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Which Direction for Good Handling, Forgiving Z?

Originally Posted by wheelspeed Your comment about a Corvette Z06 feeling super wide is very interesting, because that's been a concern of mine. I hate that companies just throw on

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Old 04-07-2022, 12:53 AM   #16 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by wheelspeed View Post
Your comment about a Corvette Z06 feeling super wide is very interesting, because that's been a concern of mine. I hate that companies just throw on a wide package to get easy, higher g's on a skidpad for the magazine tests, and meanwhile it's so wide you can't avoid a Pittsburgh pothole without leaving your lane. I've suspected the Vette and SS 1LE might irritate me that way, and your comment supports that.

People keep mentioning the M2. I guess I should drive one. The company I work for is German owned, and the main bosses all own German. Maybe it'd do me well to have a German car. But after having 4 BMW's in the 90's and 00's, I'm kind of past it. I still watch for E46 M3 and old Z3 M Coupes, but no so into the new BMWs. I did like M2s when they came out and thought I'd look at off-lease M2s around now, but meh. Plus, with a nice '18 Ford Flex, I'm finally in a position to get a 2-seater. Getting a car with more practical interior feels like a waste. There's a lot of room in the Flex. I can fold the seats down flat and sleep in it. I haven't had a 2-seater since I was like 20 years old. ($2800 '84 Fiero in 1990 ha ha.)

Not a fan of S2000s. It's like my peeve with mfrs throwing on wider stance to chase skidpad results... making a small engine rev to 9000 rpms to get a decent hp rating seems like cheating. It's fine for the track where you can hold it between 6-9k rpms, but F that for driving to work. Just seems like a stupid car to me and I'm tired of people liking a stupid street car that revs to freakin' 9,000 rpms. Like I'm gonna drive around my local streets at 6k rpms like an a-hole. No, 97% I'm driving around 3-5k rpms and the car's gonna suck like that. Sorry... obviously some kind of trigger. :-) Plus bald guys don't like convertibles.

I would like to do some HDPE stuff, but I didn't get into that because I feel any car will be fun for that. I even took my '09 Mazda 3 on a couple "Track-cross" events that were a Wednesday night kind of thing with just one car at a time and only 1/2 course, timed. It was still fun as hell with all of 150hp/150 torque on all-season tires. And anyway, I suspect 75% of cars that are rated good for track days kinda suck for street driving on crappy Pittsburgh roads, so I really prefer a "drivers car" instead of track car. It's what I meant by "fun and forgiving" car. You know, spirited corner-attacking, across frost-heaves and tar snakes and the car can handle it okay without going nuts. Drives me nuts that magazine reviews drive a car on the roads and comment about interior, but no comments about handling until they take it on the track. NO, I don't wanna know about a cars handling on a track... tell me how it is on the roads. If it does well on a nice smooth track holding the rpms at 8000 rpms like the goofy S2000, then I'm probably not going to like it on northeast roads.

But okay, now my test-drive list is expanded to M2 and Cayman. I'm not one to waste people's time joy-riding their stuff, so I better do that before I buy something or I never will. And maybe one will make me fall for it. And another 370z of course. I do remember that my test drive of a '12 about 2 years ago felt like 'home' to me from the inside. But couldn't get any concept of handling from that little slow ride through the 'burbs.

EDIT- Above was posted at 10:30pm and there may or may not have been a little drinking before posting.

EDIT2 - Holy moly NSX's from like '90 are about $90k!!! Did you miss my $60k cap? No way doing that. The closest thing to my "emotionally illogical dream car" is a 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera with whale tale, which I found one in North Carolina for like $50k with zero warranty. I'd do that way before a $90k 30-year old NSX. Dear lord.

EDIT3 - Might be reason for my love of 350/370Zs is that they resemble '84 911s to me.

Agh, didn’t see that NSXs in decent spec were so much now… I guess my estimation that they were still in that ballpark was wrong, sorry about that! Probably the Z, M2 comp, Cayman would be in your fun car category. Depends on your preferred engine layout too. I will say the stock Z suspension is surprisingly compliant on the road and it doesn’t suffer from the “stiffer is better” suspension crazy that has been going on for the past decade or so. I’ve heard the Caymans ride great and the BMWs ride a bit on the harsh side IMO. YMMV of course. Z will be the cheapest to run assuming the cars are in the same condition, if that matters to you.
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Old 04-07-2022, 06:04 AM   #17 (permalink)
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A. What don't you like about the Miata, it is a great car for
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fun car for low-speed twisties on cold days / rainy days
B. Why do you think an out of the box Z isn't good at being fun? Assuming you don't go for an open diff version or auto.
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Is it the flimsy doors?


Not trying to be sarcastic but the only real down side of a Miata is the small size for bigger people, 2 seats, and top speed which isn't that important on the street. It can corner as good as if not better then most sports cars. The 370Z is a very good sports car out of the box, and you really won't see any deficiencies with any type of street driving. If it's size and power you are looking for in a sporty looking car, stick with the Domestic brands; Dodge, Chevy, Ford. The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a great car from what I can tell though it's a little more then the 50K budget you are looking at. Then the Camaro SS1/2 and finally the Dodges

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Here's a short list of cars I have been looking at:
Ford, Taurus, SHO
Chevy, Camaro, 1SS
Dodge, Charger, SCAT
Dodge, Challenger, SCAT
Ford, Mustang, GT
Hyundai, Veloster, N
Ford, Mustang, Mach 1
VW, Golf, R
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Old 04-11-2022, 03:00 PM   #18 (permalink)
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My opinion is the '12 Sport Manual Z is your most bang for the buck of the list. I have a 2010 Sport, still on oe shocks and springs with a front sway bar, 255 front/ 305 19 rear tires and it handles like a dream. No issues in Florida rain but I'm partial since paying $15k for it in 2016 with 72k miles.

Came out of a 600+ HP Supercharged Mustang and I find the Z to be much more fun, it's a go-kart. I too would love a Cayman S but both it and the Z are hobby cars and won't justify the cost, especially in the current elevated market. Hopefully the Cayman will be given away when everything comes crashing down...........it's coming.
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