Speaking of mechanical versus digital dashboards, it seems you were prescient in your prediction of Porsche moving towards ICE for high rollers and EVs for the richest proles. The internet reacted very favorably to the announcement (maybe? Rumor?) that the Boxster and Cayman will have an ICE version in the top spec GT4RS versions, while forgetting that only the richest will get to buy those after buying two Macan EVs and a bricked Taycan. Telling a $300-500k junior exec looking at a Boxster S or Cayman GTS that he could have an ICE GT4 RS is like telling him “hey good news, Sydney Sweeney broke up with her bf and is single again!”
Right now it's unclear what the ICE plan is, but at least it's an indication that they aren't abandoning the smaller sports car ICE market.
The price deltas between the regular GTS and Spyder models was small. The GTRS was another $30,000, that you could do up with the fool Weisach options.
Depends on when the orders were taken. Near the end, this year, ADMs barely existed, partially because there was about a 20% price increase between 2022 and 2025.
Pity the GTRS buyer anyways, those cars are so loud the owners wear earplugs and create forum chats about sound deadening. And 911 owners still crap on them.
Maybe not by 2050, but maybe within our lifetime, ICE ownership will start to look like horse ownership - that is, rarified at the high-end and necessary (for some) on the low-/rural-end.
I literally just got a text message from Jeep offering me “take 35% off all merch in the Jeep 4xe category at gear.Jeep.com” they can’t even sell 4xe branded sweatshirts and keychains, never mind the actual EVs. No one wants that shit unless it’s 70% off.
I don't know what the main issue is for the 4xe system, but EVERY single one in our friend group (mostly GC's) has been either lemon'd back or just short of it.
and eeeeeek…… fuuuuuuuuuck….. what a karma kicking idiot I am. This afternoon I go out to the garage and the Jeep is ……. dead. Completely unresponsive dead. Hasn’t been driven in a week, since I was out of town (in awful Seattle traffic). I’m hoping its just the 12v battery; have a charger hooked up. We will see.
Any luck resurrecting your Jeep? One of my best friends leased a 4xe Wrangler for his wife to DD. He's debating whether to buy it when the lease is up. I'm thinking "NO."
Well CRAP! I feel like I'm accessory-to-FCA-fail here... FWIW, most of my friends were unhappy with drivability. There were failures to start, but the big issue was that they drove jerk-y and/or sometimes felt like they were going to stall.
This dystopian scenario looks less and less likely. EVs are a green project that is failing spectacularly before our very eyes. Fossil resources are not running out any time soon and they can be substituted with synthetic fuel. The EV narrative is collapsing on all fronts. Having an EV in 2050 will be like horse ownership - rarified, high-end in the automotive sector - and of course there will be E-bikes and electric scooters.
I don't know about that, even though I want to believe...
The naysayers said the same thing about ICE cars until the input format (wheel, shifter, 3 pedals) got standardized and gas quality got homogenized.
The charging infrastructure is a big issue... but TBH the gas station infrastructure is still an issue in the rural US once you're off the interstates. I had a CEL on my rental in WY because the ONE station between where I was and Sheridan was old, crappy and prob had dodgy fuel.
Like the disappearance of manuals, this will probably happen slowly then all at once. Most people prioritize MPG, low ownership headache/cost, comfort, and convenience. The PHEV paradigm is that sweet spot right now, but once they get used to PHEVs, they can get used to REEVs, and so on.
In the Global South, the entry-level EV space looks like the $50 cell phone space was 10-15 years ago: people want to make the move directly to that and skip getting a landline.
This particular EV moment is a sh*t-doggle, and I stir Sunoco 260GT in my coffee... but the only way we end up with ICE forever is if the US market basically goes it alone.
There is no case for PHEVs anymore once the penalties fall and the industry can trust they won't be re-imposed by green bureaucrats. Electricity is neither free nor clean and these vehicles are complex, troublesome, heavy, expensive, dull and altogether awful. For limited applications, HEVs might make sense. But the whole EV train has been derailed.
Nah. I predict that EVs will never be more than 20% of the U.S. passenger car / light truck market and that my great-great grandchildren will be driving vehicles powered by gasoline.
... and it gave me pause about our supposedly inevitable "only-subs-and-drones" future of naval warfare. The point here is that a new technology might seem revolutionary, but only immediately. Give it some time and the practical difficulties appear.
Remember how flying cars and moon bases were right around the corner, 60 years ago? AI, drones, stealth and everybody working from home are the same thing.
As one of those junior execs (who is much more of the Indigo de Souza persuasion than Sydney Sweeney), fuck Porsche. I love them. Will absolutely buy a 997. Adore my 987, which, with a catback exhaust, 6-speed, and great tires is about as much fun as you can have on 4 wheels without occasioning a life insurance claim. I would not actually give Porsche, the company, a nickel. The 718 was disappointing, but at least it represented a reasonably affordable access point such that someone like myself could buy a new Porsche. Which I could’ve, if I didn’t find the 987 a more engaging car and enjoy investing a spare $40,000 more than I do a buzzy flat-4 and Apple CarPlay.
Who the hell wants an EV Boxster? And what’s the point? Straight-line speed? Nobody, anywhere, ever has purchased a Boxster for that reason. If I wanted to go fast in a straight line, I’d buy a Corvette or an M3 or a Tesla or anything else. Want to take it from Charleston, WV to Asheville to Lake Toxaway and back on an extended weekend? Take the long route, wring it out on the back roads. That’s easy in a 987. I did it this summer. Not so in an EV Boxster with no good charging infrastructure.
We need to push for political change to make this not illegal.
For the current trend in automotive, 5 per cent of the blame goes to carmakers, 10 per cent to customers and the rest to our beloved leaders and the bureaucrats they unleash upon us.
Thank god for Trump killing the EV and CAFE mandates. It's almost too good to be true, and there might even be more to come.
I was very impressed that you would drive your Boxster to central Idaho's famous backpacking lake. Talk about backroads, shewwwwie! But then DuckDuckGo corrected me that there's a private lake with the same name in southwest NC. TIL.
The 987 was peak mid engine Porsche for analog driving. Shorter wheelbase and hydraulic steering plus a decent amount of power. Plus it was the only Boxster/Cayman with its own interior. The 986 shared a lot with the 996, the 718 with the 991.
$30,000 buys you a very nice 987.1, $45,000 a very nice 987.2.
But honestly, what I'd get today if I didn't have the two I have (I'm a twat) is a 981 Cayman)Boxster S with a mechanical rear diff. $40-50,000 depending on mileage and great looks and sound plus you can track them all day long right out of the box.
119 South of Charleston. Take 23 through a big chunk of Kentucky coal country into Wise VA. Hit 224 into Kingsport TN. Then 93 in NC to 25. Back roads north of Asheville.
Then from AVL to Lake Toxaway, take Crab Creek Road in Biltmore Forest to 64 in Brevard and you’re pretty much there. It’s a fun drive once you’re past KY.
There's a route through hwy 28 that goes past and around the Lake and intersects with the Dragon (129). You can go from AVL to Cherokee via Maggie Valley on a fast four lane and then 28 turns into twisties. If you don't want a fast four lane, the Blue Ridge Parkway is now open to Cherokee from AVL and is two lane scenic federal CCC project stuff with no commercial traffic and 45mph limits. It wends through some very scenice high elevation stuff in Pisgah natl forest and is a nice drive.
Notable stops around toxaway are things like Bridal Veil falls and a few others. Tapoco Lodge offers a pretty nice pinky out enthusiast lodging or food. The casino in Cherokee has some really great food as well if you want to eat ok and then keep trucking. But there are also a lot of mom and pop spots. The diner at the dragon is okay, but I'd rather eat a little Debbie and a coffee and keep going. But fuel up before you leave Cherokee and head into the high country. Fuel is sparse until you get to the Dragon and then it's slightly expensive to pump at the tourist trap or all the way back in Maryville or AVL.
Also nearby once you do Toxaway is the Cherahala Skyway, which is more sweepers than tight technical stuff.
On the way to AVL you can hit the "back of the dragon" in Tazewell TN and a bunch of other good roads in Madison county. Some of the better stuff around the TN border are still under construction or rerouted from hurricane damage, so it can still be dicey. But most of the roads to the west-southwest of AVL were untouched and fine.
LOl. well there is always the honda CTR, which apparently laps vir at the same rate as an 05 ford Gt, at least for 3 laps before it fades. The GT4rs is funny because its a pretty tracky car, and most road buyers tire of it quick for those reasons. Porche may also find it hard slogging because the new cayman has been designed as an EV, which is the mC20 teaches us anything is that it will be big and heavy. Thats ebcase cars designed to carry 500-1000lbs worth of batteries need space for said batteries and a hefty structure to carry them.
Lest hope porsche tried really hard to save weight elsewhere, so removing the batteries may lead to a somewhat light car, but if the photos are anything to go by, its still a big car, looking a lot like a 15/10ths cale gen 1 mitsubishi eclipse. from the 90s. I can see why porsche wanted to keep this car ev, because its 992 sized, so you woudl have an ev cayman and an ice 911 each in a different category. A reimagined Rs 550 it is most certainly not.
Sadly what porsche needed to do was upgrade the current Cayman GT4rs with the cool non strut wishbone suspension going into Gt3s, and keep the GT4 and Gts in production. Plus as a truly novel idea, serve the customer by producing enough that peopel can order these cars without adm or 50k worth of usles deviated stitching and bogus cf.
The porche coudl make a racy looking version of the tubo, which is an overpowered limo and the car most high end porsche buyers really want(a fast comfy road car that looks like a race car) , when they plumb for a Gt3.
In all fairness porche does make the gt3 touring, which is as close as one can get to the type of car porche bult its reputation on.
I am an optimist, and hope that the coming competitive market, and severe profit problems at porche will convince them to make some real cars in sufficient quantity that they become more than valet parking trinkets. Meanwhile we read that porches solution is to make a new ice macan by warming over an a5. Now the current macan is based on an a5 also, but it is heavily revised so that it is a rear wheel drive bias car, the new one will be classic audi fwd bias, Yeah and all digital too. One can only think the car business despite the ability of engineers to make great products is run by idiots who think a customer clinic and a few bogus surveys is the creative spark. The Germans imo have almost completely lost the plot and now that they can see failure are merely groping in the dark..
I’m about there with you. A couple of days ago, there was a post on Reddit asking people how they feel about some YouTuber who is deliberately destroying rare, 6- and 7-figure collectible cars, and my inclination was to respond “Who the fuck cares? It’s not like I or anyone I know has access to those sorts of cars.”
Similarly, I find it hard to simp over the latest special-edition 911 or even Cayman variant, when
1) I’m unlikely to be able to afford it
2) Even if I could afford it, I’d have to jump through a ton of hoops to buy one; just showing up with a check isn’t enough
3) The people who review these cars are so worried about pissing Porsche off and being blacklisted from media events or press fleets that they would steadfastly sing the car’s praises even if it were shit, so how do I know how good it really is?
