grumble And I just spent the afternoon on the side of the road and on a flatbed after my Evo blew a hose. I swear every time I participate in a thread and the word “Mitsubishi” comes up, something in my car goes. :smack:
OP: I see late model Volvo S60Rs going for very little nowadays. I’d get one myself if I didn’t already have a car. They’re turbocharged, so all you need is to start dumping windshield washer fluid into the intake for more power. 
Here’s my qualifications: I have an 89 383 self-engineered Corvette and a 98 C5 Supercharged base coupe in the garage. The next door neighbor has 2(!) C6 Z06’s and a C6 6-speed coupe, all three I’ve driven. I’ve listened to their feedback and it jives with my experiences:
These are the best vehicles, mechanically, that you can buy for the money. Period. At 10/10ths, there’s not vehicle anywhere that’ll beat it, with the simple variable of driver’s skill thrown into the mix.
While they’re the biggest bang for the buck, they also make a tenth the number of vehicles a year than, say, Honda Accords. Because of that, there may be little mechanical oddities. Things like ‘if you don’t leave the stick in reverse, it wears down the battery’, or in my case ‘The seat doesn’t remember where my memory position is’.
In that specific case, it’s not worth it to me to determine if it’s the Body Control Module, or the Left Door Control Module or the wiring harness that’s at fault. I just live with it.
Based on your perspective, those oddities can be the difference between ‘eh, it’s a car with some quirks’ and ‘this is the worst piece of crap I’ve ever owned.’
The truth of the matter is: It’s an emotional perception. If you want an Audi A5, then every little quirk will be a reminder you didn’t buy an Audi…but if you wanted a Vette and bought an Audi, the same thing will happen…because I guarantee you, both cars will have quirks and the ‘X is better than Y’ is really no more than brand chest thumping.
How can I say this, after saying the Vette is mechanically the best bang for the buck? Because 99.9999% of the time, you won’t be driving the car at 10/10ths. And at 6/10ths, the cars will perform similarly. There are a hadnful of people that can get a 7:39 on the Nurburgring driving a Vette. You (and I) are not those people. 
The C6 is a tremendous improvement over our C5…But they’re nearly the same cars. Same brakes, same chassis, same motor, same skin…only every single bit of the puzzle has been polished a bit. Having driven both, I’d not sell my C5 for a C6…it’s not a big enough improvement for the car payment…even though the C6 is an improvement, it’s not a big enough improvement for me to make the jump. (or in the case of the Z06, selling a lung, kidney, arm and leg.)
Corvettes are the technology testing ground for GM. Serpentine belts, Inter-module network, hydroformed rails, balsa-composite floorboards, throttle by wire…all came out in the Corvette first. That technology is great when it works, and not so great when it doesn’t (My key fob has a mercury switch…the idea was that the car would unlock when you walked up to it. I turned it off after the first twenty minutes of listening to the car lock and unlock while I was puttering around in the garage. The NEW system is quite an improvement.)
The current Z06 is useless in first and second gear. If you stand on it, it’ll be spending it’s whole time trying to keep you going straight and pulling back on the gas to keep you on the road. The Next King of the Hill Corvette has another 110 hp on top of that. That means it’ll be able to break traction in THIRD gear at 100 mph. While I approve of the technology, it strikes me as a little irresponsible that GM’s only requirement for the purchase of that car is adequate funding.
Lastly, in going from your Saturn to this car: Your insurance will triple, your tire expenses will triple (at least until you replace that first set…then you’ll slow down), your fuel costs may jump (or not. 436 hp and 28 mpg highway is a testament to GM’s powertrain folks), and you’ll find yourself coming up with excuses to just go out and drive.
As far as using up a car with dropped clutch starts and bouncing off the revv limiter, you have to be ABUSING THE HELL out of a Corvette to break it. I mean stupid stupid stuff. The car is designed for racing abuse. Every single one off the assembly line. IF you’re gonna campaign it in serious competition, yeah, you’ll need more cooling, different tires, and different brakepads, but for 99.999% of the people out there - if you can break it, you did something really stupid.
