Looking into sporty / grand tourer cars

[thr_wedge]

Thanks keep 'em coming.

WRX on paper is good. However having owned a Subaru...the sting has not worn off on me yet. It had power, but everything else on my '05 LGT felt cheap, and mine was a huge POS. Plus the WRX does not have at least 300hp.

Corvette is a great car, but only has 2 seats.

Thanks for the SVT GT500 recommendation. I've had 5 Fords (one Mustang) and every one has been a great vehicle.

This vehicle will be driven over 15k a year.

 

[horse123]

Did you miss my ZL1 recommendation or just ignore it?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: horse123
Disagree with the above post, the GT500 is mostly fun on the interstate, it's not much of a twisty road car.


Says the guy with the N/A Impreza who has never driven a GT500

You actually disagreed with the guy that owns the car and speaks from experience with it in that exact scenario because of what, your own bias and/or magazine-inspired opinion? Good Lord.

While the GT500 may not be the best handling car out there it is far from out of its element on twisty roads. You'd know that if you'd actually driven one or a car of its type.

 

[horse123]

Right, because a person that owns the car has a COMPLETELY unbiased opinion on it. Totally. The more I see you post, overkill, the more I suspect you're 11 or something.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: horse123
Right, because a person that owns the car has a COMPLETELY unbiased opinion on it. Totally. The more I see you post, overkill, the more I suspect you're 11 or something.


HAHHAHAH! Keep going champ

Every post you make paints you as a bigger and bigger [censored].

Yes, the guy who has fun in the car in question, in the environment being discussed, has no right to comment on the matter, but some armchair quarterback with a chip on his shoulder has all the answers because he's read some magazine articles.

Now speaking of being 11, aren't you the same person that was contemplating messing with somebody else's construction equipment recently? And aren't you just headed off to school in the fall?

Can you tell us in detail your experience (not your reading experience) with cars that are more capable than what you currently drive; cars that are in the same league as being discussed? What attributes of those vehicles are the constituents that work to define their "fun" factor? If you cannot do this, then you simply have no business telling somebody else how much fun their vehicle is a particular environment.

But yes, people should certainly be taking serious automotive advice from you

 

[sciphi]

What about a Charger SRT-8? Or older M5 if some downtime is okay?

 

[thr_wedge]

Originally Posted By: horse123
Did you miss my ZL1 recommendation or just ignore it?


Missed it, I was checking my phone in between meetings.

 

[thr_wedge]

For some background: I've owned cars, trucks, suvs, with turbo 4s, inline 4s, turbo boxer 4s, v8s, v6s, inline6s, FWD, RWD, 4x4, and AWD. I've either ridden in or driven cars over 500hp. I also had a car that had (on paper) 69hp...and the paper was a flat out lie.

I drive in heavy traffic everyday, but also get a chance to enjoy some nice twisties every day. Acceleration and braking are very important to me. Many of my roads are 60-65mph speed limit roads, with stoplights and cross traffic! So being able to bring a car down from >65mph on a regular basis is important, and getting back up to speed is as well (I have places to go, and it's fun...)

I'm definitely taking all these different vehicles into consideration. Some are wildly different from the other!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: thr_wedge
For some background: I've owned cars, trucks, suvs, with turbo 4s, inline 4s, turbo boxer 4s, v8s, v6s, inline6s, FWD, RWD, 4x4, and AWD. I've either ridden in or driven cars over 500hp. I also had a car that had (on paper) 69hp...and the paper was a flat out lie.

I drive in heavy traffic everyday, but also get a chance to enjoy some nice twisties every day. Acceleration and braking are very important to me. Many of my roads are 60-65mph speed limit roads, with stoplights and cross traffic! So being able to bring a car down from >65mph on a regular basis is important, and getting back up to speed is as well (I have places to go, and it's fun...)

I'm definitely taking all these different vehicles into consideration. Some are wildly different from the other!

How big is "too big" for you? I went from a 2001 E39 M5 to my current SRT-8 Charger, the Charger is a bit bigger and FEELS a bit bigger, but it still handles extremely well and the brakes are INCREDIBLE; best brakes I've ever experienced.

IMHO, you need to do a few test drives. Anecdotal experience is only going to go so far, you need to drive some of these cars for yourself to see which ones you really like. I think there have been some great suggestions in this thread, perhaps start your test drive time with those and go from there

 

[Saxon78]

Originally Posted By: thr_wedge


My vehicular requirements are:
Fun to drive
Exciting (styling, passion, wanting to give yourself a high five everytime you look at your car)


You're asking for an italian car, Sir! Face it!

Be different, dare, you only live once. That's what some wise man told me, when I was still hesitating for Alfa.

Unfortunatelly, in Texas you can't buy an AlfaRomeo Giulietta AFAIK, but wait for the 2016 Giulia sedan, seems like it's beating big names on the Nurburgring.
Giulia 7'43"

AlfaRomeo 4c it's rude performance, low weight stripped down, it probably lacks confort from your point of view. 2 seats only...

Maserati Ghibli, perhaps? I'm not aware of your prices in US, but what a car, what a sound!
Ghibli or Giulia...

 

[panther427]

What else do you want. New used. Older. What drive train. Motor type and type of induction? A simple fun car. Modern car with toys. Bass such as the Porsche have very expensive parts and labor. Tasteful moded Audi s4 are great fun or Pontiac gto

 

[thr_wedge]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: thr_wedge
For some background: I've owned cars, trucks, suvs, with turbo 4s, inline 4s, turbo boxer 4s, v8s, v6s, inline6s, FWD, RWD, 4x4, and AWD. I've either ridden in or driven cars over 500hp. I also had a car that had (on paper) 69hp...and the paper was a flat out lie.