The outgoing Boxster and Cayman in their baser forms were always relatively affordable, fun cars—and there were a couple of times I briefly considered trying to order one new.
But now that Porsche wants to sell us a fat, overweight EV masquerading as a sports car and then make the people who want an ICE sports car pay through the absolute nose for a top-tier version…I’m even less interested.
The worst part about automotive social media is seeing the people who buy and own high end cars. It makes you want to do anything possible to distance yourself from them.
Good luck with the LS Jack, IMO there's something extra charming about it's current "patina'd" state. I'd sort it out with the bare minimum of mechanical fixes (check the t belt for dry rot and likely replace, service the ATF and coolant, fix the power steering, climate control and stereo) and just enjoy the heck out of it. Trying to truly refurbish it would be a fool's errand IMO. Okay, maybe'd I'd put it on some 90s era "gold hammers" or something.
From all the other people who saw the first image of this post and went "ooof, that INTERIOR!!!", thank you for reupholstering those absolute thrones! As a kid I never thought I'd end up missing all the interesting interior colors you could have back then... my first car was an 84 Cherokee with maroon fabric and tweed interior, every surface was color matched. I didn't know how good I had it.
Generally my mangled back is okay with stock seats but whenever I have them recovered I'm *extremely* picky about not just the color, fabric and seams but the padding and bolsters etc. too .
I'm always gobsmacked when I find filthy but unworn interior bits (not just seats, dig) in a junked vehicle .
I'm going to be busy cleaning or fixing anyway so I don't mind spending a few days cleaning upholstery bits .
The paint on my Land Cruiser is also sunfucked. Needs a total respray, despite my wanting to "try" (sorry Yoda) to redo the clearcoat. I may just take it to Maaco. haha.
He will do more than fix the stereo. He will _restomod_ it with either a refurbished Lexus/Nakamichi OEM head unit fitted with a line-out converter _or_ a period-correct Nakamichi CD player and enough early 90's Nakamichi PA-series amplifiers to drive five channels. Two channels will drive a pair of tweeters. Two channels will drive the biggest pair of midbass drivers he can squeeze into the OEM location. The fifth (probably two channels bridged; I don't think Nak made mono amps) will drive a subwoofer.
Speaker are at his discretion; given that old-school high-end speakers go for crazy money, I suggest buying raw tweeters and midranges from Madisound and a JL Audio subwoofer (they're made in Florida). The once concession to truly modern gear will be a JL Audio TWK88 digital signal processor to handle crossovers, time alignment, and equalization.
All of this can be installed in factory locations; cutting the doors for larger speakers seems to me acceptable given this is a daily driver; the ported subwoofer box can fire through one of the rear speaker grilles.
Should vintage Nak amplifiers prove too difficult to obtain, he can use first- or second-generation Soundstream D-series amplifiers (a D-60 for the tweets, a D-100 for the woofers, a bridged D-200 for the sub). Nelson Pass, who designed Nak amplifiers, also designed the first-gen Soundstream gear, so we'll say that's close enough. Also, I know a guy in Georgia who restores Soundstream gear.
I know a local guy who started his car stereo business doing installations for Algar Ferrari in the ‘80’s. He’s got some sound stream and nak inventory, also McIntosh. Let me know and I’ll put you in touch with him
I really didn't need to know this fellow and his inventory exist. Trying to imagine my wife's reaction when I tell her there's no room in the trunk of the Miata because I installed six-channel McIntosh amplifier or Soundstream Reference 705.
Next you'll tell me he's got Luxman gear and I'll be throwing money at him by the fistful.
Nakamichi made top gear back in the day. Its tape decks in particular were among the best ever made. Even now the Dragon remains a benchmark. Nice examples command stupid levels of money.
Of course, today it exists in name only and is owned by a Chinese holding company
I'd wager the OEM Nakamichi head unit offered excellent sound quality and superlative specs, particularly for CD playback. Bluetooth adapters are readily available for old gear. There is, for example, this guy, who mods old BMW head units for Bluetooth: https://bmw-radios.com. Add a line-out converter and you've got front and rear stereo RCA connections for an amp.
A lot of the premium head units in upper-end '90s cars were made by reputable brands and were of high quality. Older BMWs used Becker, and IIRC the E36 head unit was made by Alpine back when Alpine was still made in Japan. The R129 SL500 I owned for a hot minute had a very nice Becker head unit and a made-in-Japan Alpine CD changer (which didn't work, but could have been repaired had I been inclined to send it off...)
For all the faults on the LS400, it sure looks good from my house! Welcome to a sunbaked car from the Southwest - where all our dashboards are cracked and our paint is faded, but we don't have to hold our breath every time we put the impact on an old fastener crusted with iron oxide.
Just to put Tony Ugoh in perspective, I am 6 feet and 200ish lbs in street trim. Yesterday I was fitted for a suit by a beautiful Russian lady who is now gramma age and somehow still inspires a saucy bottom lip bite. She remarked "You will no need modern fit. Is for couch potato. You only athletic cut because have shoulders and chest. Maybe modern cut pants because legs and bottom are for footballs."
And my mass makes me too slow to play wsbk or supersport games unless I purge myself of my extra 20 lbs of chicken wings and pizza while losing all my skrenft to get down around 175 or so. Even then, the flyweight horse jockeys pass me on the inside with identical bikes. Good technique still gets you beclowned in the infield bends if you are not a manlet.
I like the cut of Tony's jib. Or "the balls on this guy! Oh!" *Italian hand gestures*
I like the screen IP instead of gauges, but PUT A NORMAL-LOOKING HOOD ON IT instead of just a row of iPads across the front of the passenger compartment.
And guarantee availability of replacement parts. (And give the specifications and programming away after ten years or so to anyone who is willing to pay a nominal fee for it.)
A remarkable number of Lexuses from this era are fully GOLD and there's a funny reason for it. Toyota wouldn't let dealers charge ADP on the LS400. The dealer agreement specifically prohibited it... which, like MANY other features of the Lexus dealer agreement, reflected panful lessons learned by Toyota over the past years.
So what the dealers did instead was gold-plate everything, which cost them $500 or so, and charge five grand for it. MANDATORY. Or you could wait a year for an LS400 without it.
The Toyota distribution and dealership system in the United States is the most completely fucked situation there is. It's bad for Toyota, it's bad for customers, it's bad for dealers.
I very seriously believe that Toyota's distribution system is keeping them from selling an additional 100k-500k cars every year in the United States.
I bet the color/trim designers were thrilled about dealers improving their incompetent product. (I just like gold ornamentation for their camp factor, not because they improve the design). Dealers love fixing things, such as global marketing messages and pricing
That's interesting - I actively dislike the gold trim. Have bought 3 older Lexus (90 LS400, 97 LS400, 92 SC400, the latter two for my Dad) and wouldn't even look at one with gold.
The 90 LS400 that my Dad "borrowed" for 15 years is finally back with me after getting him the '97. It has 276k miles and drives perfectly - quiet and composed. Cloth (!) interior is still perfect. Got a new front fender (someone hit him) going on and paint matched next week. Then full service, timing belt/water pump, belts/hoses, fluids, because DAD WANTS IT BACK. He loves that thing.
In period, I was disgusted by it and thought it was further evidence that the LS400 was a nouveau trash wagon. Nowadays I'm kind of charmed by it. Think of the gold trim as the Screaming Chicken of Japanese sedans. But were I to take delivery of, say, a Nori Green LC500, I would remove all gold inmediately.
Jim Rockford is the proof. The F-body in 2nd generation form was a really good looking car- even in base model colorways and options. The first gen was a very tough act to follow, but somehow GM managed not to step on their corporate dick with the 2nd AND 3rd gens.
One of my dark horse favorites of the era is the 74 z28 with the big stupid hood decal and fewer tape stripes.
Back when I was self-employed as a typesetter I visited the "budget financing" lot of a well-known local car dealer. The family member in charge asked for a quote to typeset the sales contract form. For an sample to match he showed an actual printout of a customer who was buying a used Lexus LS400 that was at least 10-15 years old at a usurious interest rate of around 18-20%. At the time you could get, with good credit, car loans at about 5-7%, I think this was about 2015. I ended up not typesetting the form but the poor person who may or may not have bought this Lexus would have been horribly "upside down." Good luck with the Lexus, I'm trying to keep a 2011 Camry on the road with 145,000 miles.
Good luck with the Camry. My VW Golf Wagen diesel has only 80k miles and it's already had a bad water pump, threw the balancer in the road, had a timing belt, and various other fixes. It also eats a battery about every 15 months or so.
Previous to that we had a Bug convertible that didn't keep water out at the windshield and was begrudgingly lemoned by VW-NA after they kept it for 5 months and then gave me shit about how I was ruining their loaners. Though our 2nd bug vert' was pretty good, the buying of that on the heels of the lemon was a fiasco.
Yes, my nephew has good luck with Kias, but I will never have one or a Hyundai either. When working my other job at the print shop the forms broker came in with reprints for the local KN dealer, he joked that in copying them his dealer customer said they were even "more unreadable."
I heard Williams offered Lewis a seat...but the Sainz said, "Long-haired freaky people need not apply."
(sorry)
But seriously folks, Baku was crazy and great. Thank heavens F1 is so entertaining, now that IndyCar season is over and NASCAR's into the fake-drama "playoffs."
The Windrunner doesn't pencil out at all. Even if it ever manages to leave the digital drawing board - not a bet I'd take, FWIW - it will remain wholly impractical and nigh-impossible to enter serial production, because the design clearly relies on the fact wind turbine blades aren’t terribly heavy relative to their overall size.
Figure a single 300’ blade weighs around 30 tons; by comparison, total payload capacity for the comparably-sized An-225 Mriya was 275 tons. It's highly doubtful the Windrunner could even carry a quarter of that weight.
Windrunner is claiming 70 tons capacity. They point out that many airplanes run out of SPACE before they run out of WEIGHT, having been primarily designed to carry fat people from Spokane to St. Louis.
A paper airplane company will claim whatever it can to bring in money from aviation-ignorant VCs and attention from the groundhog media. The math still just doesn't work.
My first job in the industry had Eclipse Aviation as its largest advertiser. I learned fast (alas, not quite fast enough) about sky-high promises and middling returns. At least in Eclipse's case there are around 250 decently capable aircraft flying today, whose owners rave about them.
I firmly believe Radia is only looking to fleece the ignorant. Others, like Vern Raburn and Boom CEO Blake Scholl, genuinely believe(d) they're going to revolutionize the industry. It always sucks when reality hits.
I do think our DoD needs to follow the rule of cool more often, but I don't know if this is the right case.
I don't know what the mission would be the proposed aircraft. The Windrunner is a one trick pony for long bulky items. Any air transport of low density high value cargo, whatever that might be, would be overall better done by spending the money on having more C-17 and C-130 airframes even if that meant sometimes tasking more than one plane when the Windrunner could do it solo. I doubt the Windrunner could operate from worse runways than the C-130. In any event getting high bulk cargo the final mile is easier slung under a helicopter anyway.
