I've always wanted a Corvette. They are bad ass vehicles for the price, and I think the styling of the car has improved with time. However, logistically I have a hard time wrapping my mind around owning one. It would be difficult to have a 'Vette as a daily driver, especially when living in an area where it snows. So owning a 'Vette would mean that most likely you'd need two cars which means two payments, two insurance policies, two... you get the point. It would be about like owning a boat. It would be a lot of fun but likely more costly than makes sense. If I ever buy one it will likely be when I'm a bit older and have a bit more time, which is likely when that mid-life crisis begins.
This is where the concept of the sports sedan comes into play, and again, this is Sarah's fault as well because she introduced me to this logic. The rationale is why buy two cars, a daily driver and a sports car, when you can get a sports sedan that is both practical for daily use and fun to drive? While some car manufactures offer sportier versions of their cars, often times it doesn't amount to much more than aggressive styling and additional badges. The German manufactures, however, have figured out the sport sedan concept. All of the German manufactures have sports lines that offer serious upgrades in power and performance. BMW has the M line, Mercedes has the AMG line, and Audi has the Audi Sport S/RS line.
Audi offers most of their vehicles in 3 different versions: The normal A version (or Q if it's an SUV), the sportier S version, and the mega-sporty RS version. For instance, they offer an A5, an S5 (which is what I bought), and an RS5. All three cars are more or less the same. However, the A5 has a 4-cylinder engine making 250 horsepower, the S5 has a single turbo V6 making 350 horsepower, and the RS5 has a twin-turbo V6 making 450 horsepower. As you can see, when you get into the S and RS versions of these cars, there are some serious power and performance upgrades. My previous car had a 4-cylinder producing 200 horsepower. One of the things I wanted with my new car was a bit more power, so I decided to go with the S5. While not a Corvette replacement, it allows me to have one car that is both comfortable and fun to drive. When comparing the S5 to the A5 and RS5, Car & Driver called it the Goldilocks version of the car (or Dad Spec) as it had just the right amount of comfort and performance. I couldn't agree more. It is comfortable to drive to and from work and to run errands, and yet can be quite quick when you want it to be.
After driving the car for 6 months, I think spending a bit more to get into the S or RS class (or M or whatever brand you go with) is a great compromise for not getting a dedicated sports car. To me, it makes so much more sense to do this and have one car that you can enjoy driving every day and not collect dust in the garage. I will let you know if I change my attitude towards this situation once my mid-life crisis starts.
