What a time to be alive, guys. For sportscar enthusiasts, I haven’t felt this good since the 90s. There are many, many great sportscars currently on the market which is impressive given that fully electric vehicles have been around for over a decade, only gaining traction (no pun intended). Automotive purists have not thrown the modern ICE sportscar out to pasture just yet.
The Future Dilemma, as a reminder, was the result of discussions and deliberation around the next generation sports car I would end up with. I, just as Icarus of Greek mythology, flew close to the sun (Porsche 911 Carrera S ownership) and fell back down. Currently I have my Project Celica and a Tesla Model Y. The Model Y, while being tight-handling and nimble for an SUV, is NOT a sports car. It sits rather high and it is a large vehicle.
The Future Dilemma – Nissan 400Z vs GR 86
Future Dilemma – Manual vs Auto Transmission
So, I’ve wanted to get my thoughts in writing on this for about a week or two now. It has been 2.5 years (!) since I initially let my thoughts go on this during the pandemic. The landscape has evolved now, however, at the end of the day, the two options I outlined back then are on the top of my list today: The Nissan Z and the GR86 are pitted against one another. The decision requires more soul-searching than I expected, due to the nature of the comparison, which is namely: power vs agility.
I’ll be honest. Like I previously mentioned, it’s been a few years since I investigated things and the landscape has changed, however, my mind is in a similar spot to where it was back then. All things considered, as of today, this is my list, regardless of transmission.
- Nissan Z (manual)
- GR86 (manual)
- Porsche Carrera S (automatic)
- Porsche 718 Boxster (S/GTS) (automatic/manual)
- BMW Z4 M40i (automatic)
- Acura Integra Type S (manual)
- GR Corolla (manual)
This list being here, I have to include caveats. The list moves on a daily basis at this point. There is no clear winner here, and the decision is extremely hard, as if I was choosing the last car I will ever drive for the rest of my life. The depth of the decision makes my mind absolutely race to the degree it has not raced in a very, very long time.
First thing I will do is talk about the elephant in the room. I did a thing, guys.
My wife is the owner of a 2023 Toyota GR Supra A91-MT, a limited edition GR Supra model, with a manual transmission. This car is rare, and there is a brief story behind it. She has had it for about a month now.
So I walked into an opportunity to make my wife’s wish come true. She has been talking about a Supra for months, perhaps years, and this rare car happened to show up “in my backyard” at a Mazda dealership of all places, in a used capacity with roughly 5500 miles after one owner. While the car was NOT brand new, I still ended up paying a bit more than the MSRP value due to the rarity of a manual transmission GR Supra.
The reason I bring this up is because this purchase opened me up to a world of opportunity for myself. She is happy. You know the old saying, happy wife, happy life? The obvious reasoning in this case is that my purchase of this car has given me a bit of carte blanche spousal approval. Back when I bought the 911, I didn’t truly have spousal approval–it really was a rather impulse purchase. At the same time, she and I grew to respect and accept the purchase. However, I simply couldn’t afford the car. This is a completely different situation this time as it will not be an impulse purchase, which is part of the reason why I need to release my thoughts here regarding Future Dilemma.
You may notice that the most exotic car on the list is the Porsche and this is no surprise. Exotic sportscars are quite frankly, money pits. If there’s a Porsche tax, you better believe Ferrari and Lamborghini tax will be worse. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice, where I buy a car that is easily beyond my financial means and then walk into maintenance costs that I cannot deal with, which is what happened the first time with my 911. I’ve said to myself in the past that I would not buy a 911 unless I could buy it outright, whether with trade-ins or not. I do not want to make payments on a car that I then need to additionally pay for maintenance on–that is a complete worst case scenario. With ICE cars, regular maintenance costs are a prerequisite to ownership. Full EVs are more forgiving in that the primary maintenance cost is tires (and perhaps brake pads to a lesser degree) up until you get up to the 10 year 100,000 mile mark.
