I drove a 370Z right after I test drove my 05 Boxster S. The 370 was a 2011 model with tons more horsepower than my 6 year old boxster. Great car but the Boxster felt like the better sports car. I passed on the 370 and you know the rest of the story.
The S2000 is a great little sports car also. Good bang for the buck but what ever model you buy, it won't be faster than a 370Z.330HP Heard it may make a comeback in a few years. They need too.
BMW probably as fast as the 370Z but never liked the look or anything besides the thick steering wheel. Test drove a nice model of that also. Maybe if it had an exhaust?
Anyway passed on that too.
Eclipse makes good hp but I would think you need tons of mods before even thinking of taking it to the track. And after all you do to it, it would still be a Eclipse. Wouldn't bother test driving. Skip to the Evo if your on that lot.
Maintenance is probably way cheaper with the Z. I think one of the sales guys said the spark plug needed to be replaced at forever plus a day. (105K) But Porshe also said not to change the oil until after 15K or was that 20?
. Regardless, I think the 370Z Nismo is a great sports car. Very reliable and better choice of the others you mentioned. I would recommend that car only to someone who doesn't want to perform there own maintenance on there boxster and doesn't have the money to pay to have it done.
Let your friend drive in your Boxster take the rpms up over 4k with the intake screaming and flat six rumbling. Did that to my friend who has a G35 and yep his mouth dropped. The last two comparisons that I saw where other manufactures where catching up to but still lost in the roadster comparison were the new MB SLK 350 and the Nissan 370. But like I said, they lost.