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Featured Replies

56 minutes ago, drewlaws said:


I don’t follow these closely, but they look within reason from a cursory BaT search. Some are more tunable than others. All offer unique top down manual fun.

Under budget: Viper (Gen II or III), Vantage V8 Roadster
Over budget (probably need to spend $90k): 997 turbo cab, R8 Spyder V8

Good suggestions, I've researched these and you're on the right track.

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  • Submitting a new frivolous acquisition - 991.2 Carrera GTS in agate grey with 7MT. I haven't had a "fun" car in years. The itch has been growing and I settled on a manual 911. I've been patiently wait

  • I've been looking for over 2 years for a Miami Blue 991.2 slick top with a 7MT and RAS, and finally found one. Carrera T with all the aforementioned options and 9k miles. Fucking love this thing.

  • Hah. It couldn’t go over 20mph at that point and was just going to the dealership from the truck. She’s home now. Will try to post more pics tonight but here she is.  

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15 hours ago, faps said:

718 Boxster 

20 hours ago, Gravy Train said:

I'm gonna let this one marinate over the weekend as a multi-part post/response, just to see what ideas y'all come up with that I haven't considered.

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I don't drive my S6 any longer and hate that I've sorta lost interest in the car, with a boatload of OEM RS and aftermarket parts sitting in the garage to get silly with.  Since the original turbos haven't been lifted it yet, I thought this might be the right time to list it on Bring-a-Trailer, as a couple other similarly-modded cars sold well on the site lately.  The proceeds will go toward a fun, perhaps smaller car. 

My 'daily' is a Rivian R1T, so I have the utility part figured out. It's a quad-motor, 835hp unit, and is kind of silly on the street too.

I'm looking for ideas on something fun I'll want to keep in the garage for a while. Requirements as follows:

  • New or used.  If preowned, prefer a modern powertrain with direct injection that's tune-able
  • Budget of $75-$80k
  • Manual transmission only
  • GT, sports coupe or roadster format
  • Offers some form of open-air driving
  • RWD or AWD
  • Something that feels 'special' to have in the garage, that makes you look forward to free time for a drive

 

At first, only two cars came to mind, both with V8s, but that has since changed completely.  Let's see what you'd pick.

Good luck topping the Corvette


wife is pulling the trigger on a new Santa Fe Caligraphy hybrid. It was that or the Highlander hybrid but she liked the Santa Fe better. 
 
*missed the storage requirement. Storage looks pretty tight with the back row up. Probably not a good fit. 

We pulled the trigger today to get ahead of tariff nonsense and walked out the door at 52k with a new, loaded Sante Fe Caligraphy.

Really nice ride and love all the options that you pay a premium for on the Toyotas. Likely won’t hold its value as well, but we’re gonna run it into the ground anyway…

Thx for the heads up @Firemans4Horn
1 hour ago, Party_Taco said:


We pulled the trigger today to get ahead of tariff nonsense and walked out the door at 52k with a new, loaded Sante Fe Caligraphy.

Really nice ride and love all the options that you pay a premium for on the Toyotas. Likely won’t hold its value as well, but we’re gonna run it into the ground anyway…

Thx for the heads up @Firemans4Horn

Wow. That’s crazy timing. On Thursday when the car tariff news dropped I emailed 3 dealers we had been talking with and asked for their final best price  

Just got home an hour ago from OKC picking up my wife’s new Calligraphy Santa Fe. Barely scratched the surface on the tech and cruise control but had a blast driving it 3 hours home. Congrats!

On 3/29/2025 at 12:46 AM, Gravy Train said:

Good suggestions, I've researched these and you're on the right track.

CPO Boxster GTS 4.0?

If anyone is selling a car in DFW I had a really good experience with Marcus at Texas Cars Direct. Dealer offered $9k for a trade in and I ended up selling to them for $13.5k. Process was super simple. 
 

