Cars. What does the typical audiophile drive?

1) Arctic Silver/Boxster Red Porsche Boxster S, obsessively upgraded and modified: shortened shift, lowered stiffened suspension, aluminum pedals, Euro indicators, stainless exhaust, hidden front and rear radar and laser detectors and of course upgraded amp and speakers, all A/D/S.

2) Ferrari 360 Spyder in Titanium/Bordeaux if Ferrari prices crash even more

3) Not quite price no object -- probably less than the Ferrari -- but I particularly covet the rare 1997 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo S, in blue with tan. The last and greatest air cooled beast, in my opinion.

Oh....one important note I forgot to mention: for both the Porsche Boxster S and the Ferrari 360, I would swap my ARC and Levinson amps and Magneplanars for an MP-3 walkman and Bose speakers before I would drive either car with a clutchless transmission.

I have updated my cars since this thread began and now drive the following:

Wife's Car and Weekend Family Wagon

2007 Volvo V70 R Wagon
Titanium Gray with special "Atacama" leather
No roof rack!
HEICO racing pedals and shift knob
Pirellis

This car is amazing - turbocharged to 300 HP right out of the box and can be easily tuned to 400 +.

It has AWD with a fly by wire adjustable suspension and a sporty, but stunning leather interior that would be hard to match in a $150,000 + car. With the suspension on the extreme track setting, it really corners and feels more like a Porsche than a wagon. Interesting, but perhaps not a surprise, this limited production car was not successful commercially, as it seems the average Volvo driver is not so concerned about cruising at 150 MPH on the way to the grocery store. So the bean counters at Ford killed it earlier this year and I had to scramble around to find one of the few. If you can find one, these cars are amazing.

Daily Driver and Commuter Car

2007 Ducati 1098
Racing Yellow
Termignoni Exhaust

This is my first Ducati and unless there is snow or ice on the ground, I drive it 80 miles daily in and out of midtown Manhattan through the heat, humidity, rain, cold and/or darkness.

It is a gorgeous bike with a gorgeous exhaust note - I particularly love the racing yellow color after first thinking a Ducati should only come in red.

The bike is bigger and more comfortable than you might expect - I am not quite 6' 2" and an hour each way is no problem.

Time will tell if Ducatis have become more robust and reliable, but at 5500 miles so far, I have had no problems other than low speed stalling which the dealer fixed under warantee.

A couple of notes for bikers: the front brake calipers on this bike are ASTOUNDING. It took me several thousand miles to get comfortable feathering the brakes as they are really really strong and could easily flip the bike. Also, the torque curve is so smooth and progressive that speed really sneaks up on you - even more than usual on a bike. So easy to look down and notice that you are suddenly going 100 MPH, but without all the screaming revs and commotion of Japanese bikes or my previous Triumphs.

I dont worry as much as people might think about SUVs, but I do worry about deer at night. So an upgrade to Xenon lights might be an order with the next service and new tires.

In summary, a great commuter car and highly recommended for performance oriented audiophiles.

Cheers

cwlondon

Ghosthouse

With or without your fireproof suit, I would respond by saying that your "workingman's" rig description was consistent with your chippy observations about other peoples' expensive hobbies.

Understanding that some people might get carried away or like to show off in these types of threads, I think the underlying motivation and common demoninator is enthusiasm for good gear, hence the term "enthusiast".

As enthusiasts I have always found that audiophiles can get similarly obsessive about lots of things, and enjoy comparing notes and information on other topics.

So I am OK with these threads.

I would like to now give you my word that I will buy 5 lottery tickets this weekend.

And if I win, I will buy you a Porsche GT3, assuming that would be OK with you?

I am glad you are enjoying Audiogon and your system.

Whatever your view on these threads, it is a great community.

Cheers,

cwlondon

Ghosthouse

As promised, I bought the lottery tickets. But I have not had time to check and see if we had any winners. I will keep you posted.

Re the Cayman, I would certainly think a GT3 is more fun.

But I was thinking of this thread having spoken to a friend today who has a 964, a 993, a GT3 and a Cayman S.

His favourite driving car?

The Cayman S.

2010 BMW S1000RR - Motorrad Edition

After nearly 30,000 miles, my admittedly beautiful Ducati 1098 more than lived up to its reputation as an expensive and high maintenance mistress.

So the reliability of the BMW is a real treat.

Smooth and deceptively simple to ride at slower speeds, this two wheeled Clark Kent turns into a furious Superman as the revs climb to 14,000 for > 90 MPH in first gear.

Highly recommended and the perfect commuter "car".

Slaw,

"These scooters may have a casting flaw on the left hand side engine case at the base of the engine mounting point. On these models the engine is a functional part of
the rear suspension, so the defect could result in breakage of the engine mount causing
a rear suspension failure."

Ride safely,