Hasn't it been pretty obvious for a while that the whole green-energy-wind-turbine thing is a major boondoggle? Are governments, countries etc. still buying into this scammy activity by China to dump this crap on everyone else, preying on their addiction to 'feel good smug eco fart' vibes, while they're still buring coal like it's going out of style?
The Chinese leadership is to Western leadership as the original LS400 was to the contemporary Cadillac de Ville. They are so much better and smarter it's painful to contemplate. In particular, their ability to manipulate our "elite" is eerie.
Politicians are, generally speaking, not action-oriented people. They’d rather find a reason not to take action, or delay it, than actually put the work into solving a problem. Because with solving problems comes risk, and the less risk, the better your chances for re-election.
Remember, the most basic truth about the Chinese is that they obfuscate EVERYTHING, and you don't really know WHAT the hell's really going on with them. The phrase "the wily Chinee" exists for a very good reason, and that was BEFORE they had a communist government that regards dishonesty as a basic political tactic.
I suspect the truth about them is similar to the Soviets, circa 1988. They're hard but brittle, like glass or ceramics. They present this unified front to the world, but behind it they're barely functioning and the gauges are all inexorably redlining.
America, on the other hand, is outwardly a goddamned mess. We wear all our cultural faults on our sleeve. We proudly show everybody our dirty laundry. We're Tyvequious and Shenayanay having a loud, personal argument in the street at 2 AM. But underneath, we have this adamantium core that only shows itself when some weird tragedy hoses the sludge off.
In my hunt for a new daily driver to purchase in early ‘26, I took a few test drives yesterday. The new A5, a 2024 S5, the 2025 E350 and 2025 A6. The S5–great. A6–a solid car and sure footed, if not exactly enthralling. The E350–phenomenal, worthy of the hype. Drives like an actual, cohesive unit, NVH better than any car I’ve driven barring an S580, and the Burmester 3D sound is great. Since I have a Boxster, probably will pick up a 911, and regularly meet with clients, elected officials, and donors, I think I’d rather have a big cruiser that can eat up highway miles and blast music with a good sound system than a fast daily. The E450 is quite quick, and likely what I’ll choose, as the E350 sounds a bit anemic. Will look at the ES, G80, and other stuff before I decide, but going to be hard to beat the E Class for what I need (even if what I want is very, very different).
The new A5? I looked at a prestige spec, just $4,000 less than a loaded (CPO) ‘25 E350. It was unrequited dogshit. My wonderful coworker, a brilliant former literature major who looks startlingly like a young Joni Mitchell, has a 5 year old Mazda CX-5, which I drove to lunch yesterday. In every respect, the interior materials in the Mazda are better. My A4 Prestige was $7000 cheaper new, and feels like a Flying Spur in comparison. Feather-light steering, an awful fixed glass roof, with a “gel” cover that may or may not actually work, hard plastic everywhere, a steering wheel that belongs in a base Jetta. Controls that are both finicky and ineffective, requiring five inputs for what would be the push of a button in my A4. An awkward seating position. A “self-park” feature that is hilariously awful: move forward, move back, move forward, move back, then it finally parks, only to get about 70% of the way done, leave the car sitting half-cocked, and alert you “system capacity reached: please take over.” The whole thing took a whole four minutes: to back a car into a parking spot. It was genuinely one of the worst vehicles I’ve driven.
My initial plan was to await the arrival of the new A6. Not anymore. If I get any Audi, it’ll be a ‘25 A6, which is inferior to the E Class but a better deal. But if the new A6 shares any similarities to the new A5, as the outgoing A6 did to the A4, I won’t even give it a cursory glance. Just a dreadfully bad car.
Audi is going through the sort of prolonged bed-wetting that, when engaged in by Mercedes-Benz during the awful W210/W220 era, got Audi a customer base to begin with!
The reviews were favorable, which tells you pretty much everything about the reviewers. I’m sure the accommodations for the press trip were top-notch; because the car certainly isn’t. The 17-24 model A4 is great, the best daily driver I’ve ever owned. Comfortable, perfect interior controls, quick, handles well, good seating position. Looks good and is aging gracefully. Not flashy, not as fun as a 3 Series or eye catching as a G70, but maybe the most solid car in its class. I’d buy another one. The A5 looks like an amorphous blob and drives like one, too. If this is the direction for Audi, they’re going into their W210 era to be certain. BMW, too. The new 5 Series looks like an Acura and is too lame to even bother looking at.
I would. If I hadn’t put 45,000 miles on my A4 in the past 11 months (plus 3,000 on the 987, 2,000 on the 986, 1,000 on the NB, and 500 on the Frontier) I’d keep it. But it’s getting precariously close to the 100,000 mile mark.
I bought it with around 10,000 miles. The first two years I had it, I put just over 30,000 miles on it. At an October 2024 oil change, it had 42,000 miles. It now has 86,000.
Everyday im reminded why i didnt get another litre bike when im going 70 in a 30. I semi wind it out for 3.5-4 seconds. I cant get a car iver 350-400 hp. I will get arrested
A base level E-Class drives the way a proper Mercedes-Benz sedan should with a comfortable ride that almost feels like you’re almost gliding over the pavement and has just enough handling to change direction if you really need to. Any option or package with the words sport or AMG ruins the car by trying to turn it into something it really isn’t. Being a comfortable, solid sedan ought to be enough without the nonsense.
As a long time fan of Audi I'll note that they periodically shoot themselves in the foot whether it's styling or goofy engineering. Nows one of those times.
The outgoing A4 chassis is great. We got one of the last Allroads a few months ago, it's a wonderful interior and exterior plus easy driving fun. The new ones in the showroom didn't impress much.
Except the extended length A8 with like 22 inch wheels. That's a JB car all the way.
I was put off when I sat in the new A5 and looked at the cheap-ass, flat plastic airbag cover on the steering wheel. It's not that you got a stitched leather-covered item on anything short of the brand's flagship models (my 2013 A8 L 4.0T had one, for example)...but they at least *looked* premium across the range.
What they've got going now looks fit for a low-level Volkswagen or Škoda, not an Audi. Also, Audi's heretofore impeccable design taste has given way to random assortments of curves and creases that don't make a whole lot of sense. What's with the weird shape of the quarter-panel windows? Or the blobby looking hexagon that makes up the monobinnacle (combined panel that is the instrument cluster and infotainment)?
I'm in a 2018 A7 currently, last year for the C7.5 platform. It is astounding to me by how much the mark was missed with the C8. I also considered a last-year manual A4 (2017-18 I think?) as well as a end of the run 212 E 350 wagon. I never did actually locate a 350 to test drive, but the A4 seemed nice enough in a competently adequate kind of way.
I'm sad I have less than no interest in the next wave of Audi's after what I've got.
I’m at 15k miles on my 2025 E450. I still enjoy driving it daily. It is way more power than you need in a package that swallows all bumps and imperfections in roads. It’s a bit of a boat in turns.
I did not test drive the E350, but when I had one as a loaner I found it lacking. I have the Burmester and agree it is amazing.
I didn’t drive the Audi but I drove the 540 and it was an ugly and cheap in comparison. I don’t like the screens in the Benz but the Beamer screens appear to be some sort of add on. If you’re leasing, the bmw leases are unbeatable.
It’s just a sedan, but when it’s had a wash people will tell you how good looking of a car it is.
The new A5 cockpit is so great that it is used in virtually identical form in the A6, the A6 e-tron, the Q5 and the Q6 e-tron. Might have missed one. And you are failing to see the light?
I actually rather dislike the new Mercedes (2025 E350 would qualify) interior design. It’s lit up like a night club and ALSO full of cheap, shiny, hard plastics and an entirely screen centric HVAC/infotainment setup.
Surprised you enjoyed it that much more than the Audi.
Will say the seats are quite nice and I imagine it’s a brilliant highway car though.
Lastly, I’ve put nearly 20k miles on a Genesis G70 since February so I’m both impressed by the amount you drive AND very interested in your thoughts on these cars. Gonna be in a similar boat with a bit less money to spend some time next year
I actually prefer the interior of the ‘25 A6, as I’m not hugely enthralled by the wall of screens. The driving experience is just considerably better in the E Class.
Mrs. KoR would never want a minivan -- too big, her dream car remains a Tuscadero Pearl Wrangler-- and Mr. KoR would find such a thing to be a great excuse to get a Durango R/T, 5.0 F150, or something else equally stupid.
The ES does indeed feel impressive... Until the modicum of padding/adhesive separating the outer door skin from the side guard beam breaks down, and the door rattles like a paint can every time you close it.
Then you start noticing all the other areas where Toyota cheaped out, especially inside.
I had some extensive work done on my W212 in the past few months and was given a few loaners. The only one I actually liked was the E450, which is now on my list of possible eventual replacements. However, as much as I enjoy the power, smoothness, quiet and comfort and bright well-patterned headlights, I hate the screens and the look of the interior. My wife calls vehicles with light upholstery and dark doors, carpet and headliner "Oreo cars." I do not like dark-colored interiors; they make a car feel constricted rather than spacious.
I think I'm going to have to run my 2012 E350 4Matic for another decade, regardless of cost. When I bought mine, I did not want leather, but it turns out MBTex is not what it once was. The driver's seat bottom cracked and split, while our 1985 300D and 1992 300E 4Matic, both with ~200K miles, still look new. I had the seat bottom replaced with a leather one from Richmond Auto Upholstery (recommended). I also upgraded the headlight bulbs with Vosla 65W from Daniel Stern Lighting (also recommended).
A few months ago, I had the dealer try this for a rattling noise on start-up:
Did not work but was probably a good thing to do, regardless. The dealership diagnosed it as the bank 1 cam adjuster, a $4400 repair. While my car is well maintained and undercoated, it lives in road-salted Vermont on a dirt road, and does not have the better lighting package or leather interior. So I thought it might make sense to replace it with a lower mileage southern W212 with more options. Long story short, there do not appear to be any available, so I had mine fixed. Seems fine so far, and each time I return a loaner and get back into my car, I feel relieved. To remain relevant to the thread, I'll note the perfect small screen where the subdued screen colors do not clash with the interior (or each other).
How I would love a 2025 A6 Prestige in Firmament Blue with the Sarder Brown interior. No other options necessary. Unfortunately, not quite in the budget, still need to pay off the '23 VW Arteon and baby #2 on the way. But a man can dream.
Even better, an A8L in same blue, but with the Cognac Brown interior. Though I do not love the extra screen for HVAC controls and etc on both A6 & A8, but it still is the lesser evil than the new windscreen tablet thing in the all new models.
Audi USA offering 5k off on the A6 and 10k on A8 is nice. I wonder if you can get the dealer to add to that as well. These models aren't exactly flying off the shelves like hotcakes.
