Intro: New ITS Owner

[optronix]

Haha. Wife has a new Defender, but I think she likes the ITS more. I've only driven it once before it went to the detailer to get tint, ppf, and ceramic.

I'm not really a Porsche fan, nor Audi. Was thinking about purchasing an RS6, but owners I know state that there's on going issues that make it a headache.
Oh, and there's nothing wrong with driving over curbs and parking barriers in a Wrangler or Bronco lol

Porsches have become dramatically overpriced, and it's bringing the older ones along with it. Their "controlled inventory" thing they do with allocations where they make you feel like they're doing you a favor "allowing" you to buy a car is just insufferable. I tolerated it because I became obsessed. Then I realized that owning one did not materially impact my quality of life in the slightest, in fact it probably added to my anxiety. That said, the driving experience is among my favorite- although that's tapering off with the newer cars. I don't like the 992 as much as I liked the 991, and I think my favorite generation is the 997.2. But if I ever own another one it will not be purchased through a dealer. The service is a slap in the face too. Was recently quoted $3400 on a 40k mile service that includes:
- oil and filter change
- air and cabin filter replacement
- brake flush
- PDK fluid and filter change

Insanity.

But I feel like you'd be a Turbo S kind of guy. I don't really vibe with big power cars, so I never understood the appeal, especially vs a GT3. But a 600+whp M3 feels like a good gateway drug to a Turbo S.

Audis are more for normal, sane people. But they've never been driver's cars. I thought the RS5 would be the perfect do-everything car- nope. I feel like it was a car that was objectively "good" at everything. But it wasn't actually that "fun" to drive. I can admit now I lied to myself about the steering. Steering and inputs in general are very important to me and the RS5 felt numb. All the YouTubers were right. Somehow my Macan GTS is more fun to drive than the RS5, and it really comes down to steering and chassis feel. I preferred the inputs of the F82 M4 I had over the RS5 as well. An RS6 is interesting but it's not something I'd ever want to actually take on a race track, and therefore doesn't justify the price point.

Driving over curbs would have been very useful in DC the other day as I waited for a light for a u-turn for 4 cycles with ZERO oncoming traffic the other direction.

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[peterfromsd]

Porsches have become dramatically overpriced, and it's bringing the older ones along with it. Their "controlled inventory" thing they do with allocations where they make you feel like they're doing you a favor "allowing" you to buy a car is just insufferable. I tolerated it because I became obsessed. Then I realized that owning one did not materially impact my quality of life in the slightest, in fact it probably added to my anxiety. That said, the driving experience is among my favorite- although that's tapering off with the newer cars. I don't like the 992 as much as I liked the 991, and I think my favorite generation is the 997.2. But if I ever own another one it will not be purchased through a dealer. The service is a slap in the face too. Was recently quoted $3400 on a 40k mile service that includes:
- oil and filter change
- air and cabin filter replacement
- brake flush
- PDK fluid and filter change

Insanity.

But I feel like you'd be a Turbo S kind of guy. I don't really vibe with big power cars, so I never understood the appeal, especially vs a GT3. But a 600+whp M3 feels like a good gateway drug to a Turbo S.

Audis are more for normal, sane people. But they've never been driver's cars. I thought the RS5 would be the perfect do-everything car- nope. I feel like it was a car that was objectively "good" at everything. But it wasn't actually that "fun" to drive. I can admit now I lied to myself about the steering. Steering and inputs in general are very important to me and the RS5 felt numb. All the YouTubers were right. Somehow my Macan GTS is more fun to drive than the RS5, and it really comes down to steering and chassis feel. I preferred the inputs of the F82 M4 I had over the RS5 as well. An RS6 is interesting but it's not something I'd ever want to actually take on a race track, and therefore doesn't justify the price point.

Driving over curbs would have been very useful in DC the other day as I waited for a light for a u-turn for 4 cycles with ZERO oncoming traffic the other direction.

Agreed.
Turbo S’ are nice, but I’m really not a Porsche guy. Believe me, I’ve driven a lot of them and they just don’t float my boat. Rather go the Ferrari route; 488, f8, or sf90. The youngest one is about to graduate high school this year, so I can see it in my garage in less than 5 years. At least that’s my goal.

 

[optronix]

Agreed.
Turbo S’ are nice, but I’m really not a Porsche guy. Believe me, I’ve driven a lot of them and they just don’t float my boat. Rather go the Ferrari route; 488, f8, or sf90. The youngest one is about to graduate high school this year, so I can see it in my garage in less than 5 years. At least that’s my goal.

