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Originally Posted by TargaM2
With all the recent publicity on here of the new M3/M4 & now the i4M or whatever it's called I got to wondering what happened to all the true enthusiasts performance cars that were actually great to drive.
God forbid I should say something non-pc but I have zero interest in an ev performance vehicle. As an inner city transport appliance or goods carrying vehicle I see some merit but as a performance enthusiasts vehicle for the pure enjoyment of driving (not traffic light gp's) I see nothing of interest on the horizon.
To me the perfect example of the enthusiasts true modern day performance car is something like the Alpine, it features lightweight construction (1100kg) & thus only needs a turbo 1.8L to propel it into the 4sec bracket, it handles incredibly & is a hell of a lot better drive than an 1800kg 500hp tank. Unfortunately few manufacturers have what it takes to build something as good as the Alpine without charging supercar money for it.
Just building bigger & heavier cars & throwing more horsepower at them is fine for selling cars to everyday owners with no interest in driving dynamics but NOT for true enthusiasts who actually enjoy driving. The true driving enthusiast market is all but gone now.
As an example of what has happened to the market: I purchased a new Subaru Impreza STI coupe in 1999, it weighed 1230kg & made 206kw from a turbo 2.0L. The modern day equivalent of that car is 1600kg & makes 220kw from a turbo 2.5L. To drive the cars back to back there is no comparison & the added weight just kills the driving experience. How is this progress ?.
Yes I know about crash structure regulations & all the safety etc that has added weight but rather than invest in lightweight solutions most manufacturers have just continued to throw more power at these ever growing barges & thus the market has virtually gone now unless you spend big $sss. Ok there is the Toybaru GT86/BRZ but they are pretty lethargic & unfortunately there is little more on offer.
So why do I own an M2 & not an Alpine....? Well simply because I can not at this stage afford an Alpine, thus I have a Renault Megane RS275-R as my "toy" which is a nice albeit cheaper alternative (if you don't know what that is don't bother commenting).
My M2 is my daily driver & whilst it's the smallest/lightest M car available & a nice car it's still somewhat of a barge imo & not in the same league as something like an Alpine or Lotus.
I realize this topic may make no sense to many so-called enthusiasts who are only really interested in hp numbers & a badge to impress others on social media or whatever but hopefully there are still a few others out there that know what it's like to enjoy driving a true enthusiasts car.
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TargaM2 What does affordable mean to you? What country/region are you located? In the US, Federal government economic data shows that used car pricing has been escalating for the past several months. This is consistent with anecdotal comments posted on this site. Inexpensive fun to drive cars are a thing of the past, at least for now.