New to Iago ride

I've been reconsidering the BRZ. My primary concern is that I don't know if I'll be happy with the power over the long term. I still hold that handling is more important to me, but still . . . . Sometimes balance is most satisfying.

I have decided that I want rear-wheel drive, and likely in coupe trim. That limits my options. I've been thinking about the BMW 2 series, which has gotten rave reviews, albeit contradicting at times. Some argue that the 228i with M package and track handling package are the better driver's car (even over the M235i). Jalopnik prefers the 228i; Top Gear has nice things to say about it too, as do a few other sites; Motor Trend had less kinds things to say, ranking it lower than an FRS and Ecoboost Mustang. An M2, due out later this spring, would be a blast, but more than I want to spend.

I know you had a BMW. I think one of the reasons you got rid of it was because of maintenance expense. What are your thoughts on getting a BMW?

Seajunior thinks I should get a Mustang GT. Not a bad option, although I think I'd prefer something lighter. I guess I'd have to drive one to be sure. The MX-5 is an interesting option, but as I said in my previous post, it's fairly costly up here and would be absolutely useless in poor weather. It is a fair weather car, and nothing more. The Mustang and BMW probably aren't much better (being rear-wheel drive), but with good snow tires, I could probably get around those times where I had no choice other than to drive the car.

I had thought of keeping my Mazdaspeed 6, which allowed me the option of picking up an impractical car, but every time I take the Speed 6 in for service, it needs additional work, and that's getting tiring. Granted, it's an older car, and that's to be expected, but it's irritating me.

Thoughts?

Why don't you get a used M3 with a v8 - food for thought.

We had a 325i, and it had two different expense issues: insurance and maintenance. We knew that our insurance was going to go up, but we were floored when we got our first bill and it had doubled. Literally. Like, almost to the penny. Our insurance company explained that they had a 25 point scale to judge cost of repairs, and BMW was at the top. As in, 25.

The other issue was maintenance. We bought a used one, and "routine" things like replacing the shocks were outrageous sums of money. We also ended up having to replace the computer -- there was a rather poor design decision on that vintage of 325i that made replacing it inevitable -- and it was $2000 just for parts (about another $1000 for labor.) And this was nearly fifteen years ago. Buying new, or at least slightly used, would at least avoid the kinds of issues that we had, but those routine wear-and-tear things are going to hurt.

Would you consider an AWD, or are you insistent on the RWD?

I decided to pull the trigger on an RS, but I decided too late. They have not even shipped yet, but they are all spoken for. I had to put my name on a list for next year, and I am already the sixth or seventh person on that list. I wanted to wait for the reviews to see how good of a car it really was, and by the time that they were out, it was already too late. So it goes.

A used M3 is a good idea, but I'd have to get one that is quite old, and I'm concerned about running that old of a BMW out of warranty.

Yes, my preference is for RWD. The Focus RS is nice, but, as I've said, priced exorbitantly up here. I actually placed a deposit on an M235i (which will be built to spec), but may have to reconsider. I didn't even think to call my insurance company.

My bone of the day to pick: Why is it that enthusiast cars have the fewest and not-so-clever colour choices? Up here, the RS comes in white, black, a sickly grey and a terrible, terrible, powder blue (called hyper blue, but it's powdery; what happened to the lovely blue that was used for the promotional shots?). The M235i comes in two shades of white (yes, two!), black, silver, dark grey, red and blue. And that blue isn't a lovely blue, like you'd see on a GTR or a rally car, or the one used for the promotional shots of the RS. Nope, it's a lighter blue, which looks good in some light but not so good in others.

Of the 11 colours I listed, 8 are variations of greyscale. WTF?

Well, as far as the insurance goes, your mileage may vary.  (So to speak.)  But it is definitely worth looking at first.  If that is not prohibitive, you will probably love the M235i, and at least most mechanical issues will be covered under warranty.  As long as you do not wrap it around a tree, or anything.

I have a friend who bought a used M5 -- I cannot remember the exact year, but it was mid to late Nineties.  Got it for a song, too, in the mid 2000s.  He was going around a curve on the highway with it and lost  the back end, putting it into the concrete barrier on the outside of the curve.  He was not driving crazy or doing anything unusual; he just was not yet used to the car and underestimated the available power.  He actually did very little damage to the car itself, but scraped up the tires on that side.  Thus began a months-long search to find replacement tires for it, as they were no longer manufactured.  It is always something, with an older BMW.  If you are going to buy one, new or very low mileage certified pre-owned is the way to go.

The premium blue on the RS is called Nitrous Blue.  It is actually a tri-coat metallic paint, like with the Tangerine Scream on the FoST or the Molten Orange on the FiST.  If you have not seen it in person, I would not judge it until you have.  The Tangerine Scream on the FoST actually looks like a very basic yellow in most photographs, but in person, it takes on an entirely different character.  Let us just say that it really turns heads.  I dress primarily in black, and generally prefer cars that do not draw attention to themselves, but I have to admit that I have enjoyed the attention that my car gets.  So yes, I would probably end up paying extra for the Nitrous Blue on the RS.  The pictures really do not do it justice.  And no, that is not normally a colour that I would ever pick for a car, but I have turned into a sucker for the premium paint jobs and the attention that the obnoxious colours get.  Call it mid-life crisis.  

