[Alfisti]

Doing a baege and mulling my ride situation for no reason other than I can.

A few years ago I started a thread on whether to go with a dedicated sports car or a compromise DD. I went with the sports car and have a lovely 997.2 in the garage.

Owning 3 cars with one garage has been far less of a problem than I thought so no issue there. The car is fabulous, real head turner though ideally it'd be a stick and the ride is notoriously poor on poor roads but I love the look, sound and performance and the analog nature of the car. In my initial thread I did raise concerns about road conditions, traffic and the type f roads in my area and this continues to raise it's head.

Local road conditions, so let's say a 40 minute round trip drive, are abysmal. Arrow straight, bland as can be. Road surface quality is somewhere between "Calcutta" and Goat Track, just appalling roads, really, really appalling condition. Traffic is insane, not only busy but in quieter times, say after 7pm where I enjoy a top down cruise, the area is plagued by just inept idiots blocking all lanes at half the speed limit, i am ALWAYS right up someone's arse.

So in summary, I am not really enjoying the car unless I drive a solid 45 mins west or north, drive for say 45 mins then 45 mins back. So a minimum half day excursion. I just cannot so that anywhere near as often as i'd like.

So revisiting the idea of selling the Porsche and selling the DD, a 2008 Saab wagon, and getting a compromise car. TBH I likely won't do it but after yet another miserable drive yesterday, it crossed my mind.

The tough part is compromise to what? I use the saab's wagon goodness to tote all types of shit, the wife's family car is smallish and no good for carrying stuff (Stelvio). I also have the one garage so my car would live outside, day in, day out through all sorts of miserable weather. I also do a LOT of short trips, maybe a total of 3,000 miles (5K km) per year but lots of short trips in shitty weather.

I have a large preference for convertibles, wagons and naturally aspirated engines if I am to drive it in a spirited fashion.

E92 M3? Mustang? Original X1 with the big boy engine and fresh sportier suspension? Thoughts, feelings, opinions?

[chassis]

971 Panama 4S is the answer. ST for the win if you can find one.

[Efthreeoh]

Trying to understand the use case. You want a sporty car, convertible, to drive on shitty road surfaces in heavy traffic with shitty drivers all around you?

Why not take the 911 and put an off-road suspension under it? A Safari 911.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

In my initial thread I did raise concerns about road conditions, traffic and the type f roads in my area and this continues to raise it's head. [...] Local road conditions, so let's say a 40 minute round trip drive, are abysmal. Arrow straight, bland as can be. Road surface quality is somewhere between "Calcutta" and Goat Track, just appalling roads, really, really appalling condition. Traffic is insane, not only busy but in quieter times, say after 7pm where I enjoy a top down cruise, the area is plagued by just inept idiots blocking all lanes at half the speed limit [...]So in summary, I am not really enjoying the car unless I drive a solid 45 mins west or north, drive for say 45 mins then 45 mins back. So a minimum half day excursion. I just cannot so that anywhere near as often as i'd like.

Not to be too obvious - but have you considered moving!?!
With road conditions as you described, I don't see how anyone would enjoy ANY car!

Originally Posted by Alfisti

i am ALWAYS right up someone's arse.

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I use the saab's wagon goodness to tote all types of shit, the wife's family car is smallish and no good for carrying stuff (Stelvio). I also have the one garage so my car would live outside, day in, day out through all sorts of miserable weather. I also do a LOT of short trips, maybe a total of 3,000 miles (5K km) per year but lots of short trips in shitty weather.
I have a large preference for convertibles, wagons and naturally aspirated engines if I am to drive it in a spirited fashion.

But you can't drive in spirited fashion on your roads, as described.
And convertible parked outside in the winter is what ... an icicle?

I say keep 997.2, and add a CyberTruck - that should intimidate the traffic around you into submission !



a

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Not to be too obvious - but have you considered moving!?!
With road conditions as you described, I don't see how anyone would enjoy ANY car!







But you can't drive in spirited fashion on your roads, as described.
And convertible parked outside in the winter is what ... an icicle?

I say keep 997.2, and add a CyberTruck - that should intimidate the traffic around you into submission !



a

You posted what I really wanted to say, which is, "just move" (knowing that's never a good suggestion - lol). My other comment I wanted to write was to suggest a 2-door 2.3L EcoBoost MT Bronco. I have one, and in their context, the Bronco is fun to drive. A cloth factory convertible top (from Bestop) is available for the Bronco.

[Alfisti]

LOL I suspected i'd get these responses. I'd like to move but the mrs wants no part of it, we've also poured a lot into the house and yard, 30ft cedars all around, it's sorta cottage in the city vibe but FUCK ME the roads are diabolical.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

FUCK ME the roads are diabolical.

Even in this?

[Alfisti]

Dead set that would work better.

[JeffinOregon]

Here you go.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Trying to understand the use case. You want a sporty car, convertible, to drive on shitty road surfaces in heavy traffic with shitty drivers all around you?

Why not take the 911 and put an off-road suspension under it? A Safari 911.

If I had to drive on shitty roads in heavy traffic I'd drive an EV SUV preferably with air suspension. It's like a riding in a floating business class. But I'm old, pain everywhere, and my fun cars always nearly land me in jail!

[BlkGS]

So after reading a ton of your posts, I feelike.ove got a decent feel for the sort of cars you like. You like light,.simple, and low. That doesn't really move with your needs of a wagon, likely with AWD, but also a suspension soft enough to soak up the roads where you live which is apparently Baghdad.

An older S4 Avant is probably the answer for you, but good luck finding a decent one of those... Let alone the timing chain issues.

