I would probably wait it out and pay off your car and then wait until there are some used red sports or 3.0t's on the market. These cars don't have great resale value so you could likely purchase one in a year for a hefty discount. Or you could always grab a 335i.

 

I test drove the Q50 RS 400 and I fell in love. It's fast, brakes very well, and can handle. I'm not even going to bother to upgrade to the regular Q50. I made up my mind that day that it was go big or go home for me.

 

Sounds great! I only wish they made them in manual. That may have held me off from going the 370Z route.

 

So for 51k, that's all you have? It doesn't justify the 15k price difference between G37s and Q50rs. At this price range, Q50rs is not competitive.

 

How do you figure? Twin turbos, better suspension, whole new look in and out?

I think I still prefer my G.... it's more than fast enough on the street, I prefer N/A, and I prefer its looks. It also has an LSD which is important to me (even though it's kind of BS). But spec wise you definitely get what you pay for. For me what would push this over would be a DCT, wider tires in front and rear (255/305) and a mechanical LSD. That would make it legit.

 

Many people are opting now to get the Q50 Premium or Sport instead of the Red Sport. Tunes are out that gets the regular Premium/sport 3.0T motor to around 400whp. I believe RS tuned gets like 420 or 430 whp. many feel the 20-30hp is not worth the added 15k price tag.

 

^ interesting. when i test drove both the RS400 and 3.0T Sport that was my thought as well. the 3.0T Sport felt plenty strong, certainly didn't feel 33.3% off the pace of the RS400.

at the time if i was to spec a Q50 i would have gone 3.0T with Sport/Premium but no other tech packages. the RS400 has a few other mechanical and subtle cosmetic tweaks but nothing to make a wholesale change, or make the extra ~$8-10k worth it. grab a set of RS400 rims and call it a day.

alas, no manual option so no deal for now. the dealers are hounding us right now with crazy promotions and rebates. i believe up to ~$10k off is up for grabs around my area.

 

I have seen a whopping total of 1 RS400 here. No one's buying them. For that price range there so many options with a lsd, dct, 6mt, non electric steering.

 

List please

 

+1

We're talking RWD, 6mt, 4 doors with LSD and hydraulic steering for less than 50,000, right?

 

Only thing I can think of is maybe the Chevy SS and BMW 340i... you can get a complete bare bones 340i 6MT for $48K, and then get the M Performance LSD for $2400. But its going to be equipped like a Civic LX, with worse brakes and a floppy suspension

I had an F30 rental and have driven a bunch of EPS cars though and I do have to say FM steering kind of sucks. Really heavy with no feel, both on my 350Z, my G37S and various other FM cars I've driven. I just drove an FR-S yesterday and that thing's steering blows any FM rack I've driven out of the water.

 

2017 is the last year for the SS, but that's the only realistic option.

340 misses on LSD and hydraulic steering. And unless you opt for the Sport brakes, you're stuck with ugly sliding calipers.