mikeb

congrats
sad to see you go

kid in bus

What is up with the "Ricer" and WRX??? what is that? i don't get it.. i'm asian.. i won't deny that.. but i don't have that car.. and what does ricer mean??? HUH!? someone explain pls? :o

NomisR

Sorry to see another winning blue owner go

Why the change to "full sized four door sedan" was needed though?

WHealy

Yes mine is a V8. The V12 is an extra $30K. The HP and torque for the V8 is 335/317 while the W12 is 420/406. The 0-60 times are advertised at 6.7s for the V8 and 5.9 for the W12 … but then again, if I was looking for raw performance I would have gotten something else (or kept my “8”). Besides that bang for the buck factor between the two makes some adult internet sites look cost effective!

As for my wife being the reason … um no. We are making some changes in the next several months that include starting up some new opportunities. A four door sedan will fit the transportation needs there much better as well as for the family of 4. I don’t think I’ll be trading wife’s anytime soon. Besides, I was at the Tail of the Dragon and no one was knocking down my door … of course Meow was the only “single” gal there as I recall. Let’s just say I have that reverse animal magnetism. But hey maybe the Phaeton will be a chick car!

And yes sales are way down. They have only sold about 30 – 40% of their production for 04 and it’s Dec. So as I said in my previous post, their prices were locked and their lease was subsidized heavily. But it is interesting having a car of only about 1500 in the US currently. However, there are several around my area. And interestingly enough I swear I have seen more “8”’s on the road in the few weeks since I traded it then the whole time I had it! Strange …

AQA101

Wow, a Phaeton! Now that's a nice car you got there!

Dealer rebate must have been quite good, since VW announced that it would pay its dealers $10.000 for every Phaeton sold in the US. They have a problem selling it in Germany too, because people prefer the more expensive brandnames, but I guess the car itself is well worth the money if you don't need a BMW, Audi or Mercedes logo. Have fun!

StewC625

NomisR:

I'm surprised you don't know this. First of all, coming out of my "mouth", the last thing it's intended to be is an ethnic slur. Just use of common vernacular.

That said, a "riced" car is usally some POS 1992 Civic (POS = Piece of ****) that some stupid kid bought with $2000 that he earned working at Burger King and then spends another $4000 on putting a ridiculous appearance kit on it - painting some obnoxious color like electric green, and one of those stupid-looking aluminum double deck wings on the trunk, and 20" rims and a coffee can exhaust. All the while, leaving the 1.5 liter stock econobox engine and transmission alone. That's a "riced" car.

A "rice boy" is one that commits "ricing" to a car.

And the WRX, while a serious performance car, looks like a riced car (although it does have the chops to back up the boasts), and is a harsh, nasty, unrefined car. A far cry from an RX-8.

And a HUGE far cry from a Phaeton!

WHealy - isn't that a W8 though? That's one cool engine - a pair of Vee-Dub VR4 engines siamesed together.

rex

iTrader: (2)

So why not keep the 8 and get a family sedan as well? Seems like you could have done that on a Phaeton budget. Cake and eat it too! I'm sure the Phaeton is a nice car for its market segment and I know which car I'd prefer to do a cross country interstate haul in, but I'd be dreaming all the time of carving perfect corners in my 8 every time I got behind the heated, electrically adjusted helm of the Phaeton. Hell, I go out of my way to make corners on every interstate I drive on With 2 cars, I'd probably go more extreme on the fun car and get an Elise as an antidote to the sedan.

Personally I'm dying to see what WHealy does to the Phaeton engine bay. Lots of bits to paint there, I bet!

Enjoy the ride WHealy! And please, no red light embarrassment for us 8 owners

RX-GR8

Whealy you will be missed. check back often. good luck. :D

9100RPM

Great choice of car VEEDUBS have character. I only hope that you don't have the same trouble I had with my 1998 Passat Turbo Manual Sedan. Beautiful car smooth, very fast, great brakes and handling. BUT...I replaced the turbo, the brakes 3 times, the fabric seats had to be replaced ..they split so in went leather, the hyudraulic valve lifters failed..costly, the doorlocks froze shut, the front suspension was completely replaced under warranty. the car did not go on gravel roads, was not thrashed..its was just a lemon...but I would have bought another but VW Australia stopped importing manual cars. I still look at Passats wistfully. I travelled over 200000 kms in just over 5 years....So enjoy 9100RPM

hotpot

I'm curious to know why you didn't like the BMW 545i, and why you chose the VW instead. The Beemer is cheaper and it performs better.

