She's gone, Useful took her yesterday and by all accounts he's very happy (as he bloody well should be).

I was a little sad at first but I just keep reminding myself of the running costs vs. mileage and I was paying out about

 

 

less than 1k a year miles
1k insurance
1.5k depreciation

 

If you can afford an R8 then the others are a moot point.

 

Danny, don't do the M3 Cab. Never buy a non-supercar cabrio that wasn't designed as such. Stick with the flying for the moment.

 

Here's the thing, if I wouldn't notice the difference then I don't see the problem with buying the cab version, I like open top driving and so long as the handling isn't too compromised then I can't see the problem with it

 

you'll soon forget the S - sounds like you made a sound decision

but be careful what you predict

it will stick in some throats

I'd be very careful about the M3

they have the worst paint quality I have seen on an expensive car

as for buying the cab version though

I completely agree - you know what you like

and it's laughable to think that more than a tiny minority of obsessives would ever notice a difference

 

That's very true, never say never but I can't see it. Interesting on what you have to say on the M3 paint, that's worrying. I'm certainly getting used to the hatred people feel as M3 drivers as I'm getting a small amount of it in the S3, those DLRs really upset people .

The XKR on the other hand appears to be doing well and all the feedback I'm getting is very positive indeed. We'll see in 3 years when the old guys that own them are coming to sell them and they are still suffering from the Jag depreciation bomb, I wont be buying new

 

That's not really true, the others have alot of advantages over an R8 and the R8 is hardly a practical daily driver Whereas the XKR is very practical but the handling isn't as good

 

A had a ride in an early XKR some years back when Gazzer had one on some sort of trial

It was impressive - particularly the handling and roadholding, with adequate punch

However, I remember my at the idea it would retail at about