madmax

I've been away so long I don't know the new rules of the game

My bad, I meant to say Ka. I don't have a laser jammer. They are expensive and require a great deal of custom installation so I'm a bit hesitant to get one.

There's a reason they call it the land of opportunities..... I would've never been able to afford any of these cars in SL, unless I was 'royalty' or had a multi-million $ export business. But in the US, an upper middle class dual-income makes these a possibility. Where you live even in the US makes a difference. If I were to live in a place like new York I'd be earning more but still riding the train to work. The insurance, parking and housing is so expensive there. I would never be able to afford any of these cars nor would I have a place to park them. While Florida is not the best state for job opportunities it gives me the environment to enjoy my cars. Whereas most immigrants (including most Sri Lankans) would flock to NY, LA and San Fransisco for better job opportunities specially in IT.

IT guy, specialize in Microsoft Database technologies.

Sunny Florida! Some of my co-workers know what I drive and also the fact that I'm on a higher pay bracket than them. Luckily my boss doesn't work in the same office as me. And at work I park on the highest floor of the multi-story parking garage which is normally empty. So it keeps the car out of view of most people. We don't like big sedans. M3 is just the right size.

So far white has been my color of choice and will remain so. I think the over the top crazy colors suits the character of the performance cars. We looked at both the Austin yellow (pictured here) and Yas Marina blue M3 in person. Wife will be driving it the most if we get it, and she liked the yellow over the blue.

Porsche calls it Racing Yellow

As many of you know after this post I went with the M3, which was a very nice practical sports car/daily driver and most importantly within my budget. The GTR is a very potent sports car, but it's bare bones inside, and being spoiled by German cars I didn't think I would like it. The Maserati is a big GT car and not the cheapest to maintain. It's definitely a head turner and chick magnet (Sri Lankan ethnicity is exotic enough here to do that). Back to car stuff - the next upgrade was the 911 and it is very common to step up into a 911 after a M3. I test drive the older 911 Turbo since I can't afford the new one(the new 911 turbo just came out and the price tag is close to $200k). As many people describes it, I also thought it was lacking in character. No feel, no engine noise just whoosh and go and a lot of it. The new 911 came out in 2012 and had great reviews from the press and won Motor Trend's best drivers car both in 2012 and 2013. Some reviews said the 911 Carrera S was fast enough to keep up with the older GT3-RS around a track. it is also a very practical daily driver, when all the sports options are turned off it purrs and drives like a rear engined VW bug. More importantly rich owners have started trading them in for the new 911 Turbo. So I ended up getting a 2013 Carrera S that I have now. The 'S' model is the one to get, the base model lacks power. Here's a picture of my garage - I would almost call it the dream garage. The wife wants a fun car that she can drive, she's nervous about driving the 911 and then there's the image of driving a 911 to work. There's plenty of discussions around that on the Porsche forums - what everyone else thinks when you drive a 911 and your boss drives a 20 year old piece of crap. Sadly though the M3 is going to a new home this week.However it will most likely be replaced by this early next year.

Looking at that thread I guess I posted this before I bought the M3. Here's the update on the other thread. http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/3374-my-cars/?p=263979

Ku is commonly used in US too, and seeing less K band these days.

Yes the Beemers are staying for now. If money gets tight in the future I might have to let go of the M3.

Nope, IT is a much more lucrative career these days LOL.

Time for an update. Added a dream car to my collection. Some of you may have seen it on FB already. But here it is being unloaded from the transport truck. A few pics inside the garage. Mod list for the future - Techart front lip, side skirts and spoiler with black HRE wheels.

Yes that's true. But I got both the M3 and X5 for just 1k over the dealer's cost. PS: Are you back in SL?

Snow in Florida is a rare occurrence and even that would be limited to the most northern parts of the state near the Georgia border. The state has never gotten snow in the three years I lived here. There are folks in the northern states who drive their M3s in the winter with proper tires and careful driving.

The new RR sport is still too much money. I would definitely pick one up when they drop down in price. The main reason for the bimmer is I got a good buddy at the stealership so I always get a sweet deal.

Time to update the thread again. It wasn't long ago that the wife got herslef an Evoque, but it was starting to feel too small already. So we replaced that with another Bimmer, yes another Bimmer! For some reason we always find ourselves going back to Bimmers. This one's a diesel, and diesels are finally gaining traction in the US and most European brands have at least one one diesel model in their lineup. BMW NA just introduced a 4cyl diesel for the 3 series - the one from the Euro 320d, but it's badged a 328d stateside.

Yep, drop it, put some fat ass wheels and stretch the tires.

You mean him or the car?

Mine's to buy a 911 Turbo or a GT3 RS

Trying to appeal to the American market for sure LOL.

Yes, I'm outnumbered by the Audis It's Florida, so we still have the older generation who still love their truck and guns..LOL

Here's a little treat for now. This is only part of my parking lot at work. I work with a bunch of crazy car nuts!

You talking about the Range Rover? Haven't got any pics yet. I'll get some next week.

with what? Haven't got my Porsche yet.