Bubble Japan was amazing. They didn't just give us Lexus and Infiniti, they gave us the NSX, the Z32 300ZX, the FD RX-7, the Miata, the mark 4 Supra, XV10 Camry, etc, not to mention some amazing music (which includes Casiopea). It is a real shame the money ran out.
Jack, do you fit in the ND? I drove a friend's ND RF in May and I don't know if the interior measurements actually bear this out, but it had a "hemmed in on all sides" feeling that my NA does not. Of course it was faster and quieter and tighter, but I was relieved to get back in the NA and be able to stretch out a little.
For anyone who feels the ND is too small, I HIGHLY recommend the Jass Performance lowering rails. They have an adjustable drop of 35 to 48mm. I installed a set on the driver's side of my ND with a 38mm drop and it made a HUGE difference. I am 5'10" with a 32-inch inseam (long torso) and finally feel like I am _in_ the car, not _on_ it like a motorcycle. I can easily see around and under the mirror. Bonus - the rails provide a slight rake, lowering your ass for what feels to me like better ergonomics.
They're pricey, but worth it. The engineering is top-notch, the manufacturing and build quality are up to OEM spec (the rails are actually beefier than stock, but still lower the overall weight), and the customer service couldn't be better. Vlad (owner of the company) exchanged several emails answering my questions.
In addition to offering varying levels of drop (through the $35 shim kit), the Jass rails offer fore/after adjustability unlike the Paco Motorsports fixed rails, and they _do not_ require cutting or permanent mods like the Aurora Auto Design rails. Installation is straightforward and easily reversed. Vlad provides a link to a video showing the process, which requires nothing more than the obligatory 10, 12, and 14mm sockets and a Phillips screwdriver.
IIRC, Vlad is north of 6' and has solutions for anyone who feels the ND is too small.
My sister just picked up her midlife crisis car, a 13 NC GT with a little over 30kmi on it. Based on the prices it seems that there is a lot of demand for the last of the NCs because there is a lot of price overlap with the early NDs on the market.
I do fit in it, but I agree its a close fit. The NC is simply easier to operate. And since my adherence to the patriarchy is not total and I am occasionally driven by the ladies, I can confirm that the NC is far more tolerable for me as a passenger.
It also led to the DSM partnership that resulted in the dangerously fast 91 Eclipse Turbo I had in college, what an era. I recently saw a survivor of an FD RX-7 in a grocery parking lot locally, mint condition, black over tan. I forgot how sleek and compact they were! What an amazing car that you could just buy from the dealer back then.
I have this weird quirk where every time I see a cherry XV10 Camry, I feel I should buy one.
I saw a very clean J30 Maxima two weeks ago and my heart skipped. I have no idea if those cars were ever any good, but seeing a loved survivor is always worth celebrating.
My high school girlfriend had that Camry, and so did her mom, a 4-cyl and the V6 respectively. I had a lot of seat time in each, they were very nice. Much nicer than the 2nd gen Taurus and teal Sunfire coupe they replaced, but I was a teenager at the time and didn't really recognize what they were.
The J30 and A32 were the best-looking Maximas, although I never had a chance to drive the earlier models.
Sigh, Windrunner. So they finally realized there is absolutely no business case for a clean sheet aircraft development with a market of less than 50 planes (probably way less). So they are pivoting to the giant cash cow that is the DoD to fund their development. Sounds like JetZero also, as they have USAF funding for a demonstrator aircraft.
I still can't figure out where Boom is getting all of their $$$ from - they are developing both a new airframe AND a new engine.
The dashboard in my car is one of the reasons I chose the particular model/year I did. I have analog gauges for tach/speedometer (even though I'm sure they're just being fed a digital signal), and actual buttons and knobs for climate control and radio volume. It does have an infotainment screen, but it's not a touch screen, and I can make it disappear into the dashboard with the push of a button.
I just wish I could find a way to make it default to staying closed unless I ask for it. It pops up out of the dash every time I start the car/retracts when I open the driver door, and if I put the transmission in reverse while I have the screen stowed it pops out to show me the cameras. My car is a 2018, and in 2019 the next gen cars went all digital and I have no interest.
Outside of the screen, how has reliability been for you with the RS7?
I contemplated the purchase of the A7 for several years, it took me that long to come to terms with giving up my clutch pedal. In that time I considered going with an S7/RS7 but ultimately decided to be lame/responsible and go with the supercharged V6. I've been very happy with the car, but I expect a hundred or two more horses would have been better.
My only experience with that engine is the brief ownership of a '17 Q7 "3.0T" Prestige. That one had the revised engine, featuring a clutched supercharger that no one asked for. Once the clutch--essentially an electromagnet--wore out, it began slamming in and out of engagement and making the car feel like it had a bad transmission.
But an APR tune (and with it, a supercharger clutch delete) put it at close to 500 HP. I imagine that would go to greater effect on your sleek A7 than on my bulky, heavy, air-suspended Q7, which--surprise, surprise--did not acquit itself well on the Tail of the Dragon.
Did you get any codes/trouble lights with the supercharger clutch failure?
I've been told by others that the later version of the supercharger with the bolted on vs pressed on pulley is better due to ease of upgrading the pulley, but I could see where introducing another failure point into the system would be less than ideal.
I'd really like to try to see what I can get out of the car with a tune/pulley, but good judgement says I need to not modify the bank's car, so that's on hold for a little bit.
I suppose the 1 plus of those mega screens is how bad American eyesight is getting (old people aging and young people from screens).
I'd read somewhere that the Lincoln setup essentially has a "reading glasses" mode, the instrumentation equivalent of 48pt font on your phone (and which many mid-millennials I know already need).
Speaking of mechanical versus digital dashboards, it seems you were prescient in your prediction of Porsche moving towards ICE for high rollers and EVs for the richest proles. The internet reacted very favorably to the announcement (maybe? Rumor?) that the Boxster and Cayman will have an ICE version in the top spec GT4RS versions, while forgetting that only the richest will get to buy those after buying two Macan EVs and a bricked Taycan. Telling a $300-500k junior exec looking at a Boxster S or Cayman GTS that he could have an ICE GT4 RS is like telling him “hey good news, Sydney Sweeney broke up with her bf and is single again!”
Right now it's unclear what the ICE plan is, but at least it's an indication that they aren't abandoning the smaller sports car ICE market.
The price deltas between the regular GTS and Spyder models was small. The GTRS was another $30,000, that you could do up with the fool Weisach options.
The MSRP deltas were small. The ADM deltas were not.
Depends on when the orders were taken. Near the end, this year, ADMs barely existed, partially because there was about a 20% price increase between 2022 and 2025.
Pity the GTRS buyer anyways, those cars are so loud the owners wear earplugs and create forum chats about sound deadening. And 911 owners still crap on them.
Greater fool theory in action..
Actually a very cool and good car, bought by fools as the next thing, but its really a road legal track car.
Yeah but none exist without fool options(ordered by dealers) or Dealer ADMs.
Maybe not by 2050, but maybe within our lifetime, ICE ownership will start to look like horse ownership - that is, rarified at the high-end and necessary (for some) on the low-/rural-end.
I literally just got a text message from Jeep offering me “take 35% off all merch in the Jeep 4xe category at gear.Jeep.com” they can’t even sell 4xe branded sweatshirts and keychains, never mind the actual EVs. No one wants that shit unless it’s 70% off.
I don't know what the main issue is for the 4xe system, but EVERY single one in our friend group (mostly GC's) has been either lemon'd back or just short of it.
eeeeek .... I've got over a year on my GC 4xe and so far no issues. Yes, its been off road.
and eeeeeek…… fuuuuuuuuuck….. what a karma kicking idiot I am. This afternoon I go out to the garage and the Jeep is ……. dead. Completely unresponsive dead. Hasn’t been driven in a week, since I was out of town (in awful Seattle traffic). I’m hoping its just the 12v battery; have a charger hooked up. We will see.
Any luck resurrecting your Jeep? One of my best friends leased a 4xe Wrangler for his wife to DD. He's debating whether to buy it when the lease is up. I'm thinking "NO."
Well CRAP! I feel like I'm accessory-to-FCA-fail here... FWIW, most of my friends were unhappy with drivability. There were failures to start, but the big issue was that they drove jerk-y and/or sometimes felt like they were going to stall.
How do I like this without liking it??
This is wild to hear.
IMO, shame because if we must go to our DayCare Jobs™️ in lifted wagons, the GC 4XE would - if it worked - be the choice
They just killed the Gladiator 4XE like minutes before they were going to start production too.
Our local has EV-Chargers at near 20k discounts on the tag, not even what you can get in the F'n-eye office once you hardball them.
They'll try to slip in "lifetime oil changes" lol
and Ziebart!
(does Ziebart still exist?)
God, I hope not.
This dystopian scenario looks less and less likely. EVs are a green project that is failing spectacularly before our very eyes. Fossil resources are not running out any time soon and they can be substituted with synthetic fuel. The EV narrative is collapsing on all fronts. Having an EV in 2050 will be like horse ownership - rarified, high-end in the automotive sector - and of course there will be E-bikes and electric scooters.
I don't know about that, even though I want to believe...
The naysayers said the same thing about ICE cars until the input format (wheel, shifter, 3 pedals) got standardized and gas quality got homogenized.
The charging infrastructure is a big issue... but TBH the gas station infrastructure is still an issue in the rural US once you're off the interstates. I had a CEL on my rental in WY because the ONE station between where I was and Sheridan was old, crappy and prob had dodgy fuel.
Like the disappearance of manuals, this will probably happen slowly then all at once. Most people prioritize MPG, low ownership headache/cost, comfort, and convenience. The PHEV paradigm is that sweet spot right now, but once they get used to PHEVs, they can get used to REEVs, and so on.
In the Global South, the entry-level EV space looks like the $50 cell phone space was 10-15 years ago: people want to make the move directly to that and skip getting a landline.
This particular EV moment is a sh*t-doggle, and I stir Sunoco 260GT in my coffee... but the only way we end up with ICE forever is if the US market basically goes it alone.
There is no case for PHEVs anymore once the penalties fall and the industry can trust they won't be re-imposed by green bureaucrats. Electricity is neither free nor clean and these vehicles are complex, troublesome, heavy, expensive, dull and altogether awful. For limited applications, HEVs might make sense. But the whole EV train has been derailed.
You're right more often than you're wrong. Lets hope that continues.
Unfortunately, there’s still the matter of China being a bigger automotive market than us.
Fuel cells or bust baby. EV's have no practical military value. So all you need is a war to wipe them out.
Nah. I predict that EVs will never be more than 20% of the U.S. passenger car / light truck market and that my great-great grandchildren will be driving vehicles powered by gasoline.
I'll take that bet.
I'll offer the most likely scenario for 2075: proles walk or take the bus, Eloi are driven.
I don't think so. I think that's too pessimistic.
I suspect the common man will still be self-mobile in the late 21st, just as he is now.
you're not supposed to oppose this and you're not supposed to celebrate this
We've been here before. I was reading this...
https://www.navalgazing.net/The-Drone-Revolution
... and it gave me pause about our supposedly inevitable "only-subs-and-drones" future of naval warfare. The point here is that a new technology might seem revolutionary, but only immediately. Give it some time and the practical difficulties appear.
