[NickyC]

Originally Posted by ntg44

Holy cow, already?!?!?!

Yep, never should bought it in the first place but I can never seem to get out of my own way.

But it's ok, I have a beautiful F80 now and all is well.

[Fritzer]

It just depends on what you want from a car. I took my E90 into the dealership to get some fuel stuff diagnosed + warranty stuff. Got to ride in a brand new G30 530i for a week. Fantastic car, honestly would consider leasing something similar in the future as a daily/run around car I didn't worry about too much. I imagine in the future I will do something like this and just have a new, entry model-ish BMW on lease rotation. Get a new 3er or base 5er every 2 years for ~$300-$400 a month doesn't sound all that horrible if you can afford it.

But after that week, I roll up into the dealer in that shiny, new 5-series. Pay the bill, then hop back into my "old" E90, and I remember why I love it so much more than any new 3er that I've driven. Same goes for when I had a G20 330i M-Sport as a loaner back in 2019. Great cars, especially for 2 year lease terms. To own? Not for me.

[Humdizzle]

i think we hit peak car a while ago. now everything is getting heavier with smaller engines and turbos. manuals are almost non existent. each manufacturer and segment is different about this though. GT3s have remained true to the recipe. But base carreras are now all turbo charged. the turbo and RS cars are pdk only. BMW fell off after the e92 and e60 M cars. all the entry level ferraris are turbo and paddles now.

on the flip side you could argue cars are more refined and daily friendly now. meaning you can use them more often for a variety of tasks. thats why i have an f80

[Housekeeping]

I agree completely. After driving my F10 M5 and manual GTS 911, I don’t very much like my e39 M5. Just yesterday I got the itch to sell it (45k mile mint car which drives as new). The power is meh when compared, the interior is old feeling, the handling is just ok, the clutch is blah compared to my 911, etc. I’m actually more in love with owning and looking at the e39 than actually using it.

[baege]

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

i think we hit peak car a while ago. now everything is getting heavier with smaller engines and turbos. manuals are almost non existent. each manufacturer and segment is different about this though. GT3s have remained true to the recipe. But base carreras are now all turbo charged. the turbo and RS cars are pdk only. BMW fell off after the e92 and e60 M cars. all the entry level ferraris are turbo and paddles now.

on the flip side you could argue cars are more refined and daily friendly now. meaning you can use them more often for a variety of tasks. thats why i have an f80

You have a pretty good comparison point for what I am feeling lately, i.e. your 2018 GT3 vs your 458 which was a 2010 right?

would you not say that your GT3 feels that much newer, crisper and tighter than the 458? (apples to oranges in a way I know)

The "worn out" feeling I have experienced with older cars I've test driven lately is causing me to shy away from them.

I am feeling like I will enjoy a brand new GTS 4.0 much more than a 8-10 year old R8 v10 with 20000-50000 km partly because it will simply be new versus worn.

but that v10!

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by baege

Curious if others have come to a similar realization.

Yes.

I have an E30 and an F30. My E30 lacks almost all of the creature comforts that my F30 does, but the driving experience is miles better and the fun factor is off the charts. My F30 is completely numb by comparison. It's almost an 'analog vs digitial' thing going on in my garage.

[Gregrobin]

I prefer older because I am not afraid to take a wrench to them myself. If I mess up, well than my investment costs was much lower.

I do however love new technology, but I want to drive the car, not the car drive me ;-)

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by baege

The "worn out" feeling I have experienced with older cars I've test driven lately is causing me to shy away from them.

I am feeling like I will enjoy a brand new GTS 4.0 much more than a 8-10 year old R8 v10 with 20000-50000 km partly because it will simply be new versus worn.

but that v10!

This is madness.

[Humdizzle]

Originally Posted by baege

You have a pretty good comparison point for what I am feeling lately, i.e. your 2018 GT3 vs your 458 which was a 2010 right?

would you not say that your GT3 feels that much newer, crisper and tighter than the 458? (apples to oranges in a way I know)

The "worn out" feeling I have experienced with older cars I've test driven lately is causing me to shy away from them.

I am feeling like I will enjoy a brand new GTS 4.0 much more than a 8-10 year old R8 v10 with 20000-50000 km partly because it will simply be new versus worn.

but that v10!

the GT3 definitely feels newer than the 458. it feels more cohesive as a package. you can see the build quality differences up close, the front radiators on the porsche are built to exactly fit in their spot. The 458 has a square radiator sitting behind a oval shaped opening.

we all love the older engines. But other areas of cars improve too. suspension technology, chassis stiffness, brakes, aero management, etc.

the GTS 4.0 will definitely be a more capable and usable car than a gen 1 R8. it will feel newer. just depends on how much weight you put on the v10 engine.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

If you have a passenger, using maps on your phone is fine but if you are by yourself kind of useless unless you are one of those drivers that's part of the problem on today's roads because you think you can still drive safely and use your phone at the same time.

And how exactly is a phone different than me using the navigation that's built into the dash?

Especially true on new cars that have touch screens, something that was considered inferior to physical button controls for the screen 10 years ago

[ntg44]

For a DD, sure, new is best. Less headaches.

But for something I actually want to drive, cars in general (mostly the affordable ones) started sucking after 2015. Luckily, there are a few "old" cars you can still buy brand new that give 80-90% of the experience of cars from 10+ years ago. My 2020 STI is one of them, and between that and my 2012 R8 V8, I have no intention of buying another new sports car/sedan after these. I might pick up a Lexus IS500 to add to my dinosaur stable, but after that, it's DD appliances for me until I get a vehicle that I don't need to drive. But the R8, STI, and possibly Lexus will be keepers.

