IwannaSportSedan Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Looks? From the Door skins forward, it looks almost identical to a 996(986) or 997(987), except a small differentiation in the headlights, MAYBE. The section aft of the front seats are all that are different. The back of the boxster* looks better than the 911 cabrio, but I am not the biggest fan of the cabriolet bodystyle on the 911. The coupe is much more iconic. The cayman is a bit short of the 911 coupe's looks in the rear quarter window area, but I think that is on purpose... and the Cayman is pretty decent, if not absolutely purely designed. (* at least with the top down... convertible tops almost always look... like convertible tops.) If people in Boxsters, or any OTHER car are calling you names on the street, then they are jerks, regardless of what they happen to be driving. Who is crass enough to call people names from car to car on the street? Jerks. That's who. If they thought that Boxsters could compete with Supra turbos, or V8 Trans Ams, then not only are they jerks, but they are completely oblivious MORONS, who only THINK they know about cars. I would rather drive a Boxster, but even I know that the Boxster isn't that sort of performance car. It doesn't have forced induction, nor 8 cylinders. It doesn't even have the larger displacement of the 911, without some major swappage. Boxster isn't about that, really at all. It is ALL about mid engined handling in a roadster-type sports car. Short of the 911 GT3 and GT2, and maybe Turbo, most porsches aren't about straight line performance anyway. If porsche were going to do that, they probably would have replaced the 928 by now. Front engined V8 and Turbo V8 from the Cayenne line, in a lighter coupe format. They haven't revived the "german corvette." I doubt moron jerks have done the work on a Boxster to swap in a 3.8 X51 engine, so I don't know what they would be thinking, other than "I've got a Porsche, look at ME." But, there are plenty of moron jerks, and they drive all sorts of cars. There are a couple of squids who ride sport bikes at full throttle in third and fourth gears on my local small town side street, and around the neighborhood. You can hear them riding around near the rev limiter. I live in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and the streets around are mostly uncontrolled intersections. They ride around at more than 60mph on those surface streets.... They are going to get someone killed. But that doesn't mean I respect sport bikes less, from a technical aspect. I respect the PEOPLE a whole lot less, due to stupid behavior. We also have people with a muscle car or two, a couple of crappy jacked-up (in more ways than one) pickup trucks, and hardley ablesons with open exhausts that can each wake the dead. I lose my train of thought when they go by my house, they are so loud. And I am INDOORS!!! There is plenty of scorn to go around. But it seems like most of your evaluation is of people, not of cars. I never evaluate cars based on drivers. I evaluate cars based on technical details, and what I think I would evaluate behind the wheel myself. Moron jerks can get behind the wheel of anything, it doesn't reflect on the technical aspects of the vehicle. I never evaluate drivers based on cars. Certain drivers may pick brands and models based on fashion and prestige, but fashion and prestige are not technical aspects of a car, they are intangible aspects of the badge on the car. And moron jerks can get behind the wheel of anything, and they can buy whatever they can convince someone that they can afford. And good drivers sometimes drive cars that aren't flashy, or maybe even sporty. Pairing drivers to cars sometimes might seem to be holding to a stereotype, but often, they don't fit. And morons come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I dont judge people by the car they drive. I just said everyone who ever wanted to race me while driving a boxster in my experience has turned out to be a jag. Im not sure why i dont like the styling of the boxster, i can tell you its not because of the front. As for the cayman, i love that car. So i guess whatever the cayman has that the boxster doesnt is what makes me dislike the look of the boxster. I also did state in my last post that i know the boxster isnt a drag car which is why im always suprised when cocky assholes seem to think it can beat me. I mean i have meet alot of ferrari, viper and just all around faster cars that would give my cars more respect than the boxster drivers. Im sure not all of them are bad i just havent meet any yet lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwannaSportSedan Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I've found that most people who want to race me are jerk morons, too. Almost universally, regardless of what they are driving. I am not assuming that you are like that, BTW, Guru. I think it has more to do with the personality template that is indicative of people who think it is a grand idea to drag race on public streets, to also talk trash. I don't have a local track, or the time and money to support a motorsports hobby, so I usually don't race, since I am entirely based on public streets, and I don't particularly want to risk my passenger, myself, or my car, and certainly absolutely not any bystanders. I certainly don't go looking for races. It is somewhat of a mindset thing. There is a genre of personality types that do like to be recklessly competitive, and verbally challenging. They also seem to be the same personality type that like loud pipes, or driving much too fast for the conditions and surroundings. Frankly, it shows a lot of selfishness. I like MY car, everything else sucks. I like to drive fast, everyone else just stay out of my way. I like my loud pipes, everyone else can KMA. I, Me, My, and everyone else can deal with it. Again, I am just making statements about the type of behavior you are saying that porsche owners exhibit... I am not trying to indict you, or anyone else in particular, personally. I am glad you say that you don't judge people by the car they drive. My point is that you shouldn't judge cars because sometimes jerks drive them. About the only thing the cayman has that the boxster doesn't is a roof. I guess you like coupes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Well i guess thats it then, i just dont like the vert. I usually dont like convertables, for many reasons not just the way they look. I always love goin to the track and seeing convertables with cages in them. It soo bad looking lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwannaSportSedan Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I can agree with that. Short of a full cage, it still won't replicate a stressed roof structure. Why not just have a roof. The only other one is the Spec Miata. There is no coupe alternative. Technically there isn't one with the Solstice/Sky, either... YET. The targa is coming, but again, not truly a fixed roof. On those road-race cars... roll protection is fairly prudent, and a fixed roof coupe, is sadly unavailable. There was a briefly-produced JDM-only 2nd-gen Miata coupe. I always wish they had sold them in the US... http://www.triplezoom.com/news/uploads/miatacoupe.