Remember how flying cars and moon bases were right around the corner, 60 years ago? AI, drones, stealth and everybody working from home are the same thing.
Any sufficiently intelligent gun can shoot drones out of the sky at a minor fraction of their cost. Someone just needs to put the hardware together.
As one of those junior execs (who is much more of the Indigo de Souza persuasion than Sydney Sweeney), fuck Porsche. I love them. Will absolutely buy a 997. Adore my 987, which, with a catback exhaust, 6-speed, and great tires is about as much fun as you can have on 4 wheels without occasioning a life insurance claim. I would not actually give Porsche, the company, a nickel. The 718 was disappointing, but at least it represented a reasonably affordable access point such that someone like myself could buy a new Porsche. Which I could’ve, if I didn’t find the 987 a more engaging car and enjoy investing a spare $40,000 more than I do a buzzy flat-4 and Apple CarPlay.
Who the hell wants an EV Boxster? And what’s the point? Straight-line speed? Nobody, anywhere, ever has purchased a Boxster for that reason. If I wanted to go fast in a straight line, I’d buy a Corvette or an M3 or a Tesla or anything else. Want to take it from Charleston, WV to Asheville to Lake Toxaway and back on an extended weekend? Take the long route, wring it out on the back roads. That’s easy in a 987. I did it this summer. Not so in an EV Boxster with no good charging infrastructure.
Please bring back the 1988 930 Turbo, and just sell THAT forever.
I mean, that's basically Porsche's mindset anyway.
We need to push for political change to make this not illegal.
For the current trend in automotive, 5 per cent of the blame goes to carmakers, 10 per cent to customers and the rest to our beloved leaders and the bureaucrats they unleash upon us.
Thank god for Trump killing the EV and CAFE mandates. It's almost too good to be true, and there might even be more to come.
Something that's always mystified me is why Mercedes lobbied to kill the grey market instead of recognizing there were buyers for the 500SEL.
That was fucking stupid on their part, yet they managed to avoid the blame for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxaway_Lake_(Idaho)
I was very impressed that you would drive your Boxster to central Idaho's famous backpacking lake. Talk about backroads, shewwwwie! But then DuckDuckGo corrected me that there's a private lake with the same name in southwest NC. TIL.
Damn. That's beautiful.
Lake Toxaway in Western NC. It’s semi-private; a quiet, truly “Old Money” (not in the TikTok sense) enclave.
The Bolch family has a house there (RaceTrac); Bernie Marcus did; a few other noteworthy Atlanta families do, too.
Unfortunately it’s rather small.
The 987 was peak mid engine Porsche for analog driving. Shorter wheelbase and hydraulic steering plus a decent amount of power. Plus it was the only Boxster/Cayman with its own interior. The 986 shared a lot with the 996, the 718 with the 991.
$30,000 buys you a very nice 987.1, $45,000 a very nice 987.2.
But honestly, what I'd get today if I didn't have the two I have (I'm a twat) is a 981 Cayman)Boxster S with a mechanical rear diff. $40-50,000 depending on mileage and great looks and sound plus you can track them all day long right out of the box.
Tell me more about this route please.
Charleston, WV to Asheville to Lake Toxaway
119 South of Charleston. Take 23 through a big chunk of Kentucky coal country into Wise VA. Hit 224 into Kingsport TN. Then 93 in NC to 25. Back roads north of Asheville.
Then from AVL to Lake Toxaway, take Crab Creek Road in Biltmore Forest to 64 in Brevard and you’re pretty much there. It’s a fun drive once you’re past KY.
There's a route through hwy 28 that goes past and around the Lake and intersects with the Dragon (129). You can go from AVL to Cherokee via Maggie Valley on a fast four lane and then 28 turns into twisties. If you don't want a fast four lane, the Blue Ridge Parkway is now open to Cherokee from AVL and is two lane scenic federal CCC project stuff with no commercial traffic and 45mph limits. It wends through some very scenice high elevation stuff in Pisgah natl forest and is a nice drive.
Notable stops around toxaway are things like Bridal Veil falls and a few others. Tapoco Lodge offers a pretty nice pinky out enthusiast lodging or food. The casino in Cherokee has some really great food as well if you want to eat ok and then keep trucking. But there are also a lot of mom and pop spots. The diner at the dragon is okay, but I'd rather eat a little Debbie and a coffee and keep going. But fuel up before you leave Cherokee and head into the high country. Fuel is sparse until you get to the Dragon and then it's slightly expensive to pump at the tourist trap or all the way back in Maryville or AVL.
Also nearby once you do Toxaway is the Cherahala Skyway, which is more sweepers than tight technical stuff.
On the way to AVL you can hit the "back of the dragon" in Tazewell TN and a bunch of other good roads in Madison county. Some of the better stuff around the TN border are still under construction or rerouted from hurricane damage, so it can still be dicey. But most of the roads to the west-southwest of AVL were untouched and fine.
The future is a humiliation ritual
LOl. well there is always the honda CTR, which apparently laps vir at the same rate as an 05 ford Gt, at least for 3 laps before it fades. The GT4rs is funny because its a pretty tracky car, and most road buyers tire of it quick for those reasons. Porche may also find it hard slogging because the new cayman has been designed as an EV, which is the mC20 teaches us anything is that it will be big and heavy. Thats ebcase cars designed to carry 500-1000lbs worth of batteries need space for said batteries and a hefty structure to carry them.
Lest hope porsche tried really hard to save weight elsewhere, so removing the batteries may lead to a somewhat light car, but if the photos are anything to go by, its still a big car, looking a lot like a 15/10ths cale gen 1 mitsubishi eclipse. from the 90s. I can see why porsche wanted to keep this car ev, because its 992 sized, so you woudl have an ev cayman and an ice 911 each in a different category. A reimagined Rs 550 it is most certainly not.
Sadly what porsche needed to do was upgrade the current Cayman GT4rs with the cool non strut wishbone suspension going into Gt3s, and keep the GT4 and Gts in production. Plus as a truly novel idea, serve the customer by producing enough that peopel can order these cars without adm or 50k worth of usles deviated stitching and bogus cf.
The porche coudl make a racy looking version of the tubo, which is an overpowered limo and the car most high end porsche buyers really want(a fast comfy road car that looks like a race car) , when they plumb for a Gt3.
In all fairness porche does make the gt3 touring, which is as close as one can get to the type of car porche bult its reputation on.
I am an optimist, and hope that the coming competitive market, and severe profit problems at porche will convince them to make some real cars in sufficient quantity that they become more than valet parking trinkets. Meanwhile we read that porches solution is to make a new ice macan by warming over an a5. Now the current macan is based on an a5 also, but it is heavily revised so that it is a rear wheel drive bias car, the new one will be classic audi fwd bias, Yeah and all digital too. One can only think the car business despite the ability of engineers to make great products is run by idiots who think a customer clinic and a few bogus surveys is the creative spark. The Germans imo have almost completely lost the plot and now that they can see failure are merely groping in the dark..
I’m about there with you. A couple of days ago, there was a post on Reddit asking people how they feel about some YouTuber who is deliberately destroying rare, 6- and 7-figure collectible cars, and my inclination was to respond “Who the fuck cares? It’s not like I or anyone I know has access to those sorts of cars.”
Similarly, I find it hard to simp over the latest special-edition 911 or even Cayman variant, when
1) I’m unlikely to be able to afford it
2) Even if I could afford it, I’d have to jump through a ton of hoops to buy one; just showing up with a check isn’t enough
3) The people who review these cars are so worried about pissing Porsche off and being blacklisted from media events or press fleets that they would steadfastly sing the car’s praises even if it were shit, so how do I know how good it really is?
The outgoing Boxster and Cayman in their baser forms were always relatively affordable, fun cars—and there were a couple of times I briefly considered trying to order one new.
But now that Porsche wants to sell us a fat, overweight EV masquerading as a sports car and then make the people who want an ICE sports car pay through the absolute nose for a top-tier version…I’m even less interested.
The worst part about automotive social media is seeing the people who buy and own high end cars. It makes you want to do anything possible to distance yourself from them.
It's like this with everything! Giving the nerds money was a bad idea.
Good luck with the LS Jack, IMO there's something extra charming about it's current "patina'd" state. I'd sort it out with the bare minimum of mechanical fixes (check the t belt for dry rot and likely replace, service the ATF and coolant, fix the power steering, climate control and stereo) and just enjoy the heck out of it. Trying to truly refurbish it would be a fool's errand IMO. Okay, maybe'd I'd put it on some 90s era "gold hammers" or something.
The paint is unfixable without a total respray so... I'm going to take your advice!
I *will* be reupholstering the front seats.
Or just dip to the matte color of your Yakuza heart's desire!
/plastidip all the things meme
Matte pearl red or merlot would look great on this car.
gotta think he or Rodney know someone who can do a masterful job wrapping it...
Rhinoliner paint job.
Parking lot proof.
You know you want to.
Really? They don't look quite so bad in these photos. How badly pitted is the windshield?
Windshield is dead to the world and has two stars in it already.
sheepskin seatcovers will handle that.
mexican blankets!
From all the other people who saw the first image of this post and went "ooof, that INTERIOR!!!", thank you for reupholstering those absolute thrones! As a kid I never thought I'd end up missing all the interesting interior colors you could have back then... my first car was an 84 Cherokee with maroon fabric and tweed interior, every surface was color matched. I didn't know how good I had it.
We all did!
I think of GM products that started with 1 shade of maroon interior when it drove off the lot, but was 50 shades of maroon by year 3.
RE the SEATS :
Don't forget the junkyards, I've managed to find good junkyard seats for an amazing array of vehicles .
Always some time spent carefully cleaning them but many wrecks were well kept right until the crash .
-Nate
Yep. I found an Isuzu Vehicross in a salvage yard and burgled the Recaros out of it.
SWEET .
I love me some comfy seats .
Generally my mangled back is okay with stock seats but whenever I have them recovered I'm *extremely* picky about not just the color, fabric and seams but the padding and bolsters etc. too .
I'm always gobsmacked when I find filthy but unworn interior bits (not just seats, dig) in a junked vehicle .
I'm going to be busy cleaning or fixing anyway so I don't mind spending a few days cleaning upholstery bits .
-Nate
The paint on my Land Cruiser is also sunfucked. Needs a total respray, despite my wanting to "try" (sorry Yoda) to redo the clearcoat. I may just take it to Maaco. haha.
I re-clearcoated my Radical's nose then wet-sanded it.
The results were okay... for a fiberglass race car viewed at 50feet at 157mph.
He will do more than fix the stereo. He will _restomod_ it with either a refurbished Lexus/Nakamichi OEM head unit fitted with a line-out converter _or_ a period-correct Nakamichi CD player and enough early 90's Nakamichi PA-series amplifiers to drive five channels. Two channels will drive a pair of tweeters. Two channels will drive the biggest pair of midbass drivers he can squeeze into the OEM location. The fifth (probably two channels bridged; I don't think Nak made mono amps) will drive a subwoofer.
