[s-cars] Advice needed- warning NAC heretical content inside

[Taka Mizutani]

Listers-
I'm looking at getting a new car and would love some input.

I'm looking only at 2-seat sports cars (or 2+2 coupes).

Budget is under $35k tops.

Porsche 996
Chevy Corvette C6
NO BMWs
???

Those are my top contenders.

Practicality is not an issue (actually, both cars above are pretty decently
practical).

Bad weather performance is not an issue (that's what snow tires are for and
I wouldn't drive this car in the snow).

Power, handling, brakes, driving feel are my top priorities. Reliability
must be halfway decent (no Ferraris).

I also want something that I can take a 1000 mile road trip and not be a
hairshirt experience (like a Caterham 7).

My concern with the above-

Corvette is a GM- typical GM parts bin crap abounds, possibility of lots of
stupid little things failing here and there.

Porsche is a Porsche- high parts prices, high maintenance prices, high
insurance rates, much higher mileage for comparably priced cars.

Audi TT- no way. Audi S4- not a sports car. Audi RS4- yes, but too heavy,
too expensive. Audi R8- way out of budget.

Lotus Elise- concerns with subframe delamination and failure, very hard
ingress/egress, not that much power.

Factory Five Roadster, turnkey- definitely nice, but a little too hard to
live with.

Taka