2000 Carrera 4 Vs 94 S4

[t70]

Well.. Yesterday, Aerobat came to the dealership where I work and was unbelievably courteous in letting me drive his 94 S4. I was immensely impressed with the power and ride. It really put a fire under my but to get mine finished...

Today, however, I was able to drive a 2000 Carrera 4 and found, to my joy, that the Lotus is much nicer. The Lotus has better power and a much nicer ride. I do enjoy the refinement within the Porsche, but I really felt that the Lotus was far superrior. I guess I'm a sucker for turbo's... I really missed that extra kick in the pants when the turbos kick in. The torque in the Porsche was unbelievable, but there was nothing after the initial surge of power... So... I'm glad I baught a Lotus... Especially for the price

P.S..... THANKS JOHN!!!!!!!

[aerobat]

Well.. Yesterday, Aerobat came to the dealership where I work and was unbelievably courteous in letting me drive his 94 S4. I was immensely impressed with the power and ride. It really put a fire under my but to get mine finished...

Today, however, I was able to drive a 2000 Carrera 4 and found, to my joy, that the Lotus is much nicer. The Lotus has better power and a much nicer ride. I do enjoy the refinement within the Porsche, but I really felt that the Lotus was far superrior. I guess I'm a sucker for turbo's... I really missed that extra kick in the pants when the turbos kick in. The torque in the Porsche was unbelievable, but there was nothing after the initial surge of power... So... I'm glad I baught a Lotus... Especially for the price

P.S..... THANKS JOHN!!!!!!!

You're very welcome. Your compliments made my day, too. It's no problem enjoying the company of a fellow Lotus enthusiast!

[beeRS]

I can only agree with you Otis.

I was seriously looking at a 1999 Carrera 2 when I thought I'd try an Esprit. After i tried it I was converted. The Porsche is just a slow car in comparison. It's a nicely refined every day car, but I'd rather the Lotus any day.

The Esprit wins on the exclusivity front too. There are as many Porsches on the road as there are Mondeos dont you think!

[Daniel]

Yep me too.......tried a carrera before the esprit.

What no other car seems to even come close to Lotus with is the steering, it makes the car.

[ibandre]

I had the Carrera C2 911/993 last year, and I must say that it is an awesome car. With only 272 bhp, it really goes great on the track. I would really want to try the porsche 911/997 turbo, until....last week, thursday actually, when a guy tried my car after trying the new 911 turbo. Here is what he said: the porsche was really fast, but to rough to handle. And....it has 4 wheel drive. He tried my car and was amazed by the power, the handling, he specially noticed the precise steering. He meant the Esprit was more civilized, and a much better car for the money. And a real sportscar has rear wheel drive. I agree!

I still want to try the porsche, but at least now I know my car could be the better deal ;-)

I love my LOTUS!!!

[t70]

I find this quite interesting... I'm surprised that we have all felt the same about the two cars. The only advantage of the Porsche, that I can see, is reliability. I have also ridden in a 997 turbo... I found it way too harsh of a ride for a daily driver, the power was there though. I do suspect, however, that I'm going to want more power in my 88. I'm immensely surprised that a car that gets such harsh reviews for rattles and clangs (the lotus) is actually a hell of a lot nicer to drive than the porsche which I've never heard mention of it's rough ride. I'm very glad I got my Esprit... best $12K CAD I ever spent.... lol!

[t70]

Forgot to show a pic of the porsche... here it is:

[jfitz981]

If you get a well sorted S4; reliabilty is not an issue as I find mine quite reliable so far as to say that I would use it as a daily driver ...cant do that though as my OCD would have me washing it daily ...lol

J

[t70]

hehehe... I believe Aerobat suffers from that issue (not the OCD, but the daily washings)

[aerobat]

hehehe... I believe Aerobat suffers from that issue (not the OCD, but the daily washings)

Actually -- I think I have a collection of disorders. I'm pretty sure OCD is one of them, but as Mark and I have spoken of, it says in the exotic car owner's code of conduct (#1, in fact), and I quote: "My cars will always be clean and well presentable." It's so darn embarrassing to have a car like this be found to be dirty.

And as jfitz states, I have not found a well maintained car to be any problem with reliability. I do drive my S4 as a daily driver. . . . Well - unless there is rain in the forecast . . .

[t70]

rain? we live in medicine hat.... it didn't even rain this morning! (I suffer from delusions) Actually... rain just means it's easier to drift... hehehehe.... oh wait... that would be in violation of rule #4... crud... ok...no driving in the rain...