Speaker are at his discretion; given that old-school high-end speakers go for crazy money, I suggest buying raw tweeters and midranges from Madisound and a JL Audio subwoofer (they're made in Florida). The once concession to truly modern gear will be a JL Audio TWK88 digital signal processor to handle crossovers, time alignment, and equalization.
All of this can be installed in factory locations; cutting the doors for larger speakers seems to me acceptable given this is a daily driver; the ported subwoofer box can fire through one of the rear speaker grilles.
Should vintage Nak amplifiers prove too difficult to obtain, he can use first- or second-generation Soundstream D-series amplifiers (a D-60 for the tweets, a D-100 for the woofers, a bridged D-200 for the sub). Nelson Pass, who designed Nak amplifiers, also designed the first-gen Soundstream gear, so we'll say that's close enough. Also, I know a guy in Georgia who restores Soundstream gear.
I've already told Jack this is the plan.
I know a local guy who started his car stereo business doing installations for Algar Ferrari in the ‘80’s. He’s got some sound stream and nak inventory, also McIntosh. Let me know and I’ll put you in touch with him
I really didn't need to know this fellow and his inventory exist. Trying to imagine my wife's reaction when I tell her there's no room in the trunk of the Miata because I installed six-channel McIntosh amplifier or Soundstream Reference 705.
Next you'll tell me he's got Luxman gear and I'll be throwing money at him by the fistful.
I have to ask... does he have A/D/S gear?
He does. Used and NOS
I shouldn’t ask him what he’s got in stock but I can’t resist. Jack can give you my email if you want to pass it on.
I’d be curious to know what he’s got.
Goodmanradio.com. There's a link to email. Might take him a day to get back to you.
Nakamichi.
I don't know why, but that name conjures up images of a time when new technology didn't seem like it threatened to upend civilization.
Back when you could still get car with the good engine paired up with a stick from the factory.
Nakamichi made top gear back in the day. Its tape decks in particular were among the best ever made. Even now the Dragon remains a benchmark. Nice examples command stupid levels of money.
Of course, today it exists in name only and is owned by a Chinese holding company
No sense fixing the obsolete head unit in that LS. The curly cord in the top image is the closest the 1990 model comes to Bluetooth.
I'd wager the OEM Nakamichi head unit offered excellent sound quality and superlative specs, particularly for CD playback. Bluetooth adapters are readily available for old gear. There is, for example, this guy, who mods old BMW head units for Bluetooth: https://bmw-radios.com. Add a line-out converter and you've got front and rear stereo RCA connections for an amp.
A lot of the premium head units in upper-end '90s cars were made by reputable brands and were of high quality. Older BMWs used Becker, and IIRC the E36 head unit was made by Alpine back when Alpine was still made in Japan. The R129 SL500 I owned for a hot minute had a very nice Becker head unit and a made-in-Japan Alpine CD changer (which didn't work, but could have been repaired had I been inclined to send it off...)
For all the faults on the LS400, it sure looks good from my house! Welcome to a sunbaked car from the Southwest - where all our dashboards are cracked and our paint is faded, but we don't have to hold our breath every time we put the impact on an old fastener crusted with iron oxide.
Thunderbird 6.
Exciting news on the LS400! I remain pleased as punch with my '07 LS460, and I would still like to go further back in time to the LS400 and LS430.
As with motorcycles and bicycles and guitars and pinball machines, the correct number of Lexus to own is the tried and true N + 1.
Just to put Tony Ugoh in perspective, I am 6 feet and 200ish lbs in street trim. Yesterday I was fitted for a suit by a beautiful Russian lady who is now gramma age and somehow still inspires a saucy bottom lip bite. She remarked "You will no need modern fit. Is for couch potato. You only athletic cut because have shoulders and chest. Maybe modern cut pants because legs and bottom are for footballs."
And my mass makes me too slow to play wsbk or supersport games unless I purge myself of my extra 20 lbs of chicken wings and pizza while losing all my skrenft to get down around 175 or so. Even then, the flyweight horse jockeys pass me on the inside with identical bikes. Good technique still gets you beclowned in the infield bends if you are not a manlet.
I like the cut of Tony's jib. Or "the balls on this guy! Oh!" *Italian hand gestures*
I havent been 175 since freshman year of college. Id be six pack abs at 205. I guess i will never win a super sport race.
Yes, I haven't been in the 170s since I was a sophomore in high school. I just get used to being in the slow pack with all the Dadbros.
Big, fat middle finger to dash board screens!!! Gimmee those gauges, now and forever.!!!
I like the screen IP instead of gauges, but PUT A NORMAL-LOOKING HOOD ON IT instead of just a row of iPads across the front of the passenger compartment.
And guarantee availability of replacement parts. (And give the specifications and programming away after ten years or so to anyone who is willing to pay a nominal fee for it.)
Gotta love the gold ornamentation on the LS400. Bring back yellow gold!
A remarkable number of Lexuses from this era are fully GOLD and there's a funny reason for it. Toyota wouldn't let dealers charge ADP on the LS400. The dealer agreement specifically prohibited it... which, like MANY other features of the Lexus dealer agreement, reflected panful lessons learned by Toyota over the past years.
So what the dealers did instead was gold-plate everything, which cost them $500 or so, and charge five grand for it. MANDATORY. Or you could wait a year for an LS400 without it.
Love those dealers and the entire distribution system. I have some thoughts about them.
The Toyota distribution and dealership system in the United States is the most completely fucked situation there is. It's bad for Toyota, it's bad for customers, it's bad for dealers.
I very seriously believe that Toyota's distribution system is keeping them from selling an additional 100k-500k cars every year in the United States.
That you can’t order a Toyota or Lexus to spec is frankly absurd.
Employees can and that's a perk I'm going to take advantage of per my previous comment.
Come to Canada… I’ve factory ordered 2 Lexuses.
I bet the color/trim designers were thrilled about dealers improving their incompetent product. (I just like gold ornamentation for their camp factor, not because they improve the design). Dealers love fixing things, such as global marketing messages and pricing
But they allow you the privilege of paying for an iPhone cable at 1,000% markup what's the big deal?
Jack, as a Toyota owner I’d love to hear your full explanation on this.
As someone who lives in a Gulf States Toyota region…absolutely this. They’re vile.
They STILL do. I window shopped new GX's over the weekend and many came "bundled" with Lexus-branded USB Cable, key sleeves, etc.
The modern Trans Am jacket...
Except those are and always have been cool
They worked on Burt Reynolds, anyway.
We are rapidly approaching the day when you'll have to buy a Cadillac OPTIQ just to get a waiting slot for a GX from the same dealer group.
That's interesting - I actively dislike the gold trim. Have bought 3 older Lexus (90 LS400, 97 LS400, 92 SC400, the latter two for my Dad) and wouldn't even look at one with gold.
The 90 LS400 that my Dad "borrowed" for 15 years is finally back with me after getting him the '97. It has 276k miles and drives perfectly - quiet and composed. Cloth (!) interior is still perfect. Got a new front fender (someone hit him) going on and paint matched next week. Then full service, timing belt/water pump, belts/hoses, fluids, because DAD WANTS IT BACK. He loves that thing.
In period, I was disgusted by it and thought it was further evidence that the LS400 was a nouveau trash wagon. Nowadays I'm kind of charmed by it. Think of the gold trim as the Screaming Chicken of Japanese sedans. But were I to take delivery of, say, a Nori Green LC500, I would remove all gold inmediately.
Drooping, 911-esque tail aside, the second-gen Trans Am, stripped of its tape and chicken, is a well-styled car.
Jim Rockford is the proof. The F-body in 2nd generation form was a really good looking car- even in base model colorways and options. The first gen was a very tough act to follow, but somehow GM managed not to step on their corporate dick with the 2nd AND 3rd gens.
One of my dark horse favorites of the era is the 74 z28 with the big stupid hood decal and fewer tape stripes.
Back when I was self-employed as a typesetter I visited the "budget financing" lot of a well-known local car dealer. The family member in charge asked for a quote to typeset the sales contract form. For an sample to match he showed an actual printout of a customer who was buying a used Lexus LS400 that was at least 10-15 years old at a usurious interest rate of around 18-20%. At the time you could get, with good credit, car loans at about 5-7%, I think this was about 2015. I ended up not typesetting the form but the poor person who may or may not have bought this Lexus would have been horribly "upside down." Good luck with the Lexus, I'm trying to keep a 2011 Camry on the road with 145,000 miles.
Good luck with the Camry. My VW Golf Wagen diesel has only 80k miles and it's already had a bad water pump, threw the balancer in the road, had a timing belt, and various other fixes. It also eats a battery about every 15 months or so.
Previous to that we had a Bug convertible that didn't keep water out at the windshield and was begrudgingly lemoned by VW-NA after they kept it for 5 months and then gave me shit about how I was ruining their loaners. Though our 2nd bug vert' was pretty good, the buying of that on the heels of the lemon was a fiasco.
Sometimes you get a bad one.
German Engineering!
The second word in quotes.
Engineered in Germany, built in Mexico.
The curse of my mk7.5 GTI...
Probably better than my Westmoreland built GTI!
Could yours make I through a track day without going into limp mode? Mine could not.
' I ended up not typesetting the form but the poor person who may or may not have bought this Lexus would have been horribly "upside down."'
For sure... but now they have a paid-off car that probably still runs.
As opposed to getting a decent credit deal on, say, a new Elantra.
Yes, my nephew has good luck with Kias, but I will never have one or a Hyundai either. When working my other job at the print shop the forms broker came in with reprints for the local KN dealer, he joked that in copying them his dealer customer said they were even "more unreadable."
I heard Williams offered Lewis a seat...but the Sainz said, "Long-haired freaky people need not apply."
(sorry)
But seriously folks, Baku was crazy and great. Thank heavens F1 is so entertaining, now that IndyCar season is over and NASCAR's into the fake-drama "playoffs."
Love that LS400, flaws and all.
Sign, signs, everywhere signs...
The Windrunner doesn't pencil out at all. Even if it ever manages to leave the digital drawing board - not a bet I'd take, FWIW - it will remain wholly impractical and nigh-impossible to enter serial production, because the design clearly relies on the fact wind turbine blades aren’t terribly heavy relative to their overall size.
Figure a single 300’ blade weighs around 30 tons; by comparison, total payload capacity for the comparably-sized An-225 Mriya was 275 tons. It's highly doubtful the Windrunner could even carry a quarter of that weight.
Yep, you are exactly correct. Aircraft design is wickedly complicated.
Windrunner is claiming 70 tons capacity. They point out that many airplanes run out of SPACE before they run out of WEIGHT, having been primarily designed to carry fat people from Spokane to St. Louis.
A paper airplane company will claim whatever it can to bring in money from aviation-ignorant VCs and attention from the groundhog media. The math still just doesn't work.
