Lotus elise w/ hard top vs. porsche cayman?

some time in the next year im planning on getting a new sports car. Im 18, so its kinda crucial to me. the problem is that they are about the same price, its just the porsche is more of a "class" car and the lotus is a pure sporty car just for plain speed and performance. they also have the dilemmas of the warranty, insurance, convenience, resale value, and so on. also im concerned if the elise will change its body(im not a giant fan of the hood). can someone please give me some pointers?(from what i hear people say, they'd rather have me get the cayman, but its just common here in california)

Lotus elise w/ hard top vs. porsche cayman?
The elise has a Toyota engine, and the Cayman is a better car...but if you want to stand out, then get something at a price point similar to the Cayman -- a Corvette Z06. You can get a 2006 with a couple of thousand miles for $50k - $60k and it will handle nearly as well, but rip the doors off of both. You could also get a 2003 Porsche 911 Cabriolet for around $50k with under 30k miles. This will definitely set you apart from the others, and is in an entire different league than either the Elise, Cayman, or Z06. A third choice might be an Audi RS4. It is "stealth" on the stand out scene, but screams performance on the street.
Reply:Real sports car is a lotus elise. Has the best reliablity. Toyota engine and trany= 200k miles. I have owned all 3. Corvette, everyone has one. Porshe high fees for brakes, oil, so on. Stock lotus 0-60 4.6sec with supercharger 3.8sec. Report It

Reply:While there are alot of similarities, these are really two very different cars.





The Elise is a great car, and the examples I've seen and driven have all had excellent build quality. In terms of performance, it is probably the best handling car made today, and is one of the funnest cars to have at a track day, and will easily keep up with (and pass) much more powerful cars. On the downside, it is completely impractical if this is the only car you'll own.





The Cayman is a bit more practical, but I am not sure it would be that well suited to being someone's only car either. The Cayman has a great chasis, and handles well (it's handling is more forgiving than the Lotus, which is a little more twitchy; the Cayman will drive better in the hands of a less skilled driver). The Caymane offers a bit more comfort, but it is still a car that is fun to drive (though I've only driven the Cayman S, but have driven the base 987 Boxster, so have a good idea of the differences).





Personally, while I spend alot of track time in Porsches, I would probably choose the Elise over the Cayman because it is more of a pure sports car, is quicker, and for me, I enjoy the more direct less forgiving nature. But I have other cars and would not be using this for daily driving or trips to Home Depot!





Both cars should be reliable, though both will be on the more expensive side to maintain. I'd expect both to retain their value fairly well... Porsche traditionally does very well here, but I would actually suspect the Lotus may do better in this case as there are fewer made and higher demand among enthusiasts that would look for the car used (where the Cayman S might fit this role as a used Porsche, most enthusiasts would probably pass on the base model Cayman which will have a negitive impact on it's resale value)... though the current Elise styling is a few years older than the Porsche and probably will be refreshed at least somewhat in the next couple years (which could make the current Elise's value go down when the newer one shows up as a used car).





As for some of the other comments here? While the Z06 is a great car, and a very fast one, it is not in the same class as either the Elise or the Porsche in terms of handling. The Z06 simply lacks the overall balance and rigidity of these chasis'.





The fact that Lotus doesn't make it's own engine is less a comment on the ability of Lotus to make an engine than it is that in motorsports, it is very rare for a chasis maker to also build engines. Lotus is excellent at designing and building chasis and this has always been their strength. The fact that they've matched it with a third party engine that fits the design is hardly a bad thing... and the tweaks they've made to the Toyota power plant are generally good.
Reply:Save your money until you can afford a Porche 911 Turbo, the cayman is such a waste and a bore.





Avoid the Lotus!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:Well, the Lotus's Have never really been known as a quality car. Take for example the fact that it is currently using a Honda (or is it Toyota?) engine. Lotus has never made their own engine, they always outsource them.





I don't know about you, but having an entire car built by Porche seems more secure to me than having the parts for a Lotus outsourced to various other car manufacturers.
Reply:If you are using it as your everyday driver, I would get the Porsche. The cayman is just a more substantical vehicle and will be more pleasant to drive on a dialy basis.
Reply:The lotus will out corner all of the other cars mentioned with ease so if thats what you want it for the go for it, they used to be underpowered but with the toyota engines they are alot quicker than they used to be. Cayman yea well its just another porsche isnt it, you really need to buy a gt2 or gt3 to stand out, the others are commen and not really that exciting. Corvette great but the handling is nowhere near the lotus or the porsche.


It all depends really on what you want the car for, if its a daily driver then trust me the lotus is a pain in the ***. Hard to get in and out of, no luggage space, terrible road noise cause there is no sound deadening and you so close to the ground, but handles like a go kart or about as close as you'll ever get in a road car.

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