MotoGP in Buriram last weekend keeps the competition close. In qualifying 2 both Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez crashed which sent them tumbling down to 3rd and 5th on the grid, as they had already set fairly hot laps. A pleasant turn of events for each as they have both blown Q2s this season. Bagnaia wins pole position with a new all time lap record, Bastianini close behind, and Bez in fourth. Quartararo put the Yamaha in 6th for, I believe, his best qualifying this year.
In the sprint Jorge Martin's mad charge from 3rd led to him running wide and after some fighting he finished second behind Bastianini who was on it that day. Bagnaia settled for 3rd, unable to match pace and unwilling to take on more risk, Martin's second place put him two points ahead for a 22 point lead.
Disgusting to report this - Ducati finished 1-8th which drives home the advantage fielding so many machines can make. I'm looking forward to them having fewer running next year.
The race took place in rainy conditions. This is usually when any rider can win, and where Bagnaia has struggled. I believe he has zero rain wins. Marquez is often strong in these scenarios. Martin gets a great start and leads for a short while before blunders braking into turns allow Bagnaia and Marquez throigh. Throughout the race Marquez is harassing Bagnaia who is now holding on to first place. Martin is chasing the two when Marquez crashes after nearly getting the bike back on its wheels during the crash. He would remount and run back from DFL to 11th for 5 points. Bagnaia and Martin held their places with Jorge clearly unwilling to push for everything as he had a number of moments indicating treacherous grip levels. Pedro Acosta finished third after a terrible run of DNFs.
Bagnaia brings five points back and heads to Malaysia 17 points down. 1-2 for race and sprint is an 8 point change which means Bagnaia and Martin each have no room for error with Bagnaia needing someone to finish ahead of Martin even if Pecco wins everything.
Wasn't planning to watch the Mexican GP because the start was at 1.30 AM here, but I somehow woke up at 1.25 so decided to watch a few laps, which became most of the race. Yet another one where the action could honestly be described as riveting. Paid the price the next morning at work, but it was worth it.
Congrats on the Ledges outing, JB! I have a question, does running the SR8 get a little boring when there is no other directly comparable machine in your class?
'I have a question, does running the SR8 get a little boring when there is no other directly comparable machine in your class?'
I get that question a lot, so I'm going to pin the answer. Which is "no", but I'll explain why.
0. After a total of nine race weekends in the car, I still feel that I'm learning how to extract maximum speed from the SR8. It was much easier and faster to get used to the PR6, largely because the delta between straight speed and corner speed is less and it's so reassuring to drive. The SR8 is short on tire, has fussy aero, and has to be driven almost on fingertips lest you put yourself in a bad situation. So right now, merely running it for time in the company of very fast formula cars is satisfying enough.
1. I can't really afford to run the car anywhere I'd be bashing the fenders, like in Radical Cup. I'd need another 20-30 grand a year for repairs and maintenance, assuming I don't end up in a tire wall, and that's not in the cards right now.
2. I raced hardcore, fender-banging, literally-pass-someone-over-the-manhole-in-the-Corkscrew classes for almost twenty years. Not that I've had my lifetime fill of close-coupled, in-pack drama, but it's nice to take a few years away and focus on being a disciplined and effective driver. I've always been good at *racing* people, but I haven't always been good at getting the maximum out of my car.
And, finally:
3. At the speeds of which this car is capable, the only 52-year-old who should be bored by it is David Coulthard.
I call them Siberian-Americans. Anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss, who has been professionally cancelled for daring to practice anthropology, has a book out called On the Warpath: My Battles With Indians, Pretendians, and Woke Warriors
I never saw any problems with political commentary in your posts - in fact you are one of the more fair and nuanced commentators around these parts. What's the real reason for moving this to "Thunderdome"?
I think the problem is that comments about other topics in combination posts get lost/drowned out in the political discussion. It’s not a content issue, just a separation one.
I keep hearing that the political stuff smothers the other discussions whenever it appears -- so people who want to talk about a watch or a car have to wade through 500 comments about Trump or Harris on the way through.
"Any topics that deal with explicit political candidates, rather than ideas, will be sent separately as Thunderdome."
