Autos again

[BlackAngus]

the lotus is a very cold car plus have you seen the tyres it comes with they would not be fun on snow
so its a porsche how about a 4wd 911

Well this car will probabally never be in the snow, tho it would be a bonus if it could be used in the snow. Im not opposed to having two sets of wheels/tires 1 performance and 1 snow. A carrera 4 would be a dream but its about 15k above my max price =(. (I think they start at 83k or so here.)

AMG SL55 perhaps or that too cruisy

Ive had multiple people tell me that Mercs have terrible reliability, plus I would have to step down from a 55 to a lower model. So im inclined not to go there.
Edit - I was misspoken here, I was thinking of the 550 not the AMG. I figured everything AMG was out of my price range. But the SLK55 does fit in.

Nothing drives like a Porche. I think the AWD 911 Turbos go for about 100k though.

The turbos start at about 125k here. But I want one! Actually I would rather have a GT3 if I had that kind of cash lying around.

The other thought I had was the new Skyline GT-R. That looks good, but may also be out of my range.
GT-R = 3.5 sec 0-60mph + AWD.
Thats a wow! But it just doesnt look as good as a porsche.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Please tell me you're insisting this be a manual transmission vehicle...

 

[Mize]

The other thought I had was the new Skyline GT-R. That looks good, but may also be out of my range.
GT-R = 3.5 sec 0-60mph + AWD.
Thats a wow! But it just doesnt look as good as a porsche.

Great car, but I'll stick with my "nothing handles like a porsche" comment.

 

[BlackAngus]

Please tell me you're insisting this be a manual transmission vehicle...

Why would I want to bother with that?

J/K!

6 speed is all I want.
Maybe something with a flappy paddle gearbox, but it would have to be something special for me to want that.

 

[BlackAngus]

Great car, but I'll stick with my "nothing handles like a porsche" comment.

Yeah the Lotus and Porsche (cayman) were the best to drive. I didnt try a 911, the local dealership was less than accomidating.
I had to talk with them for about 1.5 hours before they let me test drive the plain cayman (not S).

(Wonders if Mize works for porsche, or owns one.)

 

[Mize]

I used to work at Grand Prix Automotive in LA (Venice Blvd.) which was primarily BMW, Porsche, and other somewhat exotics (got to drive a customer's M1 once upon a time!). Anyway, in 3 years of post-repairs driving of customer's cars (always treated oh so nicely) nothing compared to the porches. Nicest one I drove was a 930 twin turbo. Handled like mind-control.

This was back in the 80s so there are plenty of newer cars, but back then I drove many Ferraris, BMWs, RX7s, 280zs, Corvettes, MGs, Triumphs, suped up American muscle, etc. and the porsches were hands down the most fun to drive.

My retirement car will necessarily be something like the Cayman...years from now

 

[Verge]

911... nice


gonna be out of your price range prolly... and you'd be insane to bust one around in the snow. Lotus' are awesome, but terrible in snow too... as well as the vettes. Why you want to invest 70k in a nice sportscar and drive it in the snow anyway? Most enthusiasts i know won't even drive their cars in the rain.

 

[Mize]

911 AWD Turbo...[drool]
Gotta take it skiing you know

 

[BlackAngus]

911... nice


gonna be out of your price range prolly... and you'd be insane to bust one around in the snow. Lotus' are awesome, but terrible in snow too... as well as the vettes. Why you want to invest 70k in a nice sportscar and drive it in the snow anyway? Most enthusiasts i know won't even drive their cars in the rain.

I just live where there is snow sometimes. Which ever car I get will most likely be stored when it snows. If I can drive it in light snow that would be a bonus in a pinch, but I really don't intend to. I have a 2000 saturn 4 door for the winter. =)
Just got my wife a 2008 Forster for her. Now its my turn for a new car. (Saturn was my wife's car when I married her, it only has 34k miles on it, so I figured I'd just keep it for the winter driver.)

 

[BlackAngus]

I used to work at Grand Prix Automotive in LA (Venice Blvd.) which was primarily BMW, Porsche, and other somewhat exotics (got to drive a customer's M1 once upon a time!). Anyway, in 3 years of post-repairs driving of customer's cars (always treated oh so nicely) nothing compared to the porches. Nicest one I drove was a 930 twin turbo. Handled like mind-control.

This was back in the 80s so there are plenty of newer cars, but back then I drove many Ferraris, BMWs, RX7s, 280zs, Corvettes, MGs, Triumphs, suped up American muscle, etc. and the porsches were hands down the most fun to drive.

