Advice on Which make & options I should Buy?

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga

911's & corvettes:

Maintenance?
My Elise was surprisingly one of the best cars I ever owned for maintenance- basically an engine & a body- very little maintenance except wear & tear- there was nothing too it to break down (unlike my BMW- terrible electric)- is the lotus a good comparison for what to expect if you do not abuse the car?
for getting an oil change etc- I had to drive 90 miles to Orange county- are there any good mechanics in L.A. area?

For the most part the maintenance during the driving season is just upkeep sort of stuff. The larger stuff can be undertaken during the off-season while the car is in storage...and there will ALWAYS be stuff to undertake, trust me.
Test Drive:
I have sat as a passenger, but never driven one.
good point about the exhaust under the car- is there that much of a difference? can you adjust the volume of the side pipes?

You have to drive it. Most of us drive front drive cars from a location in the front half of the car. A cobra is a very different feeling, a long hood, sitting only inches in front of a differential, light in the front if there is sand on a hard surface, twitchy as hell on tight turns until you learn how far to use the right foot, that takes some experience. I would suggest if you get someone to let you drive theirs you go to an empty parking lot and find the limits. Do it gently, but the first time the back end swaps ends with the front you won't believe it happened so fast. You need to experience that to find out if you want to drive a car of this type....some are worse than others, some better, and tires makes a HUGE difference in traction, but they all do it to some extent and if you try they will ALL do it in spades!

Sidepipes can be adjusted for loudness...how much power do you want to lose? It's a trade-off. I wear earphone type hearing protection when I drive mine for any distance at all, particularly on the open road. A pair of earbuds under those would not be any sort of hindrance, but might be against the law, so check that out. The best source for music is an I-Pod, I found, huge storage capacity and very compact. Trying to pack CD's in the cabin can be a PITA.
Stereo-
this is a personal preference & everyone's tastes are different, but I would like to get some advice on what they have done
I love to drive with music on
I realize you are competing against the exhaust, but this has not bothered me in the past since my hearing sucks & a volume button solves that.
where do people put the stereo & speakers?
The guys at shelby recommended against putting one in & using headphones instead, but it is how I have always driven & I would equate putting headphones on interfering with the feel of the drive

My cobra has a cabinet between the bottom lip of the dash and the transmission tunnel that holds the electronics and the two speakers, one facing toward the door on each side of the box. It is not the best, but can be heard...fine for playing tunes at the picnic site or the beach, but on the road you'll find youself deafened more by the wind buffeting your ears than by the sound of the sidepipes...IMHO. My dream would be pipes under the car and out the back, but would rather have that on a 289 street model, not on this 427 S/C body style.


thanks!

Looks like all my replies are in the quoted area above...sorry!

Cheers from Dugly