As someone for whom the ideas matter way more than the candidates, especially since I only approve of 1 out of the 4 persons in contention, this new structure may need further elaboration to keep me from faux pas-ing.
Has anyone published an actual weight for the 911t?
I don’t get why porxhe does not just produce more of the cars people actually wnat to buy 911 st various gt3s and gt4rs.
The lesson is you can sell a lot of
Pseudo sports cars(most new 911s) but there are a lot of people who only wnat the real thing.
The mad rush to bland cars has opened the doors for singer and also companies like Honda with the civic type R and everyone in between who bothers which is scant few.
Clearly there is an underlying underserved market for “real” performance cars as opposed to fast gt cars.
But then Ferrari hasn’t suffered from
Making handbags for men
Porche is now the Rolex of cars, a symbol you made x, and Ferrari the Patek.
Whither the true driver and enthusiast.
Unless you’re paying well over the notional msrp and prepared for a car with 40-100k worth of pointless cf and colored sticking. Forget about porche
It’s one thing keeping market tension by not overproducing but radically underproducing just makes dealers rich.
One would think the vw overlords should be interested in sales to keep
I was staggered to find out the other day, a 718 Boxster Style Edition (which comes in Rubystone and with a manual box) is only £60k. Ok you only get the four cylinder but still. That, pound for pound would seem to be best deal in the entire range.
Probably cant order one by now, production ends in 2025.
When you could the best bang for your buck was the Boxster/Cayman S, 350HP turbo-4. Cost anywhere from $80,000-$100,000 depending on when you got it. 6-speed or PDF.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the 470HP Vette will be marginally quicker to 60, so if that's what you want, along with a foot more length and width (to the car, not your penis) it's true you can have it.
If I want 0-60 I'll drop the clutch on my ZX14 and hope for the best. On a road course, the C8 far outclasses anything short of a GT4 Cayman. That being said, I put 60,000 miles doing overnight drives in a Boxster. I know it has real world virtues the Vette doesn't match. And I wish they'd sell it, and the 911, on that basis.
Could also be because Sean dislikes Porsche and won't give them the dignity of actually writing the name. My finance and I do this as a joke when we talk about people or things we find annoying. Or we add a "B" somewhere in the word.
That's a very good point. What is the real enthusiast's car of 2024? I'm not talking for Instagram points, but for someone who wants a car to actually drive?
"they really need to out that new inline 6 in one"
gonna have to disagree with you on that one
the point of a miata is a light simple and cheapish sportscar and trying to fit another two cylinders in there and then make everything else work with the added weight and power wouldnt likely make it a better miata
I think the Miata is crying out for a redo of the turbo. They only tried it for two years and it was pretty half-assed. The price of all cars is fairly high now, so I think the market could probably bear what it would cost to certify a variant motor. If they could stay within 200lbs and get something over 250+whp they would be in another league without breaking the bank.
"slightly" is doing a lot of work here. The internet is telling me that the Fiata was a 1.4l making a ground pounding 160hp. A 2.0 or 2.3 Ecoboost can almost double that, although I don't know what the weight penalty would be. There would also be a tax in dollars and pounds for upping the chassis stiffness and the brakes. Nonetheless it would be substantially less on both counts than anything involving increasing the number of cylinders.
As someone who had the 1.5, can confirm that it is amazing fun and can be thrashed like the proverbial rented mule. Just about brisk enough too, if a little buzzy on highways. Selling it was the dumbest thing I ever did.
For road I drive one of the new 4cyl Alfa gulias. More tha enough power for the road and by far the best steering of any modern car by a long shot. It also has suspension that articulates with great shocks to hold it all
Together.
If the old lpre china lotus had built a sedan this would be it
The first time I drove a Giulia my I was impressed by how good the steering was and that overall the car was what a BMW 3-Series used to be. Seeing a Giulia on the road is always a treat.
Also have a e46 m3 which I got new and just turned 36k. I found that car as delivered had a flat area on the powerband and also just made noise above 7k rpm . It also had classic German suspension tuning which was both hard and with too much body lean.
