FFCobra

I saw another post from a guy with his NSX next to his buddies C6 Z06. Here's a great picture that I call SMALL (Elise) - MED (NSX) - LARGE (C6Z06)

This is my C6 Z06 next to my father-in-laws NSX (Mike) and a friends Elise (Rob). I've owned 5 NSX's and that's how I met my wife Jackie 8 years ago. We met at an NSX get-together. Both Mike and I have owned Elise's.



OK, I'm kind of a car nut. In the past few years I've owned Acura NSX's(5), Porsche 911 (996), Lotus Elise, Corvette C5 Convertible and Coupe, Ferrari 355 (still have), Factory Five Cobra, Factory Five Spec Racer, Factory Five Coupe (still have), and the C6 Z06 (still have).

I get asked all of the time which car is better. That's really a trick question, but here's some impressions of the latest production cars. I won't include the FFR products or the C5.

Contenders for this write-up:
C6 Z06
Acura NSX (hard tops, not targa models)
Porsche 911 (996)
Lotus Elise
Ferrari 355

Best steering: Lotus Elise
Worse steering: C6 Z06

Best power: Corvette C6 Z06
Worse power: Lotus feels slow, but the NSX is slower

Best brakes: Lotus Elise with the Z06, 355 and 911 real close
Worse brakes: Acura NSX

Best seats for a long trip: C6 Z06
Worse seats for a long trip: tie Porsche 911 and Lotus Elise

Best seats for the track: Lotus Elise
Worse seats for the track: C6 Z06

Best stereo: C6 Z06
Worse stereo: Lotus Elise - really, really, really bad.

Easiest to drive fast in the mountains: Lotus Elise
Scariest to drive fast in the mountains: C6 Z06 (too much power and runflats)

Best handling (grip): Tie between C6 Z06 and Lotus Elise
Worse handling: none, they all handle great

Best stock exhaust sound: Ferrari 355
Worse stock exhaust sound: Acura NSX

Best after-market exhaust: Ferrari 355 Capristo Stage III
Worse after-market exhaust: None

Best attention getter: Lotus Elise by a mile
Worse attention getter: Porsche 911

Most reliable: C6 Z06 so far
Most unreliable: Ferrari 355

Cheapest after-market parts: Lotus Elise and C6 Z06
Highest priced after-market parts: Ferrari 355

Easiest to get into: tie Corvette C6 Z06 and Porsche 911
Worse to get in: Lotus Elise

Most fun to drive: Lotus Elise
Least fun to drive: Could their be one that's not fun? The NSX is pretty much the least of this group.

Best build quality (fit and finish): tie Porsche 911 and Acura NSX
Worse build quality: tie between Ferrari 355 and Lotus Elise

Best engineering design: Corvette C6 Z06 by a long mile
Worse engineering design: Porsche 911

Best interior materials: Porsche 911
Worse interior materials: Ferrari 355 (parts are melting and everything is sticky) and Lotus Elise (hard plastics)

Best smell: Porsche 911
Worse smell: none, they all smell great in their own way.

Best paint: Acura NSX
Worse paint: Lotus Elise

Most luggage space: Corvette C6 Z06 and Porsche 911
Worse Luggage space: Ferrari 355 and Lotus Elise

Best dealer for service: Acura and Porsche are damn good (I haven't had to service the C6 Z06)
Worse dealer for service: Ferrari

Best for autocrossing: Lotus Elise
Worse for autocrossing: Acura NSX

Cheapest car to take to the track for 3 days (no wrecks), in order:
Lotus Elise
Corvette C6 Z06
Acura NSX
Porsche 911
Ferrari 355

Safest car to take to the track, in order:
Acura NSX (just don't lift in a corner)
Lotus Elise (again, don't lift)
Corvette C6 Z06
Ferrari 355
Porsche 911 (really, really don't lift)

Most expensive to repair body parts, in order:
Lotus Elise
Ferrari 355
Acura NSX
Porsche 911
Corvette C6 Z06

Most expensive to repair mechanical (out of warranty), in order:
Ferrari 355
Porsche 911
Acura NSX
Corvette C6 Z06
Lotus Elise

