I've driven a few very fast cars in my days (I have a '65 Sunbeam Tiger and a 94 Mustang GT in the garage), but this little roadster is in a whole different league than any of them. The power to weight ratio is greater than nearly every car on the road and the resulting performance sometimes takes your breath away. The styling of the car makes for a good part of the enjoyment of driving it. I regularly have folks follow me into parking lots or gas stations to ask "What the heck is that thing?" I have entered the car into a few car shows and have yet to come away without a trophy. This car is quality through and through.

Living in the Northwest means lots of rain and the top on this car is worthless as far as I am concerned. There is NO WAY a six footer can get into or exit this car with the top on. The windshield is also a little inadequate for a six footer. I have to look around the frame of the windshield to see traffic lights. The heater is almost useless. Why this car has air conditioning is a mystery. It's a convertible for crying out loud! I have had the car for almost 2 years now and still can't find the spare tire. ( A little joke.... there is no spare tire) With that in mind, don't leave home in this little car without a cellphone on board. You'll have to pull over to use that phone, though, because the wind and noise in the cockpit will give you a rough idea of what it is like to be in a wind tunnel.

For the sheer thrill of going fast in a really cool car you can't beat a Panoz Roadster, but if you are looking for any semblance of practicality... pass on this one. Buy a Porsche.

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The Panoz is quicker and tighter than my Tiger or my wife's Mustang. The Tiger weighs a bit more, but the Panoz has a much smoother ride.

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One reviewer knocked this car because it is uncomfortable and doesn't have locks on the doors. This is true, but irrelevant. One might as well give a Rolls Royce a 1 because it doesn't go 0-60 in 4 seconds. The car is not made for that purpose.

To evaluate this car fairly, one must rate how well it does what it is designed to do. Yes, it is noisy and uncomfortable and impractical. If you want a quiet, comfortable, practical car, you shouldn't even be looking at a Panoz. If you love the thrill of driving a serious, purpose built, no-bones-about-it high performance car, and want a car that outperforms every other car on the road and is so exciting to drive it will send chills down your spine and have you laughing out loud with exultation, the Panoz is your car. The Panoz is quicker than a Ferrari, 911 Turbo or Viper, while much lighter and outcorners and outbrakes all of them, and it costs a fraction of what they cost.

As for the safety issue, the Panoz is not a tank you can plough into a bus and survive the incident. But remember the most important safety feature of any car is the driver. This is a serious car that requires a seriously skilled driver.

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many high performance cars: Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, etc.

Nice styling and rare

Too expensive. Dangerous car
No locks on the doors
uncomfortable bad ac

Nice car for a weekend drive, but i would definately not reccomend getting one. Just borrow one for a drive and save the money and the hassle

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Super light, razor sharp cornering, awesome brakes, instantaneous acceleration, quality construction, standard drivetrain and warranty, excellent factory support and service, unmatched beauty and uniqueness.

uncomfortable driving position, ineffective heater & A/C, low cruising range, minimal trunk space

Good stuff:
It feels much lighter than the 3rd gen RX-7 (one of the best handling cars in the world), quicker in everything including turnin, brakes and throttle, like driving a go-cart and it has enough low end torque to get throttle steer at 2000 RPM with medium throttle. It's so light I can drag it out of the garage by grabbing one of the stainless steel bumper rails with one hand and walking it along. Even though the peak torque is up high at 5000 RPM, there is lots of it down low too. Redline is about 7000 RPM. At 2500 RPM part throttle, it accelerates like a Ferrari F355 and it only gets stronger! The suspension is tight but not grueling, there is little or no body roll, squat or dive. So it drives more smoothly on rough roads, but stays tight in the turns. And the way it sounds is indescribable, that big aluminum high revving quad overhead cam 32 valve V8 with high compression and short unrestricted exhaust pipes.

Bad stuff:
Uncomfortable driving position -- steering wheel very close but pedals far away, and clutch throw goes twice as far back as the other pedals. Rear view mirrors mostly blocked by rear wheel wells. Heater is not very effective, windshield is small, very noisy with wind and engine, small fuel tank and cruising range (11 gallons @ 15 mpg), no side windows on doors, top does not cover sides either and takes at least 10 minutes to assemble & install. Trunk is minimal, with the top in the trunk there's just enough room for a motorcycle tank bag. No locks on the doors, and it attracts people who check it out, so you can't park it anywhere you can't
see it. You can never let a valet park it. You can't take it out for
a night on the town.

Overall -- a kick in the ass, beasty fun car to drive, outhandles an RX-7 and outaccelerates a Viper, forgiving to drive with a big fat flat torque curve, unmatched beauty and uniqueness. This is the ultimate high performance driving enthusiast's car. No street legal car or motorbike can catch it on a twisty road. But only on the right roads, in good weather, and totally impractical. Take a driving class when you buy this car, else you will get yourself into a load of trouble!

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quicker than a Viper, outcorners and stops any other car on the road