Picked this up for my daughter

[Swashplate]

Originally Posted by strokeZ

What a bunch of elitist crap. Bravo for purchasing your daughter a safe, well built and for the most part reliable car. I would rather this than some el cheapo rice burner or American made plasti-box. Sure its a fast powerful car - but have you ever seen a kid whizz by you doing 80 mph in a Civic? I sure have. THAT is a death wish. At least the Z will handle speed with ease. I am not advocating speeding but merely bucking the general idea that a kid should drive a piece of junk when learning - to me that notion alone is irresponsible parenting.

Teen Survival School is one of the best things you can do for her as a new driver as others have stated.

Amen brother!

How his child will treat this car is directly related to how he raised her and the values that were taught. Period.

I grew up with alot of very weathy kids and some got it and some were just dipshit luxury car totaling machines.

Having been in a serious crash in a Z4 I can tell you these cars are pretty damn safe.

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by strokeZ

Its kinda funny that everyone thinks these cars are too fast. Sure they are fast, but many cars can hit 100mph with ease these days. Any new car is going to have what you listed Hud-Z but the general tone of this thread is that she should have an old beater to start with....that is where I disagree. My daughter (17) - drives a 2009 Lexus RX 330. Trust me it can hit 100 mph pretty easy - but its the safety stuff around it that swayed me to buy it for her. If anyone is into boats - think Bayliner vs a good brand. They all meet Coast Guard standards, but Bayliners tend to come in when the seas get rough - why? Because they JUST MEET the standards where the higher end boats far exceed them. This is the comparo I am suggesting.

I agree that I would not want my teenage son driving a beater. But I think that Teenager + high performance sports car = high risk of a bad outome. I expect that most actuaries working for insurance companies would agree with me. There is a reason why insurance rates for teenagers are so high.

[Huz-Z]

[QUOTE=TheBroker;11413468]How his child will treat this car is directly related to how he raised her and the values that were taught. Period.
QUOTE]

No. Its more like this:

How his child will treat this car, most of the time, and especially when the folks are watching, is directly related to how he raised her and the values that were taught.

Its that other portion of the time, that worries me.

I was a pretty conservative and cautious kid. But I still remember the time a 17 year old me was doing wheelies on my RD400 a few blocks from the house, unaware that my Dad was watching me from three cars behind. And to make matters worse, my brother would go NUTS on the thing, all the time, and he never ever got caught by the folks!

[All American 6]

woohoo my view count passed 2,000!

I was worried I wasn't going to make it.

[strokeZ]

If you posted for a view count you are a DICK.

[All American 6]

That wasn't the initial intent. It kind of grew into that. Lighten up.

[Caddyshk]

Lighten up Frances

[Skelekitty]

Originally Posted by Caddyshk

Lighten up Frances

"Take it easy, Kid. It's only a thread."

::slinks back into the shadows::

[msh441]

Originally Posted by strokeZ

What a bunch of elitist crap. Bravo for purchasing your daughter a safe, well built and for the most part reliable car. I would rather this than some el cheapo rice burner or American made plasti-box. Sure its a fast powerful car - but have you ever seen a kid whizz by you doing 80 mph in a Civic? I sure have. THAT is a death wish. At least the Z will handle speed with ease. I am not advocating speeding but merely bucking the general idea that a kid should drive a piece of junk when learning - to me that notion alone is irresponsible parenting.

Teen Survival School is one of the best things you can do for her as a new driver as others have stated.

Elitist crap? I think the opinions shared here have been pretty interesting... even if I doubt the legitimacy of the original post... even if I might not agree with much of what's been written. It's all been in good fun.

Anyone suggesting that a low slung sports car is purchased for its safety devices is fooling themselves. Car vs. object impacts, the Z4 is a pretty tough chassis. I've worked enough accident reconstruction to be able to say with some certainty though, that car vs. car collisions... the heavier the car & the higher the belt line and bumpers, the better the occupants inside seem to fare. In these specific areas (weight, belt line, bumpers) the Z4 looses to just about everything else on the SUV/truck/minivan dominated road.

I would never suggest anyone buy their kid a crappy/unsafe car, or that they must work their way up to something "nice"... if you can afford it, buy new and be proud that you can. But don't expect anyone to believe your buying ANY low slung sports car for the safety measures they afford to you or the new driver in you family with their freshly minted learner's permit.

For what it is, the Z4 is as safe as it can be. For a new driver, it's not a safe car. Big difference.

[All American 6]

I've just reread Finnegan's post on the Tire Rack driver course. It's in Atlanta this April. For $75 sounds like a good daddy daughter day. I'll have to find out if they will allow a learners permit driver to attend. The BMW course only allows licensed drivers. AA6

[msh441]

Originally Posted by All American 6

I've just reread Finnegan's post on the Tire Rack driver course. It's in Atlanta this April. For $75 sounds like a good daddy daughter day. I'll have to find out if they will allow a learners permit driver to attend. The BMW course only allows licensed drivers. AA6

That is a good price.

