That is not quite the point. For me a major thing is getting unwanted attention from people when you want to make tracks. My B5 S4 can stay under 3K at 20psi and scoot away without anybody giving me a second look. Same story with my W12. 2500rpm-3000 and you are moving out. My old turbo SHO had to be between 4-5K for the turbo to really get going and it was painfull waiting for the turbo to spool when you just wanted to scoot infront of traffic and didn’t want to wake the dead to do it.
I think a good look at a C63 would suit your needs well but the B8 S4 is really tough to top for value right now if you want something that is really comfy to drive that can still move out when you want. I would not discount the audi A6 3.0T either (automatic only) since they do a bit lett money than the S4 usually and are still decently powerful. Good bang for buck upgrades. pulley and tune on the 3.0T engine is right around 100hp gain because of the way the factory tune dumps boost at high rpm. A seemingly random and expensive option is a bentley continental. If you don’t care about warranty they are very powerful and still can be tuned to gain pretty healty numbers but you would be looking in the 40-45 range for a 04 or 05 car but with a tune and exhaust you are looking at 600+hp twin turbo W12. This powertrain has nothing on the S65 mercedes if you are comparing their potential but the AWD and broad tq band in the W12 makes it brutral to drive on the street.
I would not encourage a V10 powered S6, s8, and w12 (anything that uses the old 6 speed auto) based on my expierence with my W12 transmission. If you want something fun to shift the transmission in these cars are horribly slow. They are stout and have a great track reccord but from a fun standpoint it just is not there. My W12 has paddles on the wheel and it changes gear when it gets around to it if you know what I mean. I don’t expect it to bang gears being what the car is but fuck in sport mode you can at least make a effort. Don’t get me wrong the car still moves out but the team in charge of shift programing either failed hard or the hardware (gearbox) they had to work with is just not nimble enough to get the job done with speed. The new ZF 8 speed is a different story but you are not talking a budget that would include anything with a 4.0T that I am aware of.
cliffs
*mercedes C63. great gearbox good power, good aftermarket, decent but save for the head bost failure
*3.0T great powertrain with easy 100hp power gains see audi S4 and A6 sport diff option is a must!
*bentley continental fits some of your needs as it meets needs for daily driving with AWD and brutal power is a exhaust and tune away but expensive upfront cost and no warranty makes it a risky buy and also has slow boring transmission (expect mid teens at best for fuel economy)
*pre 8 speed audi S6, s8, and W12 slow boring transmissions and all have no aftermarket support or easy power to be found. great daily drivers but handling is weak at the limit, and will leave you wanting more.
If you like the E class I would go drive a new 3.0t a6. I think you can get them in 4.0t without going to S6 money but it is a new powertrain and is going to be pricy. obviously rs7 would be the ultamate as far as audi is concerned and will run 10’s with a tune only but you are getting into a pretty pricy car at that point. I have thought about selling my W12 so many times to get into a continental, but The lack of aftermarket is a major stopping point and not knowing how far that transmission can be pushed completely kills my interest in one. I look at S55 and S65 and they are so much cheapier and can go so much faster with proven parts but that AWD is the only thing that makes my mind go to bentley for a fast DD in buffalo unless you want to build somehting. The newer audi’s are doing it though it just depends on what you want. I am a nut for driveability and that is why I was trying to stear you away from the boring versions of otherwise fun cars.
BMW has always made the best drivers cars
mercedes makes the most comfy cars
audi falls somewhere in the middle, and does both well but neither great. For snow this is a fun ballance.
have you considered a 535XI with some turbo work so you can be seirous when you need to be but still do slidy stuff when you want to? much more tuneable than the M5 if you want to play that game.
I thought about a GT-R…I would prefer a 4 door but am not set on that idea.
I would like to narrow my search by opinion and research as most of these cars are difficult to come by locally which makes test drives and physical comparison difficult.
bmw m5 is the best sound worst bmw ever love the car but maintenance on that thing is crazy my neighbor has one. i pretty sure you wouldn’t get smg but that car had a lot of problems and it was lower mileage but if you search you can see for yourself esp the early year e60. i liked it but i liked an e63 6.2 better. i like the e92 m3 doe very well all around car
Great motor, but just don’t think id want to drive a cadillac everyday with all their cheap/cheesy/generic looking GM parts inside the interior. They’ve come a LONG way, but its still not the same feeling as a bmw/benz.
