My 360 has lost its parking spot

My beloved 360 spider in the pic below has lost its parking spot to a new Audi R8. I had been considering either an R8, Aston Vantage, or a Lambo Gallardo. After driving all three, I picked the R8. I really wish I could have bought all three though, but I don't have enough garage space.

Alas, the 360 has not been replaced. It is in the shop and the R8 is only keeping its parking spot warm in the meantime. When it returns, the Bentley will be bumped to my other garage to sit next to my S54 M Roadster, the R8 will take its place, and the 360 will be back where it belongs.

My wife's car, well, she will be parking in the driveway now until I expand the garage in a few years.
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Very Nice, Love that garage.

Cheers,
Nick

 

RD- What is an R54 M?

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Love it!

 

That is one gorgeous garage!

 

S54 is the 333hp engine most commonly found in E46 M3s. In this case, it's in a Z3 M Roadster-- very fun car!

-Joe

 

Joe- Thanks. Not a BMW follower so had never heard of it. No idea what an E46 is either, but do know what an M3 is. How about model years?

Guess we all have cars we follow and others we ignore. For instance I can tell you all the parts that went into a 1963 Z06 Corvette, but have no idea about most BMWs.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

E46 M3.

http://www.carlone.ch/neue%20autos%204/BMW/BMW-M3-E46-20-Zoll-vorne.jpg

and an E46 is all the 3 series with the same body style '98 - '05

 

Nice problem to have! Great collection!

 

The E46 is tha chasis and the S54 is the engine.

 

where the R1200C go?

 

more pics! That is such an amazing looking car. Easy to tell @ night from far away that it's an R8 with high wide apart the LED running lights are... I get excited everytime I see one running up behind me. Did you go with the V10 model?

 

It is a BMW M Roadster with the 315HP S54 engine. The same engine in the E46 M3 (which is 330HP due to longer exhaust routing). Only 1500 or so S54 M Roadsters were built between February 2001 and May 2002. I have one of 200 Imola Red ones, one of 90 with the red/black interior and red top. My favorite car. Almost 10 yrs old with 19k miles and I keep it like new. It has never seen rain. The hard top to it can be seen in the pics behind the 360/R8.

The E46 M3 is my favorite M3 of all time and I have owned 3 (and am M5).

 

Still there. Next to the Bentley as well as the R1. I ain't ever selling either of my BMW's.

 

I will take some more pics and post them.

I was only ever interested in the V8. I drove the V10 on a track at the R8 track school. It was very fast and handled like a dream. But the engine was too smooth. I did not feel the acceleration like I wanted to. It pulled like my Bentley, effortlessly. I want to feel like I am in a fighterjet. If I want smooth acceleration, I got the Bentley for that. I used to have an RS4, same engine as the V8 R8. I loved that car and that engine and the gear ratios, and most of all, the growl it made. The V8 R8 handles like the V10, actually feels more nimble. 0.5 second slower to 60 is worth it to me for the driving excitement. I am glad I went with the V8 even though everybody now wants the V10.

To me it is like comparing a Yamaha R1 to an R6, a 1000cc 180hp rocket to a 600cc 115hp finese bike (I used to race). I own an R1, but raced R6's and wish I had bought an R6 for the street. It has power I can take to the limit and is more exciting to ride than an R1, which has more power than any mortal can tame so you are always riding it in a way to avoid overusing that power. Just not as much fun as a 600.

 

Congrats on the R8. Awesome garage and collection. I also had an M Roadster at one point, Imola Red, with those cool two tone black leather seats with red inserts. It was a '99, so only had 240 BHP not 315, but it was still a blast to drive. Small and nimble, with a good power/weight ratio, sort of like a modern day Cobra but with a six. The chassis was not designed very well, however, with lots of flex that I tighted up with aftermarket pieces.

Terry, others have already posted about the M Roadster; the e46 BMW is the three series coupe/sedan from about 1999 to 2005 model years in the U.S. It was succeeded by the e90/92, which I believe is the current model.

 

Nice R8, but the 360 belongs in that space. A 10 year old 360 is more beautiful than a brand new R8 (and an R8 is NOT lacking for looks by the way) in my opinion

 

A very nice addition to your collection! Is the R8 a stick or R Tronic?

 

I would agree, never been a fan of the R8, but to each his own. Enjoy.

 

Wow, nice reasoning for the V8! That makes perfect sense. Also I agree with you on the R1/R6 deal, I LOVED the thrill and fun of a 600. The Liter bikes had to much power to run hard on the street w/o lifting the front end all the time if you weren't really careful.

As for the V8/V10 reasoning... I've never ridden in a gallardo but since they share the same engine as the V10 R8, do they also feel to smooth?

 

Congrats on the car. How about a lift system to double your space

 

Its not quite the same engine, the R8 V10 uses a 5.2 liter unit while the Gallardo is a 5.0 liter.

 

R Tronic

 

No. The Gallardo must be geared differently or something despite having the same transmission. It accelerated even more agressively than my 360, but with heavier steering. I don't mean to say it is faster than the V10 R8, just that you feel the accleration more.

 

Dare I say that my R8 drives better than my 360 (not a fair comparison cuz my 360 is a Spyder), but I still prefer my 360, cuz of all those Ferrari intangibles.

Now as a 2 time Ferrari owner, I will be the first to say that nothing can compare with a Ferrari, not an R8, not even a Lambo (which really is a different beast), but that does not mean a comparison can't be funny. Here is an R8 V10 comparing to a . . . Ferrari that I thought was funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rzQI1D1zPI