Above. 120 it would gain speed but not accelerate if that makes sense . A csl remap didn’t change the headline numbers but really let the motor run as it should and then I saw the magic.
I hear during Covid that car could accelerate past 170 going up a long incline and was still pulling hard .
The Alfa is better in almost every way dynamically but the na bmw 6 has a precision and magic no turbo car can match.
So many moderns lack real steering or throttle precision it’s like 50% of the equation is missing despite the power. Tha Alfa has power but the motor is meh, fortunately the rest is great and still
There
I’ve driven a 992.1 carerra s on track. There is turbo mush if not lag and in general that car felt like there was a layer of cotton woo between you and the action, no matter how good the underlaying bits might be. Is the 911T different ? The Alfa though that still feels alive
I was momentarily entranced by the Quadrifoglio, wouldn't that be your jam?
I'm pretty happy with the motor in the S4, depending on the throttle map, it barely registers as a turbo. Makes good sounds too. Steering is a little dead though.
The quad is great but where are you going to use it , and it’s 2x the 4cyl which comes with same seats brakes etc.
I guess for my speed ya yas are mostly out on track and that’s a completely different car for that purpose.
Plus have one or two others for different itches. The guiia is more of a daily and even then often I take my 2010 v6 equinox because it’s smooth steers ok and completely unobtrusive
The 4cyl guika easily cruises at 100 will punch up to l140. But yeah money no object go for the quad.
I was thinking to maybe trade the guila for a new m2 but then the new bmws seem to have such insipid steering and the m2 still not really out the box trackable so what does it add besides excess acceleration on road. The guila over 4 years just works no issues , asks only for an oil change. But yes while that 4cyl motor does the job it totally lacks the sense of occasion alwe get from oter cars.
S4 also an awesome all
Rounder and useable road car, once again a sweet spot. Which gets me thinking of a rs3, they say the 5 cyl
Motor has to be experienced somewhere in life. But those cars like porches suffer from manufactured shortage and dealer markups . If you could get the wagon version here that might tilt
the balance. But Audi like Subaru hasn’t figured out that high performance buyer might prefer a wagon for the road.
I guess it all boils down to passion and practical which boils down to use and roads where used .
Or as the wife likes to say it’s like slippers different ones for different purposes. Guila s4 and a few others cover a lot
Of bases in one car.
Still on a Sunday am something. Far more focused seems appropriate or a motorcycle , and then For track if you really get to be pressing on very very few street legal cars work, and even then…
All of which is to say that for road use fun the most extreme version of a car might not be the best esp
If you’re dealing along the day with traffic and variable road surfaces.
I don't know about Sainz. He seems to have a couple of good weekends a year, rather than being a consistent challenger to Leclerc. And whatever Lewis brings to the Scuderia, you've got to admit there's a certain romance to it (and yes I know it was what Senna was going to as well before a stray suspension arm scuppered his plans, which is almost certainly why Lewis is doing it).
If Checo needs a job after this season I have a lawn that needs to be mowed all next summer as well as some flowers and trees to plant come springtime.
If I did hurt his feelings, I'm sure he'll feel better when he gets home to his beautiful family at the giant estate they live.
Liam Lawson will likely have a job next year.
$50/day+dinner and some cookies? Since I doubt Checo will take me up on the offer I'll be out there myself with a spade and 50 bags of mulch. I wish I was a plumber, too, so I could run a water line to the front of the house for another hose nozzle to water all the new stuff. We're getting a ginkgo tree, a Japanese maple, some winterberry bushes, probably creeping flox, wild roses (for low maintenance) and more lilacs. I'm afraid the lilacs we tried propagating this year won't come back next year.
MotoGP in Buriram last weekend keeps the competition close. In qualifying 2 both Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez crashed which sent them tumbling down to 3rd and 5th on the grid, as they had already set fairly hot laps. A pleasant turn of events for each as they have both blown Q2s this season. Bagnaia wins pole position with a new all time lap record, Bastianini close behind, and Bez in fourth. Quartararo put the Yamaha in 6th for, I believe, his best qualifying this year.