Marcus- (972) 860-9055

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Just bought a new 2024 Mustang GT Premium. This thing is a lot nicer than i was expecting it to be. Now Ford just needs to unlock these ECU's

If only there were some way for us to be able to decide for ourselves whether or not we agree with you on how nice it is.

On 4/25/2025 at 4:07 PM, tbone_ said:

If only there were some way for us to be able to decide for ourselves whether or not we agree with you on how nice it is.

Hey!! when i take a pic or two i'll post them. Then you can judge the car all you like lol

It’s all a matter of taste. 
Having started out 60+ years ago with a used 1960 MGA Roadster that had wood floorboards, Lucas electrics with two 6-volt batteries, and no roll-up windows or radio,  my 2024 Civic EXL Hatchback is a nice luxury car.

 

 

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Edited by Armybrat

Here’s a dirty car pic

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Don’t ask. I don’t know 

So you're an old, but not quite Armybrat old.  

1 hour ago, Mittens said:

So you're an old, but not quite Armybrat old.  

i guess, i'm 45. I'm also too lazy to fix the sideways pic. Figured y'all didn't have enough to bitch about on this site

20 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

How many pedals?

Just two. The MT-82's are junk so i went with the auto. If it was a vette or camaro using the TR6060 it would have 3 pedals.

Mine was an '08 zo6. These 10 speed autos are pretty damn impressive 

On 3/28/2025 at 11:50 PM, drewlaws said:


I don’t follow these closely, but they look within reason from a cursory BaT search. Some are more tunable than others. All offer unique top down manual fun.

Under budget: Viper (Gen II or III), Vantage V8 Roadster
Over budget (probably need to spend $90k): 997 turbo cab, R8 Spyder V8

Jag F type with V8?  550 hp? 

3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

It’s all a matter of taste. 
Having started out 60+ years ago with a used 1960 MGA Roadster that had wood floorboards, Lucas electrics with two 6-volt batteries, and no roll-up windows or radio,  my 2024 Civic EXL Hatchback is a nice luxury car.

 

You probably had a floor switch for the high beams too

4 minutes ago, nolongerU2horn said:

You probably had a floor switch for the high beams too

Maybe, but to tell the truth I don’t really remember. 
I do remember there were separate key ignition & starter switches, along with a manual pull choke - all on the dashboard…..
plus the horn button and turn signal switch.

1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

Maybe, but to tell the truth I don’t really remember. 
I do remember there were separate key ignition & starter switches, along with a manual pull choke - all on the dashboard…..
plus the horn button and turn signal switch.

it does have a floor switch. On my first MGA I spent half a day and learned all sorts of new cuss words trying to wire it. Obviously you are upside down and have your head in the footwell for a while.  Very glad I am paying the specialty garage to put new harness in the current MGA

On 4/29/2025 at 11:55 AM, Litig8r said:

Jag F type with V8?  550 hp? 

These are available in a manual? I had no idea! I drove a friend's SVR coupe for a day. It had plenty of character.

While we're at it, I would add the 981 Spyder to the "over-budget" list. Has OP picked anything up yet?

The baby Raptor is right up at the top of favorite cars I’ve owned list. I’m really digging it. It’s like a 4x4 muscle car but not as crazy expensive as the big Raptor and fits on more trails.

Had some more fun last weekend. 
 

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What did they whack you for on that?

And how the motor? Is the 300hp enough?

On 2/11/2025 at 10:59 AM, 6th Street said:

Anyone on the list for a 2025 4Runner? 

Apparently quick delivery for the TRD model with cloth seats and 8" nav but a few months out for the TRD Premium. 

Came here to post this. I almost pulled the trigger on the TRD to beat the tariffs (if any), but when I told the Lexus guy I was buying a 4Runner he got me a GX in two days. I love it. Amazing vehicle. 

Came here to post this. I almost pulled the trigger on the TRD to beat the tariffs (if any), but when I told the Lexus guy I was buying a 4Runner he got me a GX in two days. I love it. Amazing vehicle. 
If I were shopping these days for a 4WD, the GX550 is hands down my favorite. Sharp looking vehicle.
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Yesterday I had an appointment for my car to get inspected and this was in the showroom. Apparently a guy backed off the purchase.

