Having to justify my choice of car to a higher authority (ie my wife) I tested quite a lot before plumping for my current (and 4th) Scoob. I needed 4 doors, 5 seats and decent performance for a sensible price. Oh, and it had to be an official UK car.

Options were:

Jaguar X-Type 3.0 Sport. Very capable but just a little too grown up for me. Plus the residuals weren't very good so lease costs were very high.

BMW 330i Sport. Very fast but a little sterile. Plus the dealer's attitude sucked and it was relatively expensive. Handled well but still (IMHO) over controlled by anti-fun electronics.

I wanted to try a Merc but there wasn't one in the price range. I discounted the Evo because I don't like it, regardless of capability. Likewise Audi and VW.

I ended up with an MY01 WRX. I'm very happy indeed. Doesn't affect my patriotism in any way, just my practicality.

HTH.

SB

Amazing!

So the guy wants to help the british economy, give his friends jobs, help reduce taxes, support the country that we live in, whatever.

Does that really make him a racist?

IMHO I don't think there is a british equivalent to the Scoob.

Still, an Esprit V8 would be lovely.

Personally I think the MG range look really nice, they do not have the same poke as a scooby, and the grip in the wet is no where near the same, no good in having all that power if you can't lay it down on the road, but the ZS does look rather good in the the imprezza style blue with the big wing.

MG ZS... good move, I had a blast in one on the release date (V6, Blue, Big Spoiler etc).

Nice car... engine was nice and it felt a bit like an Impreza really, also good value :)

In fact, a guy near my girlfriend has got one, I would seriously consider getting one if I didn't have my scooby :) (there must be a way of getting more grunt from the V6... )

Matt.

True Brit

Why not look at the elise - many people use them as a daily drive
30mpg - 0-60 6.0 ish
great handling and loads of fun - ps part owned by Proton - but don't let that stop you - 15k gets a good s1 example.

look at http://www.british-cars.co.uk

go to the lotus bbs and have a look - loads of info

otherwise - look at mgs - have some good cars
dare ginetta
tvr
caterham -

Chris T - lotus s1-11

hth

Amazing ...

If you don't mind, I'll skip the questioning of your motives :rolleyes: ...

Regardless of who owns what ... it would be nice to see UK based companies / technology doing well again...

My first idea was ... Lotus. I also have a lot of sympathy for MG, they are really trying to forget the past and make nice drivers cars again (loved the ads as well BTW)...

The Lotus Elise is a top car ... if you want something slightly more practical (but not much), you may want to look at the VX220 (which is partly built at the same premises).

I would personally not be inclined to choose a car based on where it comes from, but for example when I bought my T5 years ago it was nice to know it was assembled in Belgium etc... it may be one of the contributing factors.

Lotus, you know you want to :)

HTH,

Theo

Check out the MG-ZS for sure. It's great that a UK manufacturer is making some great cars now so if you want to buy britsh then you could do worse than point your cash in that direction.

Lotus Elise's also rock so whatever choice you make just enjoy it!:D

Must admit I'm disappointed by the posts from some people slagging you off etc. Seems Scoobynet is a bit emotionally charged at the moment, I only hope it lightens up soon..............

DP.

Ok, in your budget -

NEW OPTIONS

MG Rover ZS180 - Mate has one, quite nice, Car March said this of the ZS
My friend is looking to have his remapped to 200bhp... Should be quite fun.

Honda Civic Type R - Built down the road in Swindon, and honda have put a large amount of money into the Swindon plant. Car nearly as quick as an impreza once moving, and an induction kit will upgrade the engine to about 220bhp.

SECONDHAND
(and some off the wall choices, but worth a look if you need british made)

TVR Griffith, true british car, loads of performance only two seats.

Overfinch/JE Engineering Range Rover Torque monsters... Faster than I though sane for a 4x4, 10-15mpg :eek:

Jaguar XJR Loads of car for the money, refined and very quick (not british owned, but brit built)

Peugeot 306GTI6 British built, fantastic handling, loads of fun and a 6 speed box, good ones start at £6k...

True Brit, Race is a sensitive issue on the BBS at the moment, and personally I've never owned a british car (though I think my 309 was built in the UK), and don't want to go into your reasons for buying british but I do know people who would prefer to support british industry, and to an extend understand the reasons.

I did struggle to think of that many british built cars... The list is massive if you want to include a EU cars though. Why not put a post in other marques, and we'll post some sensible answers.

- Jon

I'd like to say a big thank you to all that have replied.

