The Battle to be Ayek- Ryoko II!?

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Yes, you read that right. Notwithstanding the incredibly embarrassing recent accident that potentially has the chance of totalling her, the past 9 months of Ayeka IV has made one thing clear to about Ryoko: the compromises that exist when daily driving a C4 Corvette (noisy, rattly, constantly chasing some nonsense or another, obscenely heavy clutch, poor build quality, obnoxious to get in and out of, piss aggravating roof, decently practical use) are not worth the very good benefits (great driving feel, perfect seats, complete on rails grip, perfectly neutral handling, shrink wrapped jet fighter interior) when you then go and buy another car that has almost identical benefits done better and the car is also faster and gets much better gas mileage.

Put another way, an Elise 111R is a Z07 C4 Corvette times 10 with fairly negligible downsides in comparison (slightly louder, slightly rougher riding slightly harder to get in and out of, slightly less water resistant, fair bit smaller trunk but whatever I live alone). Ayeka being so much better than Ryoko simply cannot stand. This time a far narrower net has been cast, primarily just two cars with a third darkhorse option:


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I've been thinking about this for months. This was the overwhelming runaway favorite. I had planned out mods that I wanted to do (295s all around with ATS calipers on C6 Z06 rotors in the front, C5 front calipers with C6 Grand Sport rotors on the rear, C6 Z06 shocks all around) and the interior work I was already ahead on (throw the C5 seats out and attach heated 1993 C4 seats to their frames, convert the interior to red, put the same head unit in the car as is in Ayeka IV because it fits perfectly behind the dash, change the steering wheel to a custom made smaller diameter one) . And lighting? You know it was getting sequential export taillamps and LED aftermarket lights. Third time was truly going to be the charm. A runaway favorite.

Positives:
  1. This is just a normal ass modern feeling car and not something that was supposed to debut in 1983.
  2. What in them even breaks?
  3. Ryoko but objectively better in every single way, other than the interior and steering feedback/feel
  4. They even still really look good.
  5. That storage space wow.
Negatives
  1. That Silverado interior, good lord.
  2. They do sit a lot lower to the ground than a C4
  3. It's a lot harder to find a good exhaust for an LS engine.
  4. God that interior.




But then, I was poking around. And something was noticed with regard to prices:

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Positives:

  1. These are cheaper.
  2. These are much smaller.
  3. These are much faster
  4. These are almost certainly better built.
  5. Even the absolute nadir of Daimler Chrysler interiors has to be better than 90s GM one put together out of bits and pieces of mid 90s pickup trucks or the 2000s one made out of recycled Cobalts.
  6. There's not anything I'd have to really do to one if these in comparison. LSD, wider wheels, head unit. Boom. Maybe R172 seats?
  7. These don't really seem to break any either, from what I've read.
  8. This is a bit further removed from an Elise so there would be less of the overlap that made Ryoko suffer so much in comparison.
  9. Power retractable hard top with heated seats works for me, an insane person who drives with the roof removed no matter how cold it is. It even sounds like it is fairly hardy.
  10. A car actually made of metal? Wow.
  11. A much more interesting car.
Negatives:
  1. Acceptable storage, but not the Lincoln Town Car cavern the C5 has.
  2. Atrocious fuel mileage and Premium only.
  3. That slushbox is indeed the reason the car is so fast, and is world's apart from the 5Gtronic it replaced, but it still doesn't sound like it's too great.
  4. That roof doesn't sound fun to fix if it does break.
  5. The least sporty for sure.

So somewhat higher highs but lower lows.


The dark horse third option?


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Positives:
  1. A performance baseline that was as good/better than a C5 Z06 without the hardtop body that I hated.
  2. Better assembled and objectively (from GM's perspective) superior car to the C5 in every way
  3. Actually just a modern car. Much easier interior upgrade paths than a C5 (for audio).
  4. Barely any more money than a C5 (albeit consistently the most expensive of the three).
Negatives:
  1. I didn't like how these looked much when they were new (they look like a C5 with weird proportions and stuff blatantly copied from Ferrari) and time has done them no favors.
  2. They are much more fiddly in electronics because they fall in that no man's land where they have more stuff in them that is more sensitive but less reliable (than a post-2000 C5). To do the kind of stuff I want to do and would do with a C5 would be much more annoying or just isn't possible without compromise.
  3. The interiors are, somehow, even worse. Much tighter tolerances taken by GM to screw together the most awful feeling plastics you'll ever see outside a contemporary Dodge/Nissan. Like the infamous Cobalt steering wheel.
  4. Steering feel is even worse, and the ones where GM fixed it (LS3 cars) are generally out of my budget.
  5. Equipment levels in C6s are harder to parse than they were for C5s, which also generally were ordered with all options anyway.
  6. Somewhat smaller storage space than a C5.
  7. More annoying interior upgrade path (for everything that's not audio).
This is a dark horse because it's a car that's better in every way that people generally care about (performance, comfort) and worse in little tiny niggling ways that only I probably care about in this context (styling, interior design, safety/driving aids) but do care about.



I've driven C5s and C6s before. I've not driven any R171 SLK, but hope to try and find an SLK55 to do so soon. Still at this point the C5's game to lose, but only just. This time I also don't think there will be a crazy out of nowhere option that I choose (like I did with the 911 and the ATS) because that is what the SLK55 already is.
 
