Couldn't find the show off your car thread so I'm posting those here. Got this a couple of weeks ago.
Will take some full body pictures once the sun comes up. Enjoying it so far, still breaking it in.
Congrats on your BRZ!
I am still waiting for a chance to drive one. Looked at a BRZ and a FRS in the dealer showrooms. Sitting in the BRZ got me excited because it just felt right. The only dealer that has got BRZs so far in my area has them all optioned as limited with the rear diffuser and homelink rear view mirror. They have sold all of them for over 35k.
So, here is the list of cars I have test driven over the past several months and some brief notes and my impressions. I revised my planned maximum spending from around 30k to 20k recently due to the possibility of having a very travel heavy job for the next 5 or more years.
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2008 Acura TL Type S - felt like a much nicer Accord, tons of center stack buttons and very busy steering wheel controls. Pretty quick but not looking for FWD and 280 with wrong wheel drive is too much. Would have to get a manual for the LSD. The best looking TL gen by far and still very handsome. Still want to drive a manual type-S if I can find one. Heard very good things about it.
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2008 B7 Audi A4 2.0T FWD with a CVT - First Audi I ever drove, very impressed with the build quality (doors, trunk, hood, clicky console buttons) not so much the CVT and power seemed a little lacking. Selecting "gears" with the paddles on a CVT felt wrong.
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2005 B7 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro and a MT - enjoyed this much more than the FWD, CVT A4. Shifter felt a little vague and worn out. It had over 150k miles. Felt much quicker and powerful than the CVT.
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1995 BMW E36 M3 - fantastic engine, surprised how smooth it rode, interior is not as modern as I would like. Very affordable (purchase) M3 but they are getting up there in years. Recommended by our old pal BoobPhysics101. Wouldn't feel appropriate for customers to ride with me.
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2003 BMW E46 330i w sport package & shiftronic - E46s are still damn fine looking cars, liked the engine note a lot, trans in manual mode did not shift as fast as I would like. This one had black and tan interior that was very pretty. Seems like the perfect balance between comfort, luxury, and sportiness in the range I want to spend. I think a 04-06 330CI\I ZHP with a manual transmission is at the top of my list right now.
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2006 BMW E90 330i with shiftronic - drove this right after the E46 330i and while the shifting in manual mode felt much faster the car felt really big and much more insulating. The interior was much more worn than in the 330i with 30k more miles. Good car but E46 was much more fun to drive IMO.
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2007 BMW 335i coupe w sport package and MT - aggressive looks, great power, not much turbo lag, love the sport seats. If i wanted to spend upwards of 30k any more a CPO 335i would be extremely tempting. Feels like it should and could be blasting down the autobahn at 140 all day.
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2008 C6 Corvette with MT - coworkers' car, poor guy finely bought one after wanting it for so long and he is afraid to drive it for fear of it being harmed. Bought it from a trucker with 27k miles. Such an amazing package. shifter is in the perfect spot, V8 rumble\torque\power, clutch feel is magical, I was shifting smooth as can be on the 3rd shift. Ride was much less harsh than I remember in older Corvettes. Interior is meh but everyone knows that. To get that much car for 26k is a sick deal. I feel like it would be a ticket and cougar magnet.
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2002 AP1 Honda S2000 - I think this one thrilled me the most but I don't want two cars and a S2000 as a daily just isn't comfortable enough for me. Really got my adrenalyne flowing and made my palms sweaty. Might have been it getting a little squirrely over an on ramp bump... Such a high stung machine that demands and loves to be flogged. 8800RPM redline!
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2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Rspec M\T - most disappointing car of everything I have driven. Interior felt and looked cheap, the shifter knob was twisting in my hand and there was a loud buzzing noise coming from below the shifter when downshifting. Car had 58 miles on it. Hyundai has come a long way but their suspension tuning still needs a lot of work. Car lacked in overall refinement.
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98 NA Mazda MX5 Miata - Such a great drivers car that gets a bad wrap for being a chick car. Huge bang for the buck. Slow enough to drive hard in DD use.
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2011 VW GTI - didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Driving the Audis and BMWs first doesn't do it any favors. Thought the stick was too long and felt a little vague finding each gear. Suspension felt good but didn't have the refinement of the other Germans. Really nice exhaust note but felt really light and a little finicky on the highway.
That is pretty much all I can think of right now. There were several more that I would want to drive but it doesn't make a lot of sense to get a new car or CPO right now because I am going to be travelling so much for work.
If any of you guys can suggest something for less than 20k that I might like more over a 330i ZHP please do. It has to have more than 2 seats, no convertables, RWD or AWD only, and be available with a manual.
I have to say after owning two Porsche 944s and driving the BMWs and Audis there is something special with the German makes.
