Not sure I should step in here, but, whatever.
Personally, I would like to own a new Miata for a while. Maybe in a few years I will buy one used. It is probably the epitome cars built solely for the purpose of driving "enjoyment". These are cars have balanced performance, so it does everything well, but has attainable limits making them fun. I have had seven different roadsters in the last thirty some years kept as "just for fun cars", all of which got a lot of use, almost always with the top down. I never abused them, but I DEFINITELY used them to their abilities and often. I have had four Triumphs (a TR3, two Spitfires, a TR6, ahhhh five, forgot the GT6+, but it wasn't a roadster), a built Alfa Romeo Spider, and now my '03 Boxster S. To me, being able to use all of a vehicle's capability makes each drive an experience. There is nothing like a drive in the mountains or woods an a crisp fall night with the top down and with your wife (girl friend, significant other, whoever) by your side going just fast enough to get you giggling and scare you just a bit... I don't care about Nurburgring lap times, or if it will beat the neighbors supercharged Camaro at a stoplight. Get a Tesla if you want that. (IMO, that is probably the best performance sedan available.) There will ALWAYS be someone faster. What good is it if you car COULD go 200mph if you never will? These days anyone can go buy a new
Corvette ZR06 with an automatic transmission, filled with electric nannies that will allow outright newbies to run at tracks at speeds that would have quickly turned their cars into smoking piles of trash not many years ago.
To me, having something like a GT3 or even Turbo for the street is silly. I had a discussion with a local pro Porsche driver a few days ago. He had a GT3 that he drove on the street at one time, but said it was just a stupid thing on the street. Like using American Pharoah as a trail horse. The saddest thing that I see is people buying GT3s or Ferraris and not driving them, but just waxing them and taking them around the block to show off hoping it will be worth more a few years from now. I saw an ad a couple of days ago for a GT3 with super low miles and the quote "was never raced, redlined or driven hard". Too bad. Like the quote from a Ferrari owner who said "Owning a Ferrari and not driving it as it was intended is like dating a supermodel, but not sleeping with her so she will be worth more to her next boyfriend."
I would say that my current Boxster S is really pushing the useful performance envelope. I can say that it does everything better than my old roadsters, and yet it seems to lack something... I really can't get very close to its limits on the street unless I am being really stupid, risking myself and others to do it. In that way, a stock Boxster might be more fun.
That said, after owning the Boxster, I have considered a 996TT for a daily driver. Hey, it is all wheel drive so I wouldn't need my Audi in winter, that Mezger engine is damn near bullet proof, and they cost less than a new Golf R. I will keep the Boxster though or maybe pick up a Miata and try that for a while.
BTW, guess what Bernd Kahnau, the project manager at Porsche behind the last four generations of the 911 keeps around as his "fun" car...
My car
Linear Mode