Cheapest street tires: Lotus Elise
Most expensive street tires: Corvette C6 Z06

Cheapest brake pads: Lotus Elise
Most expensive brake pads: tie Ferrari 355 OEM and C6 Z06

Best shifter linkage: Acura NSX
Worse shifter linkage: Lotus Elise

Best clutch feel: tie C6 Z06 and Ferrari 355
Worse clutch feel: Porsche 911

Best A/C: C6 Z06
Worse A/C: Lotus Elise (really, really bad)

Least amount of squeaks: C6 Z06
Most amount of squeaks: Lotus Elise

Best interior layout: C6 Z06
Worse interior layout: tie Ferrari 355 (limited storage and weird switches) and Lotus Elise (no storage)

Best head lights: Porsche 911 (Zenon option)
Worse head lights: Lotus Elise (they got a DOT exemption)

Easiest for driveways and bumps: C6 Z06
Hardest to get over bumps: tie Acura NSX and Ferrari 355

Easiest to purchase, in order:
Porsche 911 (walked in, they tossed me the keys and we drove out with the paperwork done in 30 minutes.
Lotus Elise (Easy to find and has no issues to check on)
Corvette C6 Z06 (if you don't mind the wait and dealer BS)
Acura NSX (before buying you have to check them out for a few issues that are known, but this can be done by myself because they are easy to spot).
Ferrari 355 (so many things to check and you need to know what you are looking for).

Easiest to sell:
Corvette C6 Z06 (in demand)
Acura NSX
Lotus Elise
Porsche 911
Ferrari 355

When selling, which car can have the most miles? (in order)
Acura NSX (buyers know they are bullet proof, even with 100,000 miles)
Corvette C6 Z06 (Look how many C6 Z06's already have over 5k miles on them... these cars can be driven and buyers won' care.)
Porsche 911 (the buyers don't mind as much as 8,000 miles a year)
Lotus Elise (too many 1 year old cars with 2,000 miles or less, so if you drive it you will lose money.)
Ferrari 355 (Don't drive it or they will lose value quickly. Ferrari buyers are weird about miles.)

Which car is the best value? Corvette C6 Z06

Which has the best stock wheels? Corvette C6 Z06
Which car has the worse stock wheels? Acura NSX

Which car gets by the police the best? Porsche 911
Which car gets the most attention from the police? Lotus Elise

Which car will be the most collectible in 30 years?
Corvette C6 Z06
Ferrari 355
Acura NSX
Lotus Elise
Porsche 911

Which car is at the bottom of the deprecation curve?
Ferrari 355
Acura NSX (91-93)

Which car will depreciate the most (%) over 3 years?
Lotus Elise
Corvette C6 Z06
Porsche 911 (996)

Which car would I most like to drive across the USA? C6 Z06
Which car would I least like to drive across the USA? Lotus Elise and Ferrari 355

Best car for your mother to drive? Acura NSX
Worse car for your mother to drive? Lotus Elise (hard to get in and out)

Best car to let your father drive? Corvette C6 Z06
Worse car for your father to drive? Lotus Elise (hard to get in and out)

Best ride? Acura NSX
Worse ride? Lotus Elise

Which car can I work on (shocks, oil changes, sway bars, brakes)? Lotus Elise, Acura NSX, C6 Z06
Which car should not be touched by me? Porsche 911 or Ferrari 355

Which car under steers the most? Porsche 911
Which car over steers the most? Lotus Elise
Which car is the most neutral? Corvette C6 Z06

Which car can you see out of the front the best? Acura NSX
Which car is the worse to see out of the front? C6 Z06

Which car has the most blind spots? Lotus Elise
Which car has the least amount of blind spots? Porsche 911

Which car has the best leather? Porsche 911
Which car has the worse leather? Ferrari 355 wears the most on the side bolster, but the Lotus feels the cheapest

Which car has the best driving position? C6 Z06
Which car has the worse driving position? Porsche 911

Which has the best steering wheel? Lotus Elise (momo is standard)
Which has the worse steering wheel? Acura NSX

- Bill

outnumbered

Wow Bill .Lots of work.Your post or breakdown just shows you can never have a perfect car in all categories.
Dan

vette6799

You certainly put a lot of work into your comparisons - a very interesting read.