"Our prototype can do Mach One, and we have the wind-tunnel data to prove it."
"Our prototype will do that at sea level, and we have the FAA fines to prove it."
My first job in the industry had Eclipse Aviation as its largest advertiser. I learned fast (alas, not quite fast enough) about sky-high promises and middling returns. At least in Eclipse's case there are around 250 decently capable aircraft flying today, whose owners rave about them.
I firmly believe Radia is only looking to fleece the ignorant. Others, like Vern Raburn and Boom CEO Blake Scholl, genuinely believe(d) they're going to revolutionize the industry. It always sucks when reality hits.
Yep.
And I hate vaporware promises, but nothing says "certified performance" like police lidar and dashcam records.
that large bucket of very cold reality water is a bitch!
Always is.
Fat, LOUD people.
70 tons at what airfield altitude and temperature? Probably sea level at 60F.
What is the CG limitation at that payload weight?
What is the range with that payload?
Sounds like typical desperate marketing hype.
I do think our DoD needs to follow the rule of cool more often, but I don't know if this is the right case.
I don't know what the mission would be the proposed aircraft. The Windrunner is a one trick pony for long bulky items. Any air transport of low density high value cargo, whatever that might be, would be overall better done by spending the money on having more C-17 and C-130 airframes even if that meant sometimes tasking more than one plane when the Windrunner could do it solo. I doubt the Windrunner could operate from worse runways than the C-130. In any event getting high bulk cargo the final mile is easier slung under a helicopter anyway.
The Windrunner seems like a modern Guppy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Spacelines_Super_Guppy
We don't need more single purpose anything in our DoD.
Hasn't it been pretty obvious for a while that the whole green-energy-wind-turbine thing is a major boondoggle? Are governments, countries etc. still buying into this scammy activity by China to dump this crap on everyone else, preying on their addiction to 'feel good smug eco fart' vibes, while they're still buring coal like it's going out of style?
The Chinese leadership is to Western leadership as the original LS400 was to the contemporary Cadillac de Ville. They are so much better and smarter it's painful to contemplate. In particular, their ability to manipulate our "elite" is eerie.
By manipulate, you mean pay off.
Engineers run China. Lawyers run Western countries.
Politicians are, generally speaking, not action-oriented people. They’d rather find a reason not to take action, or delay it, than actually put the work into solving a problem. Because with solving problems comes risk, and the less risk, the better your chances for re-election.
When engineers turn their expertise to social policy… it gets interesting
Eh, MAYBE.
Remember, the most basic truth about the Chinese is that they obfuscate EVERYTHING, and you don't really know WHAT the hell's really going on with them. The phrase "the wily Chinee" exists for a very good reason, and that was BEFORE they had a communist government that regards dishonesty as a basic political tactic.
I suspect the truth about them is similar to the Soviets, circa 1988. They're hard but brittle, like glass or ceramics. They present this unified front to the world, but behind it they're barely functioning and the gauges are all inexorably redlining.
America, on the other hand, is outwardly a goddamned mess. We wear all our cultural faults on our sleeve. We proudly show everybody our dirty laundry. We're Tyvequious and Shenayanay having a loud, personal argument in the street at 2 AM. But underneath, we have this adamantium core that only shows itself when some weird tragedy hoses the sludge off.
How many times should we have broken and didn't?
Speaking of cargo planes, any excuse to post my favorite takeoff video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhGwR1Ub-_E
In my not-so-humble opinion as a former pilot of fighter aircraft and current pilot 757/767 aircraft, that takeoff is absolutely bonkers.
In my hunt for a new daily driver to purchase in early ‘26, I took a few test drives yesterday. The new A5, a 2024 S5, the 2025 E350 and 2025 A6. The S5–great. A6–a solid car and sure footed, if not exactly enthralling. The E350–phenomenal, worthy of the hype. Drives like an actual, cohesive unit, NVH better than any car I’ve driven barring an S580, and the Burmester 3D sound is great. Since I have a Boxster, probably will pick up a 911, and regularly meet with clients, elected officials, and donors, I think I’d rather have a big cruiser that can eat up highway miles and blast music with a good sound system than a fast daily. The E450 is quite quick, and likely what I’ll choose, as the E350 sounds a bit anemic. Will look at the ES, G80, and other stuff before I decide, but going to be hard to beat the E Class for what I need (even if what I want is very, very different).
The new A5? I looked at a prestige spec, just $4,000 less than a loaded (CPO) ‘25 E350. It was unrequited dogshit. My wonderful coworker, a brilliant former literature major who looks startlingly like a young Joni Mitchell, has a 5 year old Mazda CX-5, which I drove to lunch yesterday. In every respect, the interior materials in the Mazda are better. My A4 Prestige was $7000 cheaper new, and feels like a Flying Spur in comparison. Feather-light steering, an awful fixed glass roof, with a “gel” cover that may or may not actually work, hard plastic everywhere, a steering wheel that belongs in a base Jetta. Controls that are both finicky and ineffective, requiring five inputs for what would be the push of a button in my A4. An awkward seating position. A “self-park” feature that is hilariously awful: move forward, move back, move forward, move back, then it finally parks, only to get about 70% of the way done, leave the car sitting half-cocked, and alert you “system capacity reached: please take over.” The whole thing took a whole four minutes: to back a car into a parking spot. It was genuinely one of the worst vehicles I’ve driven.
My initial plan was to await the arrival of the new A6. Not anymore. If I get any Audi, it’ll be a ‘25 A6, which is inferior to the E Class but a better deal. But if the new A6 shares any similarities to the new A5, as the outgoing A6 did to the A4, I won’t even give it a cursory glance. Just a dreadfully bad car.
Audi is going through the sort of prolonged bed-wetting that, when engaged in by Mercedes-Benz during the awful W210/W220 era, got Audi a customer base to begin with!
The reviews were favorable, which tells you pretty much everything about the reviewers. I’m sure the accommodations for the press trip were top-notch; because the car certainly isn’t. The 17-24 model A4 is great, the best daily driver I’ve ever owned. Comfortable, perfect interior controls, quick, handles well, good seating position. Looks good and is aging gracefully. Not flashy, not as fun as a 3 Series or eye catching as a G70, but maybe the most solid car in its class. I’d buy another one. The A5 looks like an amorphous blob and drives like one, too. If this is the direction for Audi, they’re going into their W210 era to be certain. BMW, too. The new 5 Series looks like an Acura and is too lame to even bother looking at.
Looks like I might be getting that extended warranty on the S4
I would. If I hadn’t put 45,000 miles on my A4 in the past 11 months (plus 3,000 on the 987, 2,000 on the 986, 1,000 on the NB, and 500 on the Frontier) I’d keep it. But it’s getting precariously close to the 100,000 mile mark.
At this rate, it will take me 25 years to get to 100k miles in the S4
I bought it with around 10,000 miles. The first two years I had it, I put just over 30,000 miles on it. At an October 2024 oil change, it had 42,000 miles. It now has 86,000.
Why not spend $10-15k on it and drive it another 100k miles. At least you know the car history.
be far, the new 5 series really looks like a buick.
That is an insult to Acura.
The new 5 series is depreciating like crazy too. You can find 2024 530is with low mileage for ~$35k all day long.
I think someone must have had the brilliant idea to push people towards the E Trons by making the gas A5 a penalty box.
no, the e-turds are virtually identical lol
Wait, what was wrong with the W212?
W212 is great. I'm trying to guilt trip my father into selling me his absolutely base MB-Tex E350 as we speak.
W212 E63 AMG for me!
Oh, I'd love to have that, but I have learned that I cannot trust myself with a fast daily driver.
Anything over 200 horsepower gets me court dates.
Everyday im reminded why i didnt get another litre bike when im going 70 in a 30. I semi wind it out for 3.5-4 seconds. I cant get a car iver 350-400 hp. I will get arrested
If it's the early one
You have a worse E60 M5
If it's the later one
You have a worse F10 M5
A base level E-Class drives the way a proper Mercedes-Benz sedan should with a comfortable ride that almost feels like you’re almost gliding over the pavement and has just enough handling to change direction if you really need to. Any option or package with the words sport or AMG ruins the car by trying to turn it into something it really isn’t. Being a comfortable, solid sedan ought to be enough without the nonsense.
Narrator voice: he gives it to bark
As a long time fan of Audi I'll note that they periodically shoot themselves in the foot whether it's styling or goofy engineering. Nows one of those times.
The outgoing A4 chassis is great. We got one of the last Allroads a few months ago, it's a wonderful interior and exterior plus easy driving fun. The new ones in the showroom didn't impress much.
Except the extended length A8 with like 22 inch wheels. That's a JB car all the way.
Spot on
I was put off when I sat in the new A5 and looked at the cheap-ass, flat plastic airbag cover on the steering wheel. It's not that you got a stitched leather-covered item on anything short of the brand's flagship models (my 2013 A8 L 4.0T had one, for example)...but they at least *looked* premium across the range.
What they've got going now looks fit for a low-level Volkswagen or Škoda, not an Audi. Also, Audi's heretofore impeccable design taste has given way to random assortments of curves and creases that don't make a whole lot of sense. What's with the weird shape of the quarter-panel windows? Or the blobby looking hexagon that makes up the monobinnacle (combined panel that is the instrument cluster and infotainment)?
I simply could never.
I'm in a 2018 A7 currently, last year for the C7.5 platform. It is astounding to me by how much the mark was missed with the C8. I also considered a last-year manual A4 (2017-18 I think?) as well as a end of the run 212 E 350 wagon. I never did actually locate a 350 to test drive, but the A4 seemed nice enough in a competently adequate kind of way.
I'm sad I have less than no interest in the next wave of Audi's after what I've got.
I’m at 15k miles on my 2025 E450. I still enjoy driving it daily. It is way more power than you need in a package that swallows all bumps and imperfections in roads. It’s a bit of a boat in turns.
I did not test drive the E350, but when I had one as a loaner I found it lacking. I have the Burmester and agree it is amazing.
I didn’t drive the Audi but I drove the 540 and it was an ugly and cheap in comparison. I don’t like the screens in the Benz but the Beamer screens appear to be some sort of add on. If you’re leasing, the bmw leases are unbeatable.
It’s just a sedan, but when it’s had a wash people will tell you how good looking of a car it is.
I just couldn't live with the screens.
The new A5 cockpit is so great that it is used in virtually identical form in the A6, the A6 e-tron, the Q5 and the Q6 e-tron. Might have missed one. And you are failing to see the light?
I actually rather dislike the new Mercedes (2025 E350 would qualify) interior design. It’s lit up like a night club and ALSO full of cheap, shiny, hard plastics and an entirely screen centric HVAC/infotainment setup.
Surprised you enjoyed it that much more than the Audi.
Will say the seats are quite nice and I imagine it’s a brilliant highway car though.
