[davidb]

You'll hate me for this, but my wife and I test drove the BMW Z4 3.0Si roadster and coupe yesterday and were very impressed. We have already ruled out the Corvette, the Boxter and the S2000. We hadn't driven the BMW yet an thought it'd be a good idea before we saw the Lotus. This next purchase needs to be a car that both my wife and I can enjoy, and with all that I'm reading, there's a chance the Lotus might not be right for both of us. My wife is a great driver, and drives manuals like a pro, but she's 5'-1 and I don't know that she'll enjoy having to strong arm the car the way you describe it. I'm still a bit nervous about reliability too, and with the dealer so far away, that's another negative. With all that said, I might come back next week and have forgotten all about the BMW. We'll see.