[Closed] Mid life crisis car

Great car, but anyone reminded of this?

Jesus, I've just read all ten pages, thanks 🤔🙄😂

Unfortunately, I found the whole experience disappointing, but not for obvious reasons. It was basically too fast to enjoy. I’d get to a clear stretch of road and put my foot down and within a few secs, was doing 90mph. Too fast, so had to back off or risk getting nicked or killing someone. I wouldn’t take on a track, so came to the conclusion that I’d sell it after only 15months, the shortest time I e ever owned a car.

I’ve had it about 7 weeks now. Not finding it ‘too fast’ particularly. I live on the edge of the Peak, so have some lovely roads. Managed to get a run from Soarrowpit to the top of Winnats Pass with no traffic the other day, it was wonderful 😊
What I won’t do, as opposed to when I was a young lad, is take blind crests, or corners at breakneck speeds. If I can read the road, I’ll open it up. Getting plenty of grins from me 😊

Fair enough, I live in Surrey, so very little in the way of decent roads to stretch its legs. It’s a lovely car....effectively the big brother of my S5, which I’ve been surprisingly pleased with considering the down scale.

Having recently made some very sensible choices about lifestyle and cars I need to stop reading this thread.

@hot_fiat that is awesome, love the colour. I've had a quite a few Alfas, including a 156 GTA SW, and my wife currently has a G. If I had the chance to buy a fast saloon that would be my first choice. How does it sound?

@Hot_fiat.. oh my..... I've been lusting after a quadrifoglio since deciding to come off the company car scheme next year. I think they look simply gorgeous.

How do you rate it as a day to day car ? I'm currently thinking of either a Quad, M2 or RS3.

It’s utterly wonderful. It’ll prowl along gently in “A” or “N” modes wafting over potholes like an old jag. Then put it in Dynamic and the suspension hardens, throttle becomes sharper, as do the brakes (they’re fly by wire) and the exhaust baffles get bypassed & it generally becomes a complete loon machine. So far I’ve found it’ll wheel spin in every gear up to 5th if you’re not careful. It’s bike fast & I reckon it’d give my KTM a hard time.

It’s got a 5 year warranty and a four service pack was a grand. Bike fits in the boot with the seats down. I can just about squeeze my three kids in the back using some awesomely thin Volvo high back boosters. It’s by far the coolest car on the school run!

It sounds amazing. Driving through the Tyne tunnel is an expensive business now as you end up going back through just to listen to it.

Race mode is bonkers. 510bhp, no assistance. Good luck with that!

What was the lead time from order ?

I got it as an ex-demonstrator. The kind of demo car where it gets rolled off the transporter and put on a plinth at the front of the garage & locked, so it had 250 miles on the clock.

New one due soon with minor interior and infotainment refinements.

What's the lead time been on any parts you've needed ordered? (There's a chance I saw an interesting rant or two about this yesterday!)

Wait, the QF has folding rear seats? When I looked at launch they seemed to be fixed which ruled it out.

*fires up Autotrader*

Congrats BTW, lovely cars. Any concerns on reliability? I read there were issues with the early ones.

Lol. Yes it’s made in Italy and yes they have stoopidly long holidays. I’m currently waiting on a boot curry hook and some tie down points (took it to Sainsbury’s to do the Christmas lunch shop, May as well have just inverted the trolley into the boot and given it a stir). “Two weeks” was the estimate three weeks ago. Also never, ever, order anything between 20th july and 5th September: may as well just order it on the 6th. Most parts though show as next day available on Eper, so are probably in stock in Warrington. that said, from threads on ph and the global quad fb group very little goes wrong.

haha yeah that matches what I was reading yesterday! General opinion seemed to be that the car was good but UK dealers barely even recognise them and everything needs sent over from Italy, which unfortunately results in having to involve Italians....

Launch cars had fixed seats. 2018 onwards has 40-20-40 split folds, so you can take viola as well as violin cases.

No reliability issues at all. The forums are full of praise on this front.

<I may have set iOS automation up to automatically play On Days Like These every time it connects to the quad’s car play.>

Ahhh the fixed rear seats was putting me off, but if they have drop seats.....