In the sprint Jorge Martin's mad charge from 3rd led to him running wide and after some fighting he finished second behind Bastianini who was on it that day. Bagnaia settled for 3rd, unable to match pace and unwilling to take on more risk, Martin's second place put him two points ahead for a 22 point lead.
Disgusting to report this - Ducati finished 1-8th which drives home the advantage fielding so many machines can make. I'm looking forward to them having fewer running next year.
The race took place in rainy conditions. This is usually when any rider can win, and where Bagnaia has struggled. I believe he has zero rain wins. Marquez is often strong in these scenarios. Martin gets a great start and leads for a short while before blunders braking into turns allow Bagnaia and Marquez throigh. Throughout the race Marquez is harassing Bagnaia who is now holding on to first place. Martin is chasing the two when Marquez crashes after nearly getting the bike back on its wheels during the crash. He would remount and run back from DFL to 11th for 5 points. Bagnaia and Martin held their places with Jorge clearly unwilling to push for everything as he had a number of moments indicating treacherous grip levels. Pedro Acosta finished third after a terrible run of DNFs.
Bagnaia brings five points back and heads to Malaysia 17 points down. 1-2 for race and sprint is an 8 point change which means Bagnaia and Martin each have no room for error with Bagnaia needing someone to finish ahead of Martin even if Pecco wins everything.
Wasn't planning to watch the Mexican GP because the start was at 1.30 AM here, but I somehow woke up at 1.25 so decided to watch a few laps, which became most of the race. Yet another one where the action could honestly be described as riveting. Paid the price the next morning at work, but it was worth it.
Congrats on the Ledges outing, JB! I have a question, does running the SR8 get a little boring when there is no other directly comparable machine in your class?
'I have a question, does running the SR8 get a little boring when there is no other directly comparable machine in your class?'
I get that question a lot, so I'm going to pin the answer. Which is "no", but I'll explain why.
0. After a total of nine race weekends in the car, I still feel that I'm learning how to extract maximum speed from the SR8. It was much easier and faster to get used to the PR6, largely because the delta between straight speed and corner speed is less and it's so reassuring to drive. The SR8 is short on tire, has fussy aero, and has to be driven almost on fingertips lest you put yourself in a bad situation. So right now, merely running it for time in the company of very fast formula cars is satisfying enough.
1. I can't really afford to run the car anywhere I'd be bashing the fenders, like in Radical Cup. I'd need another 20-30 grand a year for repairs and maintenance, assuming I don't end up in a tire wall, and that's not in the cards right now.
2. I raced hardcore, fender-banging, literally-pass-someone-over-the-manhole-in-the-Corkscrew classes for almost twenty years. Not that I've had my lifetime fill of close-coupled, in-pack drama, but it's nice to take a few years away and focus on being a disciplined and effective driver. I've always been good at *racing* people, but I haven't always been good at getting the maximum out of my car.
And, finally:
3. At the speeds of which this car is capable, the only 52-year-old who should be bored by it is David Coulthard.
I suppose anyone willing to get rear ended with a 70-mph delta to get a contract extension must have a pretty steady pulse.
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf6e9aca-6f04-4f80-9d95-dfd7b35daf73_2861x2534.jpeg?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
LC King Brown Duck Canvas. Cuff your pants.
Sir, you have an eye! But this is race season, not cuffing season.
Is it permissible to wear a linen suit after Labor Day if it's a warm Indian Summer?
only if its not white
i think
For Jude Law? Yes.
For you? No.
It’s been Indian Summer all October!
Not that I’m complaining!
Ronnie, it’s white SHOES that a proper lady does not wear after Labor Day…..
I don’t think were suppose to call it that anymore. It’s Indigenous People’s Summer. One may only wear Gabardine after Labor Day.
I call them Siberian-Americans. Anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss, who has been professionally cancelled for daring to practice anthropology, has a book out called On the Warpath: My Battles With Indians, Pretendians, and Woke Warriors
Definitely a strong Asian thing going on except the engineering skills
I never saw any problems with political commentary in your posts - in fact you are one of the more fair and nuanced commentators around these parts. What's the real reason for moving this to "Thunderdome"?
