You can, but they just won't insure any additional items. They may also deny your claim or drop you outright, if those items are found to have contributed to a crash.

I think the answer is pretty obvious. Car enthusiasts can't really tell they're lower, or much different than stock. At a glance, it's within reason.

I guess it depends how we choose to interpret "connected". For me, I want the car to shift as fast as I can think it, and manual loses there. And again, for me, I like to keep my hands on the wheel where I can focus on heading and acceleration/braking points, which are the two pedals which matter most.

100% agreed. It's not even a mildly amusing debate, anymore.

"The driver with the dash cam didn't even honk."

That's very much true. The Honda Odyssey or Ford F150 can get into the 50k+ price range, and people don't bat an eye at those.

Prejudice can be a horrible thing and I'm sorry you've had to deal with that. Sadly, it doesn't just stop at cars and perception(s) of wealth.

It's not really hype, it was an outstanding motor and car, for it's time. It just so happens the LS motors are also outstanding.

Manual makes you a better driver, because most people who care to buy manual these days, are enthusiasts. Enthusiasts tend to care more about driving, and so that's the only relationship.

It will be different for everyone, but for me, it's not more difficult to the point where I'd act like it requires some unique amount of forced attention.

Yeah, I really wonder about the people who claim to drive manual, much less be good at it. For anyone who has driven manual long enough, it's like riding a bike and absolutely secondary. It doesn't really force any extra special attention, though on occasion, you may mess up, like you do with anything else. People…

I'm almost ashamed to say, it's cooler than I ever thought I'd admit to.

The thing is, most of these systems now work in unison, on any modern car. They're getting more and more intelligent, sophisticated, and don't cut in like older cars, but instead, create a gradually controllable situation that hands confidence to the driver, predictably. Anyone who claims they know how to drive,…

You want attentive drivers, but we also have to deal with the hard reality that we're human and experience distractions and lapses in judgement. Or just poor drivers.

Atop all you've stated, the other problem with all this, is they've now conditioned the customer to once again believe they're always right, and anything less than what they want, is imperfect. There is already a problem with people polarizing reviews as either 1 or 5 (or whatever the scale is), and this just…

The problem is that it's not always the salesman. Many times its the sales manager who comes in and undoes the salesmans work. I've had this happen at least twice, that I can think of.

Fact is, the dealership model (and that pushed by the makes), is typically lousy for anyone involved, save for certain key players.…

I'm the same way. Rating something as perfect, literally has to mean it is perfect. If I'm given a range of 1-10, and only 1 or 10 are acceptable, there is no point to asking for my input.

I think the aids certainly do matter, but it also depends on how the car was engineered. 500 hp is a lot, but it's also peak power. Under that peak, cars can usually be pretty manageable, once they have a nice torque curve. This is also why I prefer NA cars.

To be honest, having too much power starts lending to diminishing returns, if you don't have the tire to actually transfer it to the ground. It becomes a handful where you're more trying to manage throttle control, than you're actually enjoying forward motion (IMO). And if you're gearing favors most of that umph at…

Very nice, the 95s are pretty rare, and yours looks great. It's tricky to find them in good condition, these days.