[QUOTE=gomarlins3,Sep 28 2006, 04:13 PM]I wasn't comparing it, I was just saying I like the new Porsche.

As for people comparing the S to other cars, we compare ALL types of cars against each other.

 

OK, another take on what I'm trying to say (I'm not sure I'm doing a very good job, but I'm trying m best).

MG owners never argued about whether their MG were better or worse than other sports cars, including other MG's. Fiat owners never argued about whether their Fiat were better or worst than other sports cars, including other Fiats. Jaguar owners never argued about whether their Jags were better or worse than other sports car, including other Jags. With every other sports car I've ever owned, the owners understood the virtues of the car they owned, owned them because of those virtues, and didn't much car about how those virtues compared with the virtues of other cars. Until the S2000 came a long Porsche owners were the only group I'd ever seen that seemed compelled to belittle other cars, and I just don't understand it. An S cost about as much as the cheapest Porsche, and many Porsche owners honestly believe that the styling and price make the Boxter something other than a "real Porsche." Since some of their cars run to six figures I can almost understand that, but why are so many of them so quick to look down their noses at anything that isn't a "traditional Porsche," and how DARE anyone driving a cheap car like the S get their head that far up in the clouds? Makes no sense at all to me. Miata owners don't behave this way either. It's just Porsche and the S2000 that seem to bring out the worst in people's ego's.

Anybody have any idea why this is so?

 

You're just saying that 'cause my S2000 is better than your S2000

 

If you've ever been to other car forums then perhaps you would have different feelings about who attempts to belittle other similar cars. Don't even visit Mustang, LS1, or ANY sport compact car forum. It's really rediculous.

 

True.

 

I expect it from American car owners and compact car owners, but in my experience it is uncommon among sports car owners ... At least older sports car owners (older cars, not older owners ). It's funny, because I have several friends who own Ferrari's, and they're not nearly as vain about their cars as some of the Porsche and S2000 owners I've run into. LOL, in point of fact, I've instilled a strong respect for the S2000 among my Ferrari owning friends. We do *joke* about the relative merits of our cars, but nobody takes it seriously. I might say something like "My car may be depreciating while your's appreciates, but at least my car starts and runs perfectly every time I want to take it out for a spin." Rather than getting pissed, I get nods of agreement, and laughter. It seems to me that people with humble sports cars (Miata's, old MG's, etc.) and people with true exotics, are a lot more laid back about their cars than (some of the) people with mid-priced cars like Porsches, and I don't understand the mentality behind the attitude. I expect such things from many Camaro, Mustang, and Vettes owners, and attribute it to their being rednecks, and I expect it from ricers driving compact cars and the general public which knows nothing about cars, but it just seems wrong in the sports car community.

I dare say that every sports car ever built is fun to drive. Every one of them has a unique character, and it seems to me that anyone who can appreciate any one of them should be equally well equiped to appreciate them all. I guess I expect sports car owners to be satisfied with whatever they're driving because of the way sports cars affect us. Who the heck really cares if it takes a Spridget 17 seconds to reach 60 MPH; They're still one of the most fun cars a man can be lucky enough to drive and own. Most sports car owners take it as a given that their car fits them, and isn't designed for everyone, but some Porsche and S2000 owners seem to think they own some kind of ultimate driving machine that everyone else should lust after. A sports car owner really should like their car that much, but I just don't understand why so many have to put down anyone who doesn't make the same choices they've made.

LOL, I guess I'm just an old fart who comes from a more civil time when all sports car guys were oddballs and stuck together out of necessity.

 

I am glad to see that I'm not the only one that has this viewpoint. It's rare to find someone that can love a car for its quirks and for just how fun it is regardless of speed, power, # of cylinders, or label.

 

^ I find that this has a lot to do with age. Red's point about being and old guy from civil times is really distilled to this: those of us that have owned cars that pre-date electronic fuel injection and electronic ignitions have a very different perspective on what it's like to own a sports car.

I have heard some of the older folks actually lament the fact that you don't need to be a shadetree mechanic to own an S. Ultimately, I think we all recognize that newer cars like the S are just a much easier and accessible owner's experience.

I think the rest of the folks who have only owned high-performance modern cars do not have such a close connection with the "misery" of other sports car owners, and thus have too much testosterone on the subject.

At least, that's how I see it.

And, I agree with Red that folks who blind themselves to other cars are being silly and missing something.

 

Oh, you're definitely not the only one.

Read what Chazmo said above. ^^^

There are a lot of us old-farts that are driving modern sports cars now, and most of us miss at least some of the character of our old roadsters.

 

[QUOTE=Chazmo,Sep 29 2006, 07:33 AM]^ I find that this has a lot to do with age.