[W///]

Originally Posted by kolosy

I'm looking to get a weekend toy. The current daily is an X3 M Comp, which makes a lot of potential fun weekend cars feel slow, even when they aren't.

What would you get that fits these criteria:
- Under $35K, stretch to 40 for something worthwhile
- I do my own work, and that's half the value in a toy for me
- Needs to not feel slow next to the beast
- Stick

These two are conflicting, I know, but still:
- I prefer a convertible
- BUT ALSO, would be nice to get something I could occasionally take to an HPDE

A V8 would be fun as I've always had FI cars, and never a V8.

So... the things that I can think of are either an E93 M3, or, an older Aston ('06-'08 vintage, these seem to end up in the high 30s on BAT)

Other ideas?

An NA V8 has the potential to feel slow next to the F97's hp and torque, so be forewarned. I happen to have an E92 M3 with a 6MT and it feels plenty fast for me though. In your case, I might even look for something even smaller than that since you already have an SUV. For what it's worth, I absolutely love my Z4M Roadster for this purpose.