To a considerable extent though, your comparisons are comparing recent vehicles with older cars. For instance, the F430 is the Ferrari that should be compared with the C6 Z06, not the 355. The NSX, which was a marvel when introduced, should be matched up against a C4 Vette. The Lotus Elise is a more valid comparison because it is a relatively new contender. The Porsche should be a TT. I am not criticizing your comparisons, but would suggest that someone should not walk away and say a Z06 has a nicer interior or better leather than a new Ferrari - it does not come close.

TA

355Spider

You already have squeaks in your Z06???
My 355s brakes were no where near my Z06s. They sucked actually. My M3s were mmuch better.
My 355 was the most reliable sporst car I have had though. No breakdowns in 3.5 years. Good write up.

OsinO

Wow very cool.. thanks for putting that together for us!

Seems like the Lotus is a real bargain and has the most "bang for the buck" if you wanna call it as an all around car to have fun with, to be able to work on, cheap parts, etc... But again it is in a different league then some of those cars and wouldnt be ideal for other things.

MadMaxZ06

For what it's worth, I'll contribute my impressions of the vehicles you mentioned:

NSX (Pre-1995 coupe (non targa):
Drove this car for a whole day and loved it. Super FUN car to drive. I loved the driving position (driver is positioned close to the front of the car) and the visibility. The transmission and shifter are also fantastic; one of the very best. Even though this car is down on ultimate power, the VTEC "kick" is still exciting and the sound the engine makes reving to 8,000 RPM's just behind your head is awesome. Oh, and one more thing, NO POWER STEERING. This was the first and only car I have ever driven without power steering and I thought it was remarkable. I have even toyed with the idea of deleting the power steering in my C5 Z06 I liked it so much. In short, a very comfortable and beautiful car that makes me stare on the rare occasions I see one.

Lotus Elise:
I only test drove this car (about 30 minutes) but it was long enough for me to realize that this car is not for me. Firstly, I think the car looks super cool. Secondly, I love how light it is. I'm one of those guys who is at least as impressed by a cars lightness as I am with its power. Thirdly, the car handles. I mean seriously handles. It has a super cool steering wheel (read small) and amazing grip. But I really hated some things about this car. #1. Poor visability. I'm talking dangerously so. I found lane changes in traffic to be unsettling. The lack of visability in this car, for me, is a 100% show stopper. #2. The Elise is gutless below 3,000 RPM's. I mean truly gutless. Above 6,000 RPM's it starts to get fun but only because the contrast is so sharp. As the tach. climbs the car to me felt like this: gutless, gutless, somewhat interesting, hey this is fun, wow. I believe the wow factor is mostly relative to the fact that the driver had to suffer through gutless engine performance to get there. #3. Shifter. I'm sorry, but this thing is horrible. The throws are long, really long, and the overall feeling is very imprecise. #4. I hated the seats. They are supposed to be racing seats but they didn't hold me in at all. A complete lack of side bolstering. I have a Sparco Pro2000 race seat in my C5 Z06 and it's got it all over the Elise's race seats.

Ferrari F355 F1 Spider:
Beautiful car. Ferrari sure understands beauty. I thought build quality was excellent. The engine felt extremely smooth and bullet-proof. I hated the F1 (paddle) transmission. I felt completely disconnected from the car. The plastic paddles felt like toys and the time it took between when I pulled on the paddle and when the shift actually occurred was entirely too long, further degrading my ability to feel connected to the car. I thought the exhaust note was only great near redline at WOT, otherwise I found it disappointing. As far as a rush of raw acceleration, forget it, it just never "did it" for me. I was driving a Honda S2000 at the time that I test drove the F355 and quite frankly, I felt like the S2000 was more fun and exhilarating to drive. Now the looks that the Ferrari got in traffic are legendary. All-in-all, I found the Ferrari to be disappointing. Overall, a beautiful car that rode well and seemed to be beautifully appointed and well constructed but lacked true excitement.