I think the problem is that comments about other topics in combination posts get lost/drowned out in the political discussion. It’s not a content issue, just a separation one.
That's part of it, for sure.
Reminds me donkey konger wants me to send you something
You know how to reach me!
I keep hearing that the political stuff smothers the other discussions whenever it appears -- so people who want to talk about a watch or a car have to wade through 500 comments about Trump or Harris on the way through.
"Any topics that deal with explicit political candidates, rather than ideas, will be sent separately as Thunderdome."
As someone for whom the ideas matter way more than the candidates, especially since I only approve of 1 out of the 4 persons in contention, this new structure may need further elaboration to keep me from faux pas-ing.
Ideas & philosophy > candidates
Well, sir, as a Trackday Club member you have the ability to berate anyone you like in any fashion, your humble author included!
Membership has it's privileges
so it's just like the internet writ large then?
Has anyone published an actual weight for the 911t?
I don’t get why porxhe does not just produce more of the cars people actually wnat to buy 911 st various gt3s and gt4rs.
The lesson is you can sell a lot of
Pseudo sports cars(most new 911s) but there are a lot of people who only wnat the real thing.
The mad rush to bland cars has opened the doors for singer and also companies like Honda with the civic type R and everyone in between who bothers which is scant few.
Clearly there is an underlying underserved market for “real” performance cars as opposed to fast gt cars.
But then Ferrari hasn’t suffered from
Making handbags for men
Porche is now the Rolex of cars, a symbol you made x, and Ferrari the Patek.
Whither the true driver and enthusiast.
Unless you’re paying well over the notional msrp and prepared for a car with 40-100k worth of pointless cf and colored sticking. Forget about porche
It’s one thing keeping market tension by not overproducing but radically underproducing just makes dealers rich.
One would think the vw overlords should be interested in sales to keep
The ship afloat
I was staggered to find out the other day, a 718 Boxster Style Edition (which comes in Rubystone and with a manual box) is only £60k. Ok you only get the four cylinder but still. That, pound for pound would seem to be best deal in the entire range.
Here in the United States, that gets you a 470 horse mid-engined Vette and a half-decent pickup truck to drag it around on!
Unfortunately the C8 is uglier than an inside out frog.
Probably cant order one by now, production ends in 2025.
When you could the best bang for your buck was the Boxster/Cayman S, 350HP turbo-4. Cost anywhere from $80,000-$100,000 depending on when you got it. 6-speed or PDF.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the 470HP Vette will be marginally quicker to 60, so if that's what you want, along with a foot more length and width (to the car, not your penis) it's true you can have it.
The Vette also won’t be a piece of shit. 🦅
If you look at the interior you may have doubts about that.
Your comb over will do better in a coupe I'll grant you that.
If I want 0-60 I'll drop the clutch on my ZX14 and hope for the best. On a road course, the C8 far outclasses anything short of a GT4 Cayman. That being said, I put 60,000 miles doing overnight drives in a Boxster. I know it has real world virtues the Vette doesn't match. And I wish they'd sell it, and the 911, on that basis.
I'm gonna print this out and save it for posterity.
When you get to my age and wisdom, you've got 10 years, you'll ignore the chatter, trust your own judgment, and enjoy things on their own merit.
'When you get to my age and wisdom, you've got 10 years, you'll ignore the chatter, trust your own judgment, and enjoy things on their own merit.'
I think you're going to be highly amused by my V-Strom post.
EMBRACE THE 'STROM
was this a poem
I'm more fascinated by the gender neutral "porxhe". Spelling error or social commentary?
yes
Could also be because Sean dislikes Porsche and won't give them the dignity of actually writing the name. My finance and I do this as a joke when we talk about people or things we find annoying. Or we add a "B" somewhere in the word.
Creative misspelling is mad tite, yo.
