Top 5: Best B-road Blasters

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http://cars.msn.co.uk/carnews/tfconvertiblesmar06/

Top 5: Best

B-road blasters

By Kyle Fortune,

Last updated 25 March 2006

Spring is officially here, whichever day the Met Office decides it should begin on and so naturally thoughts turn to top down motoring along delightful sunny country lanes. And the start of British Summer Time means the chance to cruise home after work with the wind in your hair. We reported on the new £42,750, 343bhp BMW Z4M roadster recently and it impressed us enormously. But is it good enough for us to recommend rushing out to the nearest BMW dealer with a fat deposit cheque? We’re not entirely sure, especially when the competition is as varied and accomplished as the five alternatives below.

Porsche Boxster S

280bhp, 0-62mph 5.5 secs, £39,160

No sports car test in the £30-50,000 price range is ever complete without considering the Boxster. Since its introduction and through its subsequent developments it’s remained the choice for those wanting an involving, rewarding sports car. Even in 3.2-litre S guise it’s outgunned in the power stakes by all comers here with just 280bhp but its always managed to claw back its power deficit with its sublime steering response, hugely accomplished dynamics and shear poise whether being taken to its extreme limits or driven into town. Add Porsche’s reputation for reliability and usability and it’s difficult to argue against the Boxster here, even if its brilliance has resulted in them being omnipresent on driveways in certain parts of the country.

Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG

360bhp, 0-62mph 4.9 secs, £50,985

Slotting AMG’s ubiquitous 5.4-litre V8 engine into the SLK has given this pretty roadster a demonic work out to turn it into something of a dragster. That mighty engine means it’s able to sprint to 62mph in just 4.9 seconds, beating both its German rivals here, monstering them both for power too. Where it trails the cars here though is in its delicacy, while the Boxster and M Roadster might lack the SLK 55 AMG’s headline performance it simply cannot offer the sort of dynamic ability to allow it to compete effectively away from the drag strip. So not one for the purist drivers among you, particularly as it’s only offered with an automatic transmission, but if melting tyres and time warping straight line performance appeal in a folding hardtop package there’s simply no competition out there.

Corvette C6 Convertible

404bhp, 0-62mph 4.3 secs, £51,850

Not perhaps an obvious choice against the finesse of the European competition here but this big American icon is more capable than you might expect. Sure, it uses fairly old tech mechanicals and suspension, but the big 6.0-litre V8 combined with its lightweight body means that the Corvette will be at 62mph over half a second before any rivals here and keep on charging up to 186mph. If you can live without the top-down convertible you could save £6k and go for the coupe, the C6 a serious performance bargain. You pay for it by driving it from where your passenger should sit in the UK and Face Man connotations among those of us who spent many a Saturday watching the A-Team before dinner. However, on a pound-per-bhp ratio it’s quite a choice.

TVR Tuscan 3.6 Convertible

350bhp, 0-62mph 4.2 secs, £41,950

The American might need a 6.0-litre V8 to produce its 0-62mph figure of 4.3 seconds, but British TVR manages to reach 62mph in 4.2 seconds with a 3.6-litre straight six. Always insanely rapid the Tuscan is on paper the quickest car here bar the highly specialist Caterham, and that’s before you consider that you could spend an extra £10k for the mental 4.0-litre S version that drops the 0-62mph sprint to under 4 seconds and allows it, TVR claims, to breach 195mph. Stunning to look at inside and out the Tuscan might lack some of the ultimate sophistication of its mass produced (relatively) competition here, but it more than makes up for it in ferocious pace. Underlining TVR’s bonkers performance is that you could have a 350bhp Tamora for just £36,500 that’s got the measure of every car above in acceleration.

Caterham CSR 260

260bhp, 0-62mph 3.1 secs, £36,500

A touch leftfield among the competition here the flyweight CSR 260 has the performance to make all the cars here look rather slovenly in comparison. 62mph is achievable in 3.1 seconds if you’re committed, which is quicker than anything here and indeed virtually anything on the road. It’s possible due to a combination of the CSR’s 570kg kerbweight and the 260bhp Cosworth tweaked engine. Dynamically it’s sensational too, the CSR an enormously capable track car. Inevitably you pay for this with some significant compromises on the road. Academic we know, but why not spend just £18k on a middling weekend toy Caterham and the rest on a Z4 2.5 for weekdays for similar money that a single Z4M will cost you?