CR compared 7 sports verts with the Zzzz comming in 4th behind the Boxster, SLK, & 06 vette (V8...400hp) but ahead of the s2000, Z4, Audi TT, and the roller skate, ah excuse me, the Lotus Elise. On the overall score the Z was only a hair behind the vette.

Last time CR tested the Zzzz they ragged on it bad & ranked it very low.

Good comparison among the cars for anyone interested.

Vette did the 0-60 mph in 5.0; the Z in 6.2. The Z vert starts to get abit beefy; 3640 lbs........heaviest of the bunch.

Details at 11................................

 

0-60 for the Z is 6.2? ive seen it at low to mid 5's in alotta places

 

Yeah, but the convertible adds a good amount of weight. A coupe could do low to mid 5's.

 

The roadster is about 5.7 sec and the Vette is supposed to be like 4.2, I have a feeling the CR driver wasn't that great

 

It looks like the vert Z is 350 +/- lbs heavier than coup. That has to cost a few 10s of a second. Plus, I'm sure the CR guys are not hot shot drivers.

 

I've read a bunch of the annual CR auto reports; as far as I can tell, their ideal car is a Lincoln town car: very 'smooth' riding, "brisk" but not fantastic acceleration, soft & squishy interior, and cheap. They just don't know what to make of sportscars; they think the suspension is too harsh, the exhaust is too loud, and the interior is too functional.

 

IMO....The people at Consumer Reports AREN'T enthusiasts anyway. Their main focus on EVERYTHING they write about is: PRACTACALITY AND RELIABILITY.

I.E. While they might say the Miata is excellent and recommended b/c of its reliability, they surely wrote 2 pages about how impractical it is b/c of it's super small trunk and tiny interior space.

However, since they write from a non-biased perspective, CR will let you know about trouble spots on cars, which is extremely valuable info. to me.

 

Remember this is Consumer Reports. I subscribe to it, but I pretty much ignore the car stuff. However, this was a test of Roadsters, note Coupes. The rankings were:

1. Boxster
2. M/B SLK
3. Corvette
4. "Z"
5. S2K
6. Z4
7. Audi TT
8. Lotus Elise

Even though that's how there ratings were - Their recommendations were:

1. "Z"
2. S2K
3. Z4


The recommendations factor in reliability. All the cars in the ratings finished in the Excellent range except the Audi (Very Good) and the Lotus (Good)

Lou

 

I read consumer reports to buy a Dishwasher, not a high performance sports car.
Consider the source.

 

I totally agree. I often get frustrated when, for only one example, they complain about the harshness of ride in a sportscar. It tells me they know little as to why a sportscar should have a stiffer suspension

Car & Driver first test issue on the Z (8/02) gave the Z an impressive 0-60 of 5.4. Incidentally, qtr mile figure was 14.1 whereas MotorTrend obtained 13.9.

 

While I agree CR should not be the only source when choosing a car, it certainly should be one. They test very objectively. But they are "grandmothers"!

 

CR is crap unless you are in the market for buying a 4 door sedan

they rated the elise last? pff on what basis? Elise owners don't buy that car for practicality, convienience, comfort, and reliability