If its a street driver daily thing a vette is hard to beat for all around performance. Of all your chloices an elise will teach you to drive really well. A viper can dance but with all that engine you dont really learn how to dance it. An esprit is an intersting choice and the most exotic, but buyer beware. A NSX has handling and compfort for a daily street car it is a great combo, myself I would go for a low mileage elise great for track livable on the street and always good for a sunday drive. I guess the real question is will you use the car as a daily, what type of roads will you drive on, trackdays?
I live in the city. I use public transportation virtually everywhere. I average about 3k miles a year on my current vehicle. I only use my car for drives on the weekend or out to the suburbs to visit friends and family, a trip to the grocery store for a few basic items once every few weeks, and a trip once a quarter home to Peoria (about 150 miles each way). The rest of the time my car is sitting in a parking garage. So callling it a daily driver is definitely a strech...yet with such low miles that I put on my current car I can't exactly see any reason to keep both although I have considered keeping my current car literally until the wheels fall off. Normally I wouldn't probably even consider a purchase like this at this stage in my life, but those drives on the weekend are one of just a handful of things that I get a lot of enjoyment and relaxation out of and I figure I'm young, happily single, and work hard - life is too short. I would love to get into tracking my car periodically, but don't know the first thing about it.
No problem any other questions don't hesitate to ask. Next time your in Kansas city area PM me. Our Viper Club is pretty close. We get together freqently. Here are some videos of our get togethers: http://www.streetfire.net/video/Viper-Compilation-Video-2007_142787.htm http://www.streetfire.net/video/Premier-Viper-NSX-Ferrari-Lotus-Weekend-Video_135820.htm Here are some track videos: http://www.streetfire.net/video/Viper-VS-C6-Z06_142927.htm http://www.streetfire.net/video/2007-early93viper-Track-days_144266.htm If you look up early93viper on streetfire or youtube you will find many more vids. Enough to bore you for a while.
Perhaps, but for the most part the Gen 3 Viper doesn't get a lot of love. If I had to bet, I'd bank on early examples ('03 - '04) being a lot closer to $40k than $50k next year.
Based on what you have written, an elsie will be too compromised for long midwestern stretches and not "exotic" enough. A turbo esprit will do it but 10k for incidentals might nor. From the enthusiasm here It sounds like a viper, and it is the one choice that may a[ppeacite. For finesse and fine driving I would go for the nSX. Or just Go for a new GTR
You're right ..it was someone else that PMd me to ask about my car. Still...get the Viper..GenII....there really is no substitute. I can think of a car under $150k that I would consider before a Viper..new or used.
Which Lotus are we talking about? The 4c Turbo, the Elise or the V8 Twin Turbo? If it's the V8 Twin Turbo I'd say get that over the Viper. Just my .02
Have you ever lived with one and the obscene maintenance costs ? I have a friend that had one...for about 6 weeks then got rid of it. Sure once its sorted ($$$$$) its fantastic...but by then you could have easily bought a Ferrari..lol
I'm sorry but its a misconception that all esprits are bad. In fact the S4, S4s and V8 if its 02+ are reliable. Vipers are heavy cars and are often a lot more to handle then many owners think(Nick Hogan). 0-60 it can be a handful too, not many people can get a car with that size engine to get anywhere near factory claims (the lotus and the nsx would both have an advantage in this sense) Another problem is that you might as well get a loan for all the gas the thing will need. Hope I didnt get the viper people too mad but its just my 2cents. I would go esprit or NSX!
Dont get me wrong I love the Esprit and didnt mean to imply they are all bad. I often think about adding one but theres no room in my garage ! But for someone looking for the 'entry exotic' I think a Lotus is too risky if he happens to get the wrong car. Ive yet to meet anyone with a problem viper which is another reason I recommend it. And yes Vipers are a handful..I spun mine the day I got it making a somple right hand turn. just happened to be some gravel there...lucky no one was coming or I would have had a BAD day. But once you understand the power and respect it its all good. As for the NSX....one of my biz partners has a 2005 NSX. Ive had the opportunity to borrow it for a few days at a time. Its so perfect its boring...its lacking personality. Its a bit on the slow side like my 355. Its also more expensive to fix than the viper if something goes wrong. Totally respect your opinion but have to disagree
How can you compare Nick Hogan who crashed a viper drifting it on a closed course to the average sunday cruise driver? I dont get what your saying about the motor and the driver, there are many guys that can DRIVE those cars hard.
No kidding. It's a 5 or 6 hundred HP car with no electronic nannies. But have you seen them on a track. They will eat the Lotus and NSX for lunch. Heavy or not, the Viper is on a whole different playing field compared to the others. Darrell.
Yeah I know what you are saying about not getting a lot of "love" but that is only within the Viper community and even then the Gen 3 still gets nuff respect,(try a Paxton S/C for $8K with 750 BHP, you will get lots of love). As for the prices you are probably right within the next year or so but watch the market on Gen 3's in a few years when the Viper goes out of production, especially the 03's (with the best forged internals of the Gen 3 run). Also who says Vipers are heavy? A 03 Vert weighs 3380 lbs.