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Don't you dare get an R171 55 before I do. Don't do it. I agree with your likes and dislikes...the automatic transmission isn't your friend for spirited driving, but I feel like the SLK is more of an onramp drag missile than a canyon carver, so it's mostly ok. You should find one to drive, I'm curious to know how you'd find it. For me its the car that needs absolutely nothing...it's just so right straight from the factory. The interior is outdated but mostly fine and the ergonomics are good. They are comfortable. And dear lord are they fast.

I'd suggest one more option...because I also am...

BMW E86 Z4 coupe 3.0Si - Not the M. I think BMW's best effort at design in a mainstream product this century, both inside and out. The interior doesn't feel quite as good as it looks, but I think some cheaper materials is forgivable. The M is better, but I don't think the extra cost and S54 maintenance concerns are worth it. The 3.0si is plenty fast (Ok not psychopath fast like the 55, but a new 86 wouldn't bother you) and it has a volume engine. They even sound great. If I get one I might even get an auto because I think it would be a fantastic long haul GT car.

@GranTurNismo - Against all odds, the XLR-V has held its value stubbornly well. A clean one is going to be at least 35k. The non-V cars are substantially worse than the cars mentioned here (the Northstar is a maintenance liability). The only one I would consider would be a 2009 XLR (revised & better styling) but they are extremely rare (<1000 made IIRC). Also, the interior of the XLR somehow manages to be even uglier than the C5 & C6 Corvette. Have you seen the hilarious way that you access the trunk?

An F Type S is probably a much better buy than any XLR...but I don't know if I could bring myself to trust a Jaguar regardless of the ownership at the time of construction.

My brain says I should also look at C6s (I just can't bring myself to accept the C5's interior - I'm literally a professional designer!) but I just can't shake the image of them. I don't want to be a Corvette owner.
 
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I'd love to get an XLR and basically throw a C5/C6 parts catalog at it for handling bits (I had basically been doing the same thing with my ATS with Camaro parts), but the XLR is a significantly worse (albeit better looking) C6 with an interior that's made to a higher standard but generally looks hideous with how they were usually optioned; and XLR-Vs (that are actually something that can go hit for hit with a C6) are super expensive. Significantly moreso than even SL55s that have already had the expensive maintenance performed.
I love how Northstars sound but that's not worth swapping out the LS1/LS2 to get an engine that is heavier, larger, thirstier and significantly less powerful. Parts are also basically impossible to get for them for anything that isn't drivetrain related, and I'd only be alright with the R171 being a slushbox because it's so damn fast.


BMW E86 Z4 coupe 3.0Si - Not the M. I think BMW's best effort at design in a mainstream product this century, both inside and out. The interior doesn't feel quite as good as it looks, but I think some cheaper materials is forgivable. The M is better, but I don't think the extra cost and S54 maintenance concerns are worth it. The 3.0si is plenty fast (Ok not psychopath fast like the 55, but a new 86 wouldn't bother you) and it has a volume engine. They even sound great. If I get one I might even get an auto because I think it would be a fantastic long haul GT car
I've never warmed to how the E86 looked; and I'd rather have some variety of 987/986 instead if I was looking at something like that. And that would just be silly after Ayeka III.


In that "space" I'd be much more interested in a 1/2 Series than a Z4.
An F Type S is probably a much better buy than any XLR...but I don't know if I could bring myself to trust a Jaguar regardless of the ownership at the time of construction.
On general principle I couldn't bring myself to own and operate something with that stupid ass V6.
 
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When American companies chop two cylinders off of their V8s to make a V6 they at least have the courtesy of cutting the rest of the engine off so it's smaller and lighter.
 
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So why are you talking? I was referring to the laughably hacky way Jaguar engineered that specific engine, and could do without whatever "witty" regurgitated Clarksonisms you think you're contributing.
 
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So why are you talking? I was referring to the laughably hacky way Jaguar engineered that specific engine, and could do without whatever "witty" regurgitated Clarksonisms you think you're contributing.
Okay, fine, geez. You do you.
 
The C5 and C6 Corvettes seem like they'd require a lot of tweaking to be to your liking, and then you'd still be left with the issue of the interior. The SLK55 is a hard package to beat, but I have a hard time getting past that interior. I'd still rate it above the C6 Corvette's interior, but the SLK's interior being crappy feels like a bigger letdown since it's a Mercedes and not a GM product. Unlike other AMGs, they didn't do a whole lot to differentiate the SLK55's interior from the regular SLK. Interior aside, the roof hydraulics would give me major pause before considering any Mercedes roadster since the R129 SL.

What about a second generation Jaguar XKR? Could be a nice change of pace coming from the C4.

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Or a Pontiac GTO?

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I do think the XKR is the cheapest way to get a car with 500hp from the factory - though an SLK55 is still quicker to 60mph. They have kind of an indelible old man vibe though and the interior looks pretty generic.
 
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I don't want a car that's worse than a thirty year old Corvette by every possible measure (including interior!) except "Going faster in a straight line" and "killing pedestrians"
 
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I don't want a car that's worse than a thirty year old Corvette by every possible measure (including interior!) except "Going faster in a straight line" and "killing pedestrians"
I haven't driven one of the 5.8L cars, but the 5.4L GT500 I drove did not feel very impressive in a straight line. The 3900lbs and tall gearing really blunts the effect of 500hp. A C5 Z06 or SLK55 feels faster from non-insane speeds, even if the numbers are pretty close.
 
It can be had for C6 money, is as fast as a base C6, looks better than... everything, will break necks everywhere it goes, but it will also break everytime it goes.
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It's perfect, really.
 
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