What the hell, it’s just a car, it not like you won’t own more in the future. If you wanna get it, and you can afford the payment, what’s the worst that can happen?
(And if you do, get your keester to a driving school, I don’t want you breaking your car!)
Doubtful. The Audi will be understeering into every turn anyway, so it will give up time to the Vette that way.
Your point about the more power is taken, though. I haven’t tested it, but I am pretty sure my 240 hp Honda S2000 would smack my 300+ hp Mazda RX7 around on a mountain road, simply by virtue of its newer, better chassis.
Anecdotally, I was on a road course a number of years ago with my then stock 89. I was kicking butt and takin’ names. I was hitting 85 mph on the back straight and was feeling proud of myself when I hopped in a friends Miata as a passenger. With it’s 250 lb handicap (me, in the passenger seat) and it’s 110 hp at this altitude, it was turning the same speeds on the back straight.
The Vette was a crude, unrefined ride that created speed whenever I needed it…the Miata was a poised, nimble device that kept more speed in the corners, and ended up turning similar times on the same track. I’d also say the driver was more accomplished than I was.
It helps to run with other people…keeps you humble.
Boy, I’m glad I bumped the thread! Many thanks to all.
Disagree. In dry conditions (wet=all bets are off) the Corvette has enough rubber and grip to put nearly all it’s power down early. And its better balance means it will be braking later and carrying much higher cornering speeds.
Real world experience: I have a Lotus Elise that I take to the track as often as I can get away with. A well driven C6 Corvette is a serious opponent. A well-driven S4 or RS6 (closest I’ve seen to an S5) is fast, but can’t hold its own against the Corvettes and Ferraris. And Lotuses.
Not quite. The early Elises used the Rover K-Series engine. It was very advanced for its time, but reliability… :dubious:
The newer Elises and Exiges (2004 in the US and 2005 ROW) use the 2ZZ-GE Toyota motor. That engine is mostly bulletproof.
Are you sure you can live with only 2 seats? That’s what keeps me out of cars like that. Also I never thought of a Vette as a commuter car.
I have a Mazdaspeed3 and it’s a great mix of performance and practicality. As mentioned before there was an engine mount problem but that was the 2007 model, I haven’t read of any specific 2008 issues yet. I’d imagine the 280 ft/lbs of torque was just too much for the mount they used in the first model year. Power is very impressive, smooth with no turbo lag and even though it’s FWD torque steer is minimal unless you’re on a rough road. Mileage isn’t teriffic (about 25mpg in mostly highway driving), but it’s got 4 seats and a rear hatch, and if you have a heavy foot it’s less noticiable than a Vette.
Thee secret there is: own two cars. If you have an old, paid-off vehicle, and it’s dependable, it’s worth a hellova lot more to you in your stable than as a downpayment to another vehicle.
a 74k Saturn has a LOT of life left to it, and can be driven in crappy weather, and now you don’t need to rent a car if one is down for repairs. The incremental cost of a second vehicle is less than you’d expect. Most insurance gives you a GREAT discount when the Car to Butt ratio gets to more than 1:1.
Thanks for the corrections on the Elise front, Pork Rind. Dontcha just love those little cornerhappy bastards? 
I had a 2002 convertible. Loved it for the first year or so. After that, I started having problems.
There’s a switch under the clutch that essentially tells the computer that the clutch is engaged. You need to depress the clutch to start it. The switch failed twice on me, thus making it necessary to push-start the damned thing until I could get it to the dealer, since it was my daily driver.
One night, in a train station parking lot, the steering locked and would not unlock. The dealer told me this was a recall issue. I had never received anything even remotely related to this recall.
After I paid mucho $$$ to repair a leaking differential, I traded it in for a massive pickup truck.
Yes, the car was fun. Yes, I had fun doing 160+ with the top down. Yes, it blows away most other cars you might encounter on the road. No, it’s not reliable. At least not in my experience.
You bet.