The Viper handles exeptionally well, it's just the kind of car that YOU have to control. Most of the Viper owners I have met track their cars on a regular basis. It's a great supercar for a reasonable price, and it looks damn good.
True enough in general for sure. I would say if you want the king of 0-60 times and a SUPER handling car to boot (and maybe not to far out of your price range) get a 996 (911) Twin Turbo with the Tiptronic trans. It is a no brainer! Load up the Turbos w/ some brake checking and then when the light turns green drop the brake and go the rest of the way to the floor w/ the throttle and you will click of 0-60 times in the sub 4 sec range ALL DAY LONG! No worries, no problems, just simple as pie! You don't see them on every street corner (but you will see more of them than Lotus' as MANY, MANY more were sold) but you can use one as daily transport w/o even batting an eye! AWESOME CARS! Some on this list have seen them in the $45k range too!!! That is a STEAL for a car w/ this level of performance and an as new prices (once you add options) above $130k! Keep us posted. James
Yea that is not to bad there. The V8 F-cars are only a bit lighter, the V12 F-cars quite a bit heavier. That is right in there w/ a 450HP 996TT (well 450HP w/ a flash ECU upgrade, much more if you want to get into Turbos a bit and exhaust)... No to bad at all. That is about 300# lighter than my 928S4 (320HP) and my 928 GTS 's (350HP/370Tq)... James Austin, TX
I'd get the Lotus, just because it's an exotic, the shape has proved timeless and it's rare. The Viper just isn't me -- too phallic looking, and the interior is very rental car. Important? Not sure, but if you're aspiring to a Ferrari you probably like elegant interiors and subtle styling, and IMO the Dodge just isn't there. The NSX is a good car, but again you're kind of getting a parts-bin Honda -- quality car, quality engineering, but ultimately it's something of a compromise if you admire the legendary marques. IMO, the styling is a bland re-hash of some Ferrari V8 elements sandwiched between some cheap-looking plastic end caps. I know a lot of people disagree, but it doesn't excite me the way the pre-360 Ferraris do. The Esprit has its faults, and headroom isn't great, so make sure you fit. But they have depreciated well into bargain territory, and they are extremely rare -- you just won't see yourself coming and going. The later V8 Esprits seem like the way to go. They are very fast, and there's a serious cool factor to the car that you don't get with the Dodge or Acura.
If your going to track the car the Elise is the ticket. NSX is OK. Gen 1 and 2 Viper brakes were a cosmic joke. " What were they thinking ".
Former Lotus dealer friend of mine said if you are going to track the car REGULARLY (vs. a couple of times a year) DON'T get an Elise (or ANY OTHER Lotus for that matter)...he says they are just to fragile and tempermental. He said get a Porsche if you want to go to the track a lot. They have GREAT BRAKES (yes, they DO! I can attest to that...more than equal to the HP of the car they are on) and they have great suspensions, and with some R tires you can drive them to and from the track and have a wicked good time in between! I could not agree more. The Lotus is MUCH more exotic though! I have ALWAYS liked them and I like the Elise best of all! Someday I hope to put an MR2 push button trans in one so I can park one in my garage that I will be able to drive!!! Or maybe Lotus will come out w/ an F1 style box of their own and save me the trouble! YMMV! James Austin, TX
I track my car frequently with my GEN I brakes. They are not the best but far from a joke. With a $500 brake upgrade kit and EBC yellows they do just fine. Here is a vid of me playing with (among many other cars) a supercharged Elise on the track: http://www.streetfire.net/video/Last-HPT-Roadwarriors-2007_138844.htm
IMO: For a weekend car that is only driven for fun, get the craziest fun car you can stand. You are in a great position - ahem, no ball and chain - to live it up and indulge yourself in something impractical, sexy, fast, and fun. A good car should make you want to drive it. Lurk around the NSX forum, a common post is "Took the long way to the grocery store... 2 hours of twisty roads to get the milk..." I haven't done a lot of lurking on the Viper forums, but I did see two "Holy Sh*t this thing is fast!" newbie posts. I've also seen hundreds of Vipers on wreckedexotics dot com... Test drive a few. Register and look for Buying Tips (and Newbie Facts) on the enthusiast forums. Have fun!!!!!! Just my 0.0000002 cents. Or... ...Take your disposeable income for the car and invest it. Keep the daily driver. After a few years or more, cash out some of your earnings an buy a nice used Ferrari - and maintain it properly. This is Fchat, after all!
THANK YOU! I remember when I pulled my 1986 944 turbo up next to Ralph Giles' Viper and realized that we had they exact same brakes. The funny part is that Porsche increased the caliper piston size and rotor diameter on the 1987's. My 944 turbo stopped wonderfully but lets look at the numbers. It came from the factory with 217hp and 500lbs less than the Viper. Same brakes. Viper has 300 more horsepower and weighs 500lbs more... .?!?