"The heart wnats what it wnats" - True Poet Sean
Whatever I can do to bring a sliver of joy back into my life
The cabrios have had 'top surgery'.
you will never be a real roadster
Heard it wears boxters
That's a very good point. What is the real enthusiast's car of 2024? I'm not talking for Instagram points, but for someone who wants a car to actually drive?
miata
it's right there in the fucking name: Miata Is Always the Answer
EXACTLY
ND3
How about for fat people with claustrophobia?
weight watchers
Civic Type R
I test drove one and found it charming, but they seem to need a fair amount of work to not overheat on a track day in Texas.
Miata or maybe a BRZ.
But also
Lemme tell you how great the Elantra N is for the price. Awesome driver’s car AND at least moderately practical!
A used Elise?
Emira?
Nothing. That breed is as dead as disco. Everybody, according to the car companies, wants a luxurious main battle tank with a heated gas pedal.
Stolen dodge challenger w/ big gulp cup full of lean
you've been to Oakland, then?
Civic type r is pretty cool but hard riding and it’s going to fade after 3 laps if you seriously track .
The Corolla gr also and awesome fun road car but not for track.
While not my cup of tea the better spec mustangs work esp if you live somewhere with big roads and less bends
Used c6 zo6 is a keeper
Alfa 4c and Elise are hard to beat
I like Miata but they really need to out that new inline 6 in one
The toyobaru twins are great but by modern standards underpowered, they either need the Subaru turbo motor or the gr Corolla motor
Used boxeters are pretty cheap
"they really need to out that new inline 6 in one"
gonna have to disagree with you on that one
the point of a miata is a light simple and cheapish sportscar and trying to fit another two cylinders in there and then make everything else work with the added weight and power wouldnt likely make it a better miata
Agree. A slightly stretched miata could be a badass GT though.
They are missing an opportunity with a Miata GT hardtop coupe.
not bothered im in the minority or not but the hardtop nd looks ugly
maybe it would make slightly more sense if you just welded the top on and got rid of the mechanicals
They did that, and called it the RX-8!
those almost seem like practical cars but its tricky finding one that hasnt been owned by someone who doesnt know what theyve got
was gonna say exactly that
Or with the 6 it might be like a modern version of a 289 cobra
I don’t think the 6 is that much heavier and having driven an na Miata with an Acura v6 swap it’s pretty sweet
But yes it becomes less of a momentum car and more something else
or you could do what flyin miata did and put an ls in it to get something far closer to a modern cobra
I think the Miata is crying out for a redo of the turbo. They only tried it for two years and it was pretty half-assed. The price of all cars is fairly high now, so I think the market could probably bear what it would cost to certify a variant motor. If they could stay within 200lbs and get something over 250+whp they would be in another league without breaking the bank.
so a fiat 124 then but maybe with a slightly bigger engine
"slightly" is doing a lot of work here. The internet is telling me that the Fiata was a 1.4l making a ground pounding 160hp. A 2.0 or 2.3 Ecoboost can almost double that, although I don't know what the weight penalty would be. There would also be a tax in dollars and pounds for upping the chassis stiffness and the brakes. Nonetheless it would be substantially less on both counts than anything involving increasing the number of cylinders.
Can you put an LS in the 124? It’s just a Miata right?
Yes. In fact, I want the 1.5 to thrash like a stolen mule that someone else rented. Less likely to break the gearbox, too.
As someone who had the 1.5, can confirm that it is amazing fun and can be thrashed like the proverbial rented mule. Just about brisk enough too, if a little buzzy on highways. Selling it was the dumbest thing I ever did.
I've half a mind to try to sneak one through customs from the continent and swap the vin plates from a local one. 25 years is too long to wait.
Gordon Murray T.50 or Singer DLS, price aside.
Those are both massive Instagram Point cars.
They are also both massive enthusiast cars; they are not incompatible.
It's good to be rich!
Tell me about it, Mr. Trust Fund!
For road I drive one of the new 4cyl Alfa gulias. More tha enough power for the road and by far the best steering of any modern car by a long shot. It also has suspension that articulates with great shocks to hold it all
Together.
If the old lpre china lotus had built a sedan this would be it
Not a sportscar but like an e36 m3 a sweet spot
The first time I drove a Giulia my I was impressed by how good the steering was and that overall the car was what a BMW 3-Series used to be. Seeing a Giulia on the road is always a treat.