C5 Z06:
Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to drive a C6 Z06 but I'm sure it's everything I love about my C5 Z06 in spades. To say that I enjoy driving my Z06 better then a NSX or an Elise is the understatement of the year. If I had to pick out just one thing that distinguishes the Z06 from the other two cars, it would have to be the engines, more specifically, TORQUE. As far as I'm concerned, for a street driven sports car, torque is king.

- Max

glass slipper

I usually hate these "which car is better" threads and try to avoid them like the plague because it gets filled with people spouting BS then degenerates to name calling. Once emotion gets involved, all facts go out the window and whatever car is their hero has no warts. I'll readily admit I know very little about the Ferrari, but from what I know about the others, I'd say this is the most fact filled unbiased (tells the warts and beauty marks of all the cars) compilation I've ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and am glad I clicked on this one. Thanks!

PS I'm sure there'll be someone to come along and disagree with different points you made because their hero car has no warts and proceed to make disparaging remarks about your character. There are a few Porsche guys here I know will take considerable exception to your ranking of the 911 as the worst engineering design and the most unsafe track car of the bunch.

JZ

Pretty obvious to me...its the only car the people are looking at!

Yogivette

Man that was really cool to see where each car shines and where they are deficient. The one that really suprised me was the one about which one gets noticed most and most attention. I wouldnt have though the lotus got the most attention i would think the ferrari or the porsche since people in general KNOW what they are. Maybe thats why they notice the lotus they have ask or try and figure out what it is.

FFCobra

I should point out that all 5 of these cars are good track cars. The 911 (996) is a fast track vehicle, but you need to know how to drive it fast to be safe.

I'm a big supporter of Porsche 911's in racing and put my money where my mouth is. My company, Cobra Powersports / TGB Scooters & ATVs, sponsor a Porsche racing team in the Grand Am series. We sponsor Marcus Motorsports who runs 2 new Porsche 997's and a Caddy CTS-V in the Grand Am series. The team is kicking butt. They have had two polls in the past month with the Cobra Powersports Porsche and one win.

http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/...?SessionID=676 Notice that the car I sponsor finished 1st in the May 13th Grand Am race. The Marcus Motorsports Team finished 1st out of a large field of Grand Am Cup cars. Here's a link with more info: http://www.cobrasales.com/news/3_28_2006.htm

So my point is that my STREET 911 (996) is the hardest to be safe in at the track. This is a great list of cars to take to the track, so even though the 996 is my pick as the least safest doesn't mean much. It's safer than 99.9% of all other production cars, it just so happens that the other cars on this list are a little better.

As for my comment about the engineering of the 996, you won't find any Porsche owner who thinks that hanging the engine out the rear of the axle makes sense. From an engineering point it makes no sense (except in braking). In practice, Porsche has managed to over come the engineering flaws to make the cars work... and work very well.

- Bill

EuG

FFCobra,
Nice write up – very informative

I think I could http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...&postcount=311

og5

Any idea why porsche even bothered to try this design?

Foosh

Very nicely done. I own a Z06, a Shelby Cobra replica, and an Elise. I wouldn't quibble with anything you said.

03QuicksilverZ06

Bill

That simply was one of the best reviews I have ever read, Car guy style. Thanks

btw.. I love all those cars

Viper/Z06

youre on the z06 wet nipple forum, what do u think the answer is?

PeterK

Well, it is not the worst possible design there is. The engine over the rear axle really helps with putting power down and braking. Heck, the brake pads on 911 usually wear uniformly.

Now a FWD car with an engine in front of the axle e.g. audies, is the worst possible design for a sports car.

PeterK

So, what you're saying is that aside from smelling nice, 996 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever

TrackNoob

Wow, great post, appreciate the thought and effort you put into that!

I am not qualified to form an independent assessment to anything you say, but most seems to have the ring of truth and matches with the impressions I had. The shocker to me was you saying:

I love the Z06, but respectfully, I'd offer that a much more logical ordering to me might be:

Ferrari 355
Acura NSX
Porsche 911
Corvette C6 Z06
Lotus Elise

PeterK

My version is gonna be

F-355
split between Elise/NSX
911
Z06.

The point about colectability is the production numbers. GM is gonna make all the Z they can sell and then more.