4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

The E90 M3 does sound great with the right exhaust and 414hp looks good on paper, but it is a big heavy car with not much torque. I have driven a few of them and seriously considered one when I bought my G37 6spd. sedan back in 2015. The problem is that you really need to rev the snot out of them to get them to move and 8,300 rpm on in a 10+ year old BMW always seemed like a risky endeavor to me. You gain some reliability with better rod bearings, but they are also known to go through expensive parts on the top of the engine as well- was it the individual throttle bodies? I forget.

The 2015+ M3 has a ton more torque (and much easier to add big power if you want), less weight, much better fit/finish, and I would argue styling as well, but that is always subjective.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Well, I finally decided to sell my STI Type RA and was shocked how quickly it sold- less than 20 minutes after I listed it on Autotrader! More amazing was that it was a guy who only lives about 15 minutes away from me. Crazy!!

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

So how long was your ownership? Less than two years?

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, about a year and a half. I bought the car thinking I would get back into racing and had all these plans, but just never had the urge to do it. I must be getting old because the only things I didn't like were the rough ride and bad mpg. Ironically, when I got my G37 I got it mainly for a smoother ride, better fit & finish, and better features than my Evo, but then ended up spending a ton on the G37 to track it a few times when I should have just kept the Evo for track days.

iCrap

iTrader: (8)

Wow, that was fast. Seems like you're having better luck than me with autotrader, so far nothing but scammers.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

IIIR, you went from the G to a Jeep to the Subaru. Are you chasing something in particular for next car (cough cough caddy), or taking a break?

Lego_Maniac

iTrader: (3)

@4DRZ and the replacement is???

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, I think myself and the buyer both had perfect timing and got very lucky. (I honestly didn't think it would sell until March.) He was looking into a blue one way out in Oregon that would cost him $1,800 to ship to him sight unseen. That car had way less mileage, but was stock and black is a lot more rare color- less than 1/2 as many as blue or white. Then he bought my winter wheels & tires too (that were going to go onto my next car).

I got the Jeeps because I was getting worn out from racing and wanted to try something new- off-roading. It was a lot of fun, but much more difficult to find places to go off-roading than I thought and rolling a $50k+ Jeep didn't appeal to me after a while. Neat vehicle, but once I discovered how crazy capable it was off-road I felt dumb daily driving it and only using 1/10th of its capability 99% of the time. Kind of how I felt with the Subaru. Great platform if I was going to go racing, but I feel like I have accomplished everything I wanted to do there. Still lots of fun to go, but I was only going once or twice a year and the other 364 days out of the year it was a rough ride with bad mileage. The CT4-V Blackwing is in the back of my mind as a great daily driver with magnaride suspension and a great track car, but I just don't feel like I would track it enough to make sense. Right now I am chasing a great daily driver that is still fun to zing around a corner or roundabout since that is 99% of my driving.

I have yet to find what I would call a "suitable replacement." However, I will post up a pic of my new daily driver once I get some better wheels on it. Trust me, no one will be excited about this car, but it is the ultimate daily driver for me.

iCrap

iTrader: (8)

it's a Nissan leaf... isn't it?

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Wait, so you already bought your new DD?

Just spill it, man. You don't have to wait for new wheels to tell us what it is.

Lego_Maniac

iTrader: (3)

I don't get the Jeep thing. Sure, it's off road capable, and there are undoubtedly a group of enthusiasts that utilize that capability, but the majority don't. My neighborhood is full of moms rolling in lifted Jeeps that never see more off roading than the grass at a soccer field. Talk about a vehicular penalty box to have to shuffle around town in

FWIW, I don't get the ultra high performance 7 passenger SUV thing either

Pretty sure it's a Leaf.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Damn, I knew I gave too much of a clue when I said no one would be excited about it.

Sorry, didn't mean to make anyone wait. I just thought it was such an unexciting car for car guys that I would at least wait for a decent picture of it. Anyway, I also thought I mentioned earlier that I put my name on an incoming '23 Leaf because it was in that cool dark blue metallic that used to be a $2,000 option for the GT-R.

So I will explain my reasoning if anyone cares. I had the 1st Leaf in our area when it came out in 2012 and it was the perfect daily driver for me. It had 1/2 the range of the new one I just got, but still I only charged it once a week and maybe twice a week in the winter. I never had to pay a dime for gas or electricity with our chargers at work. No oil changes and no maintenance except for tire rotations. No need to spend thousands of dollars a year on upgrades either. Fast forward to today and the STI Type RA has really been bugging my less than perfect back with its rough ride and I also hate daily driving it and running errands because it gets awful mileage and runs on premium 93 octane- only 2 stations in our entire city have this gas.

At work we just installed 4 level 3 quick chargers so I can charge the new Leaf in about 30 min- 1hr. depending on the state of charge. I can easily go 2-3 weeks between charges. It is much better looking from the front and back and inside than the last one, almost sporty- almost. The hubcaps and chrome door handles look awful from the side, but the rest is a huge upgrade compared to the last version. It was supposed to be here last year and the govt. was changing incentives so it was not supposed to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit this year. Fortunately, the treasury dept. is way behind so the new battery regulations do not go into effect until March. The Leaf still qualifies so my brand new 2023 Leaf that will cost me $0 to operate, has a full warranty, and I get back XM radio is now under $19,000!?! Yesterday, I got a $300 spiff from Nissan for selling it to my self. Nice! It rides infinitely better than the Subaru and has a few new tech and safety features. I also like the hatchback for hauling my new fat bike around.

Here's where it gets strange- I think it will be a fun sporty/sports car around town in corners and roundabouts with sticky tires. It has an extremely low center of gravity with the battery pack under the floor boards. It has a near 50/50 weight balance for handling. It also has instant torque so it is probably actually faster than the STI up to about 30-40 mph. And it is silent so if anyone thinks they are fast from a stop light I will probably fly past them silently. The ultimate sleeper.

Now my ultimate goal was just to have this for a while and order something a lot more fun to drive like a CT4-V Blackwing, Golf R 20th anniversary, Nissan Z, or Audi S4. However, none of those cars are perfect replacements for me and I am actually enjoying driving the Leaf a lot more than I ever thought I would. So I might keep this thing a little longer than I thought. I told myself I have to give it at least 2 months of driving before I order anything else. Complete shock- I have driven the car for just over 2 weeks now and have not even given the other cars another thought.

I gave way too much away with that remark about no one liking my daily driver didn't I? I am with you 100% on the Jeep thing. That's what I was getting at with only "using 1/10th its capability 99% of the time." Wisconsin has lots of beautiful country and some off-road parks, but they are all private parks that require and entry fee and can only be used certain times of the year. It would be like track days- infrequent and expensive to have the vehicle or upgrade it properly. To do it right you really need a cheap Jeep that you sink a ton of money into so it can drive over anything and a friend with the same obsession who can pull you out of the mud. I didn't want to have a Jeep constantly covered in mud that I only drive 2 or 3 times a year. I also did not want to be a poser driving around a nice Jeep that I hardly ever use as intended.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Did you get the SV Plus?

https://www.caranddriver.com/nissan/leaf

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

No, I couldn't justify the extra $8k for a car with even uglier wheels.