For the last few years I've been very happy with my CL500 as it suits what I thought was my driving requirements perfectly. Plenty of torque, auto box, big comfy seats and lots of toys. I don't do all that many miles in the car and when I do it is often on the motorway.
Last weekend I was bored and thought I would go to an independent dealer to try driving something different for fun. With the weather being so nice I thought it would be interesting to drive a soft top as I have very little experience of wind in your hair motoring. This particular dealer had a number of Boxsters, a Saab 9-3T Hot Hirsch upgraded thing and an Audi S4 Cab. Now I wasn't really going with the intention of buying a car, but made all the right noises to allow me and the wife to take them out. I was surprised by the results.
The Boxster S (2002 3.2l model) absoloutely blew me away with how much fun it was to drive. I hadn't really thought of myself as man who likes a keen drive (too much effort) but this was a revelation. Then I took one out with a tiptronic box. While I understand this is probably sacreligious to some, for me it would prove rather useful and makes the car a more enticing proiposition as an every day car (that admitedly I wouldn't use every day). My wife prefers an auto and frankly so do I probably. I also didn't feel that much of a performance difference compared to the manual. I was impressed with how much confidence the car gave me and also by how little wind noise was intruisive. At 65mph my wife and I were able to hold a conversation without having to really raise our voices.
I have some questions that might be better asked on a specialist forum, but I reckon you guys might have a few valid opinions.
1. Running costs. The CL is pretty expensive to run. 18mpg, £500+ regular servicing bills at times and when something goes wrong it can be expensive. For instance a set of non-MB cats were £1,000 fitted. The Porsche has better fuel economy but what are servicing costs like in comparison and if something does go wrong, is it likely to be as expensive like for like as the Merc? I'm guessing it is a pretty reliable car on the whole?
2. What performance difference does the tiptronic make in terms of acceleration? Perhaps it is my failing interweb skills but I can't even seem to Google it
3. Should I consider another sports car with similar driving characteristics? I hadn't really even thought of a sports car before, prefering I guess what i would think of as a GT. The BMW Z4 seems an obvious one to take out that I haven't tried. I once had a brief session in an S2000 which was painful. I had to rev the nuts off it to get anywhere with pace. Budget is up to £20K. It has to be reliable as it will be the only car that gets a reasonable amount of use so that rules out TVRs and such like. I also am unable to physically get in and out of a Lotus Elise without looking like a twerp so couldn't drive one of those. Precticality can take a little step back, but I do need to get my golf clubs in (which the dealer was happy to show me I could do in the boxster!!)
Last weekend I was bored and thought I would go to an independent dealer to try driving something different for fun. With the weather being so nice I thought it would be interesting to drive a soft top as I have very little experience of wind in your hair motoring. This particular dealer had a number of Boxsters, a Saab 9-3T Hot Hirsch upgraded thing and an Audi S4 Cab. Now I wasn't really going with the intention of buying a car, but made all the right noises to allow me and the wife to take them out. I was surprised by the results.
The Boxster S (2002 3.2l model) absoloutely blew me away with how much fun it was to drive. I hadn't really thought of myself as man who likes a keen drive (too much effort) but this was a revelation. Then I took one out with a tiptronic box. While I understand this is probably sacreligious to some, for me it would prove rather useful and makes the car a more enticing proiposition as an every day car (that admitedly I wouldn't use every day). My wife prefers an auto and frankly so do I probably. I also didn't feel that much of a performance difference compared to the manual. I was impressed with how much confidence the car gave me and also by how little wind noise was intruisive. At 65mph my wife and I were able to hold a conversation without having to really raise our voices.
I have some questions that might be better asked on a specialist forum, but I reckon you guys might have a few valid opinions.
1. Running costs. The CL is pretty expensive to run. 18mpg, £500+ regular servicing bills at times and when something goes wrong it can be expensive. For instance a set of non-MB cats were £1,000 fitted. The Porsche has better fuel economy but what are servicing costs like in comparison and if something does go wrong, is it likely to be as expensive like for like as the Merc? I'm guessing it is a pretty reliable car on the whole?
2. What performance difference does the tiptronic make in terms of acceleration? Perhaps it is my failing interweb skills but I can't even seem to Google it
3. Should I consider another sports car with similar driving characteristics? I hadn't really even thought of a sports car before, prefering I guess what i would think of as a GT. The BMW Z4 seems an obvious one to take out that I haven't tried. I once had a brief session in an S2000 which was painful. I had to rev the nuts off it to get anywhere with pace. Budget is up to £20K. It has to be reliable as it will be the only car that gets a reasonable amount of use so that rules out TVRs and such like. I also am unable to physically get in and out of a Lotus Elise without looking like a twerp so couldn't drive one of those. Precticality can take a little step back, but I do need to get my golf clubs in (which the dealer was happy to show me I could do in the boxster!!)