john banks

Trying to decide on above, wife has got a rental car and then will have a company car, with her having 6 years NCB and me having 7 years and now being over 30 so group 20 cars are easily insurable (e.g. E39 M5 is £900 pa).

Wondering whether to keep the Subaru and get say a 3 or 5 as the comfortable relative luxury to use daily, or sell the Subaru and her car, and get something which attempts performance and luxury, new or used depending on price (e.g used 996TT, new or used 55 AMG of some variety, new M5).

Downsides are finding something (even a 996TT?) that will go quite as well as the Scooby (sorted to exactly what I want, approx 20% higher power to weight ratio than the 996TT). Also depreciation.... new M5 could be bad for this like the E39? I'm reasonably willing to shell out if the depreciation is OK.

Are two cars better than one? If the 5 series was quite good - eg an E39 M5, I fear that I might never use the Scooby. If I got something that was trying to do both roles I would always compare the likely lower performance to the Scooby. I don't think I'd get back for the Scooby what it is worth to me. Don't want to get into bikes at this stage.

I know I don't really want to shell out on another rally replica and modify it from scratch.

Thoughts?

Mad Scientist

Why not go for a top spec. luxury car for cruising between home visits, but not a high performance car...........then keep the Scoob for the fun factor?????

LG John

John, if you could afford to do it then I'd keep the Subaru and spend around £25-30k on an E39 M5. That sort of money would get you a nice well looked after example that isn't too old and still has a young engine.

With 400bhp and dog loads of torque and luxury I doubt you'll be dissapointed driving that around most days. However, what this will mean is that the Scooby truely is relegated to 'fun' car status. You've done the first part and made the car fast as **** by adding power. Now, ditch the weight

With your scooby and an M5 of the drive I'd be seriously late for work as I debated which keys to take

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

John, if I was in your position I'd go for the 996 TT, stunning car. You can allways get the power upgraded don't forget!, they are supposed to be awesome anyway plus you'd have excellent reliability. Do you go on stuttgart 9's?, maybe they have some advice for this situation.

john banks

Yes, had a look on Stuttgart 9's, some useful threads.

996TT 272 BHP/ton
997 S 249 BHP/ton
Scooby 341 BHP/ton

I know the Porsches have the style and quality, that's why I'm interested, would the acceleration even with a power upgrade be as fun as the Scooby though? Serious question... not exactly easy to blag a test drive of a 996TT to see, they'd think I was taking the pi$$ even though I'm not...

hawkthescoobslayer

Hi john give me a pm for some interesting info on your "next" choice

i think you'll be surprised

H

CraigH

If you want proper fun, sell the scoob, get a proper fun car and something refined.

I'm sure a 996tt upgraded to 500ish hp would be a reasonable alternative to the scoob.

What do you actually want from a car? You don't seem to know? You ask a question but just go back to the scoobs performance. If that's all you want why change?

hawkthescoobslayer

hehehe the cat's nearly out of the bag now!!

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

I can't answer that but..

G Force stage 2 upgrade = 511bhp (6k rpm peak) and 500ftlb torque (peak torque at 3,500rpm, holding until 5k rpm, tailing off slowly to just under 400ftlb at 7k rpm, circa 320ftlb at 2,5k rpm). Can't be too shabby surely?.

And then theres the 550/550 stage 3..

john banks

Craig, I don't know. The manners of the Scooby get on my nerves from time to time, the performance is adequate though. I think a second car which is refined and of moderate performance might be where I'm headed.

hawkthescoobslayer

john the cat's out of the bag now "i couldn't help myself"

amazing spec these ruf's stroll on thursday

john banks

Enjoy

bumcrack

Go for the TT, it might not have the BHP per ton figures compared to the Subaru, but the cars really well setup I'd put money on it pi$$ing all over a high powered Sub, and you've got all the other plus points

2) Its not an Impreza

1) High quality car

3) Image

4) Rare

5) Not a load of gipo's riding round in TT's

I've got a C2 996 and it's a stunning car to own and drive. I've had a TVR Tamora which was great in a straight line, but I'm quicker in the 996 down most roads than the TVR wet or dry.

