The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T(Vol XVIII)
Discussion
john_1983 said:
Weekend fun, enjoying Scottish roads with the odd Euro trip every few years. I love the 550, it was my poster car as a teenager but sometimes it's a bit big for having proper fun. Plus it just seems to cost loads to run; I realise that's pretty much par for the course.
I've never even driven a 911, the gushing reviews in evo etc over the years have made me wonder for some time what I'm missing. Maybe I'm just getting itchy feet after having the 550 for 4 and a bit years, dunno really.
I keep going back to a GT3 is an itch I want to scratch, but I do love my V12. I wonder if I had the GT3 if I'd do more dawn hoons
Unless there's a crash in values then running costs is a moot point as the increase in value should be more than offsetting those, unless you've been very unlucky.I've never even driven a 911, the gushing reviews in evo etc over the years have made me wonder for some time what I'm missing. Maybe I'm just getting itchy feet after having the 550 for 4 and a bit years, dunno really.
I keep going back to a GT3 is an itch I want to scratch, but I do love my V12. I wonder if I had the GT3 if I'd do more dawn hoons
As you know GT3 vs 550 isn't a natural match-up. 360 vs GT3 is the more usual comparison. And whatever the comparison, much of it is subjective.
Personally, I wouldn't trade out of a 550 into something completely unknown. The 550 wasn't loved at first but they're now appreciated for what they are and as the last analogue V12 (bar the double digit number of 575 and single digit 599s with a manual 'box) the number of people who want one continues to increase while the number of cars is, at best, constant. You cannot replicate that V12 and manual 'box anywhere else. It is, IMO, an automotive zenith of a type never to be repeated. You need to bear that in mind before you sell it. They are good, as in really good.
The 550 is, however, not really a "grab it by the scruff and thrash it" kind of car in the way a GT3 is. It will happily let you do it but it excels at 8/10ths doing it's loping, muscular thing. For a Euro tour there would be few cars to rival it but a track car it is not. It's not actually that big in size but there is some heft to it. A GT3 is a lighter, busier, more agile prospect; raw, more aggressive and much closer to a pseudo race car experience with an addictively frenetic drivetrain unsurprisingly more akin to Ferrari's eights than twelves. You can also have confidence in the mechanical integrity, unlike some of its lesser stablemates.
The 911 driving "style" is different and you need to learn them - certainly very different to the "right" front engine, rear drive set-up of the 550. The weight distribution is obviously different and takes time to get your head around. I've only spent enough time in GT3s to scratch the surface but should imagine getting to know one must be nice. A GT3 also opens up the possibility of track days, which I wouldn't do in a 550. However, you're then into the realms of tracking a 70k car which, even if made for it, comes with risks significant enough to have my mind to a track shed a la E36 rather than put my PnJ into the line of fire.
In short, in an ideal world you'd have both. In lieu of that option I'd be loathed to part with the 550, especially if it's a blind leap. Maybe worth considering a lesser 996 at 1/5 of the price of the GT3 to see whether you like it. And then gauge whether you can see the appeal of that turned up to 11 for much more money. I like GT3s a lot, but I don't see them at five times the price of a cooking 996. That's a personal view and the market demonstrates that it's wrong in some ways. It is, to a point, possible to replicate a GT3 for much less money. It is not possible to say the same of a 550.
Apologies, I ramble. TLDR: No, I wouldn't.
^^^ reply much appreciated, and the track insight has given me further thought. I've got an R53 JCW Mini with 230bhp that's slowly turning into a track car, whilst still being a fun weekend road car. I've tracked the 550 twice, and it was fun, but you're right about the values when tracking cars. The GT3 would solely be for weekend fun.
I'll see what the dealer says when he gets back to me, but maybe yesterday was a bit of a rush of blood to the head
Maybe the 550 will stay...
I'll see what the dealer says when he gets back to me, but maybe yesterday was a bit of a rush of blood to the head
Maybe the 550 will stay...
pretty much perfect 2 car garage right there jeremyc said:
ferrisbueller said:
You cannot replicate that V12 and manual 'box anywhere else.
Apart from maybe something from Aston Martin, who also offer the same combo.I know people who worked on the development team of Aston's V12s. They can still remember the day they benchmarked the 550.....
ferrisbueller said:
jeremyc said:
ferrisbueller said:
You cannot replicate that V12 and manual 'box anywhere else.
Apart from maybe something from Aston Martin, who also offer the same combo.I know people who worked on the development team of Aston's V12s. They can still remember the day they benchmarked the 550.....
jeremyc said:
I'm happy to celebrate a manufacturer that will still deliver me a 600bhp V12 that revs to beyond 7,000rpm all coupled to a manual 'box.
With similar second hand models available for the price of that there GT3.
Me too. I'd love one. Not sure I am - With similar second hand models available for the price of that there GT3.
a. brave enough
b. liquid enough
ferrisbueller said:
People far better informed, qualified and positioned than I don't rate them at all (that's being polite).
Does it matter so much when you’re talking about an entirely subjective frippery, though? I think I could still enjoy a manual V12 Vantage even if, say, it wouldn’t see where a 458 even started to go.
NomduJour said:
ferrisbueller said:
People far better informed, qualified and positioned than I don't rate them at all (that's being polite).
Does it matter so much when you’re talking about an entirely subjective frippery, though? I think I could still enjoy a manual V12 Vantage even if, say, it wouldn’t see where a 458 even started to go.
I, too, could see the appeal of a V12 Vantage, a la JeremyC's. More than I see in a 458 FWIW.
If he's not getting out in the 550 what difference will a GT3 make?! I can just picture me lying in bed going "If only I didn't have a V12 Ferrari in the garage I'd be out there right now"
I sort of see what you mean... but I think to get the kind of experience that forces you out of bed you need to be talking a totally different kettle of fish.. ie Caterham, Morgan 3 Wheeler, Atom... something that is different experience than 'driving a car'
I sort of see what you mean... but I think to get the kind of experience that forces you out of bed you need to be talking a totally different kettle of fish.. ie Caterham, Morgan 3 Wheeler, Atom... something that is different experience than 'driving a car'
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I'm not one for test drives unless I'm seriously interested (I bought and paid for the 550 before I'd even seen it, let alone driven it!) but I think you're right, I will need to have a go. At least then I know whether to keep saving to have both, or to change.Thanks for all the 550 love - mine is silver with a bordeaux interior, and yes it is epic on a European jaunt. Also on some of the roads around Ullapool which are a bit nearer me
Chris Stott said:
LetsTryAgain said:
I wouldn't be swapping the 550 for much at all, if i was you!
Same....... but after few a years I can understand how your eyes might start wandering. I'd say get something else as well and dont be in too much of a rush to get shut of that 550.
I don’t think I would ever want to be in a position where I would be selling a 550, for anything. You can pick up a relatively new Caterham 270 for 25ish grand or an older K series for 16k for something completely different and brilliantly entertaining which would probably hold its value pretty well for a year to try out.
It’s a whole world away from a GT3 but it will definitely make you smile.
It’s a whole world away from a GT3 but it will definitely make you smile.
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