"boxrocket" (boxrocket)
07/14/2015 at 22:31 • Filed to: m3, c63 amg, gt500
0
8|
"boxrocket" (boxrocket)
07/14/2015 at 22:31 • Filed to: m3, c63 amg, gt500 | 0
| 8 |
Sometimes my job allows me to drive some very interesting metal. Most of it is mundane and pedestrian, but there a’s a few diamonds in the rough.
Today was one of those days. As shown in the title, today included stints (about an hour and a half each) starting in the E90 M3, then a C63 AMG, and then a 2013 GT500, all before lunch! It almost made up for the 95-ish-degree heat (and the tires all felt fairly gooey from the start, in a good way).
Impressions :
-I enjoyed the GT500 most, but part of that is the noise (oh, the noise!) and traffic was thinned out while I was driving it on public roads.
-The M3 is a marvel, and I took a detour along some winding roads to, uh, do some quality control checks. I hate hate hate the SMG for parking and getting going, but once in motion it starts to make sense and be quite nice, but I’d prefer the traditional manual, especially as I don’t need my shifts to be milliseconds faster (though the 7th gear is nice for highway cruising, though at highway speeds it was still about 1,000rpms higher than expected, though it’s not an economy car).
-The C63 is every bit the German muscle car, especially back-to-back with the GT500, and the noise - notably (pun intended) above 3,000RPM-ish (it revs pretty quick above 2,000) - is nuts in a good way. Definitely wilder and more brash than the relatively-milquetoast “550” models (SL, CLS, S, etc.) I’m more familiar with. The red leather accents inside the C63 are a bit jarring (especially on a black car), but ignorable after a while. They don’t do much to make it feel much more special than any other C-class.
-I enjoyed the GT500 the most of the trio, as it felt the most controllable (to me) and familiar, it makes one hell of a great noise (oh, the noise! Despite the 95-degree temps, I kept the windows down most of the drive), and traffic was thinned out by the time I was out and about.
Which one would I buy? I’m not sure, because I’d like more seat time in an XFR-S I sampled a few weeks ago to make an apt comparison in the $40-60K used high-performance segment, though technically the XE is a more direct competitor to the 3/4-series and the C-class. The M3 feels the most worthy of its price tag, and easily shows its pedigree. As I said, a marvel. The C63, well, it’s all about the engine and related improvements, which are great, but I’d rather have them in an E or S-class. The GT500 is pre-facelift, and having a few hours worth of seat time in a few 2015s, the prior generation shows shortcomings I never would have really noticed, especially with the interior.
I ended the say driving an Avenger and a rotted-out Mercury Capri (with the stick shift, which has an interesting release for the ignition key), which as an anticlimactic end to the day.
XJDano
> boxrocket
07/14/2015 at 22:38 |
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Where do you work?
Captain of the Enterprise
> boxrocket
07/14/2015 at 22:43 |
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What do you do?
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> boxrocket
07/14/2015 at 22:52 |
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How do these compare against the Pontiac Vibe?
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boxrocket
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/14/2015 at 23:02 |
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Fewer doors, more power, no AWD availability (for these models), better built, still available new or nearly-new, generally seen as desirable.
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boxrocket
> XJDano
07/14/2015 at 23:04 |
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Can’t say specifics, but very similar to Automatch Tom, on a bigger scale, and I’m not directly involved in the sales process.
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boxrocket
> Captain of the Enterprise
07/14/2015 at 23:05 |
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Can’t say (NDAs), but think Automatch Tom (Tom MacPharland) on a bigger scale, but I’m not involved in the sales aspect.
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XJDano
> boxrocket
07/14/2015 at 23:11 |
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I know there are a few car auctions and such in STL. And the wholesalers market is fairly good there so that’s what I’m guessing. Something of that nature, like Tom, dealing with car sales, just not selling.
Well that’s pretty cool. I can’t even think to name the most interesting car I’ve driven, ever. I have been just driving my own cars (besides work trucks loaded to the max).
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boxrocket
> XJDano
07/14/2015 at 23:38 |
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There’s a lot of repetition and most cars are fairly pedestrian, depending on supply and demand. I don’t personally deal with the auctions, but some of our cars do come from them (not just the local auctions, though, we get to pick and choose). I kind of miss going to Manheim like I did at a previous job, haha. Today was remarkable (and article-worthy) because of the trio from this morning, but any other day it could have been driving three 200s, a Fusion, and a Wrangler from one place to another on their road to their future owners. Yesterday I drove a Hellcat Charger, (but only about 200 feet, so not much to discuss), and an S550 4Matic around the parking lot likening for a phantom noise that seemingly only the customer could hear.
The most interesting car I’ve yet driven (not just sat in, been a passenger in, or seen, obviously), is easily the 2005-era Ford GT: I was working for a local Ford dealership that was non-union and most other dealerships in the area were unionized and the techs were on strike, and some Ford big-wigs who were showing the preproduction (or early production) car off needed it to be detailed before showing to some local clients before it was officially on sale. I was the only porter available and got the honor and privilege of driving a car valued at more than my first house carefully and delicately into the wash and detail bays, giving it the best detail I could in the two-hour window I was given, and back out again. It was mildly stressful and I was drove very gingerly as the lot was in desperate need of a resurfacing, but I remember it with a vividness that borders on movie-like. I’d most like to drive a McLaren, but with the nearest dealership being outside Chicago, that's unlikely in the near future.