Please Help Me Out - Boxster or C6 Corvette?

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

Without being judgemental, I think it's safe to say that Ghostrider 310 just doesn't get it.

He may not like the Corvette, which is of course his right to choose, I suspect that he isn't as familiar or current with them as he may think.

To try and malign the 'Vette to bolster or affirm his choice of Porsche over Covette simply lacks substance.

Brucelee makes a good point about the validity of camparing a near 20 y.o. 'Vette to a 21st Century Porsche.

But, do a reliability survey between 2000+ Boxsters vs 2000+ Corvettes. The results may surprise many people. This was the single biggest factor in my recommending the 'Vette over the Boxster.

It's really all opinion anyway, and an easy one at that when it's not your money which is being Plunked Down...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Ghostrider 310]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

Without being judgemental, I think it's safe to say that Ghostrider 310 just doesn't get it.

He may not like the Corvette, which is of course his right to choose, I suspect that he isn't as familiar or current with them as he may think.

To try and malign the 'Vette to bolster or affirm his choice of Porsche over Covette simply lacks substance.

Brucelee makes a good point about the validity of camparing a near 20 y.o. 'Vette to a 21st Century Porsche.

But, do a reliability survey between 2000+ Boxsters vs 2000+ Corvettes. The results may surprise many people. This was the single biggest factor in my recommending the 'Vette over the Boxster.

It's really all opinion anyway, and an easy one at that when it's not your money which is being Plunked Down...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

The comparison was between an 83 vette and 83 944, the vette lost in the slalom to a 944, so did a 928 and a 308 Ferrari ..It was an article I read which was a repost from R&T I think. I'm well aware that the current Vette can run with it's contemporaries, if you guys like em, go for it...The other dude posted that the 84 vette was the fastest production car that year, I still maintain that it wasn't..

I don't know much about the C6 Vette, but if it is NOT a drop-top, the decision would be very-very easy...get the Boxster. Nothing like driving with the top down.

[RandallNeighbour]

Doug,

I find it VERY humorous that you'd ask hundreds of Boxster owners on this forum if you should buy a Boxster or a Corvette. It shouldn't be too hard to guess what we'd tell you, would it?

I think you should take Richard's advice (BruceLee) and drive both, decide what you'd enjoy driving for as long as you plan to keep it, and then make your decision.

As a little kid, I dreamed of owning a Porsche. What did you dream of owning one day? Buy that car and find out if it was worth dreaming about all these years.

For me, it was a Porsche, for which there is no subsitute (including the Corvette).

I personally prefer something a bit "unique".


Vette's are a dime a dozen around here. No one looks at them unless they are being driven by a jerk, dragging off the line at a traffic light, and then most folks just roll their eyes.


When people see a pooch, they look because it is unique and beautiful. You don't have to drive like an ass to get noticed.


I've had more folks come up and admire my car than you'll ever get with a Vette. Again because they are a bit "exotic".

You might also want to consider gas mileage.

[98Boxster98]

I like the BruceLee way - get them both. Then do a long term study on which you like better.

don't forget one thing, if you get the vette we will not have you back on the best forum in the world!!! :dance:

[Adam]

Originally Posted by creseida

You might also want to consider gas mileage. [/color][/size]

The boxster's mpg rating is worse than the corvettes.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider 310

The comparison was between an 83 vette and 83 944, the vette lost in the slalom to a 944, so did a 928 and a 308 Ferrari ..It was an article I read which was a repost from R&T I think. I'm well aware that the current Vette can run with it's contemporaries, if you guys like em, go for it...The other dude posted that the 84 vette was the fastest production car that year, I still maintain that it wasn't..

You may want to chech that article again. A 1983 corvette doesn't exist. GM didn't offer a vette for 83. They jumped that year and went into the C4 for the 84 year.

[deliriousga]

American engineering vs. German engineering....no contest. Go with the Porsche. I've had several friends who bought new Vettes to sell them a year later for something else because of disappointment with quality. Check the 928 forums and you'll see several people who dumped their new Vettes for 20 year old Porsches and have never regretted it.

