BigTyla goes car shopping!

Man doesn't sound like you can go wrong! I don't have any input but I am looking forward to seeing what you have to say about all the cars and what you pick.

shoulda made a poll

Drove the 12 Mustang 5.0 with track pack and catback; I inertia drifted it onto an on-ramp and was so predictably concise in where I needed it to go; felt like McQueen in Bullitt the whole time, 7300rpm quick-shifts... just a blast. I still have the possibility of that being my end choice in due time. The track pack really makes a hearty difference, but as a long-time Mustang modifier/enthusiast, of course my opinion is slightly skewed. The Boss 302 is miles above, but I can't even find them too often. The GT500 is fun, but the driver feedback isn't as rewarding. I've driven a few GT500's and Super Snakes, and while fun cars, just seem to struggle to really put the power down in the turns. The only way I can even get the 605/750hp Super Snake models through the turns is by going intentionally sideways, it's a bit ironic.

For $45k, that's 996 Turbo money. Wait awhile and enjoy it, then when you get used to the speed, spend $1300 and get an ECU flash and get another 80 horsepower and 90ft lbs of torque.

Good on you for driving a bunch of different stuff. If you drive a 335, at least drive a sport package car. It's a really different animal than the base model and will drastically change your opinion of it. I drove a base auto sedan and almost didn't even go drive Greyson's M-Sport because I was so disappointed. After I drove Greyson's car... you see how that turned out. I'd check out a 135 also, they can be had for significantly cheaper than E90/92s and they're near 120 mph cars with a JB4 and downpipes lol. I've seen 135 M-Sport cars with less than 20K miles go for around 30K.

Buy an off lease Volt and use the savings on gas per month to make your DSM in to whatever you want it to be and then some. That is what I would do with my VR-4 if I had a 3 car garage. ;)

My rental (meaning leased) 2013 Volt is getting 360 MPG and is running less than $35 a month between electricity and gas. Throw it in "Sport" mode and it can be fun red light to red light. 1/4 mile? Forget it! Unmodded Honda territory (mid 16s @ ~85 MPH with a tail wind), but it launches like a FWD monster. Electric motor = instant TQ. TQ > HP any day, IMO. :)

Good luck with whatever you decide on!

ive driven several fr-s. fun in the country, where both of us live, town is still entertaining, but not as much. see if he will let you backroad the car for about 30 minutes.

The Corvette ZO6 with 505 hp. Pretty wild cars to drive from what I hear.

I'm sure folks will rag on me, but honestly RX8 would be a good pick up. You stay on top of maintenance with it and they're fairly reliable. Might be hard to find one under 60k miles now though. But they're a blast to drive on twistys, the rear seat is quasi usable. They're pretty comfy until you start flickin it around corners. Of course plenty of mods out there if you want more out of it. Course unless you have a Mazda dealer close by, won't be super helpful, but they did extend the warranty on motors to like 10 years 100k miles.

My sister had an RX8, nothing but a POS.

You said Corvette, have you thought about adding a CTS-V to that list?