I drive in heavy traffic everyday, but also get a chance to enjoy some nice twisties every day. Acceleration and braking are very important to me. Many of my roads are 60-65mph speed limit roads, with stoplights and cross traffic! So being able to bring a car down from >65mph on a regular basis is important, and getting back up to speed is as well (I have places to go, and it's fun...)

I'm definitely taking all these different vehicles into consideration. Some are wildly different from the other!

How big is "too big" for you? I went from a 2001 E39 M5 to my current SRT-8 Charger, the Charger is a bit bigger and FEELS a bit bigger, but it still handles extremely well and the brakes are INCREDIBLE; best brakes I've ever experienced.

IMHO, you need to do a few test drives. Anecdotal experience is only going to go so far, you need to drive some of these cars for yourself to see which ones you really like. I think there have been some great suggestions in this thread, perhaps start your test drive time with those and go from there

Too big? I like driving my wife's Expedition EL However it does not fit in my garage without a bunch of rearranging things around. I've toyed with the ideas of a Raptor/Rebel/Power Wagon, or just go big diesel but the Expedition does 99% of the truck things I need to do so I don't need two trucks. My other big gripe about the trucks is that to get a decent interior options you need to move pretty far up-level, and if you want leather it gets expensive FAST.

Make no mistake, my next car will be a "want" not a "need", but I do need to stay within a somewhat reasonable budget.

And I absolutely agree that I need to get out there and check out the cars, this is not going to be a short process at all. I've been in so many cars that are incredible on paper, and in person fall completely flat. And I've been in cars that really aren't that impressive on paper, and are a BLAST to drive.

 

[thr_wedge]

Originally Posted By: panther427
What else do you want. New used. Older. What drive train. Motor type and type of induction? A simple fun car. Modern car with toys. Bass such as the Porsche have very expensive parts and labor. Tasteful moded Audi s4 are great fun or Pontiac gto


Needs to be able to go 15,000+ a year, newer is better (safety features my wife and kids will occasionally ride with me...I'd drive a rocket powered unicycle if it was just me), toys are nice but so is the aftermarket so I can install things like BT, sat/nav, backup cameras, etc.

I'd say RWD, but that's not a hard and fast rule. The last gen Maxima is a nice car with tons of toys, and almost meets the 300 hp mark, and as a FWD is pretty fun to drive. I probably will not AutoX or track the car, just no time.

On induction, I am a little torn. I do have some misgivings about spending 40k on a luxury type vehicle and getting a 4-banger though :-/ Should I feel that way? No. But that's how it is.

Extremes (in my mind): lower mileage 996 turbo. This is a 15 year old vehicle and would need more than a few upgrades in the electronics department so I could have the other toys I like to have on my daily commute.

Other extreme: Off lease Q50s with all the toys.

Where will I go? I don't know yet, somewhere in the middle and if I need to lean somewhere I want it to be on the interesting/fun side not the boring side.

 

[gregoron]

I'd look at:

1. VW CC, or
2. Golf R

 

[aquariuscsm]

http://www.infinitiusa.com/coupe/q60

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: horse123
ZL1? $55k base, 4 seats, insane HP and lots of tuning opportunities if you're into that, very fast, and by far the most capable twisty-road "muscle" car built by a manufacturer today.


Save for that same company's current Z28.

 

[hattaresguy]

The best cars in the world to cover vast distances in comfort are an S class sedan or coupe. I personally feel the CL's are the best GT cars this side of a Bentley. I'd probably look at a CL550, if your budget was a bit more the CL600 has no competition in both speed and comfort.

A Lexus LS also makes a nice ride, but IMHO they are lacking in the fun department.

Small cars can't compete with a proper LWD sedan or coupe, they lack the wheel base to soak up road imperfections.

 

[oilpsi2high]

Chevrolet SS Sedan

 

[ryanm8]

If you're interesting in tuning, you can get a low mileage 07-09 BMW 335i for under $20k and tune it to almost 400whp for around $100, with the potential for a lot more. And the handling is amazing.

The one downside to these cars is reliability.

I have an 07 335i and I wouldn't trade it for anything short of a GT-R.

 

[thr_wedge]

Okay, well totally NOT what I was thinking...and I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I'm leaning pretty heavily towards the latest 2015 Charger w/ new 8 speed ZF transmission, and probably in nothing more than R/T form. My buddy and I had a chance to test one out (loaded 2015 Charger) and with the stock R/T suspension, brakes, acceleration were all VERY impressive. I've been in a LOT of cars and driven a lot of cars, some of them quite fast, and I was impressed.

New interior is incredible, fit me well, back seat was nicely sized for at least those of us under 6', I had a ton of room back there. That was nice to know.

Power was more than adequate. Had the pick up I wanted. Would I like more? Yes. Would I use more...I don't know. Would I regret the 5.7L, probably not. I don't think I could use the Scat Pack's power really...I took the Charger on an on ramp and hammered the gas, and honestly had to slow down before I even got onto the HWY. This was not a long on ramp either.

The ZF 8 Speed is fantastic. That alone is going to keep me from looking at older Chargers.

Interior is an improvement over even the last redesign IMHO.

Handling was impressive for such a big car. Braking was equally impressive, surprised how fast it could slow such a heavy car down! The ride itself was PERFECT for the amount of driving I do.

Anyways, thought I would throw an update out there. Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Like I said this kind of went out into the weeds and into a car I never would have considered based on my initial criteria of "sporty". Cheers.