Peanut - If you dont like the handling of the coop after experiencing this then it's time to move on.

I know what you mean with looking at annoying chips etc. and wanting to fix them - I am the same.

I really can't see coupes getting into cult status like integrales or cossies, which still go for £15K+

A mint 20VT will go for £3K now, with all the major jobs done, and will take a while to sell at that price. A well modified one £4K at the most.

if your coupe needs that much work done on it then I would sell it on and buy another one that is sorted as this will work out cheaper for you, and save you the time working on it - unless that's a hobby for you.

If you are driving 4 or 500 miles a week then either use the coupe as an everyday car and accept that it will never be mint as a result, or get a diesel hack - you will be saving £150+ on fuel a month to fund a toy car.

to be fair most the stuff on that list is me being very fussy and not actually a prblem and i got it checked by both joe and paul at m/m and paul has done all the work and can't really fault the car.
i know what you mean by getting a hack and a play car but i am the sort of person who thinks a car should be used a bit and i can't see the point of having a really nice and expensive car to use in nice weather at the weekend in this country.

i know it will never hit cult status and i have kinda relised that if i do the coop its because of love for it.

don't get me wrong if i was 20k richer than i am now and not wanting to buy a house i would get something really nice but most cars lurking around the 6-8 k mark are going to either be boring or be old enough for me to worry about the reliablity.

my options are,
keep the coop and make it handle and act like it do but if i am honest its good as it is
keep the coop and save alot and buy something really nice in a couple of years.
sell the coop and get a loan to get something nice.
get a 306 d sports and then get something mental for the garage.

now you have your rx7 how often do you drive it and what do you do for getting to work?

rev 3-4 mr2 tubby thats all im going to say

yeah i would love a mr2 turbo but to be fair i just think im better keeping the coop as it does everything i want it to just would like to make it a little better handling and make it mint.

if it wasnt for my old decrepid body (well before its time i might add) that would be the car of my choice. Like you however. the coupe is by far the best match for my needs and confort..with the occasional squirt of pure power

just having new droplinks, wishbones and new tiers made a hell of a difference to me

well the fact i do use 4 seat quite a bit and also i do alot of motoray driving 350 miles a week so doing 30mpg in the coop is good and the reason i sold the skyline was the fuel bills each week.
also im a big guy i body build and 6ft so little cars don't suit well.
i hate having common cars that is one of the biggest people i have is that i always want a special and rare car and normally on a smallish budget.

my problem is i get very picky over stuff and want everything perfect!

I was driving the RX a few miles to work, and then 5 to the gym - then home.

Plan was to buy a daily town car. I test drove a focus and hated it. I thought it would be OK for driving to the occasional meeting as well.

The money has now gone on some hybrid turbos and a clutch + fuelling system for the RX.

In a few months I'll get a punto or KA for the Mrs. to learn on. If it was up to me I'd spend a few grand on a passat TDI, but she wants something smaller.

I just bought a bike for daily use for me - which I'm likely to stick to for a while yet, am actually finding it quite fun, and no fuel costs. I'm lucky that I'm close to where I work at the moment.

The RX is horrible to drive in traffic, your legs get hot from the engine bay heat etc, however for 2 hour journeys cruising its fine IMO apart from the fuel consumption. It actually feels weird getting in a 'normal' car as you are so high up - but I have always prefered low sporty cars to floaty barges anyway.

PS - might even get an N/A coupe in 6 months or so if the mileage I do for meetings goes up.....

i really like the rx and has always been on my to own list but if im honest i imagine i would end up doing loads of bit on a rx just like the coop due to its age.
i don't think il be doing 350 miles a week on the m4 and m25 on a push bike lol if i worked closer and got a new girl friend then maybe.

The RX was a contender for me, but the rebuild costs when it goes wrong were worrying. that and the hole fuel situation. there not cheep to run them things
suba, what mpg are you getting?

Yes - the RX is high maintenance, and if I needed to do lots of miles I would not have bought one to do it in.

