I was just thinking about a few years ago when I drove a basic Porsche Boxter.
The dealer who is a mate of mine was all hyped up telling me how much id like it... but i didnt like it at all. I thought it was a great tool, but utterly souless with a weak enhaust note, dull cabin and in silver esp, hardly stands out in the crowd. It drove nice enough, but didnt feel that fast and was one of those cars that left me feeling a bit cheated. Am I the only one?
I remember driving an Alfa GTV V6 and despite it being hopelessly flawed, it sounded fantastic and had the sort of flair that id expect from a sportscar at £30,000+ - it felt great and I remember not wanting to hand over the keys - surely this is what a sportscar is all about?
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Alfa GTV V6 and despite it being hopelessly flawed
That's the whole point of an Alfa. I love them but would never buy one !
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Alfa's are ok as a company car if you can get it past the fleet manager and the accountants....... persuaded my ex-wife to do it a few years ago and she had trouble prising the keys out of my mitts..
handling, noise, looks ...spot on
build quality, dealer back up, depreciation....... mind bogglingly awful.
I have never in my life known anything drink oil as much either, absolutely unbelievable
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Had an Alfa 147 Selespeed for a couple of years when they were released in the UK - it was a company car. Absolutely fantastic, but suffered lots of faults (but I expected that). A mate has a 2.4 JTD 156 bought second hand - that's been in the garage 3 times in last few months.
I own my car now and drive a Nissan Primera P12 SVE (boring, doesn't break down and loads of toys).
A Porsche can be used as an every day car - try a better specced Boxter - another mate had one it was fantastic.
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the porsche was boring because it did everything perfect,borrow it again and drive it like you stole it.............i guarantee that you will relish it to your grave after that...............and become a pub bore ;-)
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Porsches went from exciting to dull when they went from being a "Porsh" to a "Porsha" in about 1987. At the point where people became bothered about pronunciation of the name, they stopped being desirable.
And to all the pedants who will point out I'm wrong, tell me, is the capital of France "Paris" or "Paree"?
V
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the porsche was boring because it did everything perfect,borrow it again and drive it like you stole it.............i guarantee that you will relish it to your grave after that...............and become a pub bore ;-)
Same true about any big engined BMW. Can be placcid and can go from being a total bore to full bore with very little provocation. The 535 is almost perfect in this respect, a sveldt express until you kick in it's DNA with a prod of the throttle, it then just screams at you.........on entring the 30s again it becomes a pussy cat. Brilliant brilliant dynamics. As with the Porsche a sign of breeding.
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And to all the pedants who will point out I'm wrong, tell me, is the capital of France "Paris" or "Paree"?
V
Depends whether you are speaking French or English. ;)
Is that German city Cologne or Koln?
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Driving a boring car hard doesnt make any difference and I did drive it hard for a good hour. It did nothing for me at all. I had more fun driving a Trophy MGF, infact a helluva lot more.
I was really expecting it to be something special, but it just isnt.
When I compare it to say, a BMW M3 convertible with 150 k which I drove not long after, which was a hoot. It sounded great, drove lovely and despite the fact that it was a highly efficient tool just like the Porsche, it had character and desirability.
Dont get me wrong, I love the 911 and even the 928, but the Boxter is too clinical.
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A Porsche (before the Boxster arrived) was a supercar that could be driven every day, even for commuting whereas the competition could not as they were too uncomfortable or too unreliable. Invariably that also makes the car somewhat 'boring' when copared to the competition. A Dodge Viper was said to be a real hoot to drive, but living with it was a nightmare.
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The M3 is an everyday car, thats not boring. Any company with the resources like Porsche have, should be able to make a car not just good, but desirable too. They managed with the 911, despite it being mass produced and on Top Gear they rightly pointed out that it has been made to fit in the range rather than reach its potential.
Its just another rich housewives runaround.
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I know exactly what you mean. I have thought about getting a Boxster on three seperate occasions and each time the test drive left me cold. Clinical, ruthlessly efficient for sure but just not special.
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Im glad someone does! If I was spending that kind of money, id be looking at Honda S2000, Morgan V6, Nissan 350Z or if I was daring, a TVR of some description.
The Honda does all that the Porsche does, but with out the 'I bought a cheap, artificially slow Porsche' image. Plus its that much cheaper. But then I dont have self-image issues!
Not sure I like the Nissans styling but it seems to have many fans. Morgan is likely to be an interesting ownership experience and more raw than the more modern stuff, but less practical.
TVR if I had something else for when it breaks down.
Either way, I cant imagine spending £35k on a sportscar that was devoid of emotion. Then again, im not an accountant ( i see alot of these parked in accountancy firm car parks ), so maybe its a midlife crisis purchase?
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