Weekly Top 3: The Most Bang For Your 70,000 Bucks
Suppose you've got about $70 grand to play with, and your heart's set on a sports car. I don't, for the record, and you probably don't either -- but nevermind about that. Say you've got the $70k, and you won't be satisfied until you've nabbed the keys to the best all-around sports car you can buy for the money. You've narrowed it down to three choices: the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Nissan GT-R and the Porsche 911 Carrera. How do you think they'll rank in this week's Olympic-themed Top 3?
Silver Medal (tie): Nissan GT-R
The GT-R has already achieved near-legendary status on the strength of its record Nürburgring lap time and robotically repeatable 3.5-second sprints to 60 mph. And it certainly lives up to the hype when you're behind the wheel. The car sounds like a 757, for goodness' sake, with an incessant turbine-like turbo hum that rises to a hair-raising crescendo when you really get on it. Steering is slop-free and awesomely accurate, and body roll does not apply.
So why the second-place finish? Simple. As good as the GT-R's automated manual transmission is, it's still no substitute for an old-fashioned three-pedal setup. Performance-wise, it's stupendous. But if I want to slap levers to change gears, I can do that on my PlayStation. For the diehard enthusiast, there's something irreducible about the joy of shifting the car yourself. If I'm dropping 70,000 bones on a world-class sports car, my left foot's got to be part of the equation.
Silver Medal (tie): Chevrolet Corvette Z06
If this contest were about frightening your friends, the Z06 would take the gold hands-down. As crushingly quick as the GT-R is, it accelerates in a cold, clinical fashion -- kind of like the shinkansen (Japanese bullet train). When you wood it in the 'Vette, on the other hand, it feels like you're single-handedly twisting the space-time continuum into knots. I don't care how cool your passenger thinks s/he is -- one all-out acceleration run through the Z06's first three gears is guaranteed to elicit involuntary yelps of shock and awe. "Yeah, this thing just isn't fast enough," you might smirk afterwards. "They need to get that ZR1 to dealers, pronto."
Of course, the 7.0-liter V8 doesn't sound like a jet engine -- it actually sounds better. I found myself downshifting gratuitously just so I could blip the throttle and enjoy the guttural blat emanating from the quad exhaust tips. This is one of my favorite motors, period, and I'm also a fan of the easily modulated clutch and reasonably sporty shifter. It's just the rest of the Z06 that lets me down. Mind you, I'm not talking about all-out capabilities. The Z06 might trail the GT-R around the Nürburgring, but in the hands of a skilled driver, this 'Vette will show its taillights to just about anything else. Trouble is, said driver will be in nervous communication with the driving gods all the while, praying that s/he's not about to exceed the Z06's prodigious limits.
Three major complaints here. First, while the steering is weighty and responsive, it's noticeably short on feel, sending too little information to your fingertips about how close you are to helicoptering this 505-horsepower rear-drive beast off into the bushes. Second, there's too much up-and-down motion in the rear suspension -- I can't say for sure that these are the infamous leaf springs in action, but it definitely rides more truckishly than a car of this performance pedigree should. Finally, as Editor-In-Chief Brauer pointed out in a recent blog post, the Z06 feels far heavier than its 3,162-pound curb weight; indeed, most drivers would be hard-pressed to discern which weighs more, the Chevy or the 3,800-plus-lb GT-R.
But you know what? The Z06 is good dirty fun nonetheless. It's officially tied with the Nissan here, but it does have the right number of pedals. I just might give it the nod if I absolutely had to choose between the two.
Gold Medal: Porsche 911 Carrera
The 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera is powered by a 345-horsepower flat-six. If you're a real car nut, that output figure may ring a bell. Yep -- that's what the Corvette's LS1 V8 was rated at...in 1997! And I haven't even driven the refreshed '09 911; my impressions are based on a 2008 model, which had a mere 325 horses.
So how did it nab the gold? Frankly, because it's the most satisfying three-pedal sports car of the bunch. If the GT-R were available with a proper manual transmission, it may well have won me over. But that's wishful thinking; back in the real world, the 911 takes the prize, boasting telepathic controls and an irrepressible soulfulness that the others simply can't match.
If there's one thing I've learned from this job, it's that impressive numbers don't necessarily produce automotive bliss behind the wheel. BMW's twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six is a great example. Sure, it's just as capable as the naturally aspirated 3.2-liter M-spec engine found in the e46 M3 and the current M Coupe/Roadster -- but the latter is so much more thrilling that I wouldn't even consider choosing a 135i or 335i over one of the 3.2-liter cars.