Check Porsche Club of America courses in your area, too. Where I'm at, you don't have to be a member/bring a Porsche, they're less expensive than the equivalent BMW course and often use the same group of instructors.

Just a thought.

[Huz-Z]

My comments here have always been motivated with safety as a concern. Given that you have decided to permit your daughter to drive this car, and given your faith in her trustworthiness, a driver training program is certainly an excellent idea.

Also, as the car is an SI, it may still have run flat tires. You may wish to consider replacing them with conventional tires. I found that on rutted pavement, the run flats constantly wanted to pull the car in directions other than where I wanted the car to go, for example, closer to the lane of oncoming traffic than I found comfortable.

And I really would consider asking your dealer if Sport mode can be disabled without damaging the car. Your daughter may be trustworthy, but perhaps not so for a friend of hers who may convince her to let him/her drive it one day.

Cheers and safe driving!

[gcochard]

I'm pretty sure you can just unplug the sport mode button...

[All American 6]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Also, as the car is an SI, it may still have run flat tires. You may wish to consider replacing them with conventional tires. I found that on rutted pavement, the run flats constantly wanted to pull the car in directions other than where I wanted the car to go, for example, closer to the lane of oncoming traffic than I found comfortable.

I've experienced this. I didn't realize it was the run flats. It could easily cause an accident.

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

I'm pretty sure you can just unplug the sport mode button...

I'd be interested in more info on this.

Thanks,
AA6

Thread on a complete multi-day detail coming soon!

[mshanno1]

Originally Posted by All American 6

I've experienced this. I didn't realize it was the run flats. It could easily cause an accident.

Switching out the run-fluts is probably the best thing you could do safety wise. When I had my 3.0si the tramlining completely went away when I got rid of them

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by mshanno1

Switching out the run-fluts is probably the best thing you could do safety wise. When I had my 3.0si the tramlining completely went away when I got rid of them

I am running with Hankook Ventus V12's that I got from Tire Rack at a great price. They are a massive improvement. Others here have installed other conventional tire brands and been equally pleased with the results.

Cheers!

[beta]

Might want to also pick up this compressor (seller didn't clarify if he was selling it as well), but if he is, it's a great idea since you won't have run flats.

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by beta

Might want to also pick up this compressor (seller didn't clarify if he was selling it as well), but if he is, it's a great idea since you won't have run flats.

Great idea!

[DataStream18]

Holy hell this turned into something weird! If i had the cash I'd do the same thing, maybe a different car but something along those.

[partlowr]

Some of you guys are going pretty hard on the OP, what is the big deal with him buying this car for his daughter? It's a $25k car with a non-M motor, it's not like he bought her a new M5. It's small but also agile and probably safer in a crash than a brand new similarly priced Kia or Hyundai. Drive past one of the high schools in my town and take a look at what the kids are driving, lots of BMW's 3 series, 5 series, X3's, Range Rovers, Mercedes, lots of Mustangs and even some Porsches and Vettes, the student parking lots has beter cars than the teachers parking lots. My first car was a brand new Chevy S-10 BAJA pick-up, it's what I wanted at the time (1989), my younger sister got a brand new Mustang LX 5.0 for her first car and my dad bought it for her before she even had her license, she never killed herself in that car and that was long before the days of ABS, and DTC stuff. The OP's daughter will be fine if she has a good head on her shoulders, she can just as easily hurt herself or somebody else in a "family" car as she can in a sports car.

[seank]

This is insanity. NO child should be driving a new car bought by their parents. Driving a car is a luxury. If they want a car, they can get a job, or work for their parents and save up to buy their own freakin car. Maybe a 15 year old safe hand me down that needs a little elbow grease.

Maybe it was the way that I was raised. Maybe its because my parents didn't have that kind of money. I do know that even though I pay cash for all my cars, I still wouldn't buy a 15 year old a NEW(ish) car.

Let me guess-----he's making payments on the car?????

[prodigal_m]

Originally Posted by seank

This is insanity. NO child should be driving a new car bought by their parents. Driving a car is a luxury. If they want a car, they can get a job, or work for their parents and save up to buy their own freakin car. Maybe a 15 year old safe hand me down that needs a little elbow grease.

Maybe it was the way that I was raised. Maybe its because my parents didn't have that kind of money. I do know that even though I pay cash for all my cars, I still wouldn't buy a 15 year old a NEW(ish) car.

Let me guess-----he's making payments on the car?????

We really need a "have a cookie and sit back down in the corner" smilie up in this bitch.