What's the most fun convertible?

[SV Guy]

drove a 718 boxster (base). steering was way too heavy for me. car was guttural and loud. lots of turbo lag. and not terribly fast. i don't think the "s" variant would win me over. drove the z4 m40i and fell in love with it in seconds. alas, the wife does not want a 2-seater, so i'll probably get the m850i vert.

[VAcurler]

It starts with what are your storage needs? Is this a solo car for weekend driving or are you going to go on road trips where luggage capacity matters? I play ice hockey so I needed 2 things when I went looking for a convertible - storage space for a hockey bag (36x15x15) and a manual transmission. With those 2 requirements it didn't matter how fun a Miata or a Boxster where going to be if I couldn't actually use it all the time.

My F23 is better than my old Porsche 996 in every way but the name. Unfortunately driving a slow car fast is more fun than a fast car slow and the F23 starts drifting into the fast car side of things - especially compared to a Miata.

[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by SV Guy

drove a 718 boxster (base). steering was way too heavy for me. car was guttural and loud. lots of turbo lag. and not terribly fast. i don't think the "s" variant would win me over. drove the z4 m40i and fell in love with it in seconds. alas, the wife does not want a 2-seater, so i'll probably get the m850i vert.

The M850i convertible back seats are absolutely useless, especially with the wind deflector in place.

Rob

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

The M850i convertible back seats are absolutely useless, especially with the wind deflector in place.

Rob

I don’t like wind deflectors and have not used them in any of my convertibles dating back to my 1994 325i. The only exception is when we go on a long road trip at high speeds with the top down and my wife complains about the wind turbulence.

They also cut down on visibility when looking in your mirror and driving at night. That is why I have totally removed it from my Z4 and it sits in the trunk.

If I am alone in the car, you’ll never see a wind deflector being used.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by evomike

That’s not a convertible and it’s still not as good as an S2000

1. It's as near as makes no difference to a convertible.
2. My Exige is better than my S2000 in every way apart from the engine and transmission (mostly the transmission).

The things you have to understand about the Elise/Exige twins are that 1.) they were designed by a handling company, 2.) they inherently move better because they are mid-engine, and 3.) they weigh 850/800 lbs less than an S2000.

Read #3 again.

There is no replacement for losing 850/800 lbs.

My Exige also doesn't try to kill me at every corner like my S2000 did. That car had every kind of oversteer known to man, and a few that man still doesn't know.

And as much as I love my Exige, I still consider a Miata more "fun" to drive/toss around.

Chillin by Andrew Thompson, on Flickr