[beeRS]

I had the Carrera C2 911/993 last year, and I must say that it is an awesome car. With only 272 bhp, it really goes great on the track. I would really want to try the porsche 911/997 turbo, until....last week, thursday actually, when a guy tried my car after trying the new 911 turbo. Here is what he said: the porsche was really fast, but to rough to handle. And....it has 4 wheel drive. He tried my car and was amazed by the power, the handling, he specially noticed the precise steering. He meant the Esprit was more civilized, and a much better car for the money. And a real sportscar has rear wheel drive. I agree!

I still want to try the porsche, but at least now I know my car could be the better deal ;-)

I love my LOTUS!!!

After trying the Carrera 2 I decided that if I ever buy a Porsche it would have to be a Turbo as I felt the C2 just wasnt that quick. At that point I would really have liked to try the 996 Turbo as I had heard it was quite awesom, but they were just way out of my budget.

But guess what - even the the highest priced Esprit's are cheaper than the cheapest 996 Turbo. I'm sure the 996 or 997 Turbo would be a fantastic machine, but I think that pound for pound the Esprit has an overwhelming edge.

[rens914]

Owned porsche's for about 15 years

the last one was a 993 4s with some engine upgrades ( they are still faster than the 998's)

a fast car and more suitable for driving each day than the lotus (9 liters on 100 k'/h)

unbelievable reliable and suited for your misses too

if you want to sell it you will have a nice price within 2 weeks (unlike the esprit)

but

the lotus is something else

and

owning the esprit forced me to have another every day car because the lotus is not fit for that kind of use

to be true

you cant compare a 4 wheel drive porsche without turbo with a 2 wheel drive lotus with turbo

try the porsche turbo 993 (same year as the 94 esprit) to have a good comparision

450 bhp (without chip), unbelievable braking power and reliability and faster than the esprit

but a totally different car by means of drivability

don't step in later porsche turbo's. the last one is even faster than the GT3 porsche

the esprit doesnt stand a chance

don't compare apples with pears

rens

Edited May 6, 2007 by rens914

[ibandre]

I thought the 993 turbo had 408 bhp??? You migt be right about the later porsche 911 turbos beeing faster then the esprit, but after a little pling here and a ding there (upgrades), the upgraded V8 esprit will keep up with just about anything in its way. I have film of the Esprit making fun out of the gallardo SE. But don`t get me wrong, I DO like the porsche. I will probably consider buying one in the near future. I really like the 993 4s. So it`s either that one or the 993 turbo. Tese are the last true porsche models:-)

[mamovaka]

But guess what - even the the highest priced Esprit's are cheaper than the cheapest 996 Turbo. I'm sure the 996 or 997 Turbo would be a fantastic machine, but I think that pound for pound the Esprit has an overwhelming edge.

I don't agree that they are more expensive.. you need to get the 100k base price of the esprit out of your head as far as the "cost" of the car.

I have a friend with a 01 996 turbo with 100k miles that cost 1/10th of the esprit in maintenance.. so that 100k esprit will likely catch the 120k 991 turbo as far as costs go in 5 years..

and I have raced a 996 turbo, its about as quick as a johan chipped esprit if not a touch slower..

Edited May 6, 2007 by mamovaka

[rens914]

I always try to place the cars in time and manner of set-up

don't compare cars built in 00 with cars from 94 and turbo's with normally aspirated cars

this only makes the esprit better because in it's time it was fenomenal

but if you put the 94 esprit next to a new porsche (turbo) the vieuw bleekens

leave it as it is and make your choice

like i did after driving porsche's for 15 years

at a certain time there were to many porsche's in my hometown (and driven by wimen)

a porsche doesn't need upgrades on brakes, springs, clutch, problems with ECU, rusting tanks, weak gearbox, cracking manifolds, window problems, problems getting in and out of the car, replacement parts problems, replacing timebelts every 30.000 km +++++++

they only need a maintainance every 20.000

have you ever seen a esprit after having an accident ?

the chance of surviving is much higher in the porsche

BUT ! after wrekking my 993 4 s on the circuit i wanted something else

as i wanted something special i decided to buy the esprit

greets Rens

[rens914]

Sorry

if it appears different but i really like my esprit

rens

Edited May 7, 2007 by rens914

[t70]

I have to agree with a lot of what you say.... but I was simply looking at market value... $60k for the porsche.... $40k (all canadian dollars) for the Esprit... I'd have the Esprit first...