Sports Car Search

[DGS49]

2001-2004 Z06 'Vette. Near 400 HP, upgraded handling, etc, etc, etc. Performs as well as a C6, for a couple thousand less. 911 looks good in person and on paper, but the Z06 Vette is tasty indeed.

 

[DGS49]

A car to ponder: I don't know what prompted me to do it, but I jumped on Auto Trader the other day and looked to see if there were any Cadillac XLR's for sale. The car is near-forgotten these days, but when it was introduced early this century it created quite a stir. It was made in the same Bowling Green factory where the Corvette was made, and it was directed at Mercedes SL, Jag XK's and similar high-end luxury cars. The performance at the time was good, but not great, with a pimped out Northstar engine developing 320 HP or so, and a curb weight (of course) a couple hundred pounds more than the contemporary Corvette. A year or so later, they came out with the XLR-V, with a supercharged version of the same engine generating over 400HP. No stick shift was available, of course, but it was a true 2-seater with a retractable hardtop and a relatively slick shiftable 5-speed automatic. Comparisons with the high end European lux sports cars of the era showed that it was in the same ballpark, at least, with some minor complaints.

A well-equipped XLR-V could run as high as $100k, although I doubt anyone actually paid that much. The dealers were virtually giving them away after the first few were snapped up by athletes and collectors.

Right now, you can get a relatively low mileage XLR-V for around $25k. Of course, it's not a Ferrari or a Porsche 911Turbo, but it is a damned fast car with extremely striking looks and all of the equipment you could even imagine at the time. In fact some even had nav and backup cameras, when they were very new on the scene.

It's an open question whether they will ever become "collector" cars, but certainly a "V" model has a shot, 10 years out. So for about the same money you could get a nice, low mileage C6 Vette, or an '04 911. Although I'm a stick shift guy for sure, I think it's worth considering, especially if it is a particularly tasty one, showing up on Auto Trader or Car Gurus or Craigslist somewhere.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The best sports car in the world is not up for debate or a matter of opinion; its simply the Pagani Huayra ("God of Wind"). Dont argue, just accept it. Every one of them built is unique and hand made.

Horacio Pagani is a bit insane. Kind of like a Da Vinci type. Every component on the car is a work of art, even down to the nuts and bolts. The bolts that hold it together alone cost more than most peoples cars.. To give you an idea of how crazy the guy is, on the under side of the seats is an expensive piece of carbon fiber (just like what the body is made out of). When asked why he put such an expensive thing under a seat he said, "someday, someone is going to drop their keys, and when they look under the seat to retrieve them, i want it to be beautiful".

That abortion is hideous.

 

[Godboy]

The best sports car in the world is not up for debate or a matter of opinion; its simply the Pagani Huayra ("God of Wind"). Dont argue, just accept it. Every one of them built is unique and hand made.

Horacio Pagani is a bit insane. Kind of like a Da Vinci type. Every component on the car is a work of art, even down to the nuts and bolts. The bolts that hold it together alone cost more than most peoples cars.. To give you an idea of how crazy the guy is, on the under side of the seats is an expensive piece of carbon fiber (just like what the body is made out of). When asked why he put such an expensive thing under a seat he said, "someday, someone is going to drop their keys, and when they look under the seat to retrieve them, i want it to be beautiful".

That abortion is hideous.

Seeing how that "hideous abortion" is one of the most sought after cars in the world, your opinion seems to be flawed.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I didn't realize that many people had that level of brain damage.

 

[Godboy]

I didn't realize that many people had that level of brain damage.

There arent that many. Just you and a few other retards.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Would it actually hold together for a long trip...say, the One Lap Of America, or even Drag Week? Be honest.

 

[Godboy]

Would it actually hold together for a long trip...say, the One Lap Of America, or even Drag Week? Be honest.

Many super cars would have troubles with a long trip like that, but Pagani builds his cars masterfully. No expense was spared in making it, which is why it has a $2.5 million price tag.

If you are interested in learning how ridiculous these cars are, watch this video.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Any car that would have trouble with that should not be on the market due to inexcusably shoddy construction!

 

[Godboy]

Any car that would have trouble with that should not be on the market due to inexcusably shoddy construction!

Lamborghini's have clutch problems. You might not make a lap around the US without needing a mechanic.

Pagainis test driver has put enough miles on the Huayra to lap the planet 25 times!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Pathetic. Even more pathetic: the idiots who pay through the nose for the cars, then accept shoddy build quality that would shame a Trabant.

 

[Godboy]

Pathetic. Even more pathetic: the idiots who pay through the nose for the cars, then accept shoddy build quality that would shame a Trabant.

That's the beauty of Paganis! They aren't known for having mechanical problems.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Again: would it actually hold together for a long trip...say, the One Lap Of America, or even Drag Week?

 

[Godboy]

Again: would it actually hold together for a long trip...say, the One Lap Of America, or even Drag Week?

Yes, it would.

 

[Godboy]

Again: would it actually hold together for a long trip...say, the One Lap Of America, or even Drag Week?

By the way, im a huge R.A. Salvatore fan. Love those books!

 

[blastoff]

Bought a sports car this summer. It's not the fastest thing out there but it gets up and goes due to a high compression ratio and whatnot. But it is all sports car and really fun to drive.

It's a 2016 Mazda MX 5, which I think signals the phasing out of the Miata moniker as the name appears nowhere on the car. It's the Grand Touring model, loaded, and stickered at only $31k and change, which is a hell of a lot less expensive than many of the cars mentioned in this thread.

It's a great toy that unfortunately is headed to winter storage tomorrow ahead of our West MI winter. April can't get here fast enough for me!

 

[DGS49]

Four "final" candidates. The objective is to get the best car possible for less than $24 thousand. All of these cars are now theoretical, but based on my searches they are all available with low mileage in near perfect condition, provided the buyer is willing to go anywhere in the U.S. to pick them up (or have them shipped).

(1). 2005 Cadillac XLR. Low mileage example, in perfect condition.
(2) 2005 Corvette coupe. Stick shift. Less than 40,000 miles.
(3) 2001 Porsche 911 Cabriolet. Around 50,000 miles or less, with the ESO (or whatever) problem addressed.
(4) 1994-8 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 - low mileage, pristine condition. (probably around $15k or a little more).

All of these cars are very desirable, and each one of them has a potential downside that I think can be addressed. I think the Northstar problems were all basically addressed by the time the XLR was introduced, and there are things that can be done to guard against the blown head gasket, oil use, etc. The Porsche has a notable problem in the target years (1999 through 2004), that occurs in about 5% of the cars, but there are several cars available that have addressed that specific problem. There is always a small number of VR4's available that are in pristine condition, some of which are even one-owner cars. And like it or not, Mitsubishi did a fantastic job with the outrageous technology, and the 4WS, active suspension, active aero, and so forth are generally still operating fine almost 25 years after the cars were new. I don't know of anything that has come up with the C6 Corvettes (which is when the upped the HP to 400).

Any one of these cars will be fine with me, it just depends on which ones stand out when I start my serious search when the weather breaks in the Spring.