My retirement car will necessarily be something like the Cayman...years from now

That sounds like a fun place to work. Be tough work but pretty cool.

Im hoping for two fun cars in the future. One now and one retirement car. If everything goes well for me for the next 6 months then hopefully Ill be 1/2 way there.

Would it be worth while to get a used (few years old) 911 over a new cayman s? Im kind of leary of used cars.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Dude, if you can afford a Cayman I would seriously get one. Looks like it's fun as hell without going insane.

Yeah the 911 is a bit nicer, but it's also an arm and a leg more. A loaded Cayman would easily fit your budget and be a fantastic little sports car.

 

[Mize]

Grand Prix was great for a high school kid (and great money for the day) and, as a result, I refuse to work on my own cars (since about 1999 at least). I hate busted knuckles!

I'm leery of used cars too and you can count on $2-5k per year in maintenance even if it's in mint condition. That M1 had a $220 fuel filter - in 1984!

 

[BlackAngus]

That M1 had a $220 fuel filter - in 1984!

At least thats not the 20K for a brake job on a SLR. =)

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

At least thats not the 20K for a brake job on a SLR. =)

Thats still nothing compared to 60k euro's for a set of wheels and rims for your veyron.

But is that 20k for all 4 brake disks? because a Dutch Veyron owner got a 10k bill for a small chip that broke off a brakedisk.

Why would I want to bother with that?

J/K!

6 speed is all I want.
Maybe something with a flappy paddle gearbox, but it would have to be something special for me to want that.

I dont think any one of those cars has a flappy pedal option. If you want that save some more cash and buy the new Ferrari 430 scuderia. It will cost you some, but god does that engine sounds nice and it shifts gears in 60ms. And it has a 2 year waiting list so its not like you got to have the cash right away 70k will do for the downpayment I suppose hehe. But that will buy you a car that is faster around the Ferrari test track than the Enzo and that for only a quarter of the money.

Dont buy a cayman though, that kangaroo like back is ugly.

 

[BlackAngus]

Ah yes the 430 Scuderia. I only wish I could afford something like that.

Im actually surprised that there has been little input on the Lotus Exige S.
I like it very much because it's so outrageous, and I fit in it about as well as the cayman s. (Im 6'2).

It is a bit spartan, but the road feel is second to none.
I got out of my test drive and was grinning like a fool for at least 10 minutes.

 

[BlackAngus]

But is that 20k for all 4 brake disks?

I dunno, the I went to see the SLR at a local dealer when they had one. The guy said the brake job was 20k.

 

[Davros]

if you get an exige get some knee pads
my mate has a elise and i keep banging my knee on the roof when getting out
and like i said it is not a warm car
of course if that doesnt bother you and you want outrageous how about an ariel atom

in case you need convincing (sorry i havnt learned to embed youtube vids)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA

 

[BlackAngus]

if you get an exige get some knee pads
my mate has a elise and i keep banging my knee on the roof when getting out
and like i said it is not a warm car
of course if that doesnt bother you and you want outrageous how about an ariel atom

Yes it is quite a small car. The two issues I have are:
1. Getting in and out. (You feel like a fool.)
2. Im not sure how safe the exige is.
But it is just such a sexy little beast! Have you driven your friends elise? If so what did you think of the road feel and the power. I have only driven the exige. I would like to know what you thought of the elise.

The Atom would be just awesome, but it isn't street legal is it?
Besides I hear the exige S out handles the Atom. This was heard from a lotus dealer mind you. =)

 

[Davros]

im assumeing the exige has a carbon fibre safety cell like f1 cars/

The atom is street legal at least in the u.k + usa (they are now also made in the u.s)
if you watched the video i posted it came second on the powerboard

 

[BlackAngus]

im assumeing the exige has a carbon fibre safety cell like f1 cars/

The atom is street legal at least in the u.k + usa (they are now also made in the u.s)
if you watched the video i posted it came second on the powerboard

The exige touts a F1 type crash structure, but I haven't seen CF mentioned anywhere.

I'm an avid Top Gear fan, I saw that Mr Clarkson had mucho fun in the Atom.

I may have to look into that as well. I just want to forget about it as its just a crazy little car, and I'm 6 hours away from a nice track and I feel that it just wouldn't be justice to the Atom to have it on the road.

I could live with the exige on a daily basis. I couldn't live with the atom on a daily basis. However I will attend an Atom track event to drive one. I want to do that for vacation next summer.