Hmmmmm.... it is a stunning looking (and sounding) thing.

Those Alfa's are lovely, a bit out of my price range at the moment though - are they rwd? Maybe next car, but current thinking on that one would be a C7 RS6 Avant

It was basically too fast to enjoy. I’d get to a clear stretch of road and put my foot down and within a few secs, was doing 90mph.

Very much this. With my S5, 2nd gear was absolutely fine for pulling away from the lights up to about 60mph; keeping your foot down in 3rd would take you beyond the speed limit very quickly.
The V8 rumble never got boring, even trundling around town, and as a place to sit Audis are fabulous, but it rarely made sense in logical terms.

Now it's gone though, I find myself wondering about a Fiesta ST or an older Golf GTI...

Just test drove a Caymen S.
It was lovely ....

Tell us more, mrmoofo?

10 year old 3.2s - went up to see if i can fit in one, more than anything. Managed to back a 25 mile test drive. Wonderful handing, felt fast enough for me / British roads. Suspension was more compliant that expected.
Noisy - but then the engine is behind your head!
My only real issue is that as a motorcycle owner will I use it ... or should I go or a more sensible X3 option.
( I am giving up work/ retiring in 2 months times. It will be the first time I have bought me a car since I was 23. I always promise myself i would have a Porsche. And i have had 8-10 BMWs as company cars. I current way of thinking is I can always sell the Cayman and get a sensible car later on)

Same car as mine, then - I'm a similar age to you and this was a proper MLC car, bought post-divorce for extra cringe points.
I did wonder how long it would be before the novelty wore off, but I've had it for 4 years now and I still love having and driving something that by its nature is less compromising than the rep-box that I'd otherwise have (whilst still being so "drivable", as you discovered).
Running costs aren't too bad - 20k service interval etc (okay, it's still more expensive than a normal car) and as for depreciation, it's costing far less than pretty much anything else I've ever owned in that respect.
I can see me having this for a long while yet...

By coincide my friendly BMW Sales manager sent me a video today asking if I was happy with my car....     Gah!

By coincide my friendly BMW Sales manager sent me a video today asking if I was happy with my car…. Gah!

He's been reading this thread? They're like sharks, sales people. Blood in the water and all that 🙂

Krypton, nothing wrong with a BMW - well I thought there wasn’t. I used to have a 330d which was brilliant and it had served out it lease and went back. It was replaced by a 330i - which is 2 lt twin turbo. And a bit rubbish.
I want my 6 cylinders back.
It is like have to drive a IL4 Japanese motorbike - all revs, no torque

Mind you it is still better than the std issue 3.0 TDI A6 Avant that i could have had. A comfy, four wheel drive whale ....

Mid you , a Jaguar F Type looks interesting

@hot_fiat that motor looks freaking awesome. I'm tempted to get one myself 🙂

He’s been reading this thread?

quite likely, he wanted to know if I was interested I swapping my 320d touring with a 435d xdrive!

quite likely, he wanted to know if I was interested I swapping my 320d touring with a 435d xdrive

I was considering one of these - can get them down to 4s 0-60 with a map

It was replaced by a 330i – which is 2 lt twin turbo. And a bit rubbish.
I want my 6 cylinders back.

I can't get rid of my manual E91 325i (3.0 N53) for that reason. Even though I've got a new Cupra ST (which is indecently fast!) to replace it with!!

I did have an E46 330i and that was nice, perhaps I should have kept it.   But a 4 series isn’t great for getting backs and camping gear in the back and I’ve settled on being sensible with the 320d for work/ bike trips and putting the miles on that instead of spending money.

Although I found myself looking at S4 Avants this morning!   How does the servicing / maintenance compare with RS models?

...and in the blink of an eye i read some reviews and realised it had the same engine as the S5 i drove a year or so ago and i hated due to the sound / hi revving nature.

That aside I think its all or nothing with this kind of thing.  Do what the OP and Hot Fiat have done and enjoy the experience, but whats the point in spending most if the money on a halfway house.

*sees Kryton talk about changing cars. Backs away quietly....*

I had just resigned myself to the sensible option of buying a van as a sensible option as per the wife's sensible option, now I'm back at looking at buying an S6 again! Is 37 too young for a midlife crisis?