[faterikcartman]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider 310

The comparison was between an 83 vette and 83 944, the vette lost in the slalom to a 944, so did a 928 and a 308 Ferrari ..It was an article I read which was a repost from R&T I think. I'm well aware that the current Vette can run with it's contemporaries, if you guys like em, go for it...The other dude posted that the 84 vette was the fastest production car that year, I still maintain that it wasn't..

Don't backtrack brother, you said "GM is not a sports car manufacturer, nor will they ever be"! :troll:

Furthermore, I don't know squat about 1983 Vettes, but from 1982 to 1985 (a four year period) Lambo only sold 323 Countach cars--I'm not convinced averaging 80 cars a year qualifies as a "production" car. By production car I'm pretty sure most enthusiasts are talking about a car produced on an assembly line in large numbers, not hand built one at a time.

And the person who said the Vettes of today have a low build quality sure is right. The plastic is cheap and the seats feel weak, etc., etc., but they have come a long way recently.

[rbennett]

Let's see, a Porsche or a C6....Hmmmm

Oh yaa, a Porsche!

Sorry biased

Get use to seeing this if on a coastal or mountain road, you can have the next red light

rbennett, I am not very good with personalized plates....so, what does yours mean? Channel...like the perfume??

[Ronzi]

I suspect the plate is a take-off of the German word "schnell", which means something like quick or hurry-up.

Many of your points are well-taken mnboxster, however, I still contend that many purchases of enthusiast-type cars are motivated by things other than engineering factors. If that were not true the car companies wouldn't spend the millions and millions they do trying to build an image.

You didn't mention it, but I'm sure you realize that the Auto Union was designed by ol' Ferdy.

The post-WWII Porsche folks also designed a beast called the Cisitalia, intended to compete in the F1 World Championship events that commenced in 1950. After many years of financial tribulations, the project was dropped in the '52 or '53. The final configuration was mid-engine 1500cc supercharged flat 12 cyl. At one time in the development, 4-wheel drive was part of the design.

Many rear-engine cars competed in F1 events prior to the Lotus 25, although they were generally up-rated F2 designs, not full F1 spec. Stirling Moss won the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix in a 2.2 liter rear-engine Cooper, a victory that marks the first post-wwII victory by a rear-engine car. The Lotus 25 was certainly a landmark car, but hardly the first rear-engine post-war Grand Prix design.

Much ado about ancient history, eh?

[rbennett]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

rbennett, I am not very good with personalized plates....so, what does yours mean? Channel...like the perfume??

It's a German word for rapid movement ( as Donny Baker sez "bob & tom in the morning" look it up!!!, I gotta go now)

My great grandfather is from Germany, ya think I knew?? (lazy a$$ CA type of guy)

Sorry didn't see your post till now.

[Trakehner]

OK.... I'll play.
To those from the 80's... you can argue as much as you want, but I would suggest you compare 944 Turbos to Corvettes in the same place the manufacturers did: The Showroom Stock series. I think you may find the records there eye opening.

I went from a '74 911 to an '88 924S to a '95 Vette, and then traded that in on an '89 911. Put a '98 986 in the mix, and I think I can compare.

The Corvette was a neat car, there were gobs of power, and it always went where I put it. The 986 was nimble, quick, and it always went where I put it.

Quality is an issue. I had an alignment problem with the 'Vette that NO ONE could figure out. What was worse was when it wore out the rear brakes before the front. That in itself was not an issue, but when I asked the dealer how it was that the left rear pad was down to metal, and the right rear pad still had 6 to 8 mm of pad left, he had no real answer, but suggested that if I paid for them to put on a new set, and it continued to wear that way, they might consider it a warranty issue. I had a similar frustration with a simple horn repair: if the temperature went below about 25 degrees F, the horn would not work. I asked to have that looked at, and the Service Manager said "well, you really shouldn't drive it in the winter". Hmm.

Now, before one starts insisting on the infalibility of the Porsche, I'd like to mention not only the Carrera chain tensioners I put on the 911 (and does anyone know anything about dylavar studs?), but also the 986 rear main seal.