Lastly, I’ve put nearly 20k miles on a Genesis G70 since February so I’m both impressed by the amount you drive AND very interested in your thoughts on these cars. Gonna be in a similar boat with a bit less money to spend some time next year
I actually prefer the interior of the ‘25 A6, as I’m not hugely enthralled by the wall of screens. The driving experience is just considerably better in the E Class.
In a year kor mrs kor and baby kor are gonna have a sienna
As if!
Mrs. KoR would never want a minivan -- too big, her dream car remains a Tuscadero Pearl Wrangler-- and Mr. KoR would find such a thing to be a great excuse to get a Durango R/T, 5.0 F150, or something else equally stupid.
With one kid you could get away with a babybjorn and a 2013 Triumph Street Triple!
4 kids later and we still don't have the Sienna (but it would make so much more sense)
lol I lack the required amount of brave to ride a motorcycle. Would like to learn some day though, just to know I can.
I’m more of a Kia Carnival man than a Sienna. The seats on the higher trim levels anre exquisite.
Its a telluride with sliding doors. Very nice.
The ES does indeed feel impressive... Until the modicum of padding/adhesive separating the outer door skin from the side guard beam breaks down, and the door rattles like a paint can every time you close it.
Then you start noticing all the other areas where Toyota cheaped out, especially inside.
I think he means the Benz, not the Lexus.
I drove the Benz, haven’t ruled out looking at the Lexus
Well, derp.
I had some extensive work done on my W212 in the past few months and was given a few loaners. The only one I actually liked was the E450, which is now on my list of possible eventual replacements. However, as much as I enjoy the power, smoothness, quiet and comfort and bright well-patterned headlights, I hate the screens and the look of the interior. My wife calls vehicles with light upholstery and dark doors, carpet and headliner "Oreo cars." I do not like dark-colored interiors; they make a car feel constricted rather than spacious.
I think I'm going to have to run my 2012 E350 4Matic for another decade, regardless of cost. When I bought mine, I did not want leather, but it turns out MBTex is not what it once was. The driver's seat bottom cracked and split, while our 1985 300D and 1992 300E 4Matic, both with ~200K miles, still look new. I had the seat bottom replaced with a leather one from Richmond Auto Upholstery (recommended). I also upgraded the headlight bulbs with Vosla 65W from Daniel Stern Lighting (also recommended).
A few months ago, I had the dealer try this for a rattling noise on start-up:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2013/SB-10062561-2280.pdf#:~:text=Install%20check%20valves%20by%20inserting%20them%20into,directly%20from%20parts%20with%20part%20numbers%20listed.
Did not work but was probably a good thing to do, regardless. The dealership diagnosed it as the bank 1 cam adjuster, a $4400 repair. While my car is well maintained and undercoated, it lives in road-salted Vermont on a dirt road, and does not have the better lighting package or leather interior. So I thought it might make sense to replace it with a lower mileage southern W212 with more options. Long story short, there do not appear to be any available, so I had mine fixed. Seems fine so far, and each time I return a loaner and get back into my car, I feel relieved. To remain relevant to the thread, I'll note the perfect small screen where the subdued screen colors do not clash with the interior (or each other).
How I would love a 2025 A6 Prestige in Firmament Blue with the Sarder Brown interior. No other options necessary. Unfortunately, not quite in the budget, still need to pay off the '23 VW Arteon and baby #2 on the way. But a man can dream.
Even better, an A8L in same blue, but with the Cognac Brown interior. Though I do not love the extra screen for HVAC controls and etc on both A6 & A8, but it still is the lesser evil than the new windscreen tablet thing in the all new models.
Audi USA offering 5k off on the A6 and 10k on A8 is nice. I wonder if you can get the dealer to add to that as well. These models aren't exactly flying off the shelves like hotcakes.
Bubble Japan was amazing. They didn't just give us Lexus and Infiniti, they gave us the NSX, the Z32 300ZX, the FD RX-7, the Miata, the mark 4 Supra, XV10 Camry, etc, not to mention some amazing music (which includes Casiopea). It is a real shame the money ran out.
Word up. I have a 100 series Land Cruiser from 2002 and it's the bees knees, including the 8 bit touch screen an CD-Rom nav system.
I've been looking for a convertible from that period for the wife.
That Z32 came in a droptop! So did the 944-lookalike FC RX-7. The 3000GT eventually turned up as one. And of course, there's always the Miata.
The Miata is the one Japanese car that gets better with each generation. The ND is a complete superset of the NA, minus the winking headlights.
do not minimize the appeal of the winking headlights.
Always allow pop ups.
Jack, do you fit in the ND? I drove a friend's ND RF in May and I don't know if the interior measurements actually bear this out, but it had a "hemmed in on all sides" feeling that my NA does not. Of course it was faster and quieter and tighter, but I was relieved to get back in the NA and be able to stretch out a little.
The older I get, the more the NC appeals to me.
For anyone who feels the ND is too small, I HIGHLY recommend the Jass Performance lowering rails. They have an adjustable drop of 35 to 48mm. I installed a set on the driver's side of my ND with a 38mm drop and it made a HUGE difference. I am 5'10" with a 32-inch inseam (long torso) and finally feel like I am _in_ the car, not _on_ it like a motorcycle. I can easily see around and under the mirror. Bonus - the rails provide a slight rake, lowering your ass for what feels to me like better ergonomics.
https://www.jassperformance.com/shop/Miata-MX5-ND-Seat-Lowering-Rails?srsltid=AfmBOoodpkqxJBwTuj1-J2rDLzgDHFznHWra0_TuiIDQeX89iDx62GKu
They're pricey, but worth it. The engineering is top-notch, the manufacturing and build quality are up to OEM spec (the rails are actually beefier than stock, but still lower the overall weight), and the customer service couldn't be better. Vlad (owner of the company) exchanged several emails answering my questions.
In addition to offering varying levels of drop (through the $35 shim kit), the Jass rails offer fore/after adjustability unlike the Paco Motorsports fixed rails, and they _do not_ require cutting or permanent mods like the Aurora Auto Design rails. Installation is straightforward and easily reversed. Vlad provides a link to a video showing the process, which requires nothing more than the obligatory 10, 12, and 14mm sockets and a Phillips screwdriver.
IIRC, Vlad is north of 6' and has solutions for anyone who feels the ND is too small.
The Aurora/Blackbird ones retain functionality but are more expensive and require modifying the seat..
My sister just picked up her midlife crisis car, a 13 NC GT with a little over 30kmi on it. Based on the prices it seems that there is a lot of demand for the last of the NCs because there is a lot of price overlap with the early NDs on the market.
We could trade DG's NC Club for any ND1 club and take cash back, apparently.
I do fit in it, but I agree its a close fit. The NC is simply easier to operate. And since my adherence to the patriarchy is not total and I am occasionally driven by the ladies, I can confirm that the NC is far more tolerable for me as a passenger.
In my opinion, some of the best music ever made went into anime soundtracks from 1985-2005.
But remember, I have no taste, so sayeth the gatekeepers of our culture.
You and me, both.
"some of the best music ever made went into anime soundtracks from 1985-2005"
extremely real
It also led to the DSM partnership that resulted in the dangerously fast 91 Eclipse Turbo I had in college, what an era. I recently saw a survivor of an FD RX-7 in a grocery parking lot locally, mint condition, black over tan. I forgot how sleek and compact they were! What an amazing car that you could just buy from the dealer back then.
Dont forget the Nissan R33 and R34, the Toyota JZX100 Chaser, and the Nissan S14. All peak Japan cars.
Of course they kept a lot of the best stuff to themselves, but at least they're available to import now.
Yeah, for Lamborghini money.
I have this weird quirk where every time I see a cherry XV10 Camry, I feel I should buy one.
I saw a very clean J30 Maxima two weeks ago and my heart skipped. I have no idea if those cars were ever any good, but seeing a loved survivor is always worth celebrating.
My high school girlfriend had that Camry, and so did her mom, a 4-cyl and the V6 respectively. I had a lot of seat time in each, they were very nice. Much nicer than the 2nd gen Taurus and teal Sunfire coupe they replaced, but I was a teenager at the time and didn't really recognize what they were.
The J30 and A32 were the best-looking Maximas, although I never had a chance to drive the earlier models.
Sigh, Windrunner. So they finally realized there is absolutely no business case for a clean sheet aircraft development with a market of less than 50 planes (probably way less). So they are pivoting to the giant cash cow that is the DoD to fund their development. Sounds like JetZero also, as they have USAF funding for a demonstrator aircraft.
I still can't figure out where Boom is getting all of their $$$ from - they are developing both a new airframe AND a new engine.
From Wikipedia, it appears that a Saudi investment fund is involved.
I think United Airlines partnered with Boom as well.
The dashboard in my car is one of the reasons I chose the particular model/year I did. I have analog gauges for tach/speedometer (even though I'm sure they're just being fed a digital signal), and actual buttons and knobs for climate control and radio volume. It does have an infotainment screen, but it's not a touch screen, and I can make it disappear into the dashboard with the push of a button.
I just wish I could find a way to make it default to staying closed unless I ask for it. It pops up out of the dash every time I start the car/retracts when I open the driver door, and if I put the transmission in reverse while I have the screen stowed it pops out to show me the cameras. My car is a 2018, and in 2019 the next gen cars went all digital and I have no interest.
BMW ?
Audi A7
my '14 rs7 screen quit retracting a few years ago. also the radio won't store the presets more than 2 days.
Outside of the screen, how has reliability been for you with the RS7?
I contemplated the purchase of the A7 for several years, it took me that long to come to terms with giving up my clutch pedal. In that time I considered going with an S7/RS7 but ultimately decided to be lame/responsible and go with the supercharged V6. I've been very happy with the car, but I expect a hundred or two more horses would have been better.
Toly replied up the post... its been awful!
The supercharged V6 is pretty tunable.
My only experience with that engine is the brief ownership of a '17 Q7 "3.0T" Prestige. That one had the revised engine, featuring a clutched supercharger that no one asked for. Once the clutch--essentially an electromagnet--wore out, it began slamming in and out of engagement and making the car feel like it had a bad transmission.
But an APR tune (and with it, a supercharger clutch delete) put it at close to 500 HP. I imagine that would go to greater effect on your sleek A7 than on my bulky, heavy, air-suspended Q7, which--surprise, surprise--did not acquit itself well on the Tail of the Dragon.
Did you get any codes/trouble lights with the supercharger clutch failure?
I've been told by others that the later version of the supercharger with the bolted on vs pressed on pulley is better due to ease of upgrading the pulley, but I could see where introducing another failure point into the system would be less than ideal.
I'd really like to try to see what I can get out of the car with a tune/pulley, but good judgement says I need to not modify the bank's car, so that's on hold for a little bit.
APR tuned Q7 sounds like one hell of a highway car
I suppose the 1 plus of those mega screens is how bad American eyesight is getting (old people aging and young people from screens).
I'd read somewhere that the Lincoln setup essentially has a "reading glasses" mode, the instrumentation equivalent of 48pt font on your phone (and which many mid-millennials I know already need).