Is the fact that Lotus can’t sell new cars in the US good for resale or bad? Probably not good for parts availability, or qualified mechanics when you get in over your head. But you can shell out 2000 pounds for parts overnighted from Great Britain, right?

Right. Unsold cars on eBay mean nothing. Normal people walk into a dealership and see what’s for sale. For $44k you can get this 6 year old Elise with 100 HP. I emailed the guy to ask what the 2012 Evora costs, the only other car they have in stock. I’m going to hazard a guess at $65k.

You’re making a good sales pitch here. It can’t pass a 30 MPH crash test so I should take it out on track at 120 MPH (the top speed a car that slow can muster) where the minimum impact would be about 60 MPH. I don’t track a heavy autobahn sedan because I like being slow. I do it because if I ball up the car I walk…

So the cheapest used 2014 Evora from a Lotus dealership is $70k. How is this better than a used 2014 Cayman for a lot less? Or the cheapest 2013 991 used from a dealership for $65k?

eBay is not an indicator. Look at the average price of the used ones. They’re $75k used. I don’t even see any new ones listed which means they’re all spoken for and if you want one it’s an over MSRP deal.

I’m confused. Does it take 3 months to post the same time as Randy Pobst in any sports car around Laguna Seca, or more time? Asking for a friend. Congratulations for using the words “Lotus” and “low labor” in the same sentence. I don’t think any owner who has had an issue would agree with you. I personally watched a…

They’re $75k. This isn’t like buying a GTI. You don’t pick them up for invoice with 1.9% financing. They’re kind of a hassle to purchase with the snobby dealer who doesn’t need your business and grinds you down $500 from MSRP. Clearly the Targa is ridiculous and you can get a very nice 991.2 for $105k. A lot of the…

I’ll get right on that. It takes 10,000 hours to get good at something. This sport costs a few hundred dollars per hour, all in with parts and maintenance. You’d be surprised how many people struggle to break 2 minutes on this track. You can look at the time stamps yourself:

All Porsches, even a 997 GT3 RS, are great road cars. They can get 33 MPG on road trips, they’re reasonably comfortable, they have frunk storage and trunk or back seat storage, you can valet them at a hotel or restaurant and they’re not ridiculous to hand the keys to a 200 pound guy, they can handle the grade of a…

I don’t know what the Lotus had. Some Yahama engine and a supercharger? It was a dedicated track car and he had a GTI also. We went to lunch and he was considering trading them both in on a 991 Turbo.

This is the comp for Randy Pobst (1:43). The RS5 has the same wheelbase and I have mine tuned up so they’re equivelent. I don’t run the stability program on the Audi, except when I have a new suspension mod. I would run it on a 991 for sure - it limits your slip angle so you don’t fck up.

As a rule of thumb a cup car is double the MSRP of a road car. Plus you buy a $50,000 package of spare parts.

Well that’s the point. The exige is slower on track and is not a good road car, compared to this gussied up Porsche.

Ok, Euro 188,000? It’s not like they’re selling them at cost. The parts and spares probably cost about the same. The GT3 Cup car uses an older Mezger engine and that’s the primary difference.

Maybe? Porsche doesn’t exactly run good lease deals on loaded special editions. It’d be like 5000 miles a year and $1700 a month.

People buy this because it’s a bit more stylish and cocoon like than a cabriolet. So do you think the Targa is more reliable or less reliable than a conventional cabriolet top? BTW in 25 years these cars will probably be 100% electric.

This will probably be about Euro 200,000.

I don’t need to read up on the Lotus at all. We put down the same lap times for a whole afternoon, about 1:45-1:46 that day in a lot of heat.

Let me see if I have this right:

This isn’t a $25k VW. Porsche parts aren’t designed to fail and the extra money isn’t all profit margin. It’s the highest quality car VW makes and is the highest initial quality car sold. Maintenance is high on the extreme performance models, but you’re not going to see things like the windows and tops break, even on…