135i – currently still have this, but it’s quite highly modified now (running around 480bhp) and to be honest I’ve ruined it. Probably the most practical (when standard) and just a decent little car but not a midlife crisis car (I can never tell if one coming towards me is a 135/140 or a 116d – and I own one!).

It’s a piece of cake to spot an M135/140; no fog lights. All lesser model have fog lights and the face lift cars had the silver canards. The silver mirrors are a give away too.

Mid you , a Jaguar F Type looks interesting

That’s what I thought this time last year, so, in true MLC:
V8, check
500+ bhp, check
2 seats, check
Too scared to take out in the wet, track, or between Nov and April, check.
Mrs hates it, check
Kept in garage and cleaned after every use, check.

It puts a proper smile on my face though. Noisy wee bugger so it is.

That Alfa is lovely. They’re very pretty cars and the ones I’ve seen have fantastic paint jobs that really pop in the sun. A lot of reviews slated the interior but I think it’s fine, actually it’s nice. The paddles are lovely too. They make a nice change from the usual M3 style choice too.

Op; the new car looks lovely. That V8 is fantastic and makes a lovely noise.

Pretty much all of the cars mentioned are technically too fast, but they can still be enjoyed.

eat_more-cheese
Whilst i would love the V8, here in the Republic of Brighton that is probably a bigger sin that voting tory, eating meat and being heterosexual.

I current way of thinking is I can always sell the Cayman and get a sensible car later on

Absolutely, just do it. If it's any help I've found the Porsche ownership experience to be pretty excellent - I've had a Cayenne for about 5 years and they really do treat you well.
Whenever it's gone in for servicing, etc we've had a great selection of new cars to play with including a Macan Turbo, various Boxsters and two Cayman S.

We had an interesting experience when my car went in for a slow coolant leak. They wanted it for a few days and gave me a 718 to use. After a couple of days they phoned to day that they'd found the leak - it wasn't a big deal but I couldn't have my car back until they'd fixed it so they'd booked the 718 out to me for another week.
We were due to go to N Wales that week and I told them I could really needed my car to transport dogs etc.
They said I could have it if I signed to say that I accepted responsibility for any damage to my car caused by the leak (it was under warranty) - which was fine as it had been ongoing for about 12 months.
I then spoke to my lovely contact in the servicing dept and asked whether we could keep hold of the 718 as well seeing as it was booked out to me already. And she said "yes of course".
So I took it down to the coast with one daughter and MrsSB came back in it with one of the others..... and it was a lovely sunny week 🙂
For this reason, if I ever get the chance, I would be getting one of these
[img] [/img]

(although the Cayman is lovely also)...

[img] [/img]

Whilst i would love the V8, here in the Republic of Brighton that is probably a bigger sin that voting tory, eating meat and being heterosexual.

You've given me my summer road trip. I'm taking mine to Brighton, going to rev it up and down the front, eating a Big Mac, with a scantily clad lady noshing me off!

*Edit - and a Vote Boris window sticker

*sees Kryton talk about changing cars. Backs away quietly….*

Nah.  As much as I'd love a warbling performance car I'm happy with what I have.

Seriously, AFKASTR - Brighton Speed Trials.
The Greens have been trying to ban it for years

eat_more-cheese
Whilst i would love the V8, here in the Republic of Brighton that is probably a bigger sin that voting tory, eating meat and being heterosexual.

That made me chuckle. A lot.

Absolutely, just do it. If it’s any help I’ve found the Porsche ownership experience to be pretty excellent – I’ve had a Cayenne for about 5 years and they really do treat you well.
Whenever it’s gone in for servicing, etc we’ve had a great selection of new cars to play with including a Macan Turbo, various Boxsters and two Cayman S.

Indeed, all my dealings with Porsche have been very pleasant. Always helpful, apologize that a part has to come from Germany so won't be in until the following day! That's for £30 worth of head bolts for a ratty old 951. Always get nice treatment, even in scruffy work clothes and spending pence.

