I had a 2006 E90 325i with the same N52B30 engine. That was a great motor with the magnesium-aluminum block, one of the lightest inline 6 ever built. This car truly has a static 50.0/50.0 weight balance, particularly with the wagon back. It’s not high horsepower and it’s not tunable, but it will be reliable.

Even the Mercedes C400 4MATIC feels sluggish and that weighs 400 pounds less with the same power. Some of it is turbo lag. To haul an SUV with passengers you need over 400 HP for it to feel quick accelerating 40-80.

The Panamera has switched over to turbo. The 3.0 turbo V6 is a little bit underpowered in the Macan S. Haven’t driven the 3.6 turbo yet.

Sure, tuners claim you can make a $25k car as fast as a $50k car for $700. In real life it falls a bit short of what you might think. The observable gains from software only are under 20%, not 50%. The K04 kit is super laggy and sort of ruins the engine, IMO.

The 2.0T doesn't make 350 ft/lb. I have a highly tuned b8 S4 with the 3.0T and it only makes 370 ft/lb with a stage 2 tune and pulley.

I drove the 991 Turbo at the Porsche a Experience Center in Atlanta on their track. Honestly it had too much power. I couldn't imagine the S. These 3.0L engines are a great match at a great price. 370HP is plenty to pull a 3100 pound car.

I love the subtle aero treatment on the front and rear valences. The 991 turbo is a solid 400 pounds more than the GT3 and it feels like it. Hopefully this splits the difference.

Stilo composite is also light. Here’s my rig:

Can you compare and contrast this engine and transmission to the 3.0L supercharged motor from Audi?

We bought a Boxster instead of an F-Type, mainly because it was over $11,000 cheaper ($63k MSRP vs. $74k MSRP) and is better in both practicality (front trunk is huge) and sportiness (no denying mid engine 2900 pounds is impossible to beat). Jaguar’s options were not competitive in the US. The car needs to come well…

WWMD - what would Magnus Walker do? He’d park this $400,000 Singer into the back of a bus. I think I’d rather pay $20k over MSRP for a loaded 991 GT3 RS and pocket the other $175k.

Daly is about 1/2 price of SF, just over the hill. Commute is the same but it’s not pretty row houses and walkable neighborhoods with nice restaurants.

I think it’s going to be pretty easy to spend $65k on a Model 3, and a lot of S4/M3/C63 buyers will be in for that price. In the long run we’ll save a lot of money. You'll have to get a different car if you go to the track. Your last M3 should suffice.

Ford discounts their cars pretty deeply. $34k might mean $24k after rebates, cash back, 0% financing for 7 years with 590 FICO.

I had a white 1992 Crown Vic in college. That car with the 4.4L V8 was completely bulletproof. One cold semester I ran it with 1 quart of oil — I know because that’s all that came out during the oil change. You could not ruin that engine. It had a limited slip differential and an air suspension. I used to run…

You’ll be able to get a nice X70 for $70k with a few options sometime mid-2016, or if you can’t wait you can get a 70D sedan for that much today. With the stock market and real estate at all time highs there is a substantial number of people who can stroke a check for $150k signature model.

I fit a bar in the S4 in my avatar. There’s a solid 18” between it and my seat, which pleasantly surprised me. You never know when you hand the guy $2k in cash what he’s going weld up, until it’s done.

white painted rollbars ($630) complete the look

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I think you’re better off with a 1997 Boxster and a smooth silky H6. The original Car and Driver review of the 1991 850i wasn’t glowing at the time of print. The 15 second quarter mile on that old car would probably be up over 17 seconds, unless something was really wrong then 20 seconds at 60 MPH.