You can always get one of these .....chassis built in So Africa ..
Great conversation! My wife is telling me she wants a back seat for our toddler and a 94 lb German Shepherd. Is the back seat functional at all on the 911? My impression was always that Porsche was wasting money putting the back seats in their cars. So seems like M3 is the most likely choice, now.
Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions?
I've owned an M3 (circa 2005, a convertible) and several Porsches (all 911 variants). The back seats of the Porsche are basically shelves for your bags or briefcase, they are not useable. (Perhaps for little kids, not big dogs, and I'm not sure I like the idea of either a toddler or a big dog in a sports car). The M3 is a fast car, I'm sure the latest ones are faster than the one I had, but you sit upright, it doesn't feel like a sportcar, it feels more like a smallish 'uber-sedan' if that makes any sense. (We still keep BMWs, we are probably on our 7th one now- my wife has a new 335 coupe, which is a ball to drive given that it is a 'sporty' coupe, with a stick, but it is not a sports car in the true sense). So, different cars in my estimation. Lot's of people look at 0-60 speeds which are pretty irrelevant. And while BMWs have a lot of nice road feel for what they are- better, in my estimation than any M-B or Audi I've driven, they still don't (and can't) give you that low center of gravity, turn on a hair quality that a true sports car can. (Here, I'm not judging by price, but by nature of the car, in the sense that even something like a Miata is more of a sportscar than an M3). The M3 will be faster, but that's not really the point of a sportscar in my estimation.
4. I'm not sure BMW ever built a true sportscar- the 507 is classic, but still a boulevardier. (So, too, was the two seater they made circa 2000 modeled on it. I haven't driven the current 2 seater BMW's but sort of like the look of them).
Puro- we rarely disagree and I'm not going to start now. I had completely forgotten about the M1- pretty rare bird. The Z8, however, was to me, in the spirit of a boulevardier or GT style car- if memory serves, when BMW quit distributing them, they were branded Alpina, but only came with a slush box to my knowledge. Beautiful car- yes. Hard edged sports car, not so sure. (Frankly, just to put my skewed perspective into context, I'd put most of the standard issue modern 12 cyl. Ferraris in the GT category as well- big, fast, powerful, far too heavy, but quite comfy doing the Autobahn thing. On a track, the ones I drove were pigs). Ditto, Lambo. On the Z-3/4, I think you are right, they are sports cars. Never much cottoned to the look of the Z3, but the current one is good looking.I would consider the BMW M1, Z1 Z3, Z4 and Z8 sports cars. the M3 is a sports coupe and shares its chassis with a sedan variant and wouldnt be considered a sports car. if i were younger and my budget were ~25k id look at the Scion FRS/Subaru BRZ, i drove one and its a great little sports car in the early datsun Z mold.
Mercedes??? we re talking sportscars not taxies
Mercedes??? we re talking sportscars not taxies
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