Car shopping - at this rate, they're going to confiscate my German passport...

We started car shopping proper today and the first car on the list was a low mileage 996 Carrera 4S. Nice car, looks very well looked after, good performance, ticks all the boxes.

It left me pretty cold. Yes, it's fast. Yes, it's comfy. But when I dropped my butt into a classic 911, turned the key and drove off for the first time, it felt very special. This one didn't. It just felt like, well, a nice car. I guess if/when I can afford another one, I'll just get another impactbumper 911, but I don't think I'm going to spend money on a 996.

So much for my "patriotic duty" to buy a German car .

Next stop, the local Scion emporium. Amongst the few dealers we have visited so far I must say that was the nicest experience by a long shot. Nice, non-pushy, helpful sales people. I musta ended up in a parallel universe .

Anyway, I took a second coming, sorry, FR-S out for a spin and must say, it felt like it lives up to the hype. And it was fun. And it needs more grunt. Anyway, if I can live with a 3 season car - which is what we are trying to avoid - I'd definitely consider it. Oh, and probably bolt on a supercharger as soon as the warranty runs out .

Next stop, a not so local Mitsu dealer who happens to have both an Evo X MR and a Ralliart in stock. This requires a trip down to the Bay Area tomorrow as there is no Mitsubishi dealer who actually has both in stock any closer. Not ideal, but at least my go-to guys up here are already looking after a bunch of Evo Xs so I don't have to drive 80 miles to get it serviced if we buy one.

Let's see how I like those or if we have to travel a little further so I can also look at an NSX. Of course, I'm trying to buy something with a warranty that I can use year around, not another 20 year old car...

Choose hats with curved bills. Choose not drinking energy drinks. Choose not using the word bro. Choose not being a douche. Choose not an FR-S.

I'm sitting here trying to think of an enthusiast 4 season car but beside the ones you mentioned, not many choices... Especially if you consider a warranty a requirement.

Was going to suggest taking a drive in an RX8 or NC MX5 but even snow tires may not be enough for Tahoe. I think you're in Tahoe... I'd suggest a Saab 9-3 Combi wagon with the 6 speed manual and AWD but not sure if that fits the bill if you are looking at 911s, FRS and Evos... Cadillac CTS V may be cool too but might be too much of a 3 season car....

amg_rx7 wrote: I'm sitting here trying to think of an enthusiast 4 season car but beside the ones you mentioned, not many choices... Especially if you consider a warranty a requirement.

I believe the standard answers here are Subaru and Audi, but I think OP doesn't really care for subies and Audi's are... well, they're audi's.

We are in Carson City, but work is up in Tahoe, a five minute walk from the lake. To get there in winter I have to go over a 7200' pass...

mtn is right, I don't care much for Subies (which is almost the default "fast sedan" out here) and I don't care that much for the more normal Audis. I might consider one of the older performance models but then we're back into potentially buying someone else's headache which is what I'm trying to avoid. Plus the idea of paying for maintenance on an older V8 twin turbo Audi scares me. A lot.

One of the reasons that we're looking at Evos is that my wife can drive one with the dual-clutch trans if she needs to (she doesn't "do" stick) and that means we can really get away with three cars (Evo, her Range Rover and my Miata track shed).

One of the added issues with Audis is that I don't know of a reputable and trustworthy shop to look after them and I don't know how good the main dealer is. I do know that the main dealer is expensive, and I'd rather give the SCCA go-to shop the money instead.

Oh, I do drink the occasional energy drink, but my baseball cap says "Classic Motorsports" on it so I'm not really in the middle of the FR-S demographic.

If we don't like the Evo enough, we're probably going to look at late model RX8s with a manual trans and the understanding that I'll have to borrow the wife's RR in really bad weather. That means we have to have four cars as she has to have a backup car. Yeah, I'm a bit paranoid about that. Trouble is that I can find early RX8s all day long, but late ones are pretty scarce out here, even down in the Bay Area.

LainfordExpress wrote: Choose hats with curved bills. Choose not drinking energy drinks. Choose not using the word bro. Choose not being a douche. Choose not an FR-S.

That's like telling somebody not to buy a Miata because you'll look gay in it.

Kenny_McCormic wrote:

LainfordExpress wrote: Choose hats with curved bills. Choose not drinking energy drinks. Choose not using the word bro. Choose not being a douche. Choose not an FR-S.

