Comparison Tests
We haven't officially put Ayn Rand on our must-read list, but we have been lately mulling a few of her principles, particularly the one about the virtue of selfishness. Should you suddenly be handed a fistful of dollars, for example, would you buy a new bus for the church or head straight to the nearest Porsche dealer?
No hands, please, it's a secret ballot. Those of you in the latter category-and you know who you are-may want to divert some of your overtaxed attention to the following pages. Upon them we have lashed down and dissected four of the newest, fleetest, it's-all-about-me convertibles in the $45,000 to $60,000 range, a group we regularly check in on for reasons that are, of course, selfish.
Three of our sunshine scoopers-the Chevrolet Corvette, the Mercedes-Benz SLK350, and the Porsche Boxster S-are still wrapped in Visqueen from the factory redesign shop. The Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 is a brand-new model constructed on the foundation of the old Mercedes-Benz SLK32 AMG. Two seats are the maximum number for entry in our test, and six is the most common cylinder count. Even the Corvette has six-six liters of V-8, that is. Six is also the popular gear-ratio supply, at least where there are manual transmissions. The Crossfire shifts its five-speed automatic via computer.
America's dream machine tops the alphabetical lineup, the sixth-generation Corvette catalog very recently fleshed out with a $52,245 convertible that bludgeons pavement with the same 400 horsepower as the coupe. We asked for and received the $1495 Z51 performance package, which includes larger brake rotors, lower gear ratios, firmer suspension settings, and a run-flat rubber upgrade to Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires. A system to lower your top electronically goes for $1995 (manual tops are standard), the polished rims another $1295. OnStar, a DVD navigation system, and the million-gadget march of the Preferred Equipment Group, which among other things includes a digital head-up display, ratcheted our Corvette's price to $62,080. Hey, you're worth it.
Assembled by Karmann in Osnabrück, Germany, the base 215-hp Chrysler Crossfire blazes with flair but dribbles with performance, which is most likely one reason the company has a nine-month stockpile of unsold cars. Peel back the molten-lead skin of our $49,995 Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6, and you'll find a huffy 3.2-liter supercharged V-6 from the AMG goody bag. It's worth 330 horsepower. Chrysler's SRT department kicks in fat Michelin Pilot Sport rubber, a double-rigid suspension, and suede-lined bucket seats to better maintain your posterior in place. Larger, fine-spoke wheels and a humpback fluke on the tail raise the visual butch factor. A $1200 navigation option incorporates a simple black-and-white display into the radio head unit, meaning this SRT-6 can be stoking your own head unit for $51,195.