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 My supra was targa and it did feel stronger with the roof on. My Trans Am was T-top and it felt the same whether they were on or off. But i can tell you that the t-top saves you from a alot of stress when taking corners hard conapred to verts or targa. Both were cool but i liked t-tops better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwannaSportSedan Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 yup. That center bar ties the roof together at least somewhat, giving torsional rigidity to the body, and the body is the chassis. Our miata cowl-shakes like crazy... the convertible top isn't engineered to be a stiffener, just a built-in umbrella. the t-bar in a t-top roof adds some rigidity, and a targa panel will add some twist resistance when latched down. A full roof skin, bonded in place, provides even more rigidity, by not being a moving/removable part. A rigid sheet of composite, or metal has some shearing/surface tension strength. It is hard to grab two sides of even a thin rigid sheet of material, like say your supra's targa panel, and try to distort the surface by pulling the edges in different directions along the same plane. And if the sheet has ridges, or formed edges it can add some bending strength in directions not in the plane, too. Even if it is plastic, and bonded in place. It doesn't really have an effect. It is like having a cardboard box with the lid open, vs the lid closed. Lid closed strengthens the box quite a bit. Open cars are almost like an open box, with two sides slit open. The doors being held closed by a single striker pin, or maybe two, is not that much structure. All the strength in the car has to be in the door sills, floor pan, and center tunnel, all in a plane at the bottom of the car. forces can still twist that. A lot of classic roadsters betrayed rust, or rough treatment by the doors not closing or opening very well. The floor pan was so weak or fatigued that the car actually sagged in the middle, pinching the doors in the top of the door frames. Some were so bad, that it pinched the doors harder with a person sitting in the seat. You could somewhat open the door to get in, but then once you were in the doors were harder to close, and if you closed them, you had to force them open again, to get out. Especially with both doors open at the same time. My dad has an MGB... and the parts car that he used was pretty flexible, as was his car before he re-welded new sheetmetal into the several layers of the door sill structures, and repaired the floor pans. All of that flex makes for a really unstable platform for the suspension, that would be too loose with suspension travel in addition to body flex, then if you stiffened it up, it would only flex, distort, and fatigue the body structure even more, and the suspension just got harsh, not really better. Modern cars are better, but coupes are still stiffer than convertibles, even with more modern design and engineering. It is kind of a shame that the Miata has not offered a coupe, or spawned the Kabura concept car to production. The Solstice GXP targa coupe will probably be somewhat similar to your Supra targa, somewhat stiff when the top is on, not any stiffer than the convertible, when the top is off. Even the Corvette is a targa, without a fixed roof. The C5 fixed roof was unfortunately ugly, without the long rear glass. The 350Z is really the only affordable fixed roof sports car 2-seater, but it is a bit on the heavy side for it's size, before the Cayman came on the scene. That is one of the reasons that I am a Cayman fan. All the benefits I listed for the Boxster, with mid-engined layout and boxer engine. It also has more interior space without the convertible top, and a stiff solid roof. (although it is distinctly compound arched, I kind of wish they had done what RX7 and Viper did, and do a "double-bubble" roof, to cut down the visual height of the roof, and frontal area of the car. I also wish the Cayman had 911-style quarter windows, instead of upswept) A Cayman with the new 997 DI 3.8 liter engine, and a PDK... WOW. I am sure Porsche won't do that, it will probably keep a 3.4 liter engine below the RWD 997. But there are people who swap those engines in, and Cayman S will probably get the PDK... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 I like the fixed roof c5. I see people selling them now in the low 20s sometimes even high teens with aroudn 50kmiles i almost bought one when i sold my supra and i was gonna trade in my T/A for it but with a baby on the way i need a back seat even if the corvette wasnt going to be my DD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Pen Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 i love how this turned into the porsche thread yes i too love the cayman even though i feel porsche dumbed it down to fit in between the 911 and the boxster.. they couldnt make it faster than a 911 and ruin their benchmark performance car.. but it is a affordable option coupe to the boxster that still packs a good punch.. and while i think all porsches look good neither compare to the 997.. and i have never seen that miata coupe before... sexy makes me wish they would bring back the rx-7 which is rumored to make a return.. i just hope its still a turbo'd rotary... my biggest gripe with the rx8 is that mazda forgot a turbo.. or two two door two seater sport cars are making a comeback with the gas crisis.. which i am happy about (the cars not the gas) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05pearl Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I friend of mine has a Saturn Sky Redline, so we decided to take the cars to a private road. I was able to beat him 0-60(maybe 70) easily. Considering his car is rated 0-60 in 5.5, I was quite pleased. Made my day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collegemt Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 Yeah at the strip up here at 5800ft my Brother in laws solstice runs 14.8-14.9 every time. My stage 2 legacy will run 14.4 all day long an ocassionally a 14.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05pearl Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Given the solstice is supposed to run 13.9 - 14.1, it seems we lose about 0.7 - 1.0 seconds in the 1/4 due to altitude? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.