I drove stick shift sports cars through high school and college, then Suburbans for 20 years to transport kids and gear. Four years ago I picked up an BMW E39 M5 6 speed which has been a blast. I'm now thinking of trying an automatic transmission. I work in the energy industry, and many folks around here drive upgraded Mustangs, Corvettes, Challengers, etc., but I wonder how those cars hold up and how they drive an an everyday basis. I'm hoping to find a 3-5 year used V-8 powered car that is fun and somewhat "refined". thought and suggestions? thanks

Mercedes C63. For 60 grand you should be able to buy a late model low mileage car. They are incredibly fast, corner like a sports car. A 6.3 liter engine of 450 HP and a 7 speed automatic that can be shifted manually. Wrapped up in a fairly luxurious package.

Dave

Not surer what you are asking for, but I would assume that a car with a paddle shifter would fit the bill. Of course it would have to do the equivalent of a double declutch on down shifts. Can't remember what they call it!
Peter.

Love AMG's. And C63's drop off of sticker price pretty quick making them very tempting. Only downside is ride quality is super stiff.
I had owned a 560SL some years back and it handled corners like you would not believe for a 2 ton car. Body panels were actually aluminum and it stopped and cornered better than any car I've owned at least. The ride was butter smooth. Didn't like the ugly grille, so I sold it.

If I had garage space, I would be checking this one (see below) out. Love that new body style and it's in our favorite color. Mars red. Horsepower close to 400.
Copy/paste the following into the E--- search. Lots of car for the money.

2007 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Base Convertible 2-Door

http://www.kenrockwell.com/mer...ker-CIMG1784-950.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by nopride2:
Mercedes C63. For 60 grand you should be able to buy a late model low mileage car. They are incredibly fast, corner like a sports car. A 6.3 liter engine of 450 HP and a 7 speed automatic that can be shifted manually. Wrapped up in a fairly luxurious package.

Dave

I vote for a Corvette. You can buy a new 2017 1LT model with auto for roughly $8-10K under your budget.

Nissan GTR

If you want a true paddleshift that is a different animal than an auto and the plane jane "H" patern sticks. True F1 paddleshifts are sequential gearboxes with an electromagnetic clutch. IOW they have a true mechanical linkage unlike the 99% of the rest which are torque converters. (The early models, you would even get the back & forth feeling as if you were driving a stick on shifts. The fourth and fifth gen paddles are much, much smoother.

Of the torque converters, the Porsche Tiptronic is the best and almost feels like a sequential. The rest are just autos with buttons. Even in Sport Mode the AMGs feel like ho hum autos.

I can't recommend Mercedes anymore. I am about to sever my relationship with them (this weekend) after 26 years and 11 cars. They are no longer what they used to stand for. Now they are simply a massed produced stamping machine like the rest (I guess when you have to poney up $4-500 Million for the F1 team, the customers pay the price. Besides, they have absolutely terrible resale value. I wouldn't buy any of this decade.

As far as US muscle cars- can't really go wrong (not my cup of tea, haven't ridden in them but have friends...). You can change the oil yourself, parts easy to come by and as far as daily drivers, they're all right. Had a 911 as my daily for 2 years and 60,000 mi. My titties are still jiggling.

My wife has a Porsche Cayenne GTS (the one with the V8) that is an phenomenal car (she's also had an SL 550) and we both absolutely love it. I bought the 911 at the same time and almost regretted not getting me one instead.

The GTS handles like a sports car, is spacious, comfortable, 4wd, has all the upgraded handling packages is nimble, faster-n-shit and bullet proof (unlike the current MBs). A big highly recommend.

FMC Nothing handles like a Porsche 911.

I agree Benzes are just another car now.

BMW's seem to be watered down vanilla too these days. They got fat and went 4 cylinder turbo in a standard 1, 2 and 3 series, maybe others. Haven't driven one. I still love the earlier generation (2008-?) 135i convertibles.

Back to MB. Even the E class Mercedes comes standard with a 4 cylinder turbo, dash lever, engine stops at a red light now. 2011 was the beginning of the end of true class in many Benz models. Ride is stiff on all C&E class.

These were ones I've owned or *still own. Best quality in my experiences was as follows on a 1-10 scale, 10 being best.

8 1993 300E
8.5 1987 560SL cabriolet
5 1999 C280
10 2008 C300 4matic traded with 9899 miles.
6.8 2006 SLK-280
9 *2010 GLK350 4matic
7.5 *2012 C250 coupe rattly, moaning, loud, engine notwithstanding, 9.5 - Great road car on turns, nimble.