The good thing about Porsche is you can drive steady round town and be very civilised/quite and if you fancy giving it some serious stick you can do that as well. You appreciate Pokers the longer you own them.

Try the TT, Subaru’s have had their day mate.

Old_Fart

John, my garage has a decent scoob (300bbhp)and a 996 C4S(320bhp)...in a straight line, on a quick A road, well the scoob is still more exciting to drive...the 911 is just soo damn refined.
The 911's steering and chassis feedback though....on a nice B road or real twisty A the 911 is just sublime.
I've wanted a 911 for ever, and was 100pct sure I'd sell the 22B when I could afford the 911...but now I'm in the situation that the 911 will go before the scoob.
I know mine isn't a turbo 911 though, so slightly different kettle of fish...and I don't get excited going quickly in a straight line..feedback and character float my boat.
The other point I'd make in my waffling manner is that having a crazy scoob and a quick second car is generally pretty redundant...since I had the 22 I've had an S3 , an S4 , an STI8PPP(plus a MY01 WRX) and none of them were near the 22's driving experience and the extra performance they provided over the mundane alternatives was a waste of money..ultimately got rid of them and got something cheaper to run and insure because of that. (Untill that is I got weak and bought the 911 LOL) So, if I could only run 2 cars it'd be my 22 and a nice Audi A4/3 series Avant diesel.
Cman

N1 SPAN

Another one to think of here!!

There seems to be a lot of comments about straight line acceleration in this and other threads and handling doesn't seem to come into the equation all that often. At the end of the day, who can genuinely say that they can drive a standard 200bhp impreza flat out on UK roads????

If you are just after cheap thrills and a comfy luxobarge then why not:

Westfield megabusa or cossy (will p**s on any Porsche, scoob to 100 mph) £10k
BMW 7series, merc S class, Audi A8 for say £15k
That's the £25K solution

Here's the £100k solution
Caterham R500 evolution for nearly £50k or supercharged Honda Vtec Ariel Atom and a new M5 for about £60k.

A Subaru will always be a compromise as will a 911, albeit nice compromises!!

BTW, not attempting to slate anyones decisions here as I run a scoob and my dream car is a 911.

But I would never be without my Caterham!!! After getting that, the Subaru is basically just a family car. no comparison on track or cross country. Obviously the Subaru is better on the motorway!

T-uk

manners????, apart from the exhaust , as far as a road car goes your car is perfect IMO. the performance is there , the suspension is firm but soaks up our wonderful scottish roads without skipping. you even have air con ffs. a second performance car is a complete waste of time as long as you keep the scoob.

here lies the problem imo. the classic scoob is now in the hands of younger drivers , we are starting to look out of place in them for daily use. it is different for the andy f types who are keeping them as monster toys but they are not trying to keep them as daily drivers.

a new wrx with all your bits bolted to it gets my vote for cost factor , that way you can drop your engine in , 6 speed and AP's. sort out the suspension and you have a modern version of what you have.

if you dont want to do this then selling the scoob and buying one of the above makes sense , you still have the 400bhp leggy for being a hooligan.

Petem95

What about an Audi RS6? (480bhp) Nicely understated, and serious performance! Think theyre down to about 40k, however prices might take a knock when the new-shape A6 estate comes out next year.

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

Some well expressed and honest opinions here which seems to be few and far between on here now (re evo 400 thread)!
Always been planning a 911 and last week went out in a 996 c4 (post facelift so 3.6). Had the most amazing steering i've ever used, was really well made, looked the part and was quick.
But it didn't fell like 25k+ over my my03 sti. Didn't feel that much quicker although i admit this might have been masked by the quality of the car and its subtle power style. Felt a little bit disapointed really as i'd really set my mind on this
So i'm now looking to try a 99/00 gt3 to see if thats what i'm looking for!

john banks

Thanks for all the input. Silencer now in the Scooby exhaust and I overtook a few people on the back roads and it felt a little less obnoxious, plus a more pleasant experience at low loads. Whilst doing so I struggled to think what would have been so composed and right for that road in the streaming wet conditions with the road surface and covered with leaves etc. Need to blag a test drive of a 996TT. Although, for the finances I'd have to sell the Scooby to get one, whereas something else I could run as well.

