Porsche Boxster or Lotus Elise?

[oyajicool]

I think if the Smart Cars are made OK to run on US roads, those kei (kay?)-cars from Japan can be brought up to that standard with little effort. It's too bad that none of Japanese auto makers are willing to take the chance.

I had a Suzuki Fronte Coup in 78-9. Whopping 360cc two stroke fury.

It was a fun car to drive, forcing you to learn how to keep it in the power band.

[deevergote]

That little thing looks kinda fun!

I'd love one of these:


Smart Roadster Coupe. Basically a Smart ForTwo, but turned into a sporty roadster. Still slow... but looks fun.

[oyajicool]

Year, that Suzuki was a fire breathing monster. I didn't see any fire coming from front but there was a lot of smoke out of the ass, for sure.

That roadster looks nice. I would put on skinniest tire it could have and drive to the limit of traction. It'll be slow and safe.
And, you can learn how a car behave at the limit and control it at slower/safer speed....

[deevergote]

Driving a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow

[oyajicool]

That exactly where I am at with my Accord.

[cb7 calling]

Elise hands down. Still the problem is chicks and guys who get their oil changed at jiffy lube don't care about cars enough to care about either. You will only impress other car guys/girls and we all know that's a Toyota 4 cylinder. Not too shabby but ehh. If only lotus had done the deed with honda. Nothing against Toyota but that's the way I feel. There are a few elises around my city and trying to explain to my g/f its not a smart car its a supercar comes to mind. Now tall fat wheels and an intercooler would speak volumes but also upset the dynamic of why its cool to begin with. All I want to do is exclaim this and that car would stir the emotions more, but won't. Just keep in mind its for other car guys/gals more than the other 99% of Americans.
As far as maintenance goes the elise would be cheaper even doable yourself for the most part. I mean you could get plugs, wires and stuff from autozone if you wanted. It's my understanding most moving suspension parts balljoints, bushings, tierod ends are sourced from other mass produced vehicles feiro, chevette ect. If you had a full list or crossover parts it would be easy to maintain.
I could not tell you where to find a distributor on a porche but could rebuild one on a celica you know?
Porche does make some of the best cars on the planet. For the price the boxter may be one too. Time has shown not the first gen though maybe the 2nd or 3rd. Now if we are talking a 2013 boxter s and you have money for 300 dollar oil changes its probly the better car. I've read the electric assist steering can use some work but by 2014 or 15 will be perfected just like everything else porche does.

[deevergote]

Your girl thinks an Elise is a smart car?
Perhaps I was wrong about it impressing even those that don't know cars!

I figure the Elise just looks exotic, even if you have no idea what you're looking at. Then again, so does the smart car, in a way.

I totally agree with the Toyota engine. It's a solid piece of machinery, but I would also have preferred to see a Honda powerplant in there. F20C in an Elise would be dreamy

[jhoff]

K series Elise? Ariel Atom?

[deevergote]

Sure. Wanna buy it for me?

[jhoff]

Sure. Wanna buy it for me?

Lol. If you buy me a Fiat 500c Abarth. Btw what is the cost of a Atom? 40gs?

[deevergote]

Closer to 50... and it's not much more than a 4 wheel motorcycle.
I'm hoping for $15,000 used... and something that's somewhat useful as a car, not just a performance machine. (that's the Boxster's biggest strength, I think.)

[jhoff]

Closer to 50... and it's not much more than a 4 wheel motorcycle.
I'm hoping for $15,000 used... and something that's somewhat useful as a car, not just a performance machine. (that's the Boxster's biggest strength, I think.)

Really not much to them. Just looking at an Elise on ebay for 35k. At this point, a Boxster would fit your budget better.

[deevergote]

Yeah. But I'm not buying now. The older Elise will come down in price eventually. I expect in a few years, $15,000 isn't unreasonable. 20-25 is possible now.

[jhoff]

Yeah. But I'm not buying now. The older Elise will come down in price eventually. I expect in a few years, $15,000 isn't unreasonable. 20-25 is possible now.

Agree. I think they are working on a new Elise.

[deevergote]

I hadn't heard that, but they're definitely due. I had actually heard that the Evora was going to result in the Elise/Exige line being killed off. I'm glad that hasn't happened! The Evora is a beautiful car, but it's far too large and heavy to fit with the traditional Lotus mentality.

If a new Elise emerges, then the old ones will most certainly come down in price