Totally agree with most of the comments above- the ideal car is all dependant on your ideal needs – i.e. its all Horses for courses really isn’t it! :cpilot:
B4 I made my purchase; I wanted a quick, comfortable 2 seat coupe or roadster that would be great fun that I could use every day.
I certainly didn’t want the car to make me feel it was always on the edge and requiring constant attention as this could become tiresome, for example I wanted to be able to drive the machine a thousand miles and get out fresh & relaxed, not tired or frazzled. :dizzy:
So I decided to go for a sports cruiser/ sports coupe- rather than an all out sports car and wanted something classy & refined. I also wanted reliability built in as standard and was not prepared to deal with any issues like standing on the side of the road waiting for the AA, (or whatever recovery company floats yer boat) so this pretty much excluded all classic cars, Astons and TVR’s for a start.
Merc: Don’t like SLK & have experience of the SL and like them, however very early on I decided I may consider one when I am 80, but certainly not for now that’s for sure!
Aston: (I am not a banker) :chairfight: After being advised by a relative (due to bad reliability experience) to not go for either an Aston or a Maserati, I tested the DB9 (6.0L V12) and the Vantage V8 (4.3L V8) and they were very, very nice; If I were buying on looks alone the decision would have been made already at this stage, but during test drive it was raining heavily and electrics on car started playing up so this put me right off. I loved the look and feel & interior of the Astons; however the reality of living with one day to day after spending 50K on a second hand high mileage model did not fill me with desire. Add to this; the well known reliability issues; the massive expense of insuring one; the silly servicing / running costs....all just meant they didn’t give me what I was really looking for so they were not for me.
Porsche: even though I have never personally been a fan of the Porsche cars, I tested the Boxster /Boxster S / Cayman / Cayman S in various flavours incl 2.5, 3.2 man & 3.2 Tiptronic S and 3.4 and never really got out of one with a big a smile-I did love the flat six though
. Don’t get me wrong, the Porsche’s are great cars;
just not for me or my taste and more full blown sports, not a GT or cruiser. Again the servicing costs are very high and I felt you had to be constantly on full alert, not able to relax at any stage which isn’t what I wanted.
Nissan: I tried the 370Z (V6) very fast and sounded gr8, just did not have the class or the pizzazz I was looking for and I wasn’t into the very firm ride. If I had been considering a track day option, this would have been higher on the list; however I wanted a better build quality and something far more refined than this.
Jaguar: Tried the XK but felt this was too big really, it was quick too, build and interior were lovely but this car just did not get ma freak on in any way, would class this as an older man’s option, (think Tim, terribly nice but Dim here!) :| however if I wanted 4 seats it would have been much higher on the list. Nice Car, not for me or what I wanted.
BMW:I tested a range of Zeds in various engine sizes (all of which I loved at 2.5 and above) and then the Z4M which I really, really loved, but it just didn’t quite have the interior / design I was after for a car in this range / price bracket. I wanted the coupe but also wanted the roadster at the same time and just could not quite find the right finish / colour I wanted.
So I had a bit of a sitrep and waited a while, I decided that I needed something with a different and fresh look, I really didn’t want to be seeing the same car every time I go for a drive either. Ref the engine; I knew by this stage I wanted a flat six power plant (I had become rather prejudiced towards the Flat Six as I have a Honda Valkyrie F6C 1520cc Bike and wanted a car version with more power and a lot more safety than a bike, after the testing of various Zeds this was a decision clearly made.)
Eye of the beholder-Then I saw the new Z4 E89 and almost got a stiffy on the spot. :wub: Something about the way it looks, those lines, the shapes that change depending on the angle and height you are in reference to the Zed, the fact you get a coupe and a roadster all in one pretty near perfect package. I pretty much fell for it before I drove one and once I saw the Pure White Design / Anthracite package I booked a test drive immediately. I kept telling myself it was going to be no good as I didn’t want to get my hopes up, yet as soon as I pulled off I was right smack bang in the place I wanted to be. I would have pawned my own granny for this beauty & I knew it. :telloff:
This was the only car I have stayed awake about prior to even driving it, genuinely excited the day/night before I took it out and took it away from the garage the same afternoon; never looked back and it’s a keeper. Can’t imagine ever getting rid of it, very happy and ideal for “what I wanted and needed”
which is why I've ordered the PDK 7 speed box on the 911