If we are talking Porsche, I have a freind who has put a deposit on a Taycan and hopes to get one of the first batch in the UK due in May this year.

His dealings with Portsmouth have been:

Him: I have a Tesla P100D and want a Taycan..

Them: We would suggest you sell the Tesla privately, we wouldn't be interested in a PX.

Him: Why?

Them: We have our own market segment that doesn't include Tesla, thats not to say we wouldn't take it but we wouldn't offer you anywhere near Market Value because to us it's not worth the time dealing with Tesla for the supporting documentation.

Him: I see, sounds like you have the same issues I have dealing with them.

Them: Then you understand why we suggest you sell it privately.

Him: How much deposit would you like, and where do I sign.

Them: He is the spec system, once you have decided on the spec simply press save and send and you'll get a build slot immediately along with the Project Build updates, build book and updates on distribution and delivery..

Him: Ok, I've completed that and it says May2020.

Them: Then that's when you'll receive you new vehicle, thank you for choosing Porsche. Would you like the experience day and pre-delivery hamper and welcome pack?

Him: How much does that cost?

Them: FOC Sir, we provide many layers of Porsche service and ownership benefits that you'll become accustomed to.

Him: Stood there gobsmacked.

I was with him, it literally was that simple and that professional.

I'm looking forward to the Taycan as much as he is TBH.

The Porsche Experience day is a fabulous day out, a couple of old racers are amongst the instructors at Silverstone and they are very knowledgeable. The skid pan really tests you reflexes and is great fun. Recommend your mate goes if he hasn't been before.

Looks like I might be in the market for a mid life crisis car. Was pretty determined to go EV 'for the greater good', but the ones I want are unaffordable, the one I can just about afford is a Tesla Model 3 LR, but trying to get Tesla interested in selling me one (or rather PCP'ing me one) is like trying to get blood out of a stone and their PCP deal is pretty horrendous and would cost me about £6k more compared to other main manufacturers deals. So screw them. SO for me it's a last hurrah for an ICE car for the next few years.

Would love a another Porsche after my experiences of Porsche ownership...though like James it was an old 951, but the local Porsche dealership always treated me well when I popped in for parts and gave me decent discounts...so no snobbery dished out. Would love a 911 but would be a 2012/2013 vintage so not sure if good enough financing deals for such a car would be on offer. My brothers got a 2013 Carrera S and it is just unbelievable. So looking at Boxster or Caymens, but the front runner at the moment on the basis the 911 is unlikely, is a BMW M2. They're practically giving them away at the moment and the finance deals on them are rude. So taking them all for a test drive so will be interesting to see how a Caymen measures upto an M2. the 'right' Caymen with all the right options is £10k more than the M2 so I suspect I'll end up with an M2 over a low spec Caymen without the right options. Got to sell the campervan first (give me a shout if anyone is interested!!).

I was with him, it literally was that simple and that professional

It really is what the buying/ownership experience should be. And as said, they don't care what model you've got or what age!

Compare that with a good friend who bought a new Ferrari and he said the experience was utter shit.

Edit. Another friend is quite pally with our local Porsche dealership (already got one and was going to put his name down for a Taycan as an investment) and he was told that they'd already made a lot of Taycans and will get them on the road very quickly so that they're not going to be much of an investment.... But should be bloody nice!

The Porsche Experience at Silverstone is a good day out and a neat safe way to explore the handling of some cracking cars. The skid pan is very good but the launch control testing was hilarious!

After few BMW’s, Audi’s and a Caterham...I too have joined the Porsche club with a 911.
Absolutely love it and I’d highly recommend one.

Since it’s a 997.1 I take it to the local Porsche specialist - no coffee or flash showroom...just reasonably priced servicing.

Very keen on the idea of ‘recycling’ a new, old Jag on to my drive later this year.
2013/14 Jaguar XK 5.0 V8 for about £20/£22k ideally Portfolio or Artisan editions to gain exquisite cross-stitched leather seat upgrade.

Much, much more environmentally sound than getting that weird American bloke to make a brand new box-of-batteries just for me.

After reading the above, adds a Cayman to the list.

Anyone use a cayman as an everyday car ? commuting etc ?

