Modern sport cars - they just don't do it for me

[twobone]

I got the chance to briefly sample an Evora S on Saturday. It was only around the neighborhood, but I have to say that if you told me I had 2 hours and my choice of my car or a modern sports car, I'd take mine any day.

 

The Evora had a wonderful supercharger sound track, but it is so enclosed. I love the openness of the Caterham. Also, the Caterham feels twice as fast due to the sensations

[rnr]

While the Evora is not as visceral as the Seven it does have some other things in its favour such as usability, air conditioning, navigation, safety, reliability, dealership network, etc...

 

As someone that owns an Elise and a Seven I have to say that my Seven is my favourite car (and waaaay faster), I can only use it maybe 10% of the time while the Elise is my daily driver with 62k miles and has been driven in all sorts of weather. I've even done the trip from Oakland to Vancouver in a single day which I wouldn't even contemplate in the Seven.

[James A]

Yep, I agree, I sold my Elise as the 7 was way more fun, and quicker around the track and at autocross.

[WestTexasS2K]

The 7 is a cheap thrill ride that rarely gets old. A modern sports car would be nice to fill the voids. A Cayman S, Elise, Evora or Corvette would be nice filler material. I'm not likely to ever own any of the newer cars but they would be my choice if I had a choice.

[powderbrake]

I have an Ultralite and a C6 Corvette convertible.

 

The Seven is a visceral experience. Fun to drive, and exceedingly fast and furious.

 

The vette is my go-to car for travel, the longer the distance the better. I always travel with the top down (unless it's raining hard and I'm not on a fast road, light rain is no problem at high speeds), and it has all the modern conveniences, and the ability to pop the top up when needed.

 

I love them both, each has it's merits, don't ask me to choose.:driving:

[pi7ot]

I've had the Birkin for nigh on 11 years.

Within 5 minutes of getting out of it I have the following short term issues:

1, I have to concentrate on walking.

2, I can't write until the fine hand tremors go away.

3, Simple addition and subtraction are beyond my ken.

I don't think anything other than an Atom or Mono or KTM Type of machine could have the same effect.

...And this is just driving on the street.

 

m

[miatacarpc]

I have to agree on the spirit of the post. There's a weekly car show (when it's not raining) here called Exotics@RTC. There are tons of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Lotus Evora/Elise etc. They are beautiful to look at, and sound fantastic, but they are just lacking something. The guys who show up in their open-top or bare-bones classics always seem to be having the best time.

[MoBoost]

I too have an Elise and a Seven. The Seven is incredible, else it wouldn't have been in my garage for 27 years. My Elise is faster than the Seven, but you cannot reach its limits in daily driving without going stupid fast. You can have a lot of fun at relatively low speeds in a Seven. I think as reasonably priced, new sports cars go, the Elise is about as close as you can come to a Seven.

[ayseven]

I'm trying to imagine Oakland to Vancouver in a day. I used to do it from San Jose in 3. Of course, I was in a Civic. No coastal roads either.

[danilo]

The Seven is visceral and primitive, while imo the Elise and the Evora thing are improved in creature comforts (but still wayyy below industry standards) IMO they are simply too fugly to consider sitting in let alone owning one.

There is Nothing 'sexy' about them.. even teenage girls laugh.

There was one hapless Evora owner who was exasperated by the fact that his new car was repeatedly 'keyed. He was convinced it was Jealous Lout vandals.. as if.

Turns out it was teenage girls who were 'pissing' on the thing... and it's owner.

A non starter... period.

As reinforcement to the above: take a good look at the few owners who actually drive those things.. 'nuff said :-)

Edited May 24, 2012 by danilo

[MoPho]

The Seven is visceral and primitive, while imo the Elise and the Evora thing are improved in creature comforts (but still wayyy below industry standards) IMO they are simply too fugly to consider sitting in let alone owning one.

There is Nothing 'sexy' about them.. even teenage girls laugh.

There was one hapless Evora owner who was exasperated by the fact that his new car was repeatedly 'keyed. He was convinced it was Jealous Lout vandals.. as if.

Turns out it was teenage girls who were 'pissing' on the thing... and it's owner.

A non starter... period.

As reinforcement to the above: take a good look at the few owners who actually drive those things.. 'nuff said :-)

 

 

I don't think a seven owner should be calling anything ugly

 

 

And many consider seven owners to be nerds

 

 

Personally, I think the Elise and Evora are great looking

[WestTexasS2K]

I personally like the Elise and Evora look. I would proudly drive either I guess that makes me a nerd.

[Mondo]

Too be honest, I can't afford anything that is close to the 7 in performance. What's "visceral" to some is "wind in the ears/face, hot/cold, loud, clunky etc.."

 

I'd love to have a Noble, Ultima, RCR Superlite Coupe... with A/C, but no cupholders;)