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Z Car Vtec Or Lotus Elise(exige)?


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#1 xbox

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 12:47 AM

Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum, I owned a origial 1275 mini for more than 2 years, but seems not that reliable(my personal experience due to my driving style)

sorry a bit out of topic, What I was trying to do a year ago was to buy a lotus elise(or exige) but due to anothe much more serious/stupid mistake I have made , I can't afford it now. and the recent A serious engine broken down experience made me totally dont want A serious engine anymore, I will not invest a sinle penny on A serious, no matter how powerful/nice that engine can be tuned, they are just way out of date now, I think. i will just leave it until I can afford to do something else---zcar?lotus?

I recently seriously begin to make attention on the Zcar especially the vtec version. and I do like them very very much. so the confusion comes---zcar vtec or lotus?(who knows, I may able to afford one of them in 1 or 2 years time.) In price wise for 20k pounds, I can only buy an about 5 year old lotus(sc version elise or exige), but i can buy a very very good already built zcar vtec from some one. but in style wise, i love both of them.

But I never own/try one of them yet, so , come to handling, corning, acceleration....etc the overall feeling when come to driving, which one is better? I will like to use the car mainly on road, especially weekend twisted B road fun and sometimes on trackdays with friends. but there are few things I worried about zcar vtec:
1, is it pratical for put some laguage for 2 people in a weekend away? like camping bag, sleeping bag, food, etc. those small items, it seems it doesnt have spare space at all.
2 rust. lotus is mainly made of platic fiber, so rust is a very small issue, but mini, still a big issue?
3, engine, normally where Zcar get the vtec from? what sort of mileage is in already? can I trust thoes second hand vtec in a long time view? say about an other 80K mile?
4, is that possilbe to make some good/reasonable sound isulation for long jourey in a vtec?dont get this wrong: I do love engine/exh noise a lot, but I also dont want be deaf after 6,7 hours long journey. because sometimes i do trip about 10 hours long journey.

any advice? especially from you guys owned both zcar vtec and lotus. Much appreciated.

thanks for reading my boring topic.

Regards

Edited by xbox, 26 February 2010 - 09:06 PM.


#2 The_Mistro

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 01:08 AM

by A serious i take it you mean A series? or am i getting the wrong end of the stick?

on the vtec reliability front, honda havent had a single vtec engine returned to them, and they must of made hundreds and hundreds of thousands, if not millions by now!

Edited by The_Mistro, 25 February 2010 - 01:10 AM.


#3 Chris C

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 03:57 AM

This could quite possibly be the funniest post I have ever read.

#4 xbox

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 07:53 AM

by A serious i take it you mean A series? or am i getting the wrong end of the stick?

on the vtec reliability front, honda havent had a single vtec engine returned to them, and they must of made hundreds and hundreds of thousands, if not millions by now!


Yes Mistro, i mean A series engine ;)

#5 cptkirk

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 08:35 AM

Lotus = looks fast + every knows they handle amazingly + every knows goes fast.
Mini = Looks slow + every one knows they handle + with a VTEC lump as fast/faster than a Lotus - great if you like appearing to be the underdog.

If I had the money and could keep my mini also, I would have a Supercharged Vtec swap Exige - Best of both worlds............

#6 De Blerende Beetle

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 08:58 AM

I would use a GPR body(no rust and lightweight) with a VW 1.4TSI engine. Normall flash of the ecu will give 220hp with lots of torque down low. No expensive stand alone ecu needed and rotrex/turbo conversion. There is even a 1.4TSI with 7-speed DSG transmission, full automatic or with flappypaddles. In Holland you can also get a Powercontrol thats limits the torque in every gear for maximum grip and a DSG tuning that speeds up the gearchange.

#7 vulpina

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 04:40 PM

7speed DSG gearbox with paddle or auto sound sweet , that engine you are talking about must not be cheap i guess .

#8 miniQ

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 05:16 PM

lol camping in a zcar mini? the only space you'd have is the footwell If your gonna start thinking about a zcar mini then you need dedication, quite a bit of $ and to know what you want.

Edited by miniQ, 25 February 2010 - 05:18 PM.


#9 e11evns

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Posted 25 February 2010 - 06:36 PM

A tow bar might be a good idea just incase you wanted to invest in a caravan then you would have all the space that you could ever need, as far as 10 hour drives go you could get extra soft air for your tyres which make the ride smoother, expensive but worth every penny. noise is an issue though perhaps matching ear muffs???..........

#10 De Blerende Beetle

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Posted 26 February 2010 - 02:19 PM

7speed DSG gearbox with paddle or auto sound sweet , that engine you are talking about must not be cheap i guess .



Not more expensive then a Hayabusa 2008-2010. About 4000euro.

#11 brandon7

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Posted 26 February 2010 - 02:34 PM

Ha this is comedy but i can't resist a reply, Ok.... In my opinion

1. Z cars are by no means a touring car..(YET, you could be the first) Mine is so low and like a rollerskate with an engine. You could always pile your luggage on top of your girlfriend or whoever is in the passanger seat.

2. Rust will hold off if you spend time on the shell and keep it garaged and mainly only drive in the dry. For road cars i wouldnt suggest a fiberglass shell so much. They get chipped quite easily apparently.

3. Can you trust a Honda Engine? The power of dreams my friend. If you cant trust this then everything else is screwed. Wonder if this bothered Ariel?

4. If you are going to drive on a motorway for 6.5 hours your going to have to weigh down the car massively with dynomat and get an intercom system. It will be a hell of a journey. I'll sponsor you!

Sounds to me if you want to drive your car to tracks, go camping and need luggage space you might want to consider a Caterham, Westfield or an Exige. I tow my mini everywhere and you might want to consider that like e11evens said.

If you want a performance track car a bit different from everything else get a Zcars its performance is insalnley good and unquestionable. Not to mention the fun.
Give Chris a call at Z cars.

Edited by brandon7, 26 February 2010 - 02:37 PM.


#12 e11evns

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Posted 26 February 2010 - 07:46 PM

Attached File  MiniCamperVersion1960__s.png   131.62K   26 downloads

maybe you could convert one of these!!!!!!!!!!
im loving this post!!

#13 brandon7

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Posted 27 February 2010 - 02:58 PM

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#14 Monte Busa

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Posted 01 March 2010 - 02:28 AM

love it - a roof rack full of roof racks.

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#15 cptkirk

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Posted 01 March 2010 - 12:37 PM

SORTED.........




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