I've got a gen 2 987 Cayman (the base model, 2.9).
My commute is to London via a train so the car is mostly used on weekends with a bike on top!).

I hear lots of people use them as a daily car. I do enjoy using the Polo my OH has for town driving though, it's just easier. The cayman is completely drivable, but it's still a sports car so don't get the impression it's quite as relaxing to drive around town in as a little hatchback.

@wobbliscott, I too wanted one with lots of toys, but ended up with one with nearly no optional extras (I hear they call this 'driver spec' :'D ). I wouldn't mind cruise control for the motorways. Sports chrono, PASM etc... never driven one with it but tbh I don't wish I had it! Theres something nice about it 'always being in the right mode'. It's like when you have loads of bikes and spend ages deciding which one you should ride on that particular day- get one bike that does it all and you're always in the right setup. No faffing, just get in it and enjoy.

Got an exhaust bypass done for £250 (Hayward & Scott, essex), which makes it sound like the Porsche Sports Exhaust when you put your foot down but doesn't give you any motorway drone.

Saying all that, if I could have afforded one with lots of bells and whistles I would have of course got one, but for me it was a choice between the 2.7 with toys (which has some rare, but potentially huge engine issues) vs the 2.9 with no toys (which has a bombproof engine, looks better and should hold its value a little better).

Love it, going to be a very sad day when I sell it!

Mate had the 2.7. It had all the rare and very expensive engine issues. Replaced it with a new boxster last year, which is a brilliant vehicle.

I’ve had a quick scan back through this thread, and I quite likely missed any mention, but just in case, here’s one of my candidates for what I’d buy if the money was no issue - the Aerial Atom V8.

and its motor...

500 bhp in a car weighing around 550 kg! Absolutely insane.
I could happily spend an afternoon thrashing it around Castle Combe circuit, and then drive it home afterwards.
For more normal use, I’d have one of these, the Alfa Stelvio Quadrifolgio...

Yummy!



 

Is that engine 2 k20s glued together with good will and mastic?

Stelvio QV is beautiful. Even Davide Cirone who HATES SUVs and even criticised the 500 abarth continuously for being too high and SUV-like thought it was great. It’s very, very expensive though.

So mine doesn't need a bag of cash, but on the other hand, that means it's actually happening...

Take one JDM Subaru Legacy turbo wagon- perfectly sensible daily driver/bike hauler, 260bhp, cheap to tax, has LPG on it so cheap to run day to day.
Purchase one UK spec Subaru Legacy Spec B
Shoot UK spec car through head and steal its 6-speed, driveshafts, pedals and hydraulics. Oh and its nicer interior. Sorry UK car, it's not you, it's your ridiculous tax band.
Add a sprinking of DCCD centre diff from an STI and Torsen front LSD that came with the UK car (because previous owner works for Prodrive)
Stab all of this into JDM automatic. Garnish with bigger turbo out of a manual JDM. Possibly add R180 and proper LSD if the original viscous rear diff explodes.

(hopefully sell autobox and remains of UK spec car for more than the entire project costs. Probably fail)

Should be fun but the wiring's going to be a pain in the arse and I'm not looking forward to refitting the carpet.

Take one JDM Subaru Legacy turbo wagon.
Purchase one UK spec Subaru Legacy Spec B
Shoot UK spec car through head and steal its 6-speed, driveshafts, pedals and hydraulics. Oh and its nicer interior. Sorry UK car, it’s not you, it’s your tax band.

Add a sprinking of DCCD centre diff from an STI and Torsen front LSD that came with the UK car (because previous owner works for Prodrive)
Stab all of this into JDM automatic. Garnish with bigger turbo out of a manual JDM.

Should be fun but the wiring’s going to be a pain in the arse and I’m not looking forward to refitting the carpet.

That's the ticket!
I built my 951 from a box of bits, a 968 block, 951 Conrods, 2.7 head and DIY engine management. Makes it all the more fun.

The carpet never went back properly after going from stained beige to black. The bits by the door always pull out from under the clips.

Not sure if 31 counts as old enough for a mid life crisis but I’m getting there now. 5 years of summer time motoring bliss.