I'd like to say an even bigger thanks to those who actually replied with constructive answers - i.e. recommending me decent British alternatives.

It's a pity to see people in my own country condemn me for chosing a car that has its roots in the country we live in. I guess some things defy explanation.

I'd say that I did have a lot of respect for this forum, but quite honestly I feel sickend by the replies from some people on here, and I have saved this entire thread and will show it to friends.

Thank you all for your time.

PS - I'll be checking the Jag out, and an MG ZS - cheers - You guys actually gave this forum a bit of cred!

PPS - TVRs are great, perhaps a bit scary!

Can't believe how sad some of you are [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Jesus, whats wrong with a bit of patriotism? That does not make you racist.:rolleyes:

Not that you would catch me in anything EnglishLOL....

For all the politically correct brigade, see below










Joke :rolleyes:

D

True_Brit,

If you are showing this thread to your friends, you should perhaps also print out some of the threads which are the exact opposite - i.e. long discussions for new people giving them lots of useful advice. Time was on this board that you would only have had helpful responses (with the occasional Muppet intervention), but as others have said above, it is a very emotionally-charged (good phrase!) time on Scoobynet, with rather too many idiots around posting stupid things. Unfortunately, many of us are at the end of our tethers with these people, and your post came right at the peak of these threads (of which there are still about half a dozen still active). Hence the complete over-reaction from the first dozen or so posts. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Please don't go away thinking that this board is full of this sort of thing - the vast majority of the time, it's an extremely helpful and useful resource with a lot of very knowledgeable people on it. My advice would be to ignore the first page of posts and put it down to severely frayed tempers. As you can see since then, you've had nothing but proper replies about cars, and about how disgusted the rest of us are with people's first responses.

Good luck in getting the car, and let us know how you get on!

Cheers
Richard

True Brit...

I'm glad you found the 'proper' reponses useful, I must agree with Bitten Hero, it is a very 'charged' time at the moment but the replies you initially got where completely out of order (you bunch of fc£^:/\ .@$"~).

Anyway, do let us know what you get (my money's on an MG ZS (what about a ZT?) or the Elise). Actually, I had a bit of a dig around the Autotrader website last night and they had some nice Esprit's, what about on of those?

Regarding this board, it *is* very useful and believe it or not was one of the deciding factors in getting another Subaru because it's a great community who are around whenever you need them. They are a good bunch, contrary to what you would have thought from your initial posts.

Good luck...

Matt.

I agree with mattski2 and Elvis - for goodness sake, someone comes on here for a genuine opinion and gets flamed beyond belief [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] What is it with you lot? It's obviously not Scooby370Beast or one of his pathetic friends, as the posts are well written and light-years ahead of his drivel. There are too much jumping to conclusions and snobbery on this board and I for one hate that [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img].

Back to the original question... well, what about an MG ZS? I've driven one and was very impressed. True, not as quick outright as a Scooby, but not as much in it as people would have you believe, and it handles very nicely. There are discounts available too, and you could pick up a nice ZS180 4-door for around £15k. Have a look on http://www.xpower-mg.com/forum/index.php?s= . It embarasses (and disappoints) me to say that the people on there are likely to give you helpful advice rather than flame you to bits.

Failing that, if you're happy to look second hand, look at a Mondeo ST24 or ST200 (yes, it's Ford, but it's Ford UK which are a whole separate section, and it's built in Britain), or of course a TVR (fun but frail), or a Jag 4.0, or similar.

:rolleyes: Sometimes I wonder why I bother looking on this BBS any more...

Richard

[Edited by Bitten Hero - 3/4/2002 1:29:57 PM]

'lo all,

well then.. all fun and games here.

i've been browsing the bbs for quite a while now and enjoy the banter, arguments,muppets,good stuff etc... I take mainly a lurker type role, and keep quiet most of the time... but... I have to say I am very surprised and dissappointed at the attitude tru_brit seems to be receiving.
You ask for some help/ideas, and you get a big ball of sh1t thrown right at you. If there was call for it fair enough... but there wasn't!. Most of the first 20 posts were insane rants. If you want
to rant like chumps, create yer own board.

I shake my head.

Anyways... how about an Italian motor... Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6, quite nice looking motors, handling is very nice (obviously not as good as 4wd scoob - before i get shouted at and persecuted) , quite quik too... generally v good fun. (you wouldn't guess i own an alfa, would ya? :D )

J

{edited 'coz i can't spell}

[Edited by jason77 - 3/4/2002 4:41:43 PM]