Fast, fun car - good mileage? Any advice?

[LRtagger]

Ariel Atom

0-60 in 2.9sec and 30 mpg

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by Ironlung

I don't think it could hold its own against the sti, cts-v, or cobra.

Maybe not from stop light to stop light but on a winding road it would.

[gyldenlove]

Originally Posted by chadta

my buddy has one of these, its awesome

http://www.mercedes-amg.com/s63.php?lang=eng

630 horse V12 family sedan, paddle shifter, fun fun car to drive

If you for an AMG, get the SL 65 or the C63.

[gyldenlove]

Originally Posted by LRtagger

Ariel Atom

0-60 in 2.9sec and 30 mpg

They finally put a windscreen on that sucker....

[Ironlung]

Originally Posted by broncosteven

Maybe not from stop light to stop light but on a winding road it would.

That's highly debateable...and who races on winding roads besides rally drivers?

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by Ironlung

2762lbs. Weighs more than i would've guessed. I like the looks of these cars alot. They certainly look fast.

hmmm, well, it is under 3000lbs which is kind of rare for a mass produced car, yes? Still, I agree. Throw a turbo on it and call it good.

[CBF1]

The CTS-V is one bad mother, I would take over a 3 series any day of the week and twice on Sunday's.

Supercharged 6.2L V8 putting down 556 horse power and 551 ft lbs of torque... A 3 class dreams about those kinds of numbers.

19x10'" wheels with monster 285/35/19 Michelin pilot's

Read the following link, 190mph with the 6 speed manual transmission and the following quote, " the company held nothing back in the ride and handling department. For those forgetting, the four-door version was the first sedan to crack 8 minutes around the infamous Nürburgring, and was the fastest four-door in the world for a few years, until the new 2012 M5 gave the ‘Ring a run, which is said to be a few seconds faster around the track.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/11/...c-cts-v-coupe/

[CBF1]

Or get an old Renault R5 Turbo II, pulls over a G in the handling department and fast as hell to boot. If it was good enough for James Bond, it is good enough for any of us.

[Tombstone RJ]

Cadillac has real quality control issues. I wouldn't touch one.

[Ironlung]

Originally Posted by CBF1

The CTS-V is one bad mother, I would take over a 3 series any day of the week and twice on Sunday's.

Supercharged 6.2L V8 putting down 556 horse power and 551 ft lbs of torque... A 3 class dreams about those kinds of numbers.

19x10'" wheels with monster 285/35/19 Michelin pilot's

Read the following link, 190mph with the 6 speed manual transmission and the following quote, " the company held nothing back in the ride and handling department. For those forgetting, the four-door version was the first sedan to crack 8 minutes around the infamous Nürburgring, and was the fastest four-door in the world for a few years, until the new 2012 M5 gave the ‘Ring a run, which is said to be a few seconds faster around the track.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/11/...c-cts-v-coupe/

It's an amazing car...and thats bone stock! When you start modding these cars they can be absolute monsters.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by ak1971

Audi S6

Reliability issues.

[chadta]

you want fast and good mileage, get an R1, or some other liter bike, 200 horse, 300 lbs will do the quarter mile in mid 9's bone stock, and still get 35-50 MPG

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by Ironlung

That's highly debateable...and who races on winding roads besides rally drivers?

Well, the mark of a good car is how it does overall, and that includes on winding roads.

[MagicHef]

Well, I was certainly aiming for the wrong tax bracket.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Ironlung

I don't think it could hold its own against the sti, cts-v, or cobra.

Off the showroom floor tested by car and driver magazine a few years ago:

BMW 13.6 @ 106
Sti. 13.3 @ 103

Trap times trump et in most drag racing circles when the argument is who is faster or has more power.

[cmhargrove]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

Well, I was certainly aiming for the wrong tax bracket.

No, I think I'm with you. I want to find something fun, but I'm looking to keep the whole package under 40k. Some of the suggestions here seem a bit over my budget.

[That One Guy]

My Silverado and Forenza both can do 90 MPH on the freeway. How much faster do you need?

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by CBF1

The CTS-V is one bad mother, I would take over a 3 series any day of the week and twice on Sunday's.

Supercharged 6.2L V8 putting down 556 horse power and 551 ft lbs of torque... A 3 class dreams about those kinds of numbers.

19x10'" wheels with monster 285/35/19 Michelin pilot's

Read the following link, 190mph with the 6 speed manual transmission and the following quote, " the company held nothing back in the ride and handling department. For those forgetting, the four-door version was the first sedan to crack 8 minutes around the infamous Nürburgring, and was the fastest four-door in the world for a few years, until the new 2012 M5 gave the ‘Ring a run, which is said to be a few seconds faster around the track.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/11/...c-cts-v-coupe/

Cadillac is putting their nose into the premium market along with BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes. Cadillac doesn't have the long history those brands do, though.

