Splitter Clearances vs. New Car Choices

[PiB]

At the moment I'm holding out for some of the new possible Lotus's to make there way to the states and or waiting for gen 2 997 GT3 prices to drop a little more (however mechanical issues have me looking at other options). I want to get a "keeper" or possibly trade the car in later for something cheaper that *will* be a keeper so I plan to have the car 10 plus years. My biggest problem/fear is the splitter will be too low for practical driving i.e. getting out of my apartment garage in San Francisco. Another issue is width but purely for my parking space in my covered garage. Cars today have gotten incredibly wide compared to my current e36 M3 - this is a real bonus towards the Lotus and 993 911's.

It looks like 997 gt cars will drop significantly to the point where their mechanical/design fault may mean less to me. At current prices though I couldn't face myself if I had a centerlock hassle when some nice Loti are in the pipeline let alone anything else. But for example ZR1 - Viper these cars I feel certain would scrape all over the place and be a bit wide to maneuver into my city drive. The 997 at least have a lift that may help which is a big plus to them.

In general, how do I solve this fear of clearance issue? What do you the sports car owner do to deal with this? I'm less worried about width. This will be my only car but I only drive once or twice a month but I don't want to scrape in front of everyone whenever I come and go. I will be using the car for some practical purposes (carrying my luggage, groceries, getting to the Sierras) the few times I drive it.

Cheers

[randlemarcus]

PiB said:

It looks like 997 gt cars will drop significantly to the point where their mechanical/design fault may mean less to me.
This will be my only car but I only drive once or twice a month but I don't want to scrape in front of everyone whenever I come and go.
Cheers

Worried about the oily bits? Buy a warranty.

Most low splitters are deisgned to be sacrificial - i.e. it doesn't use CF for the bit that hits the bumps. Too aggressive an incline, and you will damage everything, not just the cheap bit underneath the bumper.

[PiB]

Hmm . . . that's a sort of a solution. Porsche allows you to extend your existing remaining warrantee. Still, 10 years out can I still extend the warranty? By that point I may have tracked the car. There's a whole discussion on the water cooled engines, well, coolant circulation design. GT3 engines are $$$ to replace. Then with the centerlock debacle potentially still continuing turn me off of such an awesome car. Really, makes the potential (usual TADTS) Lotus type issues seem minor.

I was big on the 2008 GT2 due to it's rarity despite the RS versions but clearance and engine worry me. Yes, a lift system can be fitted. But also, I like the spirit of the na GT3 dearly.

Other cars:

BMW Z8 - Not really my cup of tea but unique, fast in straight line, and will depreciate very little. Depreciation is a big plus on it. Clearance is good but overall not really in the spirit of the 'type' of car I like.

Ginetta G40R - If this were to make it to America in the same way some other drivetrainless less cars are - it would be perfect. Exactly, what I want, in the US these 'component cars' [sic] hold their value astonishingly well (Rosen, Caterham, Superperformance).

Perhaps I digress a bit too much from my initial issue of scrapping sports cars.