Also have a e46 m3 which I got new and just turned 36k. I found that car as delivered had a flat area on the powerband and also just made noise above 7k rpm . It also had classic German suspension tuning which was both hard and with too much body lean.
Above. 120 it would gain speed but not accelerate if that makes sense . A csl remap didn’t change the headline numbers but really let the motor run as it should and then I saw the magic.
I hear during Covid that car could accelerate past 170 going up a long incline and was still pulling hard .
The Alfa is better in almost every way dynamically but the na bmw 6 has a precision and magic no turbo car can match.
So many moderns lack real steering or throttle precision it’s like 50% of the equation is missing despite the power. Tha Alfa has power but the motor is meh, fortunately the rest is great and still
There
I’ve driven a 992.1 carerra s on track. There is turbo mush if not lag and in general that car felt like there was a layer of cotton woo between you and the action, no matter how good the underlaying bits might be. Is the 911T different ? The Alfa though that still feels alive
If only it had a free breathing na6
Would love to try a rs4 though
I was momentarily entranced by the Quadrifoglio, wouldn't that be your jam?
I'm pretty happy with the motor in the S4, depending on the throttle map, it barely registers as a turbo. Makes good sounds too. Steering is a little dead though.
The quad is great but where are you going to use it , and it’s 2x the 4cyl which comes with same seats brakes etc.
I guess for my speed ya yas are mostly out on track and that’s a completely different car for that purpose.
Plus have one or two others for different itches. The guiia is more of a daily and even then often I take my 2010 v6 equinox because it’s smooth steers ok and completely unobtrusive
The 4cyl guika easily cruises at 100 will punch up to l140. But yeah money no object go for the quad.
I was thinking to maybe trade the guila for a new m2 but then the new bmws seem to have such insipid steering and the m2 still not really out the box trackable so what does it add besides excess acceleration on road. The guila over 4 years just works no issues , asks only for an oil change. But yes while that 4cyl motor does the job it totally lacks the sense of occasion alwe get from oter cars.
S4 also an awesome all
Rounder and useable road car, once again a sweet spot. Which gets me thinking of a rs3, they say the 5 cyl
Motor has to be experienced somewhere in life. But those cars like porches suffer from manufactured shortage and dealer markups . If you could get the wagon version here that might tilt
the balance. But Audi like Subaru hasn’t figured out that high performance buyer might prefer a wagon for the road.
I guess it all boils down to passion and practical which boils down to use and roads where used .
Or as the wife likes to say it’s like slippers different ones for different purposes. Guila s4 and a few others cover a lot
Of bases in one car.
Still on a Sunday am something. Far more focused seems appropriate or a motorcycle , and then For track if you really get to be pressing on very very few street legal cars work, and even then…
All of which is to say that for road use fun the most extreme version of a car might not be the best esp
If you’re dealing along the day with traffic and variable road surfaces.
I don't know about Sainz. He seems to have a couple of good weekends a year, rather than being a consistent challenger to Leclerc. And whatever Lewis brings to the Scuderia, you've got to admit there's a certain romance to it (and yes I know it was what Senna was going to as well before a stray suspension arm scuppered his plans, which is almost certainly why Lewis is doing it).
"Yo dawg, we heard you like Mexicans..."
WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU THAT?
If Checo needs a job after this season I have a lawn that needs to be mowed all next summer as well as some flowers and trees to plant come springtime.
a) that's not very nice to say
b) Liam Lawson would plant them better
c) how much does it pay, I always need work
If I did hurt his feelings, I'm sure he'll feel better when he gets home to his beautiful family at the giant estate they live.
Liam Lawson will likely have a job next year.
$50/day+dinner and some cookies? Since I doubt Checo will take me up on the offer I'll be out there myself with a spade and 50 bags of mulch. I wish I was a plumber, too, so I could run a water line to the front of the house for another hose nozzle to water all the new stuff. We're getting a ginkgo tree, a Japanese maple, some winterberry bushes, probably creeping flox, wild roses (for low maintenance) and more lilacs. I'm afraid the lilacs we tried propagating this year won't come back next year.