RS6 is flawed IMHO. Too heavy, nose heavy particularly, and not quick enough to justify the expenditure. RS4 felt similar (I was a passenger in the RS6, drove the RS4), along the same road as above it was nowhere near as competent, not just because it was less accelerative.

Thanks for the input on the 911s all.

It does seem daft to have two fast cars, I think I will end up with something like a 540i auto (E39) once I have tried a few things tried a 528i auto (E39) before I got the Scooby and liked it but it wasn't that quick, I don't want any of the diesels as I drove a Pug V6 saloon previously that was faster (using the power band, not 50-70 in top) than the 330d/530d and it felt boringly slow (0-100 19.4). A 540 would suit the sensible doctor image better for a lot of daily use, and I gather return much better economy than the Scooby, and if I feel like some fun I could take the Scooby. Both will by now be cheap to run and minimally depreciating.

SPEN555

Can't see how a BM V8 will be more fuel efficient than a scoob?

I had a 525i SE and it was alarming how much fuel it would use if I used the accelerator . I was looking for a 540i but the fuel bill would have killed me. I would imagine you'd get 15mpg in a 540i?

Damian.

john banks

That bad? I know a 525i Touring auto user that averages 25-30 mpg. He drives it nicely though. I used to get 25 mpg out of my 2.0 Focus or 3.0 406, both driven like a tit though. 20 mpg out of the Scooby driven reasonably sensibly, can stretch to 25 mpg if I never use any boost, but this makes it as boring as a 2.0 Focus , but on a cross country blast where I drive it as fast as is appropriate it is in single figures I'm sure.

To be honest I don't give much of a toss about fuel economy, although I pretend to the wife and the environmentalists that I do It is a small portion of the cost of running a nice car for 20000 miles a year I think.

hawkthescoobslayer

john just had the ruf out today

average of 18.2 to the gallon

on the motorway at 70 pulling 0 bar (digital boostguage on board ) returning 30.2 mpg

however I have now had the car 10 hrs and put £75 worth of petrol in it

will post l8tr need to drive it again.

Paul

hawkthescoobslayer

[QUOTE=john banks]Need to blag a test drive of a 996TT. Although, for the finances I'd have to sell the Scooby to get one, whereas something else I could run as well.


Thanks for the input on the 911s all.

QUOTE]

where about's are you John I travel to scotland usually once or twice a month and would not need much reason to smoke the ruf up there

LG John

All right, that's my car you are calling boring....care to step outside Its funny it felt the same to me when I first got it coming from the scooby but like all things in life you get used to it and I find it nippy enough now. The way it devistated the little oink with the pointy burbury cap in the Mondeo this morning was most amusing

john banks

Paul, I'm just over the Forth Bridge north of Edinburgh Ruf, come little doggy Or better call it a rather hungry wolf

Kenny, I'm not slagging your car It is reasonable compared with a standard Scooby, for the money it is incredible. You wouldn't go after motorbikes or TVRs/Pork etc in one though

LG John

Er, I did the other day as it happens (bike). Lost. Badly!! God loves a someone that trys

I know you weren't slagging Btw, I know you don't like to burn the old oil but as a 2nd (none performance car) a 330d would be an amazing choice. My old man had the 184bhp one and the kick in the back made it feel quicker than it was (feels quicker than pug) but it just can't sustain the shove for as long. However, chipped 218bhp versions are hitting 240-260bhp giving some pretty useful real world performance! Such a car would give a monster thump in the back if you decked the throttle at 2k rpm and would be into scooby territory for sprinting but with the added bonus of wiping the floor with scoobys in other tests of acceleration. Might be worth a second thought

hawkthescoobslayer

John heading up to Stirling on the 10th if it's any good?

john banks

Paul, 10th pm is good. I could come to Stirling. Drop me an email?

hawkthescoobslayer

will email you John nearer the time with timings


paul