I get asked this a lot, so I posted this on the Corvette forum

I'm kind of a car nut. In the past few years I've owned Acura NSX's(5), Porsche 911 (996), Lotus Elise, Corvette C5 Convertible and Coupe, Ferrari 355 (still have), Factory Five Cobra, Factory Five Spec Racer, Factory Five Coupe (still have), and the C6 Z06 (still have).

I get asked all of the time which car is better. That's really a trick question, but here's some impressions of the latest production cars. I won't include the FFR products or the C5's.

Contenders for this write-up:
C6 Z06
Acura NSX (hard tops, not targa models)
Porsche 911 (996)
Lotus Elise
Ferrari 355

Best steering: Lotus Elise
Worse steering: C6 Z06

Best power: Corvette C6 Z06
Worse power: Lotus feels slow, but the NSX is slower

Best brakes: Lotus Elise with the Z06, 355 and 911 real close
Worse brakes: Acura NSX

Best seats for a long trip: C6 Z06
Worse seats for a long trip: tie Porsche 911 and Lotus Elise

Best seats for the track: Lotus Elise
Worse seats for the track: C6 Z06

Best stereo: C6 Z06
Worse stereo: Lotus Elise - really, really, really bad.

Easiest to drive fast in the mountains: Lotus Elise
Scariest to drive fast in the mountains: C6 Z06 (too much power and runflats)

Best handling (grip): Tie between C6 Z06 and Lotus Elise
Worse handling: none, they all handle great

Best stock exhaust sound: Ferrari 355
Worse stock exhaust sound: Acura NSX

Best after-market exhaust: Ferrari 355 Capristo Stage III
Worse after-market exhaust: None

Best attention getter: Lotus Elise by a mile
Worse attention getter: Porsche 911

Most reliable: C6 Z06 so far
Most unreliable: Ferrari 355

Cheapest after-market parts: Lotus Elise and C6 Z06
Highest priced after-market parts: Ferrari 355

Easiest to get into: tie Corvette C6 Z06 and Porsche 911
Worse to get in: Lotus Elise

Most fun to drive: Lotus Elise
Least fun to drive: Could their be one that's not fun? The NSX is pretty much the least of this group.

Best build quality (fit and finish): tie Porsche 911 and Acura NSX
Worse build quality: tie between Ferrari 355 and Lotus Elise

Best engineering design: Corvette C6 Z06 by a long mile
Worse engineering design: Porsche 911

Best interior materials: Porsche 911
Worse interior materials: Ferrari 355 (parts are melting and everything is sticky) and Lotus Elise (hard plastics)

Best smell: Porsche 911
Worse smell: none, they all smell great in their own way.

Best paint: Acura NSX
Worse paint: Lotus Elise

Most luggage space: Corvette C6 Z06 and Porsche 911
Worse Luggage space: Ferrari 355 and Lotus Elise

Best dealer for service: Acura and Porsche are damn good (I haven't had to service the C6 Z06)
Worse dealer for service: Ferrari

Best for autocrossing: Lotus Elise
Worse for autocrossing: Acura NSX

Cheapest car to take to the track for 3 days (no wrecks), in order:
Lotus Elise
Corvette C6 Z06
Acura NSX
Porsche 911
Ferrari 355

Safest car to take to the track, in order:
Acura NSX (just don't lift in a corner)
Lotus Elise (again, don't lift)
Corvette C6 Z06
Ferrari 355
Porsche 911 (really, really don't lift)

Most expensive to repair body parts, in order:
Lotus Elise
Ferrari 355
Acura NSX
Porsche 911
Corvette C6 Z06

Most expensive to repair mechanical (out of warranty), in order:
Ferrari 355
Porsche 911
Acura NSX
Corvette C6 Z06
Lotus Elise

Cheapest street tires: Lotus Elise
Most expensive street tires: Corvette C6 Z06

Cheapest brake pads: Lotus Elise
Most expensive brake pads: tie Ferrari 355 OEM and C6 Z06

