Choices

It's surprising how different these two are, especially considering that they are both 2-seat, RWD cars from the oughts.

Scalpel or sledgehammer?

More gratuitous beauty shots:

Looking good, but the wheel pointing in different direction side to side on the Boxter drive me nuts. Can't believe Porsche did that. 

Pick our fav? Needing to sell one? 
Id say it depends on intended use maybe. I'm not a big fan of either honestly. But I'd think the Chevy would probably hold value better, be easier to sell, last longer, cost less to keep going... maybe. If I had to pick one, and they were the same price, probably the German. 

I would never pick a Corvette. But I LOVE your Corvette, and those lights are hideous on that P car. 

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :

Nah, just which one to drive and when.

I've had the Boxster for two years now and put almost 8000 miles on it. I bought it for $7200 and it has 143K miles on it now. It had the IMS and clutch done at a Porsche dealer before I bought it. All of my expenses on it have been turning it into an autocross car, which it does really well (Bridgestones then Falkens, all new stock suspension arms/bushings/ball joints, Koni adjustable struts, fluids). I really love autocrossing it, that is truly where it is fantastic. It's pretty good on fun drives as well except it's a one option (cruise control) car, so it's lacking the stuff you would expect in a Porsche.

The Corvette I bought two months ago for $23500 with 48K miles. I like it but maybe don't love it yet. It's all stock right now but I already bought an MGW shifter for it. It is loaded including the heads up display which is actually way neater and more useful than you would think. 

I have floated the idea of selling both in a year or two and buying a nice Cayman S to be the street car and a ratty Z06 to turn into a track rat.

I never "got" the Corvette thing until I drove a customer's 283hp '57 fuelie.

It's the nicest sledgehammer you can buy.

I am definately a scalpel kind of guy. I prefer the slide over the thrust (ewww).

When driving on streets it's hard to take advantage of a Z06's capability without going to prison whereas the boxster can be wrung out without much concern for the PoPo. Never driven a boxster but that's what I have read so that makes me an expert on these matters.

The color on the ZO6 and the fact that it makes big V8 noises seal it for me. I'm sure I could have fun in the Boxster, but I think I'd have to work a lot harder for it which would make the smiles per mile lower than the Vette.

If I walked out every morning and saw that, I'd never drive the P car. I'll take a shouty sledge every day. 

I'm told c5 Z06 are fantastic track cars. Why not just make that your track rat? Sure it's more work to keep it nice and still drive it, but clearbras and tape exist.

I've got a nice street car, I took it to the track too much and then the engine fell out. Don't limit yourself for arbitrary reasons. Have fun with your stuff.

Have owned both.  The C5 for sure.  I sold a track C5 FRC and missed it so much I bought another one.  $14k and 50k miles.  It has a full exhaust.  I have a 991 Carrera S and while I appreciate a nice flat 6 sound, the sounds the C5 makes are like music to me.  They aren't perfect but I submit there is no better performance per dollar track toy.  Parts are plentiful and cheap compared to parts with the P tax.  I had a Boxster S and found I rarely put the top down in South Florida.  Too stinking hot, and sitting in traffic do not make for good times.  Also on the small side for me.

In reply to Cactus :

I've already wrung the Z06 out at the drag strip (12.6@113). I would have tracked it already as that is what I bought it for, there just haven't been any yet and won't be until the spring here.

Time share. We can't do it with our women without getting in trouble, so we should do it on our cars. I want both!

I am in for time share on the Vette.  We already do it with the women.

Road America => Corvette

Sears Point => Boxster

See what I did there?  ;-)

I sold my 986s to spend more time with my Rabbit; it was an ok cruiser but autocrossing was never much fun.

chandler said:

I sold my 986s to spend more time with my Rabbit; it was an ok cruiser but autocrossing was never much fun.

Really? Had you done any prep work to them? 

The 986s was mostly stock, just some flavor of suspension and and an exhaust (I hate that I can't remember what the suspension was but it was 15 years ago) and the rabbit was nothing stock.

In reply to chandler :

I have found that the 986 is very sensitive to tires and alignment in autocross settings. A 2 psi difference in rear tire pressure completely changes the attitude of my car.

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

If I walked out every morning and saw that, I'd never drive the P car. I'll take a shouty sledge every day. 

 

"shouty sledge".... yes. 

A few years back I drove 2 hours to meet a guy whom my friend(the passenger) thought he knew from a forum. We hung out, chatting about his dad's cars mostly(Heckflosse, DS, SM, Sonett) and he asked if I wanted to drive his Boxter. So I tossed him the keys to my M3Ti, I got the Boxter key, and we went off onto some backroads near lynchburg. That was absolutely lovely. What a fun car to tear up some 45mph roads on a cool crisp night with the top down. So far I've only driven a Boxter and a 928 and if all Porsches are that good, then I'm sold. It was also really fun following and listening to my BMW with the top down.

And in the end we didn't actually have the friend-of-a-friend connection that we originally thought. Oh well. Fun evening and made a new friend. And it somehow led to exploring Mark Smith's car collection which is... mind blowing.

That's a nice driveway

Ive never driven a sledgehammer but the scalpel is a riot on the roads around here. Even my 2.7 can 2-3x a speed limit on a backroad without much trouble. I can't see the need (notice I didn't say want) for more. 

In Mexico. I meant backroads in Mexico.