Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: MiataNC
Originally posted by: Captain Howdy
......If you want a car to carve corners, do not get a convertible, hands down.
So you are saying the following cars cannot carve corners...
Mazda Miata
Honda S2000
BMW Z3/Z4
Porsche Boxer/911/etc/etc
Those are just the ones off the top of my head. Automotive history is filled with fast agile convertibles that can carve corners.
Few people have the skills or balls to drive a car 100% on the street, and anyone who does is a complete douche. Any cornering performance lost with a 'vert will be hardly noticed by anyone under normal or even aggressive driving conditions on the street.
On a tight track like Buttonwillow here in California the fastest lap times are consistently made by Miatas and S2000s when unmodified street cars are run.
The differences only matter to people who race spec sheets in their head.
That's because they are small, lightweight cars with excellent weight distribution, excellent brakes and decent power to weight ratio. It has nothing to do with the fact that it's a convertible.
I think more important than convertible or not you do
not want front wheel drive if handling is important! You want rear wheel drive, or all wheel drive. Front wheel drive just biases the car to way too much weight in the front, and puts both steering and power demands on the same wheels, not good.
Back to the original question, The Spider is a pig of a car heavy, slow and handles poorly. The Eclipse is all about show and no go. Coming from the Talon I assume performance is important I would say Miata is a much better choice unless you have children that have to sit in the back. The Miata is not very fast in a strait line, but that can be resolved easily. The short comings of the Spider are never going to be able to be reversed no matter how much you spend. The thing with convertibles are that you want something that was designed from the beginning to be convertible. Whenever you cut the top off a car you will have to add way too much bracing to try to get the stiffness back. The Spider and Sebring, sees to have made no effort to get any stiffness back. Heck a Jeep Wrangler is most likely stiffer, and perhaps handles as well!
As far as limitations of a convertible, they are noisy, drafty, hard to control temperature, leak water and mess you hair. Are they worth it, absolutely. You might want to rent one for a week to see if you like it or not. I have had convertibles since I started driving and have been miserable when without one. People make fun of me because I will drive around in the snow with the top down, and heat on. It really is a lifestyle, and have to not be bothered by nuisances such as leaks. I have read about $80,000 Mercedes that tops leak when brand new, it is just part of the deal.
If you need a back seat, then I would look into a BMW 3 series, Audi, VW or Toyota Solaris. The Spider would be the last on my list I would look into a used one of the above before a new Eclipse. I would get a Sebring before the Spider, as the new one looks good and is less money. Why they don't make the Eclpse in AWD as it could give the car a bit better handling, but would make it even heavier.