[drunken monkey]

in two/three years time, one of my saving plans will have matured and i will have £20,000-£22,000 (depending on the interest rates) to buy a car.

originally, i had planned to find an nice old ferrari (365 boxer or 246 gt) and take a small loan to pay for the rest
but then i recently started to do a little research and the costs of keeping one of them have kinda shot down my dreams.

so in a fit of trying to be sensible (or realistic) i have come to two choices;
namely the Lotus Elise or the Mazda RX-8.

here goes.
as i said, my savings plan matures in just under three years and should get me around £20,000.
i can sell my current little car for about £2000.
that gives me at least £22,000 (not including other savings)

i have decided that it will have to be a 2nd hand car (mainly cos i'll need money for insurance and i'm not too keen on spending it all on a brand new car.

if i get the Elise, itself an impractical car, i will be keeping my little toyota Yaris as the sensible car.
or sell the Yaris as well and get myself an RX-8 as both a toy AND a sensible car (is it really that useable as a four seater?)

which seems the better idea?

i have no real idea of the actual running costs of both of these cars
(beyond insurance) so i'm really asking you guys for typical costs, hidden or other-wise and just a general opinion of my choices.

the other alternative is to skip the sportscar choice and go for a fast hatch like a Golf R32 or Alfa 146 GTA
but then these will present other problems.....

what do you think?