Best shifter linkage: Acura NSX
Worse shifter linkage: Lotus Elise

Best clutch feel: tie C6 Z06 and Ferrari 355
Worse clutch feel: Porsche 911

Best A/C: C6 Z06
Worse A/C: Lotus Elise (really, really bad)

Least amount of squeaks: C6 Z06
Most amount of squeaks: Lotus Elise

Best interior layout: C6 Z06
Worse interior layout: tie Ferrari 355 (limited storage and weird switches) and Lotus Elise (no storage)

Best head lights: Porsche 911 (Zenon option)
Worse head lights: Lotus Elise (they got a DOT exemption)

Easiest for driveways and bumps: C6 Z06
Hardest to get over bumps: tie Acura NSX and Ferrari 355

Easiest to purchase, in order:
Porsche 911 (walked in, they tossed me the keys and we drove out with the paperwork done in 30 minutes.
Lotus Elise (Easy to find and has no issues to check on)
Corvette C6 Z06 (if you don't mind the wait and dealer BS)
Acura NSX (before buying you have to check them out for a few issues that are known, but this can be done by myself because they are easy to spot).
Ferrari 355 (so many things to check and you need to know what you are looking for).

Easiest to sell:
Corvette C6 Z06 (in demand)
Acura NSX
Lotus Elise
Porsche 911
Ferrari 355

When selling, which car can have the most miles? (in order)
Acura NSX (buyers know they are bullet proof, even with 100,000 miles)
Corvette C6 Z06 (Look how many C6 Z06's already have over 5k miles on them... these cars can be driven and buyers won' care.)
Porsche 911 (the buyers don't mind as much as 8,000 miles a year)
Lotus Elise (too many 1 year old cars with 2,000 miles or less, so if you drive it you will lose money.)
Ferrari 355 (Don't drive it or they will lose value quickly. Ferrari buyers are weird about miles.)

Which car is the best value? Corvette C6 Z06

Which has the best stock wheels? Corvette C6 Z06
Which car has the worse stock wheels? Acura NSX

Which car gets by the police the best? Porsche 911
Which car gets the most attention from the police? Lotus Elise

Which car will be the most collectible in 30 years?
Corvette C6 Z06
Ferrari 355
Acura NSX
Lotus Elise
Porsche 911

Which car is at the bottom of the deprecation curve?
Ferrari 355
Acura NSX (91-93)

Which car will depreciate the most (%) over 3 years?
Lotus Elise
Corvette C6 Z06
Porsche 911 (996)

Which car would I most like to drive across the USA? C6 Z06
Which car would I least like to drive across the USA? Lotus Elise and Ferrari 355

Best car for your mother to drive? Acura NSX
Worse car for your mother to drive? Lotus Elise (hard to get in and out)

Best car to let your father drive? Corvette C6 Z06
Worse car for your father to drive? Lotus Elise (hard to get in and out)

Best ride? Acura NSX
Worse ride? Lotus Elise

Which car can I work on (shocks, oil changes, sway bars, brakes)? Lotus Elise, Acura NSX, C6 Z06
Which car should not be touched by me? Porsche 911 or Ferrari 355

Which car under steers the most? Porsche 911
Which car over steers the most? Lotus Elise
Which car is the most neutral? Corvette C6 Z06

Which car can you see out of the front the best? Acura NSX
Which car is the worse to see out of the front? C6 Z06

Which car has the most blind spots? Lotus Elise
Which car has the least amount of blind spots? Porsche 911

Which car has the best leather? Porsche 911
Which car has the worse leather? Ferrari 355 wears the most on the side bolster, but the Lotus feels the cheapest

Which car has the best driving position? C6 Z06
Which car has the worse driving position? Porsche 911

Which has the best steering wheel? Lotus Elise (momo is standard)
Which has the worse steering wheel? Acura NSX

- Bill

 

I didn't include the Cobra replicas because they can vary so much because of the build, parts used, etc. For instance, my first Factory Five was built using a donor Mustang engine and parts. It was a great car, but it only cost me $20,000 to build and had used parts.

