First sport's car: 370z or Ariel Atom?

[flatrick]

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

The Ariel Atom is an awesome vehicle, one of the guys I race with has one. Unfortunately it is loud, uncomfortable in the summer and winter, and totally impractical. Basically it's a road legal track car.

If you have the ability to get it to the track on a regular basis then absolutely go for it. If you're not going to the track then you will hate it in 3 months and want to sell it due to its total impracticality.

... er Euros.

Yeah, I had already taken all of this into consideration.
I have never driven on a track (except with karts) and am not sure if I ever will, even if I buy a sport's car. I know there are a few tracks around here though, so I just might some day try it out. The main issue I have with tracks is that they will inevitably wear down the car and thus become an expensive hobby.

Now, this said, I still very much love to drive and so does my girlfriend. Moreover, we live in an mountainous area with sinuous roads which is perfect for fast-paced driving without necessarily speeding that much. We also happen to live next to the German boarder and we basically spend as much time in Germany as in France. Their high speed limits are usually very high and their "autobahns" have no speeding limits at all!
Call me greedy if you want, but with conditions like this I am extremely tempted to get the fastest car I can afford.

Comfortability and practicality are of course the main set-offs in this case. I definitely need to test drive the beast before trying to forge myself a realistic opinion.
There's no snow here in winter and it doesn't get that cold. I think I could probably drive it with a proper jacket, granted that I also get the windshield.
I don't understand however what's the problem with driving the atom in the summer? Only reason I can fathom is that the sun is far too hot where your friend is at, but at least here everyone is driving with roadsters the whole summer long. If it's the plastic chairs which are the problem, since I guess they get burning hot in the summer, that won't be an issue because I would most likely replace them anyway.

If things would go awry for any reason, the Atom after sale is fortunately excellent. Most atoms outside of the UK are sold for the same price they were bought new even after a few years of use.