Hounddub;69229 wroteI'm late to this sorry but have gone through the same decision making for my sister's eldest girl who is due to start driving soon. We ended with this criteria:
1. Needed to be Japanese for parts, costs and overall reliability
2. Needed to be manual
3. Needed to be no more than 130 bhp
4. Needed to be not laughed at by her peers
5. Needed to not carry more than ONE passenger (if you've seen the car loads of kids being driven around by a red P plater it just terrifies me)
So what did we end up with.......a very tidy and unmodified.........
.......Mazda MX5.
We got a series 2 NB which can with airbag and TC (unlike the original NAs which were the first choice). Great to drive, great to teach driving skills, doesnt go fast....but feels good which she loves.
There's my 5 cents. Not a Volvo I'm sorry
Really hate to tell you but a std MX5 will do Lakeside in 64 seconds, so they are quick but not powerful!!!
The car will out handle and brake most vehicles around even though they don't have much horsepower due to the fact that you don't need to slow down much for corners etc.
Please for you and your daughters sake get a wheel alignment done by a suspension specialist who knows MX5s, its the most important thing to have done right. Change timing belt every 100,000 kms, expect a few electrical issues from the ignition side, and expect to take it for a quick blap and to come home a couple of hours later.
As you may have guessed I've owned 2, a NA clubman and a NA that I raced in prodsports(60 sec @ lakeside).
Great little cars, and one you and your daughter will love.
NB series 2 doesn't have Traction Control but does have ABS and thats more important.
Terry
