What am I getting wrong about sports cars?
Discussion
greenarrow said:
An early 986 Boxster remains a bargain if you can get a good one. Sound good too.
YesYes
Yes
I have to agree because I have one. The first time I drove one was at a track driving experience day where you get to try a few different road cars. I had no expectations. It just felt so much better than all the other cars I tried there on that day. It was a big surprise. I immediately said to the instructor guy next to me at the first bend - wow this is a great car. He immediately agreed and started telling me how they even stand up well to constant track use considering. So that's what made me decide right there and then that I want one. And that was my first Porsche. I have had a few different Porsches since but then about maybe 10 years ago I decided I should just get another. But I didn't want to rush into it. So I took my time and spent a long long time waiting for a 'nice' car to pop up. I think I did well. Some pics from the day j bought it....
evil.edna said:
WindyCommon said:
911Spanker said:
…if you want fun, go older..
This is true.You seem to think that us "Grandads" are only here to be thought of as "objects of pleasure".
Anybody else on this forum who doesn't instantly agree with me and shout you down is also complicit in my sexual subjugation.
Am I doing this right? ????
ATM said:
.... The first time I drove one was at a track driving experience day where you get to try a few different road cars. I had no expectations. It just felt so much better than all the other cars I tried there on that day. It was a big surprise. ...
I was the same. I'd had a couple of laps of a Ferrari 360 and then an experience day where I got a couple of short laps in a Ferrari 430, Aston DB9 and 997 Turbo.It was striking how the 997 felt 'natural' and 'right' to me and made the others feel off. The driving position, the feel and weight of the controls, even the seat.
I think that applies to all 986/996/987/997 cars where they were very carefully designed to feel that way and same with how much attention Mazda and Toyota have paid to the MX5 and GT86/GR86 respectively.
I expect I'll have a 986 Boxster next year.TameRacingDriver said:
Might just be me but I found the 986 quite overrated.
They're just not very exciting to drive even if they are very competent.
Probably an unpopular opinion but hey ho, be boring if we all liked the same thing.
You are allowed to disagree. We all like different things. I know why I like them and that's what I tried to explain. I spent a couple of years with my first one and therefore now it's more of a feeling of me reminiscing. There are probably better cars so I'm not saying it is perfect. But do I went to keep searching or stick for now. As an overall package for what is today around 8000 to 10000 for a nice one, it hopefully won't get stolen because it's just an old Porsche, it still feels special to me because it is over 20 years old and you just don't see them around so it is a bit different and nerdy. It's ticking a lot of my boxes. But it isn't my only car so even I have more toys to play with.They're just not very exciting to drive even if they are very competent.
Probably an unpopular opinion but hey ho, be boring if we all liked the same thing.
ATM said:
You are allowed to disagree. We all like different things. I know why I like them and that's what I tried to explain. I spent a couple of years with my first one and therefore now it's more of a feeling of me reminiscing. There are probably better cars so I'm not saying it is perfect. But do I went to keep searching or stick for now. As an overall package for what is today around 8000 to 10000 for a nice one, it hopefully won't get stolen because it's just an old Porsche, it still feels special to me because it is over 20 years old and you just don't see them around so it is a bit different and nerdy. It's ticking a lot of my boxes. But it isn't my only car so even I have more toys to play with.
Fair play mate and they do feel special when you walk up to them and get in etc so I do get that. As long as it treats you well that's the main thing. I had two of them and both ended up being pretty bad experiences for me which probably taints my view somewhat. I just remember thinking towards the end it wasn't all that exciting and ended up missing my R53 MCS a bit even though that was probably more flawed in many ways.Certainly helps to have other toys to play with, I wish I had that luxury!
TameRacingDriver said:
Might just be me but I found the 986 quite overrated.
They're just not very exciting to drive even if they are very competent.
Probably an unpopular opinion but hey ho, be boring if we all liked the same thing.
That is my perception of them too, but I haven't driven one though. All the magazines did sing the Boxsters praises for the way it drives though, and in group tests back in the day it was always a shoo-in for the win as well.They're just not very exciting to drive even if they are very competent.