I’m in the position where I could look into the 911 with planning. This means I can save funds up until I get to the position to buy one outright. Even with the approval and the means, spending that much money on a car is still unsettling. If I won the lottery, sure–who cares at that point. However, if I am working my ass off saving money over the course of years and spend it on a Porsche, it’s going to hurt a bit. I remember the instant buyer’s remorse I felt sitting in the Porsche dealership the first time I bought my CPO 911 S. Sure, over time I came to terms with it, but the buyer’s remorse was there. I also felt it slightly when purchasing my wife’s GR Supra. Note: I did NOT have any buyer’s remorse when trading in my 911 for my Honda Type R, when I traded in the Type R for my Tesla, or when I initially bought my BRZ.
That namely addresses the 911. The Boxster is somewhere in the $60k-$80k range, which is not as bad, but is still quite a bit of capital. The Boxster competes directly with the BMW Z4 M40i in the same price range. These are all cars that are feasible, but significant. Basically, at the end of the day, this is part of the soul search. I would need to save money, and dump it all at once… on a car.
I want to swing to a slight tangent. BMW is noticeably lacking in the list. Over these years, I have had a love affair with the BMW M-series cars. The only issue is that it really doesn’t compare to Porsche, and Porsche is in the running. That really is the primary reason the M line of cars are missing.
So that brings us to Japan. My love affair with Japanese sports cars spans the vast majority of my life. The kicker is that these vehicles are affordable and fun. Japanese vehicles are also noticeably cheaper to maintain. They may require more frequent oil changes, but the oil and filters are cheaper, and the process is fairly easy if you have the tools.
The Acura Type S is basically the same as a Honda Civic Type R but with improved quality. The primary issue with the Type S is it’s price point is high for a FWD car at $50k-$55k. In all honesty, I should probably at least go sit in one before I completely write it off, but at the same time, I probably should sit in all of the cars on the list at some point. I do think that would help clear things up for me.
As for the top two in the list, they remain to be the GR86 and the Nissan Z. One is a nimble track demon and the other is one step below a GTR, a bonafide Japanese muscle car. The reason the Z is currently at the top of my list is that I have never really truly given Nissan a fair shot, and they have made many really good sportscars for decades. The closest they got to getting my money and attention is when I bought my first Miata, as the primary alternative to it was a used 350z. The sad part was that particular 350z was in a pretty trashy state to where it was basically a no-brainer for the Miata at the particular price range I was looking at.
I also test drove a 370z when I was shopping for the Honda Civic Type R the first time (where I ultimately bought the BMW M240i). I did like driving it, but I was pretty deadset on a WRX STI at the time. Ironic that I ultimately walked away with BMW keys, right?
A second reason why the Z is on top is that the last time I had a car with 400+ HP was with the 911 S. Let’s be real–the 911 S was absolutely fantastic, I just couldn’t afford it. The Z has 400 HP exactly, with two turbos. The maintenance is reasonable as it is a Japanese sportscar. There is a lacking factor in that it is not especially nimble (according to the talking heads that are reviewing it), at least not in comparison to the GR86. Every reviewer does say that it is fast.
Whether GR86 or Z, I can improve faults. The GR86 has tighter suspension than the BRZ I had in addition to being faster. That being said, the reason I gave up my first BRZ is because it still wasn’t fast enough. A brief Google search shows that there are turbo and supercharger kits available for the GR86. As for the Z, from what I understand, the Z chassis is the same as the 370Z so suspension parts should essentially be the same. This is the case while the motor is different, being forced induction versus the previous NA motor.
Additionally, I have no plan to sell Project Celica, as I would essentially be giving it away. I bought it for a low price, several years ago, and I’m certain the value has not improved. The Celica is a fun, nimble little car. Having a car with some power alongside it would be nice. I also could just enjoy Project Celica until I save enough for the 911 S, which in reality, is the real dream.
To close this out, I want to discuss the GR Corolla. Quite frankly, that car is strange. It is a very rare, 3-cylinder Corolla that is AWD. I suspected they would be marked up to all hell, but based on brief research, it is closer to MSRP. It’s worth checking out if available…
I don’t plan to make any decisions anywhere for quite a while–perhaps a year or two. But it was good to get my thoughts on this out! So the future dilemma remains just that–in the future.