[Spec-Al]

Originally Posted by baege

They all felt older in that the interiors showed wear and they all felt a little "loose" in terms of the way they drove. Some of them had particular issues (the 2014 R8 sounded kind of off, didn't have the epic throttle response that v10 normally has, the 2007 Si had strange throttle response and rode rough). But overall that they just all felt "old".

Growing up I always had older cars (anywhere from 5 to 10 years old), until my early 30's when I bought my first new car a 2003 350Z. Since that 350Z, all my cars have alll been brand new or at most 2 years old. I am starting to think I've become accustomed to the tightness and "newness" of newer cars and won't be happy with anything older.

You know that can be fixed, right? Dollars can add up if you are taking it to the shop, but I think a lot of us take enjoyment in refreshing an older car and making it drive as precisely (or better) than new off the lot.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What tech are guys in so desperate need of? You've got maps on your phone, what in god's green earth could you otherwise need?

having a car that is a 94, there is a lot of stuff i miss when i drive it.

xm radio, bluetooth audio, power seats, ventilated seats for those hot summer days

especially since now phones dont even have a headphone jack i can plug in to my cassette adapter to use my phone for music.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

i think we hit peak car a while ago. now everything is getting heavier with smaller engines and turbos. manuals are almost non existent. each manufacturer and segment is different about this though. GT3s have remained true to the recipe. But base carreras are now all turbo charged. the turbo and RS cars are pdk only. BMW fell off after the e92 and e60 M cars. all the entry level ferraris are turbo and paddles now.

on the flip side you could argue cars are more refined and daily friendly now. meaning you can use them more often for a variety of tasks. thats why i have an f80

i love turbo cars. so much more responsive to cheap mods and tuning, and typically you can slap a much bigger turbo into them as well. pushing 30psi + on a 3L 6 cylinder has a great sound to it as well.

[jnj2455]

As someone else already mentioned, I think this is a nostalgia/generational driven thing (at least partly).

I came of age in the late '00s and '10s, so to me that was where vehicles peaked in terms of maintaining modern day comfort. My list of "must haves" reflects that because many of those items are often standard on even most basic vehicles in 2021 (good headlights, sunroof, a good stereo w/ BT or aux connectivity,). The only thing to add to that now is really CarPlay & back up cam. Whilst I agree that many modern cars are numbed computers on wheels, the trade off of having a more distilled driving experience vs. creature comforts/conveniences is often a losing argument for many people.

To that end, I think it's a moving target. I doubt the next generation of kids who grew up around CUVs, electronic nannies, etc. will really care too much for cars pre-2015 because those models will come off extremely spartan to them.

I love an E30 or air cooled 911 as much as the next guy but to daily one would get old very quickly if I don't have a modern car accompanying it.

[VisualEcho]

I think it depends on the car, and mileage. Having said that, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish for my Exige to have a little more of the "carved out of a solid piece of granite" feel my M2 has.

[N8N]

Originally Posted by jnj2455

I love an E30 or air cooled 911 as much as the next guy but to daily one would get old very quickly if I don't have a modern car accompanying it.

I dunno, I dailied a 944 for about 7 years and didn't feel like I was missing anything. Sealed beam headlights meant that I could use Cibie H4 reflectors with 60/100W bulbs on a relay harness, I gave up no visibility at night to any newer vehicles. It did have a power driver's seat and power windows and mirrors and "automatic" climate control (which always seemed to require fiddling) but that was pretty much it.

If I could get another one today I would. Only reason I let it go is it was slap wore out and I didn't think I had a full mechanical rebuild in me (literally everything from the water pump to the transaxle would have needed to be rebuilt or replaced for me to trust it long term, because of all the vibrations or noises.) At the time (~10-15 years ago) it was over 20 years old and the repairs would have cost more than the car was worth.

[Fined]

I definitely prefer cars from 10 years ago vs cars of today. I think of changing out my M2 for a E9x M3 regularly. My 10 year old Carrera GTS is also not going to be replaced with something newer. If I can upgrade the head unit easily in a car from a few years ago then I don't need any of the new tech features that cars have at this point.

[BMWinAZ]

My 2013 F30 is the newest car I own, and very likely will remain so. I have ZERO interest in most of the new tech gadgets in new cars. The bulk of my cars hails from the early 2000s. Whenever I waste my time with gratuitous car "window shopping", I look at and lust after older cars.

[DenverSteve]

Not newer - newest. Latest technology is fantastic. As much as I like, 60's Mustangs, 70's Camaros, 80's ... not much. ..... The latest technology makes formerly tepid cars to some of the best ever created in 2021. If you want the best for the least, buy the newest you can afford.

[dís_f30]

I love my F30 and I like newer cars but there's way too much tech now. I prefer older cars. They're a lot easier to work on, they're more durable, last longer and the styling is a lot better. Best of both worlds is a retro mod.

[Biginboca]

In my mid 40’s now and really just don’t care about new cars at all any more. 0-60 doesn’t mean anything when SUV’s and trucks are doing <5 seconds now, pretty much any vehicle is more than fast enough for the street. So I now look beyond speed to character and involvement.

I’ve test driven tons of cars but I can’t find anything priced under $50k that gives me the joy of my <3000lbs manual transmission naturally aspirated 300hp I6 bmw. The sound, road feel, and nimble handling just do it for me way more than a 10” touch screen. The only car I was interested to as an upgrade would be a 981 cayman s but the prices jump last year so the extra $ doesn’t correlate to the added performance now.