Probably an unpopular opinion but hey ho, be boring if we all liked the same thing.
I'd like to try one to see what I'd think, although I'm a sucker for a front-engined rwd car though, so there could even be a slim chance that I might not even like it in fairness.
cerb4.5lee said:
That is my perception of them too, but I haven't driven one though. All the magazines did sing the Boxsters praises for the way it drives though, and in group tests back in the day it was always a shoo-in for the win as well.
I'd like to try one to see what I'd think, although I'm a sucker for a front-engined rwd car though, so there could even be a slim chance that I might not even like it in fairness.
Yeah, they're always regarded by the press as a no brainer drivers car option over their rivals, but in all honesty I can't say I enjoyed it any more than the 350z or Z4 coupe I had. I'd like to try one to see what I'd think, although I'm a sucker for a front-engined rwd car though, so there could even be a slim chance that I might not even like it in fairness.
Both of those cars may be technically worse to drive I suppose but i guess there's more to it than just outright technical ability which in my opinion doesn't mean that much on the road anyway, enjoyment is difficult to quantify though and highly subjective. I'm not sure I'd have another Porsche though personally, just felt a bit too 'serious' to me.
TameRacingDriver said:
I can't say I enjoyed it any more than the 350z
My mate had one of the first uk spec 350z in the country. Well that was his story. It was 53 reg I think. So I got to drive it when it was a couple of months old. At the time I had my 986. I definitely preferred my car. A lot of the dash in the Nissan felt a bit cheap. It did sound good and have more power. It felt a bit agricultural by comparison. That's not a bad thing. It did got a bit loose exiting a turn at a junction so going slow but medium [to more] throttle and the TC cut in very aggressively. It was like a tiny bit of slip and the computer says shut down all power. My 986 had no TC so I couldn't compare systems. But it definitely didn't impress. Maybe with the TC off would have been a better comparison. But it was just a quick Go. Now this could have been tyres not pumped up or diesel on the road or a number of other factors. All I know is on the day I thought huh not great.
ATM said:
TameRacingDriver said:
I can't say I enjoyed it any more than the 350z
My mate had one of the first uk spec 350z in the country. Well that was his story. It was 53 reg I think. So I got to drive it when it was a couple of months old. At the time I had my 986. I definitely preferred my car. A lot of the dash in the Nissan felt a bit cheap. It did sound good and have more power. It felt a bit agricultural by comparison. That's not a bad thing. It did got a bit loose exiting a turn at a junction so going slow but medium [to more] throttle and the TC cut in very aggressively. It was like a tiny bit of slip and the computer says shut down all power. My 986 had no TC so I couldn't compare systems. But it definitely didn't impress. Maybe with the TC off would have been a better comparison. But it was just a quick Go. Now this could have been tyres not pumped up or diesel on the road or a number of other factors. All I know is on the day I thought huh not great.
They do like to move around a fair bit with it off though, especially if you get too enthusiastic with the throttle in the lower gears.
cerb4.5lee said:
The first thing I do in the 370Z is switch the traction off, because it cuts in far too easily for my personal taste. Plus I had the 200SX for 4 years without any driving aids(apart from ABS), followed by 6 years in the Cerbera without any driving aids whatsoever. So seeing traction control cut in so eagerly frustrates me a bit.
They do like to move around a fair bit with it off though, especially if you get too enthusiastic with the throttle in the lower gears.
The traction/stability control in the RX-8 was really well judged, would let you get a bit of attitude before reigning it in, apart from when pulling away sharply, when it could bog down. So I used to turn it off if I needed to squirt out of a junction. They do like to move around a fair bit with it off though, especially if you get too enthusiastic with the throttle in the lower gears.
Traffic used to come round this roundabout pretty quickly, so one wet day I turned it off to pull out of here;
And forgot that it was off and got a bit greedy with the throttle coming off here;
I caught it, but it was quite a lot more unexpectedly sideways than I was comfortable with!