That's another conversation. A Porsche is not that level of exotic. They maybe used to be in the conversation (I'm talking 20-30 years ago), but mass-producing SUVs moves them away from a manufacturer like Ferrari in the exotic spectrum. Different philosophy- although their trajectory with their sports cars seems to imply they still think they're in that conversation. Regardless, I'm not that level of wealth so I don't really pay attention to Ferrari. I'm also still laughing about their cease-and-desist over the nyan cat issue with Deadmau5 a few years ago (the Purrari incident). Brand image is important, but something like this triggers a gag reflex. To me, at least.

Anyway, if I were to buy anything other than a Porsche, I'd buy an Emira. Money absolutely no object? I find the Artura pretty interesting. But I've given up on that for now. Interesting you mention kids- my youngest graduates college in 2 years. But I can't imagine a world I'm not still paying for everything. My dream car is now an imported DC2 Type R.

 

[ChromaPop]

That's another conversation. A Porsche is not that level of exotic. They maybe used to be in the conversation (I'm talking 20-30 years ago), but mass-producing SUVs moves them away from a manufacturer like Ferrari in the exotic spectrum. Different philosophy- although their trajectory with their sports cars seems to imply they still think they're in that conversation. Regardless, I'm not that level of wealth so I don't really pay attention to Ferrari. I'm also still laughing about their cease-and-desist over the nyan cat issue with Deadmau5 a few years ago (the Purrari incident). Brand image is important, but something like this triggers a gag reflex. To me, at least.

Anyway, if I were to buy anything other than a Porsche, I'd buy an Emira. Money absolutely no object? I find the Artura pretty interesting. But I've given up on that for now. Interesting you mention kids- my youngest graduates college in 2 years. But I can't imagine a world I'm not still paying for everything. My dream car is now an imported DC2 Type R.

Curious if you would choose an Alpine A110 with an ICE and a manual transmission over the Emira if it was available in the USA?

 

[optronix]

Curious if you would choose an Alpine A110 with an ICE and a manual transmission over the Emira if it was available in the USA?

I personally would not. Not over the Emira. The A110 is a super interesting car and I hope dearly it comes to these shores, but the Emira hits all the notes. Design, power, inputs, and exhaust noise (the V6 manual at least).

That said, depending on what price point we're talking about could change the calculus. I don't see it being less than $70k if it were to come to the States, so that's a pretty big delta right there... but for me personally I still think the Emira justifies the $30k difference. If the A110 is $50-60k (unreasonable expectation but just hypothetically), that would be tough to pass on.

edit: also note I intentionally chose a Boxster GTS 4.0 when I had the opportunity to order one of the early Emiras- and I have no regrets. The GTS 4.0 is an absolute gem of a car. One of the best ever made, at any price. But... if I were to do it again TODAY, I'd choose the Emira.

I just really wish they made them without a roof...

 

[peterfromsd]

Car is back home today from the detailer. Full Stek package: tint, ppf, and ceramic coating. Now, waiting for some mods.

 

[ChromaPop]

I personally would not. Not over the Emira. The A110 is a super interesting car and I hope dearly it comes to these shores, but the Emira hits all the notes. Design, power, inputs, and exhaust noise (the V6 manual at least).

That said, depending on what price point we're talking about could change the calculus. I don't see it being less than $70k if it were to come to the States, so that's a pretty big delta right there... but for me personally I still think the Emira justifies the $30k difference. If the A110 is $50-60k (unreasonable expectation but just hypothetically), that would be tough to pass on.

edit: also note I intentionally chose a Boxster GTS 4.0 when I had the opportunity to order one of the early Emiras- and I have no regrets. The GTS 4.0 is an absolute gem of a car. One of the best ever made, at any price. But... if I were to do it again TODAY, I'd choose the Emira.

I just really wish they made them without a roof...

All good takes. I also feel that Lotus should make the manual transmission available on the 4 Cylinder Emira.

 

[RatBustard]

Audis are more for normal, sane people. But they've never been driver's cars. I thought the RS5 would be the perfect do-everything car- nope. I feel like it was a car that was objectively "good" at everything. But it wasn't actually that "fun" to drive. I can admit now I lied to myself about the steering. Steering and inputs in general are very important to me and the RS5 felt numb. All the YouTubers were right. Somehow my Macan GTS is more fun to drive than the RS5, and it really comes down to steering and chassis feel. I preferred the inputs of the F82 M4 I had over the RS5 as well. An RS6 is interesting but it's not something I'd ever want to actually take on a race track, and therefore doesn't justify the price point.

that's basically what has drove me towards and ITS.