Good luck to the O.P. Drive all the models you can. The car will tell you if you've found your new toy. It's not just the performance, it's the feeling you get when you sit in the seat.

One of the few cars I've ever regretted trading was my S 55 on an SL 55 (Forgot the years in the '00s. Those supercharged versions were fantastic). But that was the last decade of the good cars.

I've had: 190 E 2.6, 320 CE, 320 SL, S 430, S 500, S 55, SL 550, S 550, GL 450, CLS 55 and S 550 Coupe. I'll never forget driving on 59 past the Conoco building in '95 and saw the exec driving his brown SEC 500. A dream finally realized in '15. But what is it about asking and getting what you want...............

The car begins to vibrate at 85 mph because of tire wear. Halfway into the 10,000 life is when it starts. I'm on the fourth set of tires in 2 years and 48,000 mi. The tires wear out on the inside because of too much neg camber. Had 3 flats from wear. Front alignment, then fr & rear and fr & rear....and "there is no problem." Well after 3000 mi on my new set starting to vibrate again.

That is not what your less than 2 yo flagship car/GT coupe that costs over 120K should do. Only 4000 miles of any semblance of smooth comfort.

What really pisses me off is that, again, 26 years and 11 cars...not some schmuck off the road. I did get great pleasure in telling the manager how they ought to be embarrassed for an MB to be less reliable than a Ferrari or Aston Martin.......and neither of those cars nor my 911 vibrated at 140 mph!!!

This weekend I'm dumping either my Coupe or my son's CLS (he wants the Coupe) on a Panamera Turbo. Good riddens!!!!!

What is really telling is that when your wife tells you to get a new car..........ouch...



But back to the OP:

That Cayenne GTS is truly a fantastic vehicle. A used one would be in the price range and with an 8.

Nissan GTR would be nice

I'd seriously consider a CTS-V. Cadillac have poor resale value and a $90,000 car could be had for much less once a year or two old. Tune and blower pulley swap would make one of these a monster.

2016 Cadillac CTS-V 640hp with 8spd auto

Jalopnik Cadillac review

FMC. ---modified----Is this an S550 coupe? Wonder if the front end was set up for a S600. Might explain the excess camber. Weird. I would save my receipts. Wouldn't be the first buy back from Benz lately. Sorry to hear of your issue.

quote:

Originally posted by FMC:


The car begins to vibrate at 85 mph because of tire wear. Halfway into the 10,000 life is when it starts. I'm on the fourth set of tires in 2 years and 48,000 mi. The tires wear out on the inside because of too much neg camber. Had 3 flats from wear. Front alignment, then fr & rear and fr & rear....and "there is no problem." Well after 3000 mi on my new set starting to vibrate again.

That is not what your less than 2 yo flagship car/GT coupe that costs over 120K should do. Only 4000 miles of any semblance of smooth comfort.

.

thanks for all the ideas. That will get me going on research. Hope I can find some of these locally to test drive.

I'd probably get a low mileage Porsche Cayman S. There are faster straight line cars but few as much fun.

quote:

Originally posted by JonP:
I'd probably get a low mileage Porsche Cayman S. There are faster straight line cars but few as much fun.

Beat me to it.

I could have gotten a 991 but I just like the feel of the Cayman. I also had the opportunity to test a number of the new Porsches on the race track and again the Cayman was for me even versus the 911 (991 models).

Now I would like a 2010 Porsche GT3 - but that won't be 60K$ ever.

My new 69 Ford XL convertable with the 429 was the king of the road for me.

Sure I had a new 66 Porsche 912 in 66 and a 70 Olds Toronado with the 7 liter for the snow up north but that Ford even had AC. It was black with a white top and their posi traction.

A red one looks like this:

Off topic, but I have had non luxury high performance cars over the years(my brother had an early Shelby AC Cobra, lot of fun!) and if you truly want the thrill of super high performance, let me suggest you get yourself a Kawasaki ZX14R motorcycle. There are few if any super high performance automobiles regardless of price that will outperform the bike be it sheer acceleration or top end speed. All it takes is some $15,000 and a set of "big ones" to enjoy what you are straddling. Now, if that is not enough, try the Kawasaki H2R(not street legal) for it is turbo charged and so far have not determined its top speed. Sorry for the intrusion of original topic.

While your on your crotch rocket keep in mind the lyrics to that old spiritual "Nearer My God to Thee"

Dave

Corvette, hands down.

I owned new a 1970 Olds Toronado with the 455 and a 1969 Ford XL convertible with the 429 and also air cond.

By far the best car is one that does not get you or others injured.

The Porsche 912 was too small to do anything useful with.