was only a year old when I bought it), but it was a forced sale as I have now relocated overseas. If I was still in London, I'd still be driving it no doubt.

It's a real drivers car, and it's totally practical with 2 boots. I filled it up with a hatchback's worth of gear many times and it swallowed it all up. Can't go wrong with it really in my view as a £20k-£30k sports car. As the values fall further, they become more and more of a bargain for the overall performance and balance on offer. Enjoy!

What are you driving now and where are you living?

I thought I just tag a quick link onto the end of this post for others who may be interested.

Porsche Caymans 480bhp turbo engine upgrade for £11,240 fully fitted.

It'd certainly be a lot longer before you have another £30k if you blow it on something with Ferrari running costs.

It's a different league - if you're scrimping and saving to get to £30k, you can't afford to run one (unless you're planning on keeping it for a year, crossing your fingers and flogging it before anything breaks).

Just reviving this after having just come back from a stint in my mates Cayman R. Stonking drive, noise, build and engineering - even in todays weather. I only recently took out another mates 3 year old 911 Turbo and can honestly say they are not that far away from each other despite the price gap.
Terrific drive. Never thought I'd say it but the older I get the more of a Porker fan I become....

Yup, I'm the same, never taken much interest until the last few years (although always respected the brand) and now have a Boxster S and an old 3.2 Carrera.

Nice stable Dave....

My mates is identical to this one in White though he's taken the Porsche stripe off (I would have left it on TBH)....

Looks good in white.
I would love a 70's 911 Turbo in white.
The turbo lag was insane on the one I drove years ago!

My other pals 997 Turbo is only a 2011 but I was suprised by the lag still with that...... damn quick once spooled up though

I didn't think the 997 was supposed to have any lag?
Weren't they trying to deal with it with variable geo Twin turbo's or something?

Well seemed to have to me - TBH I thought that Cayman R was the better drive

Same here, but only feel interest in 911 water cooled

Would you fit this plate if you had one?

Personalised Plate

Personally I think the word "nob" is a risk if people don't know it is a Noble