WHealy

Again, thanks for all the well wishes …

Stew – Nope. It’s a 4.2L V8. Same engine that they offered when I bought my 2001 A6, but I went with the 2.7 L turbo. And the same engine they currently have in the A8 as well as the previous engine they had in the S6 all be it with twin turbos attached and makes that car scream (hum write that down in mod notebook …) The floorpan of the Phaeton is shared with the A8 and the Bentley I believe. They do offer a W8 on the Passat, but that’s not used in the Phaeton.

Specs from Edmunds

Performance
Base Number of Cylinders: 8 Base Engine Size: 4.2 liters
Base Engine Type: V8 Horsepower: 335 hp
Max Horsepower: 6500 rpm Torque: 317 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 3500 rpm Drive Type: AWD
Turning Circle: 39.4 ft.


Well I drove a 545 manual. I really wanted to drive a sequential as I wanted to get away from the manual.

Now before I get more calls to dump my wife on this ( ), we have been together since we were 18. Significance there? She is the one that taught ME how to drive a manual transmission. She just doesn’t really like the extra effort anymore. So my thoughts were if the sequential was quick enough, it would be a reasonable compromise. But the salesman told me that basically they only order sequentials with customer orders. So I would have to look elsewhere to test drive one of those. BTW, Indy only has one BMW dealer.

Than manual on the 545 was incredibally smooth. I would describe it as assisted. It seemed like the clutch really didn’t matter much. It was almost like it was simply a switch that allowed me to change gears having little bearing on slipping. But that was OK.

The one I drove had the active handling package that raises shocks in corners and has the active steering. Those were OK. But when I drove it, I just wasn’t as inspired as when I last drove the previous M5. (Imagine that) I have never owned a BMW and originally I thought this would be my first one.

Then I looked at the Phaeton. With the discounts they are offering, the pricing between a 545 and it are almost dead even. I also wanted to get a car that I could haul four adults around in. Both fit that criteria, but the extra space of the Pheaton for it was so nice. I’m an extreme kind of guy. (Imagine that) So if I was going to go for a full sized sedan, I was going to go for a FULL SIZED SEDAN. I wouldn’t classify either of these options as a sports sedan having driving a real handling gem in my “8”. So with the 545 being closer on the spectrum to the “8’ in handling but still so far away, it just didn’t matter to me.

Additionally, the Phaeton had every safety feature known to man kind and AWD. I really enjoyed my previous AWD sedan (Audi previously mentioned) but I lost two manual transmission at 5000 and 10000 miles. Needless to say that ownership experience was not a good one. But amnesia has allowed me to try VW Audi one more time.

So, there you have it . Sorry for being so long winded.

StewC625

Nice car! Enjoy it!

And come bother us now and again.

But you didn't answer my question ... what are you going to paint on that car? ;-)

9100RPM

Wonderful car..I hope you didn't get a Friday night special like I did. My VW Passat Turbo Manual sedan covered 200000 kms in 5 years. It has a blown tubro, replaced brakes 3 times, front suspension completely replaced under extened warranty, door locks that refused to open, seats that split and were replaced with leather ($3000), replaced hydraulic valve lifters....but I loved it ..it had TSW 18"x8" alloys and h Magnaflow system. It gave WRXs a run for their money. Sadly VW Australia replaced the Turbo with a quirky V5 with NO manual gearbox. I only buy manual cars so...I now buy Japanese, very reliable, but absolutely NO Character. I applaud you superb tatse.9100RPM

mtnpass

Sorry to hear of your leaving, good luck with the Phaeton....keep in touch

AF-RX8

Great choice ... I've noticed the lease deal on the Phaeton was incredible and was considering trading my Audi Allroad for one since I want something new but I feel so trapped with leasing and with the Phaeton the only option is to lease or else you will lose way to much on depreciation.

When I saw it in person I thought it was a beautiful sedan and the crazy thing is if they put an Audi badge on it I bet it would have sold very well. I love the looks of that car and the 8 cylinder has to be a gem.

My 8 is my extra car so luckily I get to have my cake and eat it to.