Jason,

Just takes a bit of calling around to find the dealers who sell at MSRP (and don't have an outlandish list)... that said if you want one within a year, expect to pay a small premium. The deals are out there.... a friend got an april allocation he could spec out for $2500 over MSRP. That's a good deal IMHO. Bad part is, SMG isn't available yet.

As for which vehicle, I'll have to give up the S2000 for the M3. I'll be sad for a bit but I think I'll get over it.

Call me wierd but my color of choice is "Phoenix Yellow":



http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?...8&a=11374608&f=

 

3500lb. is allot of car, but I want this car as a daily driver - with style (subjective, but I love it!), power and technology. It's not a pure sports car, but it's a pure representation of Formula-1 Racing technology without the F360 Modena's $160k price tag. And even the 360 weighs 3100lb.

I wouldn't have considered it without the F1 tranny option. The prospect of F1 technology sitting it the driveway is too strong to resist. Electronic gizmos that can shift gears, without lifting off the throttle in 0.08 seconds are good electronic gizmos in my opinion. I'm as much of a purist as anyone, and abhor 'tiptronic' transmissions - a tiptronic this is not.

Regardless of having the M3 as my daily driver, I'll always be racing something light and balanced on the track. For my street car I want something refined, attractive, fast, and advanced. This fits the bill nicely! (unforunately allotta bills$$$)

Loki - You're not crazy! Phoenix Yellow all the way for me too.

[Edited by Jason Saini on 03-21-2001 at 10:24 PM]

 

How many M cars have you driven, Greg, that you can make such broad statements about what the man machine interface is like? I have a feeling you have not driven any (surely not the new M3). If you haven't, take the time to drive one, it will surprise you. My E36 M3 felt only slightly less connected than the S2000. And it sure beat the crap out of the S2K in steering feel. When you drive down a gravel road in an E36 M3, you can feel each individual gravel as it travels under the front wheels In the S2K you wouldn't feel it in the steering wheel if you went off roading. And it seated 4 and weighed in at 3200+ lbs. My M5 is every bit as connected and beyond as my C5 was. Yet its suspension doesn't beat the phuck out of me like the Z51 did (or the S2000 does). M cars are amazing in their ability to defy your expectations of how they should behave. I doubt the M3 will give the kind of feedback that the S2000 does, but at the same time it will not be a numb ass Cadillac of a car like you seem to pine

[Edited by Silver S2K on 03-21-2001 at 10:27 PM]

 

Silver's right, Greg - the '98 M3 that my boss has is remarkably connected to the road. In fact the only cars I have driven that are more connected are the Rx7tt, S2000 and Miata. The E36 M3 is amazing in how it balances comfort with precision, so I'm sure this one is no step backward.

 

I deleted the post...you guys misunderstood what I was saying.

I knew that was going to happen...

 

Nope I understood, Greg... I just disagreed! Basically, your argument was the same as many people who argue that the S2000 is all hype - that a 9k rpm is unusable, and that the car is not practical. Those statments mean different things to people who have driven the car, and those who haven't.

I agree that people can tend to get way too 'excited' about cars, leaving others who aren't so enthusiastic to wonder if it's hype. Or question the reasoning for the others' exuberance. But my point was that it's a very subjective thing, and you better believe people are going to defend their viewpoints when you challenge them. You're mind will change when I let you drive my M3 with the F1 trans. Of course, that won't be for at least a year - and we will have forgotten about this discussion. Damn - I hope I remember that I ordered it!