I currently havea B9.5 S4 and it's a great German sport appliance. I've had basically all generations of S4, and I thought the B9 was going to be even better than the B8. nope, it's incredibly boring.

so shopping ITS's and hope to be in one soon.

 

[peterfromsd]

Finally had the chance to drive the vehicle around yesterday and I enjoyed it. Nearly kicked the clutch pedal through the firewall because it's so soft .

 

[optronix]

that's basically what has drove me towards and ITS.

I currently havea B9.5 S4 and it's a great German sport appliance. I've had basically all generations of S4, and I thought the B9 was going to be even better than the B8. nope, it's incredibly boring.

so shopping ITS's and hope to be in one soon.

B9.5 was 2021 and up right? I had a 2021 RS5 which I knew was the B9.5- but I traded a 2018 S4 AND a 2017 911 C2S 7MT in on it. Again- I thought it would be the perfect compromise and allow me to convert 2 vehicles into 1 as I had to start paying for 2 extra vehicles for each of my teenage sons- and I don't even have a daily commute. But I was wrong.

But where you're right though, is the S4 was amazing as a daily driver. I'd call it perfect but the RS5 was even better lol. But as a sports car, it felt just like you say- an appliance. I was never inspired to just wake up on a Sunday morning and go looking for a back road to carve up. I tried once and it just didn't do much for me. At least I didn't lose much on the trade... at the time ~2022 there was hardly any inventory and they were fetching markups even on used cars that put them over the already-too-high MSRP.

In any case, the ITS is a far better solution for someone who wants a genuine sports car feel but has to get a dog in the car and doesn't want to occupy a garage space with a 911 that barely gets driven.

 

[RatBustard]

B9.5 was 2021 and up right? I had a 2021 RS5 which I knew was the B9.5- but I traded a 2018 S4 AND a 2017 911 C2S 7MT in on it. Again- I thought it would be the perfect compromise and allow me to convert 2 vehicles into 1 as I had to start paying for 2 extra vehicles for each of my teenage sons- and I don't even have a daily commute. But I was wrong.

But where you're right though, is the S4 was amazing as a daily driver. I'd call it perfect but the RS5 was even better lol. But as a sports car, it felt just like you say- an appliance. I was never inspired to just wake up on a Sunday morning and go looking for a back road to carve up. I tried once and it just didn't do much for me. At least I didn't lose much on the trade... at the time ~2022 there was hardly any inventory and they were fetching markups even on used cars that put them over the already-too-high MSRP.

In any case, the ITS is a far better solution for someone who wants a genuine sports car feel but has to get a dog in the car and doesn't want to occupy a garage space with a 911 that barely gets driven.

correct, B9.5 is is the MY21+ facelift. I was planning an RS5 Sportback, but then we had kids and daycare bills appeared, so S4 it was.

not trying to take over OP's thread, but my use case has changed in the last couple years with a new job. I travel probably 120+ days a year and rarely commute anymore (WFH or traveling for work). I've done the fast tuned Audi numerous times, so even though having a fast car is fun, it's not everything. so, when I do have to commute or drive, I want something more fun and engaging. I really like reading and hearing everything about the ITS from here and elsewhere - seems like I'm in good company and going the right direction.

I'm still a VW guy at heart though, so I drive my garage queen mk4 R32 on nice days during spring/summer/fall.

 

[peterfromsd]

correct, B9.5 is is the MY21+ facelift. I was planning an RS5 Sportback, but then we had kids and daycare bills appeared, so S4 it was.

not trying to take over OP's thread, but my use case has changed in the last couple years with a new job. I travel probably 120+ days a year and rarely commute anymore (WFH or traveling for work). I've done the fast tuned Audi numerous times, so even though having a fast car is fun, it's not everything. so, when I do have to commute or drive, I want something more fun and engaging. I really like reading and hearing everything about the ITS from here and elsewhere - seems like I'm in good company and going the right direction.

I'm still a VW guy at heart though, so I drive my garage queen mk4 R32 on nice days during spring/summer/fall.

No worries here, but I think you mistyped the sentence wrong.
Its: having 1 fast car, 1 fun car, and 1 engaging car, that IS EVERYTHING.

Side note: seems like I need to open up a daycare business

 

[peterfromsd]

Just under 150 miles on the odometer now. Been keeping the rev's under 4k.
I'm still in shock on how soft the clutch is on this car.

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