Actually, with the basic colours, the white on the RS is extremely striking given how much black trim is on the thing.  It looks like a stormtrooper helmet, and I mean that as a compliment!

]http://shop.ford.com/build/focus/#/config/Config%5B%7CFord%7CFocus%7C2016%7C1%7C1.%7C.P3T..Z2...HAT.GAS.RET.RS.~FOCUS-RS.%5D

I have never seen much of any particularly interesting colours on a BMW.  You are going to get German conservatism there, regardless of model.  Even the i8 has just black, white and blue, with the only real variations being accent colours.  And that is their most outlandish-looking car right now.

Are you serious? He had trouble finding replacement tires? Were the tires that oddly sized that no one made a replacement?

I haven't called my insurance. Suppose that will be a pleasant treat. I'll keep you posted.

Fair enough on the nitrous blue. I always liked the tangerine scream and molten orange options in photographs and in person, so that is why I'm suspect of the blue on the RS. Plus, I absolutely loved the blue they used for the promotional shots.

I know what you mean about white. I had considered that option too for the stormtrooper look you refer to. It works particularly well with carbon fibre trim, blacked out grills and tinted windows. The thing that put me off white is that it's the most popular colour choice today (yes, I researched), making up as much as 40% of new cars purchased. While I don't need to stand out, I like to be a little different. At any rate, I ended up going with Estoril blue. Not sure if you're familiar with that colour, but you may find it a little more exciting that most of BMW's less-interesting colours. It does shift in colour with the light. I prefer it when it looks darker.

If I talk to the friend with the BMW soon, I will ask him to remind me about the details. I just remember that he needed a specific tire. It may have been because he just damaged the tires on one side of the car and wanted to match the other side, but I think that there was more to it than that.

I actually never liked the Tangerine Scream colour until I saw it in person. Most photographs, even the ones that I have taken myself, make it look plain yellow, and that is not how it looks "in person." The Molten Orange seems to work better in pictures than Tangerine Scream does, or the Nitrous Blue for that matter. But I still love it now that I have it, even if I can never get a good picture. Like the Estoril Blue, it shifts colour, and I also prefer it when it looks darker. (It looks smashing at "magic hour.")

What is the ETA on your car?

My guess is that he had runflat tires and, yes, those things are a bitch to replace and cost a small fortune. I checked the box for non-runflat performance tires to avoid that issue. They weigh less, stick better, cost less, aren't so rigid that they'll destroy rims, and come on cooler-looking wheels. The tires I'll get are Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Of course, BMW being BMW, have installed the car batteries in the trunk (for 50-50 weight distribution), which means there is no spare. Instead, I'll get the ghetto solution of a can of tire gunk and a tire inflator. I think that's their idea of a mobility kit.

The car hasn't been built yet, but is supposed to enter production in Week 23, which should be this week or next. Factor in the time to ship and barge, and I expect I'll see it mid-August.

Pics and full review, needless to say. Since it is a Beemer, the usual 500 word requirement will be wildly insufficient.


I got a call out of the blue from the dealer where we had purchased Eve's Fusion (and her 2012 Focus prior to that.) They sold a few months ago, and one of the people there was calling older customers to check in with them and hopefully get them to come back. Actually, Eve had suggested that I call them about the RS some time ago, but I never bothered since they normally do not even sell STs there. He wanted to know if Eve still had the Fusion, and I told him that we had traded it in for my ST, and that unless Ford comes up with something radically different, they will not get her to give up her Volt. (We have already decided to wait a couple of years and trade hers in for a newer Volt.) I told him jokingly that if he could get his hands on an RS for me, then he and I would talk. He said that he thought he heard that they had ordered one. I did not believe it, but I told him to call me if he heard anything. He called me back two hours later and said that they had one coming that was loaded to the max. RS2 package, moonroof, the winter wheel package, Nitrous Blue, a car cover, everything. He said that the hitch was they already had a firm offer on it, and wanted to give me a chance to beat it. Supposedly someone offered them $54,000 for it. In the States, with all that jazz it would list for a little under $44,000. So he offered $10,000 over MSRP. I am sure that did not happen out of the blue, and there must have been a bidding war for it. Regardless, I told him to tell the guy to enjoy his new RS, but if he backed out of the deal, to give me a call.

I do accept that there will be no discounts on the car, but I absolutely refuse to pay one cent over MSRP. I could get a Chevy SS with the manual and the only available option, a moonroof, for about $5000 less than that. And that kind of money is easily into base ATS-V territory, and loaded 2 series BMWs as well. (Not an M2, of course.) So, he got my hopes up for a brief moment, only to dash them.