GM has some history of innovative kind of vehicles, the Oldsmobile Toronado for instance. Front wheel drive luxury car. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Toronado

Cadillac had FWD in the Eldorado with the same platform, also some of their later models like the DTS, CTS.

Too bad the quality sucked, it was common to see Cadillacs with paint flaking off exposing primer, or being towed. Alright, history lesson over.

Cadillac has improved their quality lately and got themselves into the conversation at least for premium luxury vehicles.

[loborugger]

A VW GTI is fun and fast and about 30 MPG. Its pricey - but not as pricey as the other stuff that is being suggested in this thread. I have one that I bought used and I really dig it. If you are tall, the VWs have more room than other cars. I had a Mustang a while back and the GTI has better leg & head room. The downside to the GTI is that a fix can be expensive - but no more so than the Merc or BMWs that people are recommending.

[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by cmhargrove

No, I think I'm with you. I want to find something fun, but I'm looking to keep the whole package under 40k. Some of the suggestions here seem a bit over my budget.

How much of a back seat do you want?

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by cmhargrove

No, I think I'm with you. I want to find something fun, but I'm looking to keep the whole package under 40k. Some of the suggestions here seem a bit over my budget.

Hit the BMW dealer used cars or the Lexus dealer used car lot. Have some fun on test rides, they want you to buy the car, that's for sure. They'll have plenty of selection and you can let 'em rip a little bit.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by cmhargrove

No, I think I'm with you. I want to find something fun, but I'm looking to keep the whole package under 40k. Some of the suggestions here seem a bit over my budget.

Get a used Porsche Turbo, fantastic cars. You can get a used 996 for under $50k. These were the first water cooled Porsches, with the tear drop design front headlights. For whatever reason this particular look is not as popular with most Porsche enthusiasts hence the lower prices:

http://cars.yakaz.com/porsche-996-tu...o%20for%20sale

Go big or go home.

More info on the 996:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_996

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by Cito Pelon

Cadillac is putting their nose into the premium market along with BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes. Cadillac doesn't have the long history those brands do, though.

GM has some history of innovative kind of vehicles, the Oldsmobile Toronado for instance. Front wheel drive luxury car. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Toronado

Cadillac had FWD in the Eldorado with the same platform, also some of their later models like the DTS, CTS.

Too bad the quality sucked, it was common to see Cadillacs with paint flaking off exposing primer, or being towed. Alright, history lesson over.

Cadillac has improved their quality lately and got themselves into the conversation at least for premium luxury vehicles.

Well said.

I have read a lot of good things about what they are doing, they certainly are now in the converstation. I did do some comparision shopping between the 2 a couple months ago, I will stick with BWM because they have been doing it year in and out. Plus I love that they went the turbo rout on the new 2013 cars. guys like me only need the kick for passing, I not burning rubber from light to light so the savings on gas mileage would benefit me.

Plus you get German engineering.

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by Tombstone RJ

Get a used Porsche Turbo, fantastic cars. You can get a used 996 for under $50k. These were the first water cooled Porsches, with the tear drop design front headlights. For whatever reason this particular look is not as popular with most Porsche enthusiasts hence the lower prices:

http://cars.yakaz.com/porsche-996-tu...o%20for%20sale

Go big or go home.

More info on the 996:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_996

My 2nd car was a used 928 I think it was an '83. I loved that car, that engine is still probably out on the street running. I couldn't afford to keep it nice at the time, stuff like the sun roof broke down (though they did include a manual crank which I thought was cool) and I needed to drive 35 miles to a new job in bad weather conditions so I sold it and bought a 4x4. I should have kept it. The couple bad snow days we had I was the only idiot who made it in, everyone else got the day off. I would buy another one if the wife would let me have a 3rd car.

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by loborugger

A VW GTI is fun and fast and about 30 MPG. Its pricey - but not as pricey as the other stuff that is being suggested in this thread. I have one that I bought used and I really dig it. If you are tall, the VWs have more room than other cars. I had a Mustang a while back and the GTI has better leg & head room. The downside to the GTI is that a fix can be expensive - but no more so than the Merc or BMWs that people are recommending.

Knock on wood but I haven't had any real big fix issues outside of maint. I had to replace a washer tank because it cracked and a tail light assembly I got reimbursed due to a recall. You get free oil changes and stuff for the 1st couple years.

Nothing terrible, my wifes Durango had an issue where it would switch it'self into 4 low when the thing was off, like it was haunted or something. Had to replace the transfer case, it cost over $1500. I haven't had that on the BWM and I have had the BMW for over 10 years now.

I bought non OEM brakes and had a guy put them on for me and saved some money that way. I also have him do the recommended maint stuff in the book.

If you go to a dealer and do the 100k recommended service it will cost you $2k but if you do most of it with a mechanic you trust you can save lots of money and keep it running at it's best.