Never a fan of the exige design, but they are both polarizing. I also agree that something in between (like a boxster/cayman) may be something you should consider . . .

I'd go for the Exige especially if you can live with the ride as a daily driver. Like you said, it's hella light and very manoeuvrable.

Go with your gut. You seem to like the Lotus. Get it. Get what you like and not what we like. Just to cast a vote, I like the SC430 but that's just me. Even from looking at the way you listed the pros and cons. It looks like the SC is the "brain" list and the Lotus is the "heart" list.

dude if you get the exige, you gotta give me a tour of the car

If it is your ONLY car, i would go with the SC..

Me, personally I would get the lotus and a beater for DD.

I've actually been contemplating trying to buy a turbo'd Solstice / Sky when they are actually available...

IMO, you missed out on the biggest CON of the Exige... room... my old roommate had an Elise... We are both pretty decent sized guys, both 6' 205-210 lbs, and when riding with him, we were shoulder to shoulder... whoever was driving bumped the passenger on EVERY shift... Also, two very small dufflebags were all that you could carry in the entire car...

personally, an Exige would be one of the last cars I would ever buy if I planned on driving it a lot... they are great, light cars, but there are just so many more practical cars out there (and I'm not usually a practical car guy)... Just the lack of driving space kills me in a car to drive on the streets... If I'm by myself driving the car, I'm fine (even in smaller, race cars), but with a passenger - it's just hard to get in and out of, and the bumping the passenger on every shift gets annoying pretty fast...

on other non-streetable annoyance of the Lotus stuff is the lack of ANY creature comforts... the A/C SUCKS BAD in traffic, and only really works when the car is moving (the heat exchanger tends to heat soak when there isn't a lot of air moving), and the fact that you don't get carpet or anything... just annoying to me on a street car...

everyone suggesting the Lotus needs to have a friend that owns one, or own one yourself to realize how much of a pain they are in a daily driven car... my roommate actually bought a second car after having the Lotus for only 3 weeks, after he originally claimed it would be his only car...

What about hummer H1?

jk. I would personally go with SL550. I think Lotus is too hardcore for everyday driving. You might need new set of internal organs.

Thanks Guys, you are a great help.. well not really. it looks like its a 50/50 split right now....

how much are Cayman's going for anyways.

Like I said I do not need any room, I'm 5"11 165.. My girl friend is 5"0 98lbs.

I love the body of the SL500/550/55/65 etc. but even the 500 are soo expensive. I would buy used but i always wonder why people sell 1-2 year old cars. makes me wonder.

Wow, I just looked at the cayman's price. that is not a bad price at all. I think I may go with the Cayman... wahoo. you get both worlds...

While you're at it. Buy your new car a proper garage.

You should get the MB SLK350 or SLK55 or Boxster/Cayman S

I own a S2000 and it's fun, but I miss the comforts and features you can get in a Lexus or MB or Porsche.

The Lotus will beat you up. It may be the most fun, but I bet if you can't have both, better to get something in between.

Without a garage I wouldn't get either.

the lotus would be awesome to own, but i would get the cayman. the lotus is just too much of a pain to drive daily i think. and the SC, well, its just not my cup of tea.

For me, the Exige would be too harsh as a daily driver. Stiff ride, loud, crude, basic interior, hard seats, ect. There are plenty of times where I enjoy that, but I have to be in the mood for it. I wouldn't really be excited about getting off a hard day of work and then driving home in the Exige. It's more of a weekend car where you wake up and you're like, "Man...I want to drive today." The SC will be more comfortable, not as fast, nor as performance oriented, but it's got one of the finest interiors ever made, it's smooth, it looks amazing, and you can drive it spiritedly when you want. It's not going to ever be as entertaining as the Lotus, but I think there are less trade offs with the Lexus.

Go for the Lotus and you lose luxury, convenience, space, comfort, quality, plushness, smoothness.

Go for the Lexus and you lose the sport.

That's really just my personal preference. If I had something else to drive on a daily basis, I'd be all over the Exige for when I want to ring it out. The SC though is a pretty good car all around- it's smooth, its beautiful, amazing interior and options, sound system, quality, luxury, it will probably wear better over time, convertible hard top, ect. You can stomp on the gas when you want, and play with the sequential tranny. I just wouldn't want to drive a go-cart ALL the time. I'm not in that mood 24/7. Plus, can you imagine a road trip in the Exige? Yikes.

Check out the Cayman, but of these two, my choice is the SC. Orrr wait a year and check out the SC 460

I drove the Cayman S, sold new for around $60K with minimal options, with discount around $58K. Good looking and fast, it is a real sports car that you could DD. I went with the SC430 because I could find a 2003 SC430 with only 11K miles on it for $15K less then the Cayman S and the SC430 was a CPO car so it came with a 3 year 100K mile warranty. I would of bought a Cayman S for $45K but that wasn't going to happen. Plus the SC430 will be a lot cheaper to maintain and insure.