If it’s going to be his only car I say IS350. But you’re not going to find one w/ decent options under $30k. I got an IS250 since I still have the Z06. Compared to the Z06 the IS350 is still slow, so what’s the point? The 250 gets crazy good mpg, is insanely nice/comfortable etc. The GTO is also still a really nice option. The new ones still sitting on lots are going stupid cheap out here… dealers just can’t have ’06 “new” cars on their lots. You shouldn’t pay more than low 20s for a brand new GTO.
I guess if I was out where you all are I’d consider the AWD. The stock wheels are gh3y but the ClubLexus guys are putting big wheels on them and making the coilovers and springs and such work on them. So you can still make it look nice. The nice thing w/ the non-AWD is all but the super stripers already have really nice 18s that look good w/ just some little wheel spacers behind them.
If you get any BMW I’d extend out the warranty/maintenance plan. Headache free BWM ownership is worth it. But I’d NEVER own a BMW I had to pay for repairs as a DD. The only out of warranty BMW I’d ever consider owning would be E30 or E36 M3s as dedicated track cars.
I’m driving a E39 M5 right now (it’s a ’04 or whatever the last year was). It’s my housemate’s car but he’s back east so I get to drive his FD RX7 and M5 to keep them fresh. Haha. It is a really nice/fun car. It handles and drives much nicer than a nearly 4k lbs sedan should. Power is good, though not mind blowing.
The one thing about this car that disappoints big time is squeaks/rattles. It’s actually really bad… worse than the ’02 SS with twice the miles on it my girl just bought. Every surface in the cabin is covered in leather, and the headliner is suede. It’s pimp… but I think a lot of it is the leather squeaking against other leather pieces. It also sounds like the rear window causes a lot of the noise… chassis flex??
I thought about trading my IS250 on one a local dealer had. Then I drove it. The power is nice, on paper it’s faster than the E39 M5, but it didn’t “feel” it. But the interior is atrocious and the feel/quality just isn’t there. I’ve lusted after a CTS-V since they came out, but I had never actually driven one, or even been in one. I was hoping to drive it and be blown away and “have to” buy it. But instead it turned me off big time, very disappointing.
I’m spoiled on weather so I can’t really compare… but I just hate driving FWD. Ever.
All the hemi cars DO NOT respond well to mods. The computer is the issue, and nobody is truly into it yet. Look at the SC kits out there for the hemi cars… they’re using a injector plate sandwiched beyind the TB. That’s old-school ghetto shit like we did on LT1s back in the mid 90s before LT1Edit came out.
I call :bs Why do ppl always feel they need to over-state their MPG. I find it really hard to believe you do 50% better than the new (2008 standards) EPA average rating for your car: Fuel Economy of the 2003 BMW 330i
Even freeway only how do you get 5 MPG better than the 2008 EPA ratings? MT and other magazines have done a lot of comparing to the new 2008 standards and they are proving to be very accurate (unlike the old methods).
E46s are okay I guess… but if and only if it has lots of warranty coverage left. The driving experience is nice. But you pay a lot more to get the same level of luxo/hp as Lexo. And the Lexo nav is much, much better than BMW’s crap (I hate the system in this M5).
Again, :bs but this time :bs x eleventeen billiondy-five. You expect us to believe you get about 115% better MPG than the EPA’s ’08 average rating of 14 MPG? Fuel Economy of the 2004 Ford Crown Victoria CNG
Again, even the freeway rating is only 17 MPG, so where did you find that extra 13 MPG?
If quality, mod-ability etc. doesn’t matter to you. I prefer the look of the TB, but that’s totally subjective. I will give you credit though that the TB interior flat-out sucks. Hard.
So overrated. Yes they can make big HP cheap. I will not lie, I respect the power they can make on a stock longblock. But they are pigs, the interiors are such shit, and they don’t handle well (even w/ the IRS, which is a compromised system w/ poor geometery).
If you want to look like every Johnny pot-dealer that thinks he’s a cool guy and has the 6cyl 300 on 22” rims w/ the stupid ass 22” badge on the fender. I would want nothing to do w/ a 300 and the look/stigma that goes w/ them.
FWD FTL. And a TSX starts at $28,190. So that’s over $30k once you put tax/fees on it. And that’s w/o nav and the fun options. So what exactly is he putting in the bank?
-TJ