So it is with the 911 Carrera. Is it a whole lot slower than the GT-R and the 'Vette? Absolutely. But that flat-six wail is so intoxicating...the six-speed manual shifter so fluid and precise through the gates...the ultra-communicative steering so perfectly in tune with your intentions...the chassis so sharp, yet compliant enough for daily use...as an enthusiast, how can you not fall in love with this car? No, it doesn't teleport you into the next zipcode at the slightest provocation, as do the other entrants here, but it's the car that most readily becomes an extension of the driver's will. For my (entirely imaginary) $70k, I'd much rather have that than bragging rights at the local drag strip.
The Moral
With apologies to the hugely capable American and Japanese, the well-rounded German takes the gold.
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com
- Posted by
- S.B. True August 15, 2008, 4:30 AM
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- Car Buying, Life with Cars
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- Weekly Top 3
Well, you're going to get flamed for your out-dated obsession with the stick shift by some pimple-faced gamers, but for the record I'm with you.
Driving is about more than raw numbers. The best car is the most balanced one with the best steering, clutch, and gearbox. The base 911 is so damn good, I don't think I'd get the S or Turbo even if I could afford it - unless I really was going to get it on a race track once in a while.
I also think snob appeal helps the 911 win here, if that matters to you. Just as most people don't know your $70K Z06 or $100K ZR1 from a $47K base model, they also don't know the difference between a $73K Carrera and a $130K Turbo.
(For me though, I'll take that Z4M coupe you mentioned. So good looking, and a far less common sight than any Vette or Porsche.)
PS - I love that brown color on the 911 in the photo there. So classic.
Certainly a very subjective comparison. Taking two raw performance cars and comparing them to a lower performing, but better balanced car. Depending on the author, the other cars didn't stand a chance.
On a side note, I could walk into my local Chevy dealer with $70K and walk out with a Z06 today. They have them in stock and they don't believe in selling above list.
My local Nissan dealer doesn't have a GTR and even if they did, they'd charge me a lot more than $70K for it.
Looking at the inventory of my two nearest Porsche dealers, I can't buy a 911 for less than $100K.
I'm not disputing anything in the article, other than to say that in a major metropolitan area, I can't buy two of those cars for $70K. The third wins by default.
Josh, with the 335i-M3 comparison, I think it has more to do with the weight ond overall demeanor of the e9x 3-series than the engines per-se. THe e9x is too lage, heavy and "planted" to be fun. I have a feeling the e46 M3 would be more fun to drive than the e9x M3.
As far as the actual engine is concerned, man, I love that 335i engine!
As for the manual transmission issue, I'm with you guys ahightower and Josh. It became very clear to me after driving two 335i 3-series' back-to-back. I thought the automatic was fun but the manual was just better.
Josh, I have a question: how can one learn to drive as well as you? Are these "advanced driving courses" worth it?
brn,
Fair point. Most 911s have a load of pricey options, and of course there's the markup factor with the GT-R (as I mentioned in my prior "teaser" post). If I had to choose between the Z06 at $70k and the others at $100k -- and $30k were a significant amount of money to me (for many buyers in this segment, it won't be) -- I'd go with the Z06, no question.
ahightower,
Yeah, personally I'd probably take the M Coupe myself and save the $20-30k. As you may have noticed, I really, really like that engine -- plus the thing looks pretty cool to boot.
blackadder,
I think the e9x coupe (i.e., e92) is a bit overgrown, looks too long from the side...but one of my favorite cars is the current 328i with the Sport Package. I didn't find it too large or heavy; to me, it felt wonderfully nimble and light on its feet.
As for learning to drive, well, I'm perpetually learning myself...but the place to start is a reputable driving school, where you'll be taught how to drive a car safely at the limits of adhesion -- and forced to experience what it feels like to exceed the limits. There's no substitute for that.
-Sadlier
Josh I would like to thank you for finally doing a true enthusiast's comparison test. It seems that all the major auto publications have started ranking sports car by quickness and lap times, rather than experience. Power doesn't make a sports car, an unadulterated connection between man and machine does.
brn,
Your Porsche dealer won't let you order a 911 built to your specs? If not, there's always their European Delivery program.