Pretty much everything else is going to be heavy, and/or an SUV. The stelvio is probably the most likely what you want in an SUV, but you've already said it's too small.

If you're willing to put up with reliability issues I guess you could do a 535xi wagon? The 1st gen X1 is going to be way too small if you find the stelvio small. X3 is a little bigger than stelvio... But not by much. X5 is a good option, plenty of space but not huge. The G05 X5 drives better than Cayenne.

I think you need to kind of.narrow down a year and price range.

[ShocknAwe]

Had a cayenne GTS, great truck. They can be had for pennies now. The air suspension was truly game changing. I still miss it sometimes, but our X5D is so practical.

Manual swap your 997!

[vt100]

Stock Miata answers all the questions

[vt100]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Had a cayenne GTS, great truck. They can be had for pennies now. The air suspension was truly game changing.

That's for a reason I'd guess
How much is to replace the said air suspension?

[dreamingat30fps]

I don't understand the issue. You have a sports car for when you do want to drive 45 min to good roads or what not and you have a DD for everything else.

Why would you want to sell both and get something that will not be a very good sports car or daily driver?

[tranquility]

There's no way your roads are worse than mine over here but I still enjoy driving. Yeah, don't be a butt pirate.

My advice is just dump the kids and you can be sports car for life.

[G30M]

Mustang Dark Horse TREMEC 6MT

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by vt100

That's for a reason I'd guess
How much is to replace the said air suspension?

It's just because A it's a cayenne, which don't hold their values, and B it's the low powered NA V8, which is an amazing engine but is more of an enthusiast item. The truck is incredible and has as much off-road capability as a wrangler. Truly awesome.

The air suspension is $$$ as you expect, that's why I don't have it anymore, got damaged in an accident and one corner of the suspension totaled the vehicle.

[dumptruck]

Pics of the 997 please.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by JeffinOregon

Here you go.

Yeah.... nah ... Porsche tax with no flat 6.

Originally Posted by BlkGS

So after reading a ton of your posts, I feelike.ove got a decent feel for the sort of cars you like. You like light,.simple, and low. That doesn't really move with your needs of a wagon, likely with AWD, but also a suspension soft enough to soak up the roads where you live which is apparently Baghdad.

An older S4 Avant is probably the answer for you, but good luck finding a decent one of those... Let alone the timing chain issues.

Pretty much everything else is going to be heavy, and/or an SUV. The stelvio is probably the most likely what you want in an SUV, but you've already said it's too small.

If you're willing to put up with reliability issues I guess you could do a 535xi wagon? The 1st gen X1 is going to be way too small if you find the stelvio small. X3 is a little bigger than stelvio... But not by much. X5 is a good option, plenty of space but not huge. The G05 X5 drives better than Cayenne.

I think you need to kind of.narrow down a year and price range.

To be fair I need to be more specific right, like pick a lane 'Fisti. Let's go with option 1: sporty wagon, option 2: GT convertible Option 3: Sporty Sedan

Must be naturally aspirated, must be analog (so pre-2015 ideally) and a sub $50K CDN budget.

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Manual swap your 997!

This is an option, I would if i could but it HAS to be yellow or blue which is damn near impossible.

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I don't understand the issue. You have a sports car for when you do want to drive 45 min to good roads or what not and you have a DD for everything else.

Why would you want to sell both and get something that will not be a very good sports car or daily driver?

Because unless I dedicate myself to driving 40+ minutes ONE WAY before I even hit some decent roads, I am driving amongst imbeciles on roads littered with pot holes, random rises/crevasses, drain covers and other surface anomalies.

Originally Posted by tranquility

There's no way your roads are worse than mine over here but I still enjoy driving. Yeah, don't be a butt pirate.

I think the greater montreal region is worse than the GTA but the roads I frequent are an abomination.

Originally Posted by G30M

Mustang Dark Horse TREMEC 6MT

Mustang makes me think, it'd be reliable, S550 PP2 drop top maybe?

Other cars I have considered include;

- E92 M3 vert
- Jaguar XF-RS Sedan
- Jaguar XK-RS Cab
- Maserati Gran Turismo Cab (off the list as my mechanic says access is a NIGHTMARE and therefore billable hours are near TRIPLE the 997 for service
- Highly modified Saab 9-3 wagon with the 2.8 V6 ( i know of one)
- Original X1-M 3.0T lowered so it's a hatch (turbo charged but we will let that slide)
- Highest trim BMW wagon with a straight 6 I can find then mod

Originally Posted by dumptruck

Pics of the 997 please.

[freakystyly]

2007-2012 Audi S5 if you don't want to click the link. This one is in BC, not Richmond Hill
They're are super cheap now, AWD, supercharged 6 cyl for convertible or V8 if you go hard top... Maintenance bills will possibly outpace the purchase price in a short time.


https://www.autotrader.ca/a/audi/s5/...advancedSearch

Or again, some Audi all-road variant if you want something more wagon-ish. BMW abandoned wagons for SUVs pretty much.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

2007-2012 Audi S5 if you don't want to click the link. This one is in BC, not Richmond Hill
They're are super cheap now, AWD, supercharged 6 cyl for convertible or V8 if you go hard top... Maintenance bills will possibly outpace the purchase price in a short time.

.

my friend got one of these a couple of years ago. no issues for 1 year and then in the following year he'd spent more on repairs than he paid for the car, car was constantly at the shop with one problem followed by another.

around the same time i got one too but i sold with after 3 months becauae i had a hunch that a big bill was coming. the steering started to shake when turning slowly.