First let me state categorically that I don't like Corvettes. Their
FRP
bodies are a joke, and they rattle miserably after only a few road
miles.
That said, it's obvious you haven't driven one recently. They are
anything
but "straight-line only metal." They handle remarkably well, and it
takes
very little suspension and frame work to prodify one for competitive
SCCA
racing. Once set up properly they are a bitch to beat. Only the
Dodge
Viper can compete in that price range. And of course with over 500
bhp, the
Corvette is anything but slow or sluggish. In a year or two the
Corvette ZO6
will have over 600 bhp.


The last Vette I drove was a 2004 and it still needed very smooth road
to do it's thing. It takes more than speed and handling on a track to
make a real world supercar. That's why most of my friends call an NSX
a supercar, but not a Vette. That's because the NSX does things so
well that it inspires confidence behind the wheel, yet doesn't betray
the driver at critical moments. I hate Vettes. They always rattle up a
storm after 20K.


Since the early 90s, the Vettes have been superb handling vehicles. Are you
referring to the older models?

Nope. I find the newer vette's nervous on less than perfect pavement,
much the way I find a WRX to be at times. By comparison it was always
easy to drive a 300ZX turbo to 130 HP and let it hang there.



The Mazdaspeed 6 is indeed a very competent automobile, both on the
track
and on pavement, but I believe you've greatly overstated its
abilties. It
is nowhere in the handling league with Vipers, Corvettes, and such.

That really depends on the situation. On a track you're right.


forthcoming Exige will outhandle everything we've mentioned so
far. The
demo Elise I drove--not a sport version, incidentally--simply blew me
away.
I had to own one.

Well, I'm jealous! I thought of buying one, but chickened out for now.
Please post a few pics and driving impressions when you get it.



It's governed to do quite a bit less than that. Remove the
governor and you
can kiss your warranty goodbye.


150 MPH is the top speed via the governor. That's probably enough.



The Elise (roadster) and Exige (coupe) are not supercars. Handling
may be
on par with supercars, but they lack the raw horsepower to be
supercars.

This is were we part ways. All reviews and my single test drive of an
Elise point these cars handling BETTER than the Supercars mentioned.
So they deserve the same respect for being top dogs in that arena. For
sheer speed their are other cars of course. A supercar is a class
leading sports car in performance and the Elise and Exige more than
make the mark. On top of that they are PLENTY fast. The 2005 Elise
with comp. package did the 1/4 in 13.2. That's amazing. Then throw in
it's light weight and handling....SUPERCAR.


AWD is nice, especially in crap weather. It even does well on the
track, if
engineered properly. My BMW 330 Ci (coupe, not convertible)
obviously
doesn't have it, but I think it's a fair trade to have RWD in a BMW
as
opposed to AWD. I have an additional set of rims with winter
ultra-performance tires in addition to the M rims with ultra-
performance
tires for summer use. Both get me around just fine, and I prefer the
RWD
for twisty roads.


We have some BMW's in our area, but all are AWD versions. It's the
only type of BMW I'd look at. As I said, AWD is my thing because it
makes the car fun even when the weather turns bad.

Supercars: Porsche GT3 or McLaren, Ferraris, Aston Martin Vantage,
Saleen
S7, Ford GT, Dodge Viper, Corvette ZO6, stuff like that.

I prefer your new car to most of those. I won't even put the Saleen,
Ford or Vette on the same page as the Exige. The Exige is just amazing
and 0-60 in four seconds is certainly supercar territory. The GT3
can't do it any faster and won't handle as well, so all that's left is
the top end.
You made the right choice. You have a supercar! (I won't tell your
wife).

RB
35s5
NY