Esprit s4s vs Corvette z06

[roosterjuicer]

Im thinking waay to far ahead of time, but in the next four or 5 years I will be getting a new performance vehicle (contingent on graduating law school and get a decent paying job and after i buy a new truck).

I love my camaro, its fast, its reliable, i drive it almost every day during summer/fall/spring, it gets good gas mileage. but I'll be getting older soon enough here, and as a professional, I'll have to start looking professional. thus, a camaro will probably not be the proper car as a semi-daily driver. Plus, I want a faster car!

I love corvettes, and i love esprit s4s's. so thats really what ive narrowed my choices down to as of now (although a GTO is a possibility).

Here are my arguments for and against both sides.

Esprit.
Its better looking in my opinion. I have had kind of a love affair with lotus' since i was a kid, it was the first super car i ever really had a major crush on (for lack of a better word). Its also much more exotic than a vette, you see corvettes in one form or another almost every day but i havent seen an espirit on the road in a couple years. its a very fast car (although quite a bit slower than the vette but faster than my camaro) but as technology advances, 4.7 seconds 0-60 is not that big of a deal anymore. GTO's do it in 5 flat, old and new z06's, gtr's, mustangs, probably the new camaro, evo's and STI's do even faster so the s4s isn't the extreme performance car it used to be, mostly because its a pretty old car.

also, i dunno if i could get away with driving an s4s every day during summer due to its notorious reliability issues. however, i think an s4s is a relatively simple and pretty accessible car to work on, especially compared to the vette. I think I could do most of my own stuff to an s4s but i probably couldn't do it on a vette. However, the costs of parts on an s4s would probably negate the money im saving by doing repairs and maintenance on my own.

Finally, the s4s is much cheaper to buy. I can probably find one with low miles for high 20's-low 30's where as I will probably have problems finding a vette for less than 40 (although i would be more comfortable getting a vette with more miles than an espirit with more miles). So in theory the s4s is a better buy, but maintenence costs and lack of practicality/speed might offset that a little bit.

corvette z06
i also like z06's. it is as fast a car as you see on the road most days. but it isn't as exotic as a lotus because, while you dont see z06's too often, they look a lot like normal vettes. so it doesn't have that exotic flair. however, it is perfectly suitable as a daily driver both comfort and reliability wise and if it does break, parts for it are much cheaper although i probably couldn't do more than regular maintence (fluid changes, spark plugs) on it.

the vette is much much faster and there arent many cars that can beat it, but as mentioned previously, its going to be a lot more expensive to buy.

to be honest, if you ask me my unbiased opinion. the z06 is the much better car. its much faster, its much cheaper to maintain, its much more reliable, it handles just as well, its still pretty sharp looking, its more comfortable. however, if you ask me my real world opinion, i cant stop thinking that i might rather want the lotus even though its probably the dumber decision...there's just something about it that i love that the vette doesn't do for me.

i would love to hear you guy's thoughts, but try your hardest to keep your anti-vette/america bias out of it.

[roosterjuicer]

my mistake on the poll, the last choice should read z06

[Soloracer]

yeah, i understand your points for both vehicles however, do you realize you can pick up a S4S for like 25k and a ZO6 for like 60 at the cheapest? Kinda a bit of price difference. All I know about choosing between this odd couple is, well nothing, but a growing up, a friend of mine's dad had a Esprit V8 and it definitely spent more time in the shop than on the road... My choice is the ZO6 but if your looking to impress clients, cars with jackhammer suspension may not be the best choice.

[Ferrer]

I guess it all depends wheter you are prepared to make the extra effort for the Lotus or not.

It may be cheaper to buy, but it'll probably bemuch more expensive to run. And there's the scarcity of parts, and the fact that it's an old car.

If you have another car to rely on in case someone wrong with the Lotus go ahead. If not I'd have my reserves.

[roosterjuicer]

yeah i will always have a truck to drive if something is wrong with the performance car. I probably wont be driving a client around in either car, i just want something more "mature" than a camaro

[Canam fan]

How tall are you? That could be the deciding factor. I'm 6'3" and fit in the Vette but not a Lotus

[MrVette83]

I know my name kinda singles me out for my choice but I have an open mind to anything with an engine. You're right, the Esprit has a much higher wow factor than the Corvette, heck, probably 50% of the driving public here in the US couldn't tell you what one is. Point in case, my mother in law told me the other day she was passed on the interstate by a Lamborghini and had a pic on her camera phone, it was an Esprit. As you pointed out the maintenance is much cheaper on a Vette than a Lotus. I think it was Jay Leno on one of his videos on his site that said, "It's a Chevy, if it breaks, you go to the Chevy dealer and get it fixed, my McLaren on the other hand, it breaks, you take out a mortgage on the house." Some magazines quibble that the interior of the Corvette is cheap looking, in both the C5s and C6s I've driven I don't have any complaints.

This is all my $0.02.

[roosterjuicer]

i am 5ft 8in so i would fit fine in either.

as to the interior, ive always been a function over style kind of guy. i personally havent seen an interior on a new car that ive liked. i of course like stuff that is pleasing to the eyes but i hate all the unnecessary buttons. i love the interior on my camaro and my subub. 3 knobs, 1 for hot or cold, one for head/feet/defrost, and one for fan strength!

that being said, the lotus' interior isn't that nice or anything so both cars are pretty much even there.

[henk4]

if your intent is to look like a professional (in law?) why bother with these two cars at all?

[LeonOfTheDead]

Originally Posted by henk4

if your intent is to look like a professional (in law?) why bother with these two cars at all?

because he is only dreaming by now, but I agree.
first thoughts of the average Joe:
-Corvette: american proud, 1/4 race
-Esprit: what's that, pretty woman

[MrVette83]

Originally Posted by henk4

if your intent is to look like a professional (in law?) why bother with these two cars at all?

Good point. For the coin you would drop to pick up a used C6Z you could have at the least a new 135i that will out gun the Lotus in 0-60 and get you the professional nod that comes along with driving a BMW. Or the new C-Class Benz, that is a rather sleek looking car as well.

[roosterjuicer]

i dont want to look professional in law at all by buying a car, i just think its a little silly for a 29 year old lawyer to be driving a camaro anymore unless its a classic and i want a faster car. i must have misrepresented something, all i really want is a high performance car that is more of an adult car than a camaro. and i dont want to pay an arm and a leg for it.

ps. you'd never catch me dead in a bimmer if i was trying to look classy. although i wouldn't even need to think twice about getting an e class mercedes down the road a long ways. but thats not the point of this thread.

[henk4]

Originally Posted by roosterjuicer

i dont want to look professional in law at all by buying a car, i just think its a little silly for a 29 year old lawyer to be driving a camaro anymore unless its a classic and i want a faster car. i must have misrepresented something, all i really want is a high performance car that is more of an adult car than a camaro. and i dont want to pay an arm and a leg for it.

ps. you'd never catch me dead in a bimmer if i was trying to look classy. although i wouldn't even need to think twice about getting an e class mercedes down the road a long ways. but thats not the point of this thread.

try to find a classic Citroen SM, they were available in the States. That will be your eye catcher.......

[MrVette83]

IMO I think the SM would be an eye catcher for sure, but not for the right reasons, lol.

[Soloracer]

Originally Posted by henk4

try to find a classic Citroen SM, they were available in the States. That will be your eye catcher.......

Hahaha, good call