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Sister finally got her Macan. Base model with Premium Package Plus and 18-way sport seats (my suggestion ). She didn't really care for any performance upgrades or exterior options. I nudged her towards getting at least some nicer looking wheels for a small price bump. Took a lot of time considering there are so many options, but we tried to just stick to the packages she wanted and must-have options otherwise.
It handles more like a very sporty hatchback than a small SUV. Doesn't feel that heavy when you throw it around, and you can definitely feel the rear-biased AWD in the corners. Ventilated seats work well enough and are silent, the bolsters are good and unobtrusive too, at least for a semi-skinny guy like me. Programming Homelink was a huge pain in the ass, took 40 mins including forum searches, consulting the manual, and finally calling them for help. Macan wasn't listed in their instructions webpage, and Homelink finally figured it out this past week. Panoramic sunroof is awesome, no problems with isolating road noise. Steering wheel is compact and girthy, just the way rockstar likes it.
Funny thing is she couldn't really pinpoint a budget, she just wanted a luxury CUV. The Macan was probably in the upper range of what she was willing to pay. I forced her to take a look at the Q5 (what she wanted originally, a while ago), XC60, and RDX (2019). Didn't even bother with whatever Caddy/Buick because of the "old peoples' car" perception.
We were both very disappointed in the Audi's interior, especially the pop-up UI screen. I almost never mind it or get used to it, but in the Q5 it looks like a last second super-glue job. She absolutely hated that and it was a deal breaker despite how much better of a deal it was than the Macan for what you get. The layout and design inside was just plain boring, and that touchpad is stupid. BMW's iDrive is way more intuitive and easier to use, but I steered her away from the X3 since she plans to keep it for a long time.
The Volvo had a great interior, front end looks great and the rear is ehh. But, old people. I have never seen anyone over 50 driving these btw. Didn't even spend much time looking at it.
RDX had the pop-up screen but it was much better integrated. Interior was better than the Audi's IMO. She still hated the screen though, and the exterior is too wild looking for her. Didn't drive this one either.
Should mention that both Porsche dealers we went to, the sales people were great throughout. Showroom is very cool as well. One of these days I'm going to bug the sales guy to let me test drive a 718 Cayman. Not like it would be any time soon, but it's probably the car I want most next. Obligatory 2.0Toy is shit motor, if only it were an NA 6-cyl.
Also had to take a safe driving course with 11 others, as mandated by my new job. You fail the course, you don't get the job. It's normally $1,000 to take it, but expenses were paid by the company. Several exercises throughout the day... got there at 8am and wasn't done until 4pm. All in all I really do feel like a safer driver, though I haven't been in any accidents that were my fault, knock on wood. The two times I was hit were while I was at a complete standstill for 5-10 seconds. Once was when my BRZ was two weeks old
In general, with any of the courses, hit a cone = fail. Harder than it sounds because the cones were maybe 8 inches high, and the lanes were the width of your average freeway lane. Also, with every course they gradually increased the speed in 5 mph increments. A lot of the tests reminded me of the Gran Turismo licensing tests. The two instructors we had were professional racecar drivers, very cool. If you ever ask me what my dream job is, it would be that.
They started us off with traversing a very tight course with several 90-degree turns. Of course, I started off in the minivan and I ran over the same cone twice throughout the ~3-4 laps we took. They threw us a curveball then had us go through the same course, but in reverse. Surprisingly I didn't hit a single cone. Instructor said that was the first time he saw somebody do that... usually people have trouble in reverse. Car didn't have a backup camera.
Next, emergency braking to get used to the feel of ABS. Start from a dead stop, floor the gas pedal, then stand on the brake pedal. Nothing special, but they had us braking really late. The very first time I ever had to slam on the brakes and ABS kicked in, it did scare the shit out of me. But I'm a hardened veteran now.