In three months I've spent £3,500 ish getting it as close to perfect as I can - another £3K will go on it soon for 400bhp or so (as the turbos are smoking I've got an excuse...) I also had it fully re-sprayed which was not really needed... You also need 3K in the bank for a re-build. As with a coupe turbo, it's not the buying cost that needs to be considered, but next to a TVR which I was considering I think running cost will be cheaper on the RX, about 2-3K a year with track useage and no more than 4,000 miles a year - you also wont get anything that offers so much handling fun short of a noble of exige....

There's also a rather nice change to the exhaust note at 4,500rpm when the 2nd turbo comes on....

i totally agree with you suba and if i wasn't doing 15-18k miles a year i think i would get one but the fact is i like havinga fast nice looking car thats practical to use.
i just don't think i could live with know i had a rx in the garage and drive a crappy £500 306 for th other 15k i do a year!
better of doing the coop and using that and to be fair the coop would be cheaper to maintain to.

once i have my own house secured and have a better garage and more money il get something like the rx and also i won't be doing silly milage as i will be living with the girl friend so no need to drive loads.
on the other hand if i had a well sorted 400bhp coop i doubt there would be much reason to go to the rx apart from it being rwd.

I dont mean to slag off coupes at all - I love them, but:

A well setup, tuned RX will utterly destroy a 300 bhp coupe in every way. At 330bhp my RX was quicker than my 344 bhp coupe that I had spent a lot of money on, with almost N/A throttle response. Handling wise there is so much more to it than RWD...

With coupe prices as they are now you just have to bear in mind that unless you are keeping the car for a good few years any money that you spend is money wasted. Buyers dont care if the oil cooler is about to pop, brake hoses need doing etc.... they just want to spend under £2K for one...a shame, but there you go.

it is more about just rwd but at the same token a 400bhp coop can be a serious car.
the probelm with the rx7 is that it is a very good sports car but it really is very expensive to run! the coop would offer alot of the rx thrills without the petrol and rebuild costs.

if i was doing 4k a year then i would have a rx but the fact is that for proberly the next 2 years im will be doing 15-18k a year and 1ompg isn't going to cut it and nor is having a great car locked in a garage while i drive a rusty bucket around.
i really need a fast practical car that iosn't stupid to run .
rx out of the window.

I can't think of anything else that is more suited for you than a coupe then.... ;-)

heres a idea. maybe i could keep the coop for the day to day and then use the money on modifing the coop and buy something like a rx7!

I ran both for a while with coupe for everyday and meetings. I was soooooooo tempted to keep the coupe, but having two cars that I really cared about and needed a lot of attention was just not sensible.

I would also have spent all my spare time fixing bits on one or the other....

You really appreciate how good coupes are for the money when you start driving other cars in the same price bracket as a replacement.

well thats the problem i have come from much more expensive cars but actually i rather like the coop it is pretty much as good :-) i find really the only thing that detracts the coop enjoyment is that i am used to high powered rwd cars and as you well know track focused rwd cars with alot of power demand to be respected on the road and are very playful and also give a degree for thrills on the fact they play up but i kinda miss that with the coop and you really have to nail it to make the coop misbehave.
i don't think i could afford trackdays and stuff now if i had something like a rx so maybe getting the coop to a good level but without spending to much money and taking it on trackdays and europe trips might make it more fun.

im actually looking forward to getting more of the coop sorted this weekend :-) suns out and and i want the coop spot on.
spoke the the girl friend about maybe doing a trip around the alps and stuff to make me enjoy the car more.
also resisting buying nasty parts for it as really i need to just get it mint first!

looking at getting some nice parts for this now.
koni shocks :-)
rare volk wheels :-)
nigel lower brace :-)
my own custom oil cooler kit :-)
apex springs :-)

going to look good :-)

koni's bought :-)
rad cap bought :-)
oil cooler idea thought up so might have a nice 19 row oil cooler with custom pipes made by me installed by next oil change but otherwise i have some oil coolers on offer :-)

got lots of bit in the garage to go on now.
think im going to be very busy over the weekends now for a very long time.