I've been intrigued by the Viggen since you bought it. Had I been able to buy it, it would have been more than a 'winter beater' to me. Basically would've pulled year round duty, basically making the C5 a garage queen. And it would have been a fantastic excuse to take a week off and hit of the Left Coast.
But it's a manual. Alas.
Unrelated but I loathe Mercedes so unless it's a '55 300SL it's not going on my property.
ROFL.
Well, you could find a 2003 9-3 with the Viggen appearance option. Those existed, and existed in an automatic. There are also 9-5 Aeros in automatics. They're quite fun. The major yin and yang of the 9-3 and 9-5 is the 9-3 is a much shittier car but much simpler, too. The 9-5 was genuinely good (IMHO) but has an Audi-esque (not quite) suspension complexity and they're all getting to or are past refreshment time.Otherwise, the cars are very similar in performance, size, and economy all said and done.
Ash says I can get a manual, I just have to rent her a car if the MINI is ever in the shop.
She's driven the 650 twice.
Nice!
Originally Posted by Phil_SS
I knew what you meant.As there was no way you want to daily drive a pre 1970 car in Western PA winter.
Before someone chimes in: Anything with the moniker Impala SS after 97 doesn't really exist. It's like Metallica after the Black Album.
The 650i is depreciating at a meteoric rate. It has lost $3k in NADA retail value since June, which is about 15% of its value. Normally that wouldn't concern me but I don't want to take on a loan for the C5Z without trading in the 650i.
Things may look different in the spring but I'm not sure the C5Z Vette is really viable. I could afford to buy it, daily drive it, and keep the 650. But that extra payment would suck up a lot of the budget for tires, brakes, registration fees, overnight travel, etc. I might end up having to cut right to the E46 330CI if I'm going to be back on track in April.
I wonder how much of a performance gap there is between the E46 and the Mustang. E46 has lower power but it's more nimble, and I'll be able to strip it down several hundred pounds.
Another option would be just dialing back to the C5 FRC and building up the motor later if I need more power.
Lots to think about
I'll bet all said and done they are about the same around a track. Things would probably change based on the balance of turns to straights, etc., but dollar for dollar I'll bet overall times are similar.
Last edited by thesameguy; October 25th, 2017 at 09:14 AM.
Just a glimpse at numbers:
'98 SVT: 305 hp / 3354lbs / 0-60: 5.9
'04 330: 225 hp / 3285lbs / 0-60: 5.6
Hmmm. Minimum weight on a SpecE46 car is 2850lbs w/driver.
Not looking good. Need to save some pennies.
I would not be at all surprised to find a big piece of that 0-60 disparity is 1998 Ford tires vs. 2004 BMW tires, too. 1/4 mile might be a more useful statistic.
I looked briefly for comparisons between C5Z and SVT and it's pretty clear there isn't one.Seems like the Corvette really is the right answer there (unless you want to do something like a later 350Z)... and probably the next real step up. Anything sub $15k and you'll probably be making some serious compromises, unless you can buy someone else's old track car at a discount.
The 330 angle is that it's the car I want to compete in so it cuts out some steps to get to that goal. I want to start racing door to door after law school though, and I don't graduate until May 2020. So 2018 is another HPDE year, then go to a racing school or two in 2019 and then complete the build that winter.
I could just buy the Corvette and run that till 2020, sell it, and buy someone else's completed E46 build in 2020.
The move towards an E46 would be more about practicality and cost than for the pure excitement of it. Which I guess is obvious anyway.
The compromise is just getting a regular C5 which I could get for close to four figures and would still scoot.
I think I enjoy the planning and the hunt as much as the actual ownership, feel free to ignore my ramblings if they're getting redundant.
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