It is so stunning.

 

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11 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

Yesterday I had an appointment for my car to get inspected and this was in the showroom. Apparently a guy backed off the purchase.

It is so stunning.

What a coincidence - I just built one of these up in their configurator the other day.  Just like building cars (and sometimes planes) I'll never own.

1 hour ago, Mittens said:

What a coincidence - I just built one of these up in their configurator the other day.  Just like building cars (and sometimes planes) I'll never own.

I too have done the same

I see in the Broncos you start with the 2.3L that came in the Mustang, a very good engine making 300 horsepower. Then you can get the 2.7L with 330 horses, another good one and all the way up to 418 horses in the 3.0L. 

Same thing with the Ranger. Good choices.

 

I love the Broncos, but I wonder how really practical is a 4x4 for a daily driver, even if you make use of it on non-daily excursions.

 

3 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I see in the Broncos you start with the 2.3L that came in the Mustang, a very good engine making 300 horsepower. Then you can get the 2.7L with 330 horses, another good one and all the way up to 418 horses in the 3.0L. 

Same thing with the Ranger. Good choices.

 

Has Ford sorted the reliability issues on those?  

21 hours ago, tbone_ said:

What did they whack you for on that?

And how the motor? Is the 300hp enough?

If you were asking about the Ranger Raptor: I paid $55K for it which is about $1K below MSRP. The stock motor is 405hp but I’m going to get the tune that takes it to 455 at some point. It’s got plenty of push from the twin turbo V6 but why not have more if it’s available?

19 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I love the Broncos, but I wonder how really practical is a 4x4 for a daily driver, even if you make use of it on non-daily excursions.

 

Has Ford sorted the reliability issues on those?  

Knock on wood, I have never had an issue with the 3.5L in my F-150. Nor with the 2.0L in either of the Edges I have had.

2 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

If you were asking about the Ranger Raptor: I paid $55K for it which is about $1K below MSRP. The stock motor is 405hp but I’m going to get the tune that takes it to 455 at some point. It’s got plenty of push from the twin turbo V6 but why not have more if it’s available?

50hp isn't that much, but tunes are a little scary.  It's pretty easy to exceed all kinds of design parameters of the engine.

16 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

They seem to sell a bunch of those. What engine?

2.7 l eco boost 

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I love the Broncos, but I wonder how really practical is a 4x4 for a daily driver, even if you make use of it on non-daily excursions.

 

Has Ford sorted the reliability issues on those?  

Wife works 5 min from home, so she drives it normally and when she’s off she uses it to drop the baby off at school and run errands.

 

its getting 15.2 miles a gallon so if your going long distance, it isnt practical at all driving on 35 inch tires

49 minutes ago, Walte464 said:

Wife works 5 min from home, so she drives it normally and when she’s off she uses it to drop the baby off at school and run errands.

 

its getting 15.2 miles a gallon so if your going long distance, it isnt practical at all driving on 35 inch tires

Use premium?  I may be addicted to 25+ mpg, which is another issue I suppose.

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

50hp isn't that much, but tunes are a little scary.  It's pretty easy to exceed all kinds of design parameters of the engine.

It’s also another 100 lb ft of torque. It’s offered by Ford and doesn’t affect the warranty. 

Doomlet and I were at an event today where the current Cannonball record-holding car was also in attendance.

Pretty nifty. 

 

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Edited by Prepuce of Doom

On 5/4/2025 at 4:38 PM, Buzzrock said:

It’s also another 100 lb ft of torque. It’s offered by Ford and doesn’t affect the warranty. 

Yep, if i had the cash i'd be putting a Whipple on my car and enjoying a 3yr warranty with it. You see place like Friendly Ford in Crosby putting Whipples on F-150's and selling them that way. Pretty damn cool if you ask me. 

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