Can't be arsed, will get back to it tomorrow. Brother bought a Jag, Clarkson, Clarkson etc.

Does a 3-year old Alfa count???

@Northwind ,any chance of starting a thread on that? Sounds ace 🙂

@bear, I'll be documenting it as I go but it won't be for a while yet- the donor car still has 4 months of MOT so I'll probably use that up and then get into the actual work come spring.

Great, will look forward to that if you start a thread.

Also looking forward to this!

@northwind that sounds superb.

Good luck kludging the wiring - it’s often amusing, particularly with modern service manuals that have the most rudimentary wiring diagrams. My old uno manual had pages and pages of revision diagrams covering every possible production run. The cinquecento had one set of drawings that were mainly completely wrong. The t5/6 manual just omits wiring in its entirety.

Yeah, luckily there's a lot of knowhow on subaru gearbox swaps, and randomly the ECU is the same for both auto and manual, just with a few higher brain functions lobotomized out with a jumper on the ECU for manual. Getting it going should basically be straightforward, getting it all to work right... I dunno, probably. There's some cleverness involved with the speedo and ABS that'll probably take a while to figure out. And then the DCCD sort of sits besides all of that with its own controller. As far as I know nobody's ever done this with the 6 speed but it shouldn't make that much difference.

Course, it's equally possible I'll electrocute myself to death while trying to change the stereo.

Ugh, engine swaps. Take one time estimate, multiply by 4. Take one cost estimate. Do the same. I remember the days of someone I vaguely know putting an RB30 into an s15. That didn't go well.

It's always the little details that you never can quite get to work that take the shine off 🙁

Engine is staying exactly where it is 🙂 It may get an engine swap in the future but if it does, it'll be another EJ variant so a straightforward swap. But that's not really the plan.

TBH it ought to come up just a little short of 300bhp with this OE turbo swap and a little bit of breathing improvement... that's both a nice number, and also hopefully doesn't overstress anything too much and keeps the excellent street manners of the twinscroll. Not to mention being pretty straightforward to insure.

OP : How are you getting on with the Audi now you've had it for a bit ?

OP : How are you getting on with the Audi now you’ve had it for a bit ?

Trade discount at blackcircles and shares in Shell??

🤪

OP : How are you getting on with the Audi now you’ve had it for a bit ?

Absolutely love it renton.

Perfect mix of luxury coupe and bonkers sports car.

That V8 though ❤️🔥

14mpg though, but I knew this 😭😂

Greta would not be impressed 🙄🤪

That's the sort of crisis a Porsche on PCP really ain't....

14mpg though, but I knew this

Strewth! That is low. I’d get that from the QV if I was being really naughty. Last tank saw 26 which was mainly school runs and around town. A guy on the forum is commuting on the m1 with his: 36 overall!

Strewth! That is low

To be fair it's still a novelty and driving it hard, you are keeping a 4.2 V8 in the 5k-8k rev range for the power band. I'm sure you could get it in the 20's driven sensible

8k! Is it flat plane? 😳

8k! Is it flat plane?

8250 to be precise

No idea, but it's not the same engine as the old 4.2 B7 RS4 etc, nor a highly tuned version of the S5 V8. It's 4/5 of the V10 that they put in the R8 and some Lambo's. It may be the same as the original R8 V8, I'm not sure

I’ve had a quick scan back through this thread, and I quite likely missed any mention, but just in case, here’s one of my candidates for what I’d buy if the money was no issue – the Aerial Atom V8.

When I lived in London I'd go to Sainsbury's on a Saturday morning and there'd often be an Ariel Atom parked up. I always wondered how the driver secured the bags on the drive back home, but loved the fact that it was a daily driver

Further to all of this , I have been looking at the Cayman and a few sensible options (i worry that the cayman would be fantastic for 10% of the time).
In that list is
BM£ 630d grand coupe
BMW 530d
BMW X5 3.0d
BMW X3 3.0d

I haven’t had my own car since i was 24 - so I have been looking at insurance. All cara are around the same value ...
The Porsche is cheapest to insure (about 50% of the cost of others)

And the X3 is the most expensive. Why would an X3 (with the same engine ) be more expensive to insure that an X5?