What vehicle do you drive?

Burren said:

Non-comp M5s are totally fine. They actually have a better looking gauge cluster. People get fixated on the bigger number of HP in the competition trim.

there isn’t a car with the b58 that I like, but I feel nearly all of the BMW range is ugly now. The B58 is popular because it can be modded to 550-600 hp without touching internals and its reliable. Do you want to replace the turbo, intake, exhaust, and have it tuned in order to get there? Not a cheap or quick endeavor.

C7z with either transmission is a torque monster and fast and sounds good for under $75-80k clean. Last generation Mercedes AMG GT coupe? Audi RS5?

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By most metrics I should love the audi options, I do love the wagons. Audi R8 was like first fast car I lusted after. But kinda hadn't seen much that I see that excited me on first appearance like F /c8 etc has. And I still kinda remeber their woke commercial b4 it became so common.

But like I said retarded tastes, I like unique or over the top so I don't mind half the newest bmw. So you can have a Maserati that on paper worse than those Mercedes / audi options but I still almost want some of those cars based on being rare to see around here.

Dad always wanted a vette and he's coming in a couple months ago think I'll rent a c8 for a few days for him to enjoy and get my curiosity out. Luckily a few in turo, though scant else.

Sludig said:

By most metrics I should love the audi options, I do love the wagons. Audi R8 was like first fast car I lusted after. But kinda hadn't seen much that I see that excited me on first appearance like F /c8 etc has. And I still kinda remeber their woke commercial b4 it became so common.

But like I said retarded tastes, I like unique or over the top so I don't mind half the newest bmw. So you can have a Maserati that on paper worse than those Mercedes / audi options but I still almost want some of those cars based on being rare to see around here.

Dad always wanted a vette and he's coming in a couple months ago think I'll rent a c8 for a few days for him to enjoy and get my curiosity out. Luckily a few in turo, though scant else.

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Corvettes have the best performance to price ratio and drive nothing like heavy Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, or even Jags. It not only beats them all in the quarter, it will leave them in the dust on the corners. Only Porsche and cars that cost over $100k can really out perform it in both categories (you can get cars that can do one better, like the Miata, but not both).

As Burren said, the C8 looks like it has no trunk space, but the C6 and C7 both have enough for a decent sized grocery store run. While they hold their value well for an American car, you should now be able to get a C7 Z for less than $80k, and a C6 Z for less than $60K. Be aware, the Z performance package is exactly that, so a lot of people don't like to daily drive it, since it has a much firmer suspension. The "trim" packages under the Z06 are still nearly as fast in a straight line and more comfortable to drive daily.

Also, the seats are made for an American ass, so I have seen a lot of people with European asses switch seats if they track it or regularly take corners aggressively on abandoned roads (you will slide around on the seats a bit but they are mighty comfortable for a sports car).

Corvette Forum has a very active user base, where you can find out what defects/recalls/peculiarities a various year may have and a decent place to find used cars for sale.

See the new 2025 or whatever Aston Vantage? stole some of the F's gone work but hey jag want using it anymore

Sludig said:

See the new 2025 or whatever Aston Vantage? stole some of the F's gone work but hey jag want using it anymore

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Don't think I have ever seen an Aston I didn't like or want, but alas, a fleet of Astons is a bit outa my price range.

Edit: Then I actually go look at the new Aston and "...look how they massacred my boy." Are the competing with BMW for who can eventually turn the whole front end into one big grill? We heard you like grills, dog, so when you buy an Aston, we can give you a grill, to go with your grill!

Better than the prior vantage, not as nice as the one from the mid-2000s. 665hp is a lot, but so is the price tag. Questionable reliability. Doubt we will see many around, which is a shame because its cool. But so many options at that price point.

lgarthy said:

More Golf R tire drama today...

Ripped a hole in my Nexen snow and cracked yet another rim.

Dealer replaced the rim but could not locate four matching performance snows. And yes-- there is 14" of fresh snow.

So the solution was 2 Nexens in the front and 2 continental snows in the back with the same performance/snow rating and similar tread design.

Crazy or brilliant? I dunno... But I am not putting the summer tires on yet.

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Why the hell are you breaking so many wheels? Are you driving into pot holes or over curbs all the time? This isn’t normal.

Burren said:

Why the hell are you breaking so many wheels? Are you driving into pit holes or over curbs all the time? This isn’t normal.

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The last city I lived in had appalling roads. I had to keep constant lookout for potholes and the like. Rain storm? New potholes to look out for. I've been behind drivers who didn't bother driving around standing water and banged their cars through them without a care in the world.

Not where I lived, but similar results

Burren said:

Why the hell are you breaking so many wheels? Are you driving into pot holes or over curbs all the time? This isn’t normal.

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This, though I had a R32 with low profile tires. Admittedly in 3-4 years just going up and down I25 I think I had 1 flat and 1 blow out on the highway, and I think a 3rd bulging spot in the sidewall on I forget which performance all season it was back then. A minor piece of road debris here or there, maybe a light bump of a curb that didn't rash me, I dunno, but that VW was the only car I've ever really had any tire issue on other than 1 nail in the mustang I think. But colorado roads whern't like crazy bad.

lgarthy said:

Road conditions this year are the worst I have ever encountered. I do mostly highway driving. Potholes on major highways and, especially, potholes and railroad crossing on secondary roads. Snow/ice covering them is a big problem.

Biggest reason, I think, are the 20" tires with no significant tread to act as a barrier. On a good day, a small bump resonates right to the occupant's spine on the Golf R.

I had a set of 18" Winter wheels. They do not fit this car (but were great on my prior R). 20" snows were a bad solution... But affordable.

I think the 20" tires were an overall bad design for this vehicle (for many reasons). I looked into getting a set of 18" rims. With winter and summer tires and 18" rims you are looking at $2000.00 to $3000.00 for the set.

In fact, on my 2018 R, I preferred the 18" snows all year round. They just had a better feel to them.

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Have you looked into tirerack or others finding "optional" tire sizes, ie stuff that isn't default fitment but technically fits, and purposely go for something with a larger profile.

Generally not much room to move to a larger tire on a modern car because they are designed to avoid large empty spaces under the car as those increase air resistance and hence CO2 emissions. Wheels are built as lightly as they can too (lower wheel weight = lower emissions) so not as much resilience left in those either.

It's not like the 80s when even a full size boat had 15" wheels with a balloon for a tire on it and you could still hold a fist between the tire and the wheel well on every side.

Getting a set of 18s is really his best option to avoid pothole damage, other than moving to a place with better roads or doing something unmanly like driving slower.

I believe I need one of these. They start at just over half a million Euros.