Emergency lane changes - stay within the cones and accelerate hard. The lane then forks, with the horizontal section of the fork being only slightly longer than the car, so you have to be quick but controlled. They even worked in a double emergency lane change, where you have to do one emergency change then slam on the brakes to be able to do the next.
Another interesting test was making a wide, left-hand u-turn at speed in a minivan. The rear passenger side wheel was plastic instead of rubber. So as you pick up speed and make the turn, the back end swings around and you have to correct it and get through the cone gate at the end.
What I struggled with most is how the instructors want you to keep your eyes on where you want to go. I've heard this before, it's hard to focus when
I don't think my team knew they had a ringer on their hands until the end to be fair I don't think anybody else had much, if any seat time at a track or autocross. I would recommend this course to anybody, I've had people who live on the track sit with me and give me guidance but it's nothing like having an instructor spend all day with you. It was a lot of fun, and you may even be eligible for a discount on your auto insurance after completion.
Of course, your boy killed it. The last activity, the autox course, most people scored 35-37 seconds. Worst time was 40. 2nd and 3rd were 34.xx each, my time was 31.xx #notsohumblebrag. All those hours put into Gran Turismo and Forza paid off! In reality, I know I wouldn't have been as fast were it not for the instructor sitting shotgun and barking instructions at me for each turn.
TL;DRtake a safe driver course. It's well worth the money and a lot of fun. They also had a McLaren performance driving course, which sadly my company did not pay for, but I'll make sure to ask for it.
^ You sure you didn't hit a wall doing the auto-crossing?
Nope!
But the instructor did snark that I just killed an innocent puppy when I ran over that cone in the first exercise. When I did it again to the same cone, he said that puppy is now as flat as a pancake
Their GSM talked to me and apologize for the "mix up" So he offered 3 options: Dont get the car. Take a M3 for 800 a month (This is actually a very good deal). Take an additional 1500 discount to take the Auto 340 (probably one of the best deal that you could have in LA area)
At the end, I took the 340i over the weekend, cuz $ talks.. I mean, i am driving a fully loaded 340 for a price of 330.
Oh yah i asked about what happened to the 5 series that was canceled, they said it was sold within 24 hours after it was made ready for sales. So that was that.
So far i am very impressed with the B58 engine... It fixed almost all the complaints i had about N55.
Yah i wasnt sure if it will look "too much" with blue and red... but to be honest, it looks better than i expected.
Getting tintz tomorrow morning, this heat is burning my skin
That's the color combination I was looking at on that 435i convertible when I wasn't sure if my car would be totaled last year. Very nice!
Just in case if you are looking for a replacement again in the future, if possbile, try to get the 440i convertible instead of 435... the B58 engine is so much more responsive and it pulls a harder all the way cross the powerband, especially at the higher end, where N55 is relatively weak.
Is that your spot or are you pulling an Office Space?
Well, there are some hints it's not his parking spot. Because oonowindoo is , all park jobs involve BACKING INTO the stall (I know I do). And his new car was not backed in.
We suspect it was parked there by the peep who was tinting the vehicle.
I usually park at the spot next to it, the 2nd one. But yah Damn Yumcha knows what's up. It was for the tintz. The first spot is usually reserved for the big boss obviously.
07-23-2018, 12:07 PM
). She didn't really care for any performance upgrades or exterior options. I nudged her towards getting at least some nicer looking wheels for a small price bump. Took a lot of time considering there are so many options, but we tried to just stick to the packages she wanted and must-have options otherwise.
to be fair I don't think anybody else had much, if any seat time at a track or autocross. I would recommend this course to anybody, I've had people who live on the track sit with me and give me guidance but it's nothing like having an instructor spend all day with you. It was a lot of fun, and you may even be eligible for a discount on your auto insurance after completion.
#notsohumblebrag. All those hours put into Gran Turismo and Forza paid off! In reality, I know I wouldn't have been as fast were it not for the instructor sitting shotgun and barking instructions at me for each turn.
and well, we eat dogs. Pancaked dog means you've already tenderized it. 
