Quote:
Originally Posted by JT58
"While I like those small roadsters, I wouldn't own one in North America given the number of pick-up trucks on the road and in my personal experience, 90% of them drive like they are compensating for something(company trucks are obviously exceptions)."
Man, you nailed it with this comment. I too love small cars and roadsters. I was so "picked" on in my last Miata ND, Fiesta ST and even my 2018 GTI, I traded the GTI for a Double Cab Silverado a couple of months ago. What a difference- I am no longer tail gated, cut off or almost run over by SUV's and trucks. It must be a size thing as I don't get this issue nearly as much with the Camaro. I have to keep one performance car in the fleet and the Camaro is it.
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I am a long time muscle car and Corvette guy and owned my fair share of BMW's as well - several M cars. Also had a few Porsche's including a 911.
None of the cars on the list would interest me in any way - maybe the Miata.
I actually tried a Miata for about a year, but it was the previous gen - forget exactly what year but somewhere around a 2013. It was my first convertible. I liked the idea of the car more than the car itself. It's a really nimble tossable car with great balance and excellent feel. Very easy to drive way too fast on a twisty road. But that motor is so underpowered you have to be revving the heck out of it to keep the car in it's sweet spot. And it really only shined on a twisty section of road. I quickly realized I don't drive on that type of road very often - maybe 5% or less. It was terrible on the freeway. Way too cramped for a weekend getaway for two (yes we tried it several times). And the windshield was not tall enough to keep wind from hitting my head, even with the side windows up. Also not enough leg-room for a 6' guy with 32" inseam. I mean - I'm not short and maybe I'd be pretty tall in Japan, but I'm most certainly too tall for that car.
My next convertible was a E93 BMW 328i - a 2007. It was a nice car, and much more usable as a weekend get-away car, but the power just wasn't cutting it for me after awhile. So I started shopping for a E93 335is or M3 instead. And with a $30K budget I noticed that Chevy was blowing out inventory of the 2016 SS convertible - and oh wait - that was an all new 6th gen model with the new LT1 motor? I hadn't been following it. Boom - bought a 1SS with manual trans and no options and that was 4 years ago. Loving it every time I drive it. We have taken weekend trips as far as 4.5 hours away in that car. And it's nearly the handling equal of a Corvette on the twisty roads that I do occasionally run. It's not as sports car-ish as the Miata, more of a GT - but a really really good one. And I love it in convertible format. Don't get me wrong - I would love to have a 1LE variant as well, but I have a pro-touring 2nd gen that is built to be track capable and I am not that into track driving like I used to be. Former NASA CMC racer after years of HPDE and autox.