ATM said:
TameRacingDriver said:
I can't say I enjoyed it any more than the 350z
My mate had one of the first uk spec 350z in the country. Well that was his story. It was 53 reg I think. So I got to drive it when it was a couple of months old. At the time I had my 986. I definitely preferred my car. A lot of the dash in the Nissan felt a bit cheap. It did sound good and have more power. It felt a bit agricultural by comparison. That's not a bad thing. It did got a bit loose exiting a turn at a junction so going slow but medium [to more] throttle and the TC cut in very aggressively. It was like a tiny bit of slip and the computer says shut down all power. My 986 had no TC so I couldn't compare systems. But it definitely didn't impress. Maybe with the TC off would have been a better comparison. But it was just a quick Go. Now this could have been tyres not pumped up or diesel on the road or a number of other factors. All I know is on the day I thought huh not great.
Jayemm recently did a review of the 370Z and said it was a great alternative to a Porsche, and only in his opinion very fractionally worse to drive.
I test drove a 350Z thinking it would be perfect when it was first out and Evo were raving about it. I was completely underwhelmed, brakes aside. Felt a bit heavy and neither high revving now torquey but some midway ground. It was a test drive so there was no evo style sideways heroics.
I later test drove the revised version (was it a high lift cam or something?) and it drove like a completely different car. Really, really enjoyed it.
Owned a 986S for a while. Wonderfully engineered car but found it a bit dull after a few months to be honest. Can see the attraction but not exciting enough for me. Test drove a 996 back to back before buying the 986S as it happens, and the 986S was the better car IMHO.
I later test drove the revised version (was it a high lift cam or something?) and it drove like a completely different car. Really, really enjoyed it.
Owned a 986S for a while. Wonderfully engineered car but found it a bit dull after a few months to be honest. Can see the attraction but not exciting enough for me. Test drove a 996 back to back before buying the 986S as it happens, and the 986S was the better car IMHO.
Shnozz said:
I test drove a 350Z thinking it would be perfect when it was first out and Evo were raving about it. I was completely underwhelmed, brakes aside. Felt a bit heavy and neither high revving now torquey but some midway ground. It was a test drive so there was no evo style sideways heroics.
I later test drove the revised version (was it a high lift cam or something?) and it drove like a completely different car. Really, really enjoyed it.
Owned a 986S for a while. Wonderfully engineered car but found it a bit dull after a few months to be honest. Can see the attraction but not exciting enough for me. Test drove a 996 back to back before buying the 986S as it happens, and the 986S was the better car IMHO.
The Nissan VQ engine is quite a fascinating engine really. My 370Z revs to 7500rpm(max power is at 7000rpm), but it never really feels like a very revvy engine though, and it feels oddly torquey for a naturally aspirated engine too. I later test drove the revised version (was it a high lift cam or something?) and it drove like a completely different car. Really, really enjoyed it.
Owned a 986S for a while. Wonderfully engineered car but found it a bit dull after a few months to be honest. Can see the attraction but not exciting enough for me. Test drove a 996 back to back before buying the 986S as it happens, and the 986S was the better car IMHO.
Shnozz said:
Owned a 986S for a while. Wonderfully engineered car but found it a bit dull after a few months to be honest. Can see the attraction but not exciting enough for me.
Sums it up perfectly for me. When I first got mine, I was chuffed to bits about having a Porsche but ultimately as you say, slightly dull / aloof. Not quite sure why I tried again but wished I hadn't.TameRacingDriver said:
Shnozz said:
Owned a 986S for a while. Wonderfully engineered car but found it a bit dull after a few months to be honest. Can see the attraction but not exciting enough for me.
Sums it up perfectly for me. When I first got mine, I was chuffed to bits about having a Porsche but ultimately as you say, slightly dull / aloof. Not quite sure why I tried again but wished I hadn't.Bought my immaculate 986S after having a modified MX5 NA which the wife hated.
The Boxster was very impressive and competent but left me rather cold when it came to actual fun behind the wheel.
The Boxster was sold after 9 months and bought this which is rather more involving.....
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