The Cobra's get the most attention.

My Cobra is about as good as the Lotus Elise for autocrossing.

Here's a funny story. Each year in Ohio the Cobra clubs all get together. They desided to start running autocrosses in 2003. Over 180 Cobra replicas, GT40s, and even some real Cobras came out to run.

I posted the best times of the day with my donor-built 275 HP Factory Five Cobra. There were some very expensive cars there, so this proves that a well built Factory Five can be really compeitive. Here's the article on my win: http://www.kitcarmag.com/eventcoverage/142_0401_spring/index.html You can see a picture of me and my old Cobra on the left side of the page.

Here's the funny part. Last year I didn't have a Cobra to take to the event so I asked for permission to take the Lotus Elise. http://dvspringfling.com/sat/images/full/DSC00035.JPG The Lotus was the fastest car of the day, except for a Factory Five Spec Racer on slicks owned by Factory Five's engineer and racer. I drove the Elise to Ohio on street tires and used the same tires for the event and was only a second slower. But I was 3 to 5 seconds faster than the 3rd place car.

- Bill

 

None. I love each one for different reasons.

- Bill

 

To be fair, I wish I could buy a 430. That would be a better comparision to the new Z06. Cars improve so much each year that it really isn't fair to compare the new Corvette Z06 to my 1995 Ferrari 355. Except that the two cost the same amount of money. OK, maybe it wouldn't be fair to compare a $190,000 car to a $70,000 car?

- Bill

 

Neither car is going to make a great collector car. But if you study the current market treads and know the main things that help collector car markets, you would come to the same conclusion.

First, the F355 is getting a bad reputation for being a money pit. It will only get worse with age. This will make it a tough car to sell when a major service equals 1/3 of the value of a car. And the major service needs to be done every three years. Sorry, but spending 100% of the value of a car on services over 10 years won't make collectors happy. They like cars that don't require a lot of service.

The Corvette Z06 should be a bull proof car because Corvette's have never been the type of car you have to worry about. I would buy any year of Corvette without a PPI because I could check the car out myself. But I wouldn't touch ANY Ferrari, especially a 355 without a mechanic who knows what he's looking for. Knowing the C6 Z06 will most likely be a bullet proof supercar, the collectors will love knowing they can actually drive it and not worry about spending miles and money on services.

Second, over 8,000 F355's were built (3,939 GTB - 2,048 GTS - 2,663 Spiders). About 5,500 Z06's are being built per year. If they run for 3 years, it would be 16,500 total. With those numbers, you have to look at the real market for 308's today vs. 427 Corvette's from the 60's and 70's.

There were over 20,000 1966 and 1967 427 Corvette's made. That is a huge number of cars. Much, much more than a Ferrari Daytona (1,273 coupes). Guess what? It doesn't matter. Perfect 427's are going for over $150,000. That's the price of a #2 Daytona Coupe.

308's (12,000+ built) are not going for crazy dollars, but 427 Corvette's are breaking records every week, so you could expect the Z06 (427 engine) to follow this tread. Call it crazy, but Americans love the 427 and I'm sure that nothing will change in 30 years.

Well, read my post. You're not seeing these cars because people are not driving them.

People with Ferrari's are afraid to drive them because they don't want to depreciate them and they don't want to rack up miles towards expensive services. Let's face it, many Ferrari owners are "saving" their Ferrari for the next owner. Whereas a typical Corvette Z06 will drive it like a Toyota. I know I do.

As for the Lotus Elise. The car is not comfortable to drive in traffic or around town. The A/C does not work well, it's hard to get in and out of, it will beat you to death, and all SUV's look like they are going to kill you.

- Bill