TT or VT?

Which car should I chose? (bear in mind I want a "bachelor's" car - or a sports car - not just a dinky old two door sporty looking wannabe)

I have pretty much made up my mind to probably not buy a Lancer Evolution X MR. I mean dropping $40k right now. Probably not a really good idea (unless if like 0% interest LOL!)

So now I have relooked back on my dream cars of yester-year. Namely the Nissan Z32 300ZX Twin Turbo.

I can't say how much this car gets my juices flowing. I love it to bits. And the noise that the VG30DETT makes will make you drool.

While browsing around, I found one that I really really like. Great deal. Lovely interior. Low miles (though bear in mind, the car is 16 years old). They still turn heads and say what you want but it is still a 300hp twin turbo 3L V6. Cost? $16k. Very do-able (maybe even cash - or 1 year loan). Still would have to take a small loan (but will wipe it out by end of the year easy).

Now I figured, let's bump it up a notch.

How about a Honda (Acura) NSX? It costs a bit more (~$30k or so) but affordable when I factor in monthly payments (definitely need a loan lol).

Now thats a fully fledged exotic car. It was so good that Gordon Murray put the NSX as one of the cars to beat in terms of ability to live with it while developing the McLaren F1.

This car is all aluminum. From the body panels, to monocoque, and suspension. It truly is an automotive feat. Ultra tight tolerances too. Suspension was developed with the help of the legendary late Aryton Senna. The chassis was so rigid that a mechanic that I knew who had one said when it was jacked up on the shop hydraulic jack, the car would slowly teeter as the chassis refused to flex and 'rest' on the jack points. Though a good friend of mine just told me he knows of a mechanic that had to spend a whole afternoon on his belly changing an NSX's timing belt. :o

This car is an MR (Mid-Engine, RWD) and ultra light (though I would probably weigh it down some LOL).

Pros and cons below.

Z32 TT pros:
- Cheap - less debt.
- FORCED INDUCTION!
- Able to tweak more (boost controller, programable ECU - the one I'm looking at has one anyways).
- Cheaper to maintain maybe?
- I could park it on the street and not worry (not too much at least - just hide all the toys inside).
- One of my favorite V6 engines of all time.
- Spare parts a plenty (still great after market support).

Z32 TT Cons:
- Maintentance? Turbos (needs replacing at intervals)? - Ultra crammed engine bay.
- More stuff to tweak = more stuff to go wrong?

NSX Pros:
- Exclusivity. You don't see a lot on the road.
- A 'real' exotic car for relatively cheap.
- Ultra good handling.
- Renown reliability (provided out of snap ring failure range).
- N/A VTec powah!
- Superb engine note.

NSX Cons:
- Would have a hard time parking it in the street (or a car lot) without checking on it every other minute.
- Maintenance could be even more expensive?
- Fully expect insurance to be killer (though will ask for a quote for both soon).
- Repair costs are supposed to be very expensive.
- No stock forced induction.
- More money.

It's a tough one. I really don't know which way to sway. I can definitely afford the monthly payments and the costs to maintain it (I will DEFINITELY baby which ever one I end up with). For the NSX, its the non-monetary cost of owning it (scared shitless to park it in public). Both are reliable enough for daily driving. Both will definitely be dollops of fun. Both are ultra reliable if maintained properly (I am religious in this aspect).

And no I will not pick up chicks in it (I'm not that shallow mmkay?). Well at least not actively. LOL!

My parents are crazy random

Hahaha!

Parentals. Couldn't have made it without them, can't make it with them. Go figure. :)

My parents have always been the most random and fickle minded people I know. It is both an adorable trait as well as a point of contention (drives me up the wall all the time - I tend to be super organized in planning and scheduling - and crazy punctual) for me.

But today, they have just out done themselves once again.

This afternoon, they decided to go buy some paint (prepping to move out of our/my house - possibly here or somewhere else - read above) to paint some walls. Guess what they ended up taking back home with them?

Whatever it is, you won't guess it.

They took back with them, a FULLY LOADED LEXUS GS 450h....... I bet you were wrong right?

How one goes out to buy perhaps $50 bucks worth of paint (crazy modest estimate) and goes home with something that costs 1300x more is honestly beyond me (they didn't buy the paint either - HAHA!).

In their defense, my dad has been wanting a GS since it came out. In fact, we test drove it (and I test drove the IS 350 as well mmmm) and loved it. I can just imagine the giddish smile my dad has now. har har har.

Lexus interiors are second to none. Mercedes Benz? Sure parts are nice but aesthetically inferior. BMW? Way too many buttons (plus most euro car's center consoles are usually a mass of ugly buttons) and well just odd and overly complicated (though techies and engi's would probably love it - the other 98% of the world's population don't - there is this thing called ergonomics). Seriously. Step into one, close the door and you are sealed from the outside world.

The one they got is Pearl White (purdy) and has all the bells and whistles (cruise control with front bumper sensor, voice everything, active dampers - car stays level when cornering, sport suspension and tranny, and tons more). Before you cringe at the hybrid, this one is different. The electric motor's purpose is not really to save gas... It's for acceleration (TORQUE) and it is the fastest accelerating GS (0-60 in 5.2s).

Me biased? Hah! I'm a Nissan fan. But interiors easily Lexus > Infiniti (and also in car audio too - Mark Levinson > BOSE).

EDIT:
My younger brother pointed out that this is actually a trend when it comes to them buying cars.

It was the same with the G35 coupe (hey let's take a look at this, and ended up driving it home) and a Hyundai Santa Fe (meet us up for lunch at this place, we go there then tadaaa, new car).

So... Umm... yeah...