Anyone drive a sports car before their Taco?

[littleblue]

So I've been really thinking hard about eventually getting a Tacoma. I would have to sell my current car, a 1997 BMW M3, which I love to death. It was my dream car back in high school and I spend many an afternoon daydreaming about one. I'll never forget one of the magazine articles where it won "best handling car over $30,000.00 taking on Vettes, Porsche's, and even Ferrari's.
I also have an old 96 Trooper w/ mild lift and 33" tires but it's getting old, is very uncomfortable (driver seat is all jacked up) and more important, can't tow my boat very well (1991 Boston Whaler Outrage 19'), which has a total weight of about 2500 - 3000lbs.
So for those of you who gave up the sports car, how are you coping? I test drove two Tacoma's, a 6spd dbl cab TRD off road and a lifted 5spd auto Dbl Cab off road w/ a 3in Revtek lift. From what I recall the lifted truck felt much better than the stock truck, which didn't seem to handle very well at all...too much body roll, plowed in corners. The lifted truck I think handled a lot flatter.
If I had my way, I would be getting a white dbl cab off road, lifted, maybe w/ the toytec coilovers. Would be really nice to have the TRD supercharger too, but that is pretty pricey. AR chambers and some 285 series MT tires and a camper shell to finish it off. (Yes, I've thought about this a lot!)
This truck would be my daily driver and be used 90% on road. I would use it to go camping, shooting, mountain biking, tow the boat to go fishing, etc. I'm averaging 20mpg mixed driving in my M right now, getting about 325miles a tank, $55 fill ups. Will I really feel a difference in the gas mileage? I know its a tough question but, will I be happy with the switch taking into consideration the mods that will hopefully make the truck "sportier"?

PS: The TRD sport is not an option. I've been stuck a few times in my Trooper wishing for a locker. Won't but another 4wd vehicle w/o one! Decisions, decisions....


By JKwan_81

[ponq]

Had a 95 m3 great cars.
I bought the Tacoma not bad.
Got the itch so I bought a 01 s2000, it does get better gas mileage
Still drive the Tacoma regularly, but it can't replace a great handling car.
Nor can the s2000 help me haul motorcycles.

[kwalton]

i've been driving vw's all my life. i've had supercharged gti's and turboed jetta's. my last car was an 04.5 jetta gli which was quick as hell and handled like it was on rails. it got about 30 mpg and was so damn reliable. one day i got the itch for a truck and i had always like the tacomas so i traded it in and haven't looked back. it's a whole different world. go for it.

i do still have a project gti that i will one day get to work on as well.

[Janster]

Is the BMW paid off?

If yes.... Go buy yourself a Tacoma and keep the BMW.

[segen77]

[Silver-Bolt]

Keep the M3. Your E36 looks very nice. Hard to find one that has not been thrashed. Sell your Trooper to get the truck. I had a 95 M3 and wish we still had it. Wasn't the fastest but it sure was fun.

[Jasonoff]

DON'T DO IT!!!

I'll give you some of my history to justify my opinion. I first owned an RSX-S for a couple years and got into track/lapping day/autox(HPDE) events with it. I then upgraded to an S2000 and continued the same events. I got to the point where mistakes on track were BIG mistakes so I decided to sell the car since it would make more sense to have a backup vehicle in case anything happened on the track. Conveniently I was offered good $$ for it near the end of the summer so I sold it. I've always been into the outdoors (camping, offroading, etc) so I bought a Jeep TJ and loved the thing to death. I ended up lifting it (3"), and added mud tires etc but I missed the thrill of my S2000 far too much. It wasn't even a year after I bought the Jeep and I was back in an S2000.

Now that I have both it's a completely different feeling when driving the non sports car because you know you "can" drive it if you want to.

If you love the feeling of driving a fast great handling car you will eventually hate driving the slow crappy handling Tacoma.

My current S2000 is heavily modified (gutted, roll bar, racing seats, 4pt harness, the list goes on). So now I love driving the Tacoma since it's a huge pain in the ass getting in and out of the car LOL.

If I had my time back I wish I kept my first s2000 and just stopped the lapping events until I could afford 2 vehicles.

Sorry for the novel but I hope it helps.

[littleblue]

Details are good Hmmm, interesting opinions thusfar. I liked the idea of being able to put 10k+ down on a used Tacoma and having low payments, but two of you have now basically said that one can't compare to the other in any way, so maybe I'll have to save more money and use what little I can get for the Trooper and keep them both...what sucks is I know I'm gonna have to start dumping some money into the M3. Brakes, rotors, and clutch w/in the next year or two at a minimum...

[el_smurfo]

I had a MR2 Turbo, then I grew up. This truck is plenty fast for me these days.

[mo_taco]

I've generally had something for fun and a daily driver. My fun cars went:

1976 Firebird Formula
1987 IROC
1969 Corvette
2003 CBR 600RR
2007 Civic Si

While I had those I also tinkered with four wheel drive trucks, my 1979 K10 and my 1993 F250.

But I always had a daily driver too. Just a boring car to get from point A to point B.

A couple of month ago I picked up a 08 double cab 4x4 TRD Offroad. I got rid of my last projects and finally got down to one vehicle. Some days I miss having something that handles well or flat out goes like stink. But I've 'outgrown' my need for speed and my taco handles most everything I want to do nowadays. I'm actually looking for a classic truck to restore now instead of another sports car.

You've got a nice looking M3, but if you aren't going to keep it forever get rid of it before it gets too old and starts nickel and diming you. I've kept a couple of cars too long and spent too much on upkeep and lost too much on resale. You enjoyed your time with it now you can move on to something else or start preserving and rebuilding it. It's up to you.

All that being said it's all about what you want to do. Different strokes for different folks right?

[revn247]

85 RX-7
82 Camaro
04 Mustang Cobra
Spec Miata racer
SCCA EP Mazda RX7
SCCA GT-3 Mazda RX2

Not cars but still sporty and fast:

Yamaha FZR600
Honda NSR250
Yamaha YSR80 (well, maybe not fast)
Yamaha RD350

I know there's more...but I forget.

G.

[05Moose]

^ 1972 Mazda Rx2. That was my first car...0-60 in 6.5 seconds or so. Then came the 1980 Mazda Rx7 (slower than the Rx2 due to the CA smog requirements). 1986 Celica GT-S.

Never thought I'd leave the sports car arena but I love the truck more than I ever did those cars. Wouldn't go back for the world!

[pdopy3]

Well, like most said dont do it, you will be sorry! Love the M3 you got and, love the pic even more makes me home sick, grew up on Hampshire St on Potrero Hill, now stuck in Washington, DC.
Anyway, like I said dont get rid of your sports car, before my TACOMA my ride was a Pro-Charged, stroked, 347 MUSTANG, man do I miss it, not that I dont love my truck.

[Silver TRD Taco]

99 Eclipse Spyder GST daily driver and a 92 Laser AWD for a track car. We traded the Eclipse in on the Taco for the wife and went with a new G35x for myself. It worked out well as I get the truck when I need it and the G provides sports car like feel (306hp) with 4 doors.

[SS6ixxer]

This is a easy one buy the Tacoma an get a sport bike.I suggest a Yamaha.I only ride my Yamaha R6 at the track but the truck will never replace "the need for speed".