That's like telling somebody not to buy a Miata because you'll look gay in it.

I already have a Miata. I tend to wear a helmet when driving it so people don't recognise me anyway . I think the reason the FR-S appeals is because it has a similar feel to the Miata, but I can see myself count the days until the end of the warranty so I can finally bolt a turbo or a supercharger to the engine. Ideally I'd like to avoid that because I prefer my DDs mostly non-modded.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: That's like telling somebody not to buy a Miata because you'll look gay in it.

I guess. It just seems like the FR-S/BRZ took forever to come out, and we worried and wondered, would it be great? Would Toyota ruin it? It's a Scion?

Then it arrived... and it was pretty good. Then overnight, default douche canoe.

It seems whenever somebody is tailgating the E36 M3 out of me, or otherwise driving like an ass, it's always a 18-24 year old in an frisbee wearing stupid sunglasses, a flat billed hat, and drinking a Monster. Guhf.

It's rather funny but the BRZ crowd is quite a bit different from the FR-S crowd

Um. What about this?

Any idea how a Frisbee would do on snow tires? It doesn't seem to be nose heavy like, say, a 3rd generation Camaro, so I'm not sure about the 3 season part unless you're dealing with so much snow you need more ground clearance.

Finally back from the trip to the Mitsubishi dealer.

With paperwork for an Evo X MR.

Didn't like the Ralliart too much, it's nice but we found the seats to be awful for our backs.

Biggest surprise of the day was my wife - she had been very dubious about the whole thing but fell in love with the Evo the minute we went out for a test drive. She even picked out the car we decided on.

That cost me an additional two grand .

What is leaving to facilitate the Evo?

If you can afford a C4S, then a 996 Turbo is within your reach. My cousin has one, and it is awesome! It's so freaking fast that you could forgive it anything. And somehow the all-leather interior (including dash) make the car feel more special than other 996s. I was not a big fan of 996s until I drove the Turbo. It really is that good!

Junkyard_Dog wrote: Um. What about this?

I just picked up an S60R on Tuesday and for the money, they are a deal!

yamaha wrote: What is leaving to facilitate the Evo?

Two cars already left - the 325ix and my wife's Cherokee. Our C4 Corvette has to go now, too, but after the recent overheating episode that had me discover a bunch of shoddy workmanship (that I paid very good money for) it mostly has to be disposed of to make room, not to fill the coffers.

The Honda CRX might have to go, too, but if we get rid of the Corvette we already hit the "3 vehicles a year max without a dealer license" limit that the DMV imposes.

M030 wrote: If you can afford a C4S, then a 996 Turbo is within your reach. My cousin has one, and it is awesome! It's so freaking fast that you could forgive it anything. And somehow the all-leather interior (including dash) make the car feel more special than other 996s. I was not a big fan of 996s until I drove the Turbo. It really is that good!

I originally was looking for a Turbo, missed out on a very low mileage one for basically the same price as the Evo but in the end we decided that give my recent worse than usual luck with used cars, we really wanted something brand new with a warranty.

I'm also thinking that 911 will forever mean "aircooled torsion bar model" for me.

BoxheadTim wrote: I'm also thinking that 911 will forever mean "aircooled torsion bar model" for me.

I agree with this, +1

Nice! Keep us updated on the EVO.

The dual clutch EVO X is the other car I was considering before I picked up the Mustang. No Mitsu dealers in Tulsa, then the next two didn't regularly stock EVO X's, just the lancers.

Potentially having to drive a few hundred miles for warranty work killed it for me. And the latest issue of GRM will be extra important for ya!

Well, I have to drive at least a hundred miles for warranty work also, that's the downside. The dealer we're buying from - closest dealer than has them in stock - is a good 3h-5h each way so that's a little less than ideal.

I talked to the shop foreman at our local SCCA go-to shop first before even looking at an Evo - they are looking after several GSRs already so at least we have someone local who has some expertise in them, even though ours will be the first dual-clutch one.

yamaha wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote: I'm also thinking that 911 will forever mean "aircooled torsion bar model" for me.

I agree with this, +1

+1/2

I don't mind the ones with springs... but yeah... anti-freeze is a deal breaker unless GT3-RSR appears somewhere on the title.