Even less practical than the Z4 Coupe...

So, with the sale of the Z4 pending, and a couple of backips standing by in case the first deal falls through, I’ve brought home the replacement. 

It’s blue— really, really blue.  And I’ve now traded difficulty  of entry/exit for the former pain of operating a manual transmission. 

Actually, entry is not that bad— you’re working with gravity. Exit is a little less graceful. 

2015 model with just over 17,000 miles. This has burned through something like $60k of depreciation at my CPO purchase price. 

Awesome.  I’ve been looking at these too. How do you like it so far?

Flippin’ sweet!

Oooh, Nice. Those are kind of fascinating to me. I’m interested to know how you like it after living with it for awhile.

The engine noise in the cabin may be fakity-fake-fake, but it’s an excellent noise regardless. Or you can do silent running in EPOWER mode. 

The view of the rear fenders from the driver’s seat in the side mirrors is to die for. 

It seems to hop around a bit on broken pavement, but it’s on brand new tires, so I may need to get those a bit more broken in. 

Drove it home today from Madison, around 150 miles and the car reported about 36 mpg, including some maximum effort runs with my in laws. 

Getting folks who are 80 years old in and out approaches hilarious. 

More pics-

I like these cars.

I just can't unsee them giving birth to a 911 from the rear.

Attempt at capturing the view in the mirror

Yeah, these are amazing and are really great deals on the used market. They're a true exotic and if early electric cars and hybrids will be collectible in the future, these are prime candidates.

If I wasn't such a cheap ass I would have one. They're so sweet.

This is one of those cars that I don't want to like, but I can't stop staring at.  I feel like all the black should be some other color though. 

Every one that I have seen has been blue.

Still a hatchback so still super practical.

dculberson said:

Still a hatchback so still super practical.

Lol

There might be room for one or two more gallon jugs, but it's certainly sufficient to hold an adequate number of six packs!

There is some additional room in the back— the only people you’re putting back there are one’s without legs or heads.   Pretty much the same passengers you’d put in the back seats of a 911. 

Snazzy blue seatbelts all around though!

This goes against everything I stand for and love.

And I am extremely jealous and want it nonetheless.

I've only just recently seen a couple of these. But they've been out for at least four years? 

wvumtnbkr said:

I like these cars.

 

I just can't unsee them giving birth to a 911 from the rear.

Well, now I can't unsee it either lol

Nice ride!

Adam

adam525i said:

wvumtnbkr said:

I like these cars.

 

I just can't unsee them giving birth to a 911 from the rear.

Well, now I can't unsee it either lol

Nice ride!

Adam

I can’t argue with this, but it’s no where near as apparent when you see how the facia is put together from the side. 

Just want to document the current state of the garage, as this is unlikely to happen again. 

And all of them could stand a bit of a wash, though some more than others. 

In reply to Karacticus :

Fun fact, the i3 is faster 0-30 than then i8 

And if we're talking rearward views that can't be unseen, the i3 reminds me of a Goomba from Super Mario Bros. from behind.

$60k depreciation on F-Type R, same price now as i8, which to choose?? :(

In reply to ToyDampner :

do you want a plug in hybrid? that is all you have to answer.

In reply to Karacticus :

Nifty car, what is your impression of actually driving it day-to-day?

I took a few runs in one a couple years ago for an autocross school.  The car felt very much out of its element there but it seemed like it would do interstate and backroads really well.

It's a pretty nice place to be for interstate, on ramps and  back roads.  With the exception of there not being seat/mirror position memory, it feels very much like a $100K plus car inside, given my experience with exactly (this) one of those.

I'll probably take it to a couple of track days to try it out.  I've not run my options to ground, but it doesn't look like there's a lot of front brake pad options I'd really be happy doing extended track duty with.

At this point, this is barely more than bench racing, but I also think it's pretty under tired for track or autocross-- it's running on 215s in the front and 245s in the back 20 inch wheels at both ends), where I was running a square 245 setup on 17s on the Z4.

Also not a lot of tire options, and 20s are expensive, though not quite as much as I expected when you only buy them at 215/245.  There's likely less than 300 miles on the Pirelli PZeros that were just put on the car, and at least per Tire Rack, they are the only option with a complete set in stock.  In electric mode only, where it's just the front axle being driven, stability control will kick in on dry pavement if you floor it.  They may get stickier once broken in.

Oh-- one other thing I've discovered.  The window tints a previous (I believe Florida) owner put on the car probably don't pass muster in Iowa.  It's not my intention to run out immediately to have that addressed.

Very cool! I've seen just a couple (maybe the same one on different days) and it always makes my head snap around. They look like a concept car for the future in the best way possible. 

Bought a second one. 

$30 shipped!