Cars at around $100k.

Possibly the new Supra, FT1 Concept:



C7 Z06 with 625hp/635tq and under $100k and suppose to be faster than the C6 ZR1.

If this is the new Supra and has performance of the new NSX and close to the new Z06, I'm definitely interested as a replacement for the XKR as my first car was a Supra Turbo.

 

I had previously posted this in another thread, but in the interest of comparing competition, I'll add it here as an addition to the FT Toyota and Vette:

The new Porsche Targa:

 

I would sell my XKR in a split second to obtain on of these FT1's.

Toyota has done a great job with open wheel, open cockpit racing engines....so, I am in for an FT1.

It looks awesome, both inside and out. It's a dream machine for sure.

Thanks posting the video.

 

The Toyota and Vette, both stunning/compelling cars, but lack the elegance and classic lines of Jaguar's DNA. The visual appeal is much different. Looks are Jaguars strongest suit and then the performance and craftsmanship win you over.

 

Dont forget the ride. I've never been in another car that has the ride/handling equation as good as any of my Jags.

 

I agree, I may just have to add an FT1 to the collection. But, by the time this one gets into production, I may not be here on planet Earth any longer. I sure hope so. Always good to feel young again in a fancy sports car like this FT1.

 

The FT-1 is simply stunning, as show cars all intend to be. We have to see what transfers to production. If they can maintain the visuals largely intact, it will, indeed, be a stunner.

On the other hand, the Vette is here and in street form. I think it will be quite stunning with the optional aero kits and wide body that should clearly differentiate the looks from the garden-variety of simply "freaking fast" Vettes. This "insanely fast" Vette will walk all-over and destroy everything from the Carreras to the GT3s, Ferraris, Lamborhinis and the rest. I expect only a few million dollar exotics to keep up with it or pass its track performance.

If they keep the price under 100K, as suggested by a GM spokesman, it will be the exotic bargain of the century. The only question for GM will be; can they make enough of them? I am sooooo tempted to call in and reserve one...

Albert

 

Jaguar may need to resurrect the CX-75 to compete with these two!

 

The FT1 looks stunning. Really stunning. Would be interesting to see what form makes it to the roads and more importantly what engine will go into it.

 

The FT1 and Corvette Z06 compete more with the F-Type as pure sports cars. The XKR is a GT with a back seat (or what is said to be a back seat for small kids) or luggage. The XKR is not as performance or track oriented as the FT1 or Z06 but is more of a street performance car. The FT1 is still a concept car and may never be developed. The Z06 will hit the streets soon and the Acura NSX will be it's direct completion.

 

The FT1 look interesting and the Z06 looks amazing but they lack refinement. I really want a Z06 to track but I can't drive a Corvette day to day anymore GM just can't design a decent interior and that unfortunately includes the C7. I sat in a Corvette focus group once and the engineers mentioned they could not implement a feature because it added 100 dollars to the price of each car.. Anyone in the room would have paid 1000, wish I could remember what it was but I bought a Porsche right after that session. The Vette is a GREAT performer but I can't drive it everyday like I can the Jag, it just doesn't have the correct panache performance ratio for my daily driver.

 

Frankly, I don't think the Z06 looks any more interesting that the regular Corvette Stingray, and I don't think they look very exotic. FR layouts rarely look exotic!

I'm sure the Z06 drives awesome, though.

 

You probably should see them side by side. The extra 3+" width, combined 335 rear tires, the optional aero package, canards, wings, splitters, etc. looked downright mean on the picture that I had seen. Even the article's author commented how intimidating the ZO6 looked with those options.

Given the large improvements in the interior quality for the new Vette, I think that it will be difficult for even hardcore foreign car aficionados to discount the ZO6 as a serious competition to Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, Aston, etc., exceeding most, if not all, in nearly all objective performance categories. Personally, I think that with this refresh the Vette has finally grown up and it is time to take it seriously. Just yesterday it was announced on CNBC that the whole 2014 production for the Vette has been sold out. I have no doubt that when the ZO6 opens for pre-orders, it will sell out like hot cakes.