So one might ask "was ist die untershied?"... and my opinion comes down to this:

From a driving perspective, the Corvette can "stay with" almost anything on the road, but the input it sends back to the driver is dampened. One thing GM will always do, especially after the Corvair (own one of those, too, a '65 Turbo drop top) is make a car that is predictable at the limits, that will not challenge Joe Six Pack. The Porsche, on the other hand, sends feedback to the driver and if the driver knows what to do with it, he can make the car really sing. Anyone can drive the Corvette quickly. To get the most out of the Porsche (and it's pretty good even if you don't get the most out of it) takes a little bit of talent and a lot of skill. The Corvette rewards the engineers, the Porsche rewards the driver.

From a quality perspective, well... things break. That's going to happen. Then what? My experience with Porsche dealers (the guys you're going to want to talk to if the car is under warranty and the guys you'll want to avoid if it's not) has been very good... they want you to come back (there are exceptions, and it's not like it used to be, but I have had good experiences). My experience with Chevrolet dealers was outlined above.

I probably won't buy another Corvette, unless I can find a really clean (or really needs to be restored) '67 some day. I have another 911 (this one a '74 Carrera) and I'm considering the purchase of a 987. I just can't decide if I want that or an Elise. There, the Porsche is much more refined, the Elise a go-kart. What I really want to know is why can't Porsche take a 987, strip out the non-essentials, get the wieght down to about 2300 pounds or less... and sell one of those. That I'd buy. The 986 was supposed to be a "modern 550". So why does it have power seats and tiptronic?

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by rbennett

Get use to seeing this if on a coastal or mountain road, you can have the next red light

I like that...

Originally Posted by bmussatti

rbennett, I am not very good with personalized plates....so, what does yours mean? Channel...like the perfume??

That's good too...


Won't the Vette seem utterly huge when coming from a Miata? When you sit all hunkered down in that GM plastic with that big ol' hood in front of you... that will seem very different from what you're used to. Boxster -the roadster obviously, will be ever so familiar. Though the Vette and Boxster can seem somewhat comprable, compared to what you're coming from (the Miata), it's a pretty radical change.

As for the 80s car debate... wow, shouldn't we just put that decade behind us? I'm not a fan of anything from that era... we should be ashamed of ourselves (Vette, Porsche, Lambo -everything... UG!)

Except for the 88 Maxima... I, for some reason, LOVED that car!

[xclusivecar]

Had a C5, Z-28, and even a Lotus Elise. I will never purchase any of those cars again. I have never tracked any of these cars so I won't go there...but...on the street the Boxster S I currently own has been the absolute best. As quick as the Z-28, a bit slower than the C5, and I truly believe quicker than the Lotus. The Vette was basically a flexable piece of ****************. Sorry to those that own them...but come on. This car felt like a HUGE PIG that just wanted to twist apart on every uneven patch of road. NEVER FELT SAFE! The C6 looks much tighter due to its smaller dimensions but I just don't trust Chevy did enough to firm up the car. I vowed to never buy the same car twice until I purchased the Boxster. I have never felt as home and secure as in this car. I sold my 3 month old Lotus Elise for it! I will buy a Boxster again! It's just that good of a feeling! I have come to realize only recently that large, high horsepower engines don't make a car. It should be a total sensory experience combining power, handling, style, AND the secure feeling which lacked in all the above cars!

[Brucelee]

Just as long as you don't have strong feelings about it.

[threpwood]

Originally Posted by xclusivecar

Had a C5, Z-28, and even a Lotus Elise. I will never purchase any of those cars again. I have never tracked any of these cars so I won't go there...but...on the street the Boxster S I currently own has been the absolute best. As quick as the Z-28, a bit slower than the C5, and I truly believe quicker than the Lotus. The Vette was basically a flexable piece of ****************. Sorry to those that own them...but come on. This car felt like a HUGE PIG that just wanted to twist apart on every uneven patch of road. NEVER FELT SAFE! The C6 looks much tighter due to its smaller dimensions but I just don't trust Chevy did enough to firm up the car. I vowed to never buy the same car twice until I purchased the Boxster. I have never felt as home and secure as in this car. I sold my 3 month old Lotus Elise for it! I will buy a Boxster again! It's just that good of a feeling! I have come to realize only recently that large, high horsepower engines don't make a car. It should be a total sensory experience combining power, handling, style, AND the secure feeling which lacked in all the above cars!

C6 still have body roll, but the LS2 makes up for it Nevertheless Vette is Vette and I still love it (of course boxster too) for its look and engine. Viper is nice too...if it's not that LOUD.