UntyingTheNot

There just aren't many options. It's a fairly fun and affordable RWD car with a manual. We don't have many left so enthusiasts cling to those we do have, finding ways to improve the weaknesses aftermarket. It's just a good car that still has a manual. Not necessarily a good manual.

Long term, you could use an upgrade all around. Consistent 100+ fps on modern games and doing Unreal work on a 3600 with a 3060 and 16gb is asking a lot. You'll see a substantial boost in performance with a ram upgrade, though. That's definitely worth it unless you can do a full rebuild soon. I really liked the 3600 and built my son a PC with one as well, which now has a 4060ti and 32gb ram. It runs just about anything, so you do still have some room for performance gains on the 3600. Mine runs my media server and plays stuff like League or Apex. It handles that like a champ. But I hit the same snag you did for high end games. The issue I had when debating upgrades was that to get the most out of a new CPU, a motherboard upgrade made sense. Then you need the ram upgrade anyway. And once you get there, the 3060 will be holding you back. Basically, upgrading can easily cost close to a new computer if you want to get the most out of a new CPU. I guess that's the nature of PC gaming but I wouldn't be in a rush to upgrade the CPU until I could upgrade the stuff around it as well. I ended up with a 2nd PC that's more powerful and portable, while the media rig still does its thing.

What's it struggling with and what are you trying to do? My media and couch gaming rig runs a similar setup with 32gb of ram. I'd probably start with the ram upgrade, regardless, but that's a reasonably balanced setup.

Constantly selling vehicles at a loss and always wanting something different does not make you a car guy. It makes you financially insecure with an instant gratification issue. Add in his insensitive comments and it's time for a serious talk about adult priorities. I say this coming from a family with history in the car industry, who married into a drag racing family. This isn't normal behavior and has little to do with being a car guy, outside of him liking cars. He could choose any relatively expensive hobby and this type of behavior (and priorities) would be problematic.

An 87 944 and 78 K10 are the oldest. The K10's age wasn't the main thing that made it a rough daily. It was the 8mpg.

A 7 year old Passat suits whoever wants it. If you like it, enjoy it. Should be a smooth ride with plenty of space for music gear.

Had a red 1987 944 that was older than I was. I put 10k miles on it over a couple of years and gave 1k+ to the shop every time I looked at it wrong. Everyone learns some car lessons young. Mine was about the joy and financial stress of owning an older German car. Sold it and bought an old 4-Runner eventually. Can't say I regret either purchase because the whole family did enjoy the old Porsche, but I've never owned another German car out of warranty.

Don't think I could buy a Hyundai/Kia product right now but on looks? Genesis got some stuff right with the G70 and GV70.

Something about the 300zx z32 with the twin turbo hits different than the Z cars before and since. It's probably bias from growing up in the 90s because they're all solid vehicles. It wasn't the fastest or fanciest car and didn't sell great, but it looked good and was a fun drive. Still the Z car I associate with the badge the most.

There's been at least one Lexus in the driveway for years. Can't see that changing. The comfort and longevity are important with how much we drive. This is the first time in a decade that we don't have at least 1 VW product. So not always with them, but pretty close. A VW 2.0T for fun and a Toyota/Lexus for forever was my approach for a long time. My wife falling in love with the Edge ST for a larger fun option broke that streak.

They have made some very solid engines. That 2.5 is a tank. The TDI and some NA 2.0 can also be reliable. Even the EA888 has improved a lot over the years. In Europe where they're cheaper to fix, I'm sure plenty get way up there in mileage. I know of a couple TDIs over 300k.

That's a good point. The one "weakness" the 2GR has is efficiency and it's still topping 30mpg highway in some applications. 300hp and 30mpg is a solid combination.

And they've been tweaked to go in dang near every segment Toyota competes in. The versatility is wild. I know I'm biased but it's based on a lot of years of bulletproof use, or there wouldn't be several in the driveway. The Avalon purrs at 200k+ miles just like the IS and old RX (92k) my Mom has. Similar with the EA888. What hasn't VAG tried putting that thing in at this point? Just don't plan on the half million mile part.

The 2GR series Toyota V6 has been a family go-to for decades now. I'm also a sucker for the EA888 combination of fun and efficiency. What's the GOAT is subjective and there are a lot of great engines, but I could drive those 2 forever and not be disappointed.

We have 5 cars for 5 drivers in the family. They're all between 5 and 7.5 seconds 0-60. Anything under 10 is probably fine for a daily in most places. But we have short uphill merge lanes a lot up here in the mountains, combined with bad weather and truckers who won't/can't always get over. We also travel regularly to areas where the flow of traffic is 80+ with small gaps. Since a lot of people are using HP numbers, ours vary from 260 to 335. You can obviously get under 8 seconds with a lot less power but none of the cars are particularly small/light. Basically, I consider a little extra power a safety feature on some level. We've had slower cars so I'm mainly interested in whatever gets the job done reliably under budget. But if it's an option, I do like the ability to merge, pass, or get out of the way just that much quicker. Bonus points if it's also fun on backroads like my IS or old man's Outback XT.

Having concerns about a certain aspect of an EV and how it fits into your life is not being "fixated". Most people I know who have considered EVs did a ton of research and weren't fixated on any one thing. It's like you picked a non-existent problem so you could sound smart, when most of your post is pretty basic math/common sense.

Nope. I don't judge cars on their novelty/cool factor when they drive by. I judge them by how they drive and the engineering behind the vehicle. And the 911, with all its variations, is still a top tier performance car. I'm not sure why anyone would judge cars by how excited they get to see one on the street. Seems kind of high school to me. How the car performs matters more and it doesn't hurt when the car is iconic like the 911.

Wait, who is afraid of turbo 4s? Damn near every company runs one, the best are very reliable/long lasting, and the only complaints I hear are that they don't sound as good or don't have V8 power. Sure, a V6 twin turbo isn't quite as stout as a NA V6 or V8. Ford and Infiniti have had their issues there, especially tuning those for performance applications. But the basic small displacement turbo 3/4 bangers in everything from Hondas to VWG products to Subarus are pretty solid at this point.

I put a nice coat of wax/ceramic on it each spring and the rain does most of the work for the warm months. I rinse it or hit the wash more often in the winter but that's due to salt. I don't necessarily like it dirty but I'm not going to waste money on it being spotless. It was hard to even bother with black because it looked dirty an hour later anyway.

I'm a Toyota/Lexus and VW fan. Making a car as sexy as the RC and then making it slow in most trims is sad. Similarly, I've loved a lot of VW car designs but wtf was the Eos? I don't need my mechanical hardtop to also break after my 3rd water pump is replaced. A Miata it was not.

I also would have loved to see it. But I don't know that the market necessarily needed a sports car version. That's not where Lexus tends to focus and I'm not surprised they decided against it. I'd dread reading the "Why can't Lexus match [insert fast car here]" articles no matter how good it was. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun as a last hurrah for V8s. Dudes can dream. There was a red LC500 in the show room when I bought my car. There may have been a puddle from drooling, with or without a twin turbo v8.

Not if the 2023 and 2024 models differ substantially.

Younger buyers probably prefer Subaru branding and not waiting months for their car. Toyota has a reputation that attracts more mature buyers. I'd be curious if the stats on the Supra/Z4 are similar.

I saw this post that said they lack refinement and balance. Oh, wait. That was you. Here. In this post. As a manufacturer, why would you give up refinement and balance for sound? Sound that most people couldn't identify or care less about? You wouldn't. So they don't use them.

Why use a worse engine because it sounds good? That's why the V8s are going extinct in the first place.