Albert

 

Vette looks much cooler when driven in Europe than in the USA. Cars are more exotic when it they are foreign or not rarely seen on the road.

 

Maybe I'm tainted because last fall, I would see C7s drive past almost every day. So common already!

Visually, I can't see what's so great about the C7. I'm sure the Z06 will completely toast everything else on the road, even cars that cost 2x or 3x more. I really liked the way the C6 looked, but this C7 looks like it was a car designed by hyperactive children. I must be in the minority, though, because everyone else seems to eat up the styling.

 

Albert,

You are really that enthusiastic about the vette? I know they sell like crazy I've been a vette guy my whole life but the interiors just kill me. As far as performance they are tops notch without a doubt.

Still need to chat with you about race cars one day, I'm sold on a GT but not sure which one. Also not sure if I want to truly race or just attack timed track days. Thats a whole other thread

 

I love the C6, but there are 6 C7s in the parking deck in my condo and they just don't look very impressive in person to me personally. But that's just IMHO, maybe I will reserve final judgment when I see the Z06.

 

Is you condo the parking lot for a Chevy dealer? You have 6 Stingrays there? I have not even seen a single one on the roads or anywhere. Interestingly, a couple friend of ours who normally would not touch an American car with a 10-foot pole told us repeatedly how they saw this blue Stingray and how (incredible, beautiful, gorgeous...then, repeat it all over and over...) it looked.

Albert

 

I am quite excited about the performance levels that the ZO6 represents and more.... The "more" part comes from my inner sense as a "thinkerer". I had owned some of the rarest exotics, yet, they really failed to excite me as far as the driving was concerned. Yeah, people prayed to hear the sounds of my V12 Lamborghini but, driving it was OK. Just OK.

On the other hand, when performance began to return to the American landscape, I purchased a brand new '83 Mustang GT and within 2 hours of the purchase hundreds of parts from the car were scattered on my garage floor. When my wife came out to check on what I was doing, she literally screamed at the sight of a brand new car on jacks and half taken apart.

"What happened????" - she screamed, as if she thought that a bomb went off in the garage.

"Nothing Hun, just making it better"

Better I did make it. It absolutely blew away both of my Lamborghinis, which I shortly got rid of simply because after driving the modded Mustang, the Lambos were not fun; not fast enough, handling not precises enough etc...

The Mustang also did blow away anything and everything it ever met on the roads and shocked the autocrossing community that laughed at me when I first showed up at the scene, saying that, "you can not make a front-heavy car handle". They had to eat their words next year when I won the yearly Championship.

Altogether, if I have to pick one single car as my "most fun car" it would be that Mustang. Second would be my 2 Twin Turbo RX-7s, particularly the one I have still in my garage which is now 21 years old. Same thing as with the Mustang, it is the result of my experimentation and lots of development work to make it into a street car that is not much short of "incredible".

So, arriving at the concept of a Corvette. You can probably already sense that I could care less about who makes a car, the reputation of that maker, the popularity (as in dozens of them on any parking lot). If I see potential in the car that gets my interest. The new ZO6 has monumental potentials, directly contested against, say a Ferrari or Jaguar. It is the aftermarket availability for custom parts that gives it such potential for me. Jaguars are very difficult to modify due to low availability of performance accessories. For a Vette, the sky is the limit. If you don't like something in the handling, you simply change the parts, as many times as it takes to perfect it. That is because different rates of springs, swaybars, dampers, bushing ...... are easily and inexpensively available. So, you end up with the "perfect machine" per your personal preferences. Driving such a perfected machine is the ultimate driving satisfaction.

So, that is why I find the Vette ZO6 concept exciting. I guess, it may be fair to say that many of us are always looking for the "next big thing". For me, my Mustang was a big thing, my RX is still the big thing and something like the Vette has the "potential" for becoming the next big thing.

Albert

 

All mentioned are very neat toys and will certainly outperform an XKR - as they should since this is what they were designed to do - not that the XKR was their benchmark...

Not a single car mentioned has the class, sophistication or maturity of an XKR or even close.