a la lotus!

 

I had a feeling I'd get skewered on this opinion..! LOL at the ABS, power steering, etc. You should've added air conditioning.

OK, maybe I'm more of a high maintenance purist... I want all/most of the gadgets and luxury PLUS a manual transmission. I grew up driving stick in my late teen and early 20's years. There's certainly some nostalgia for me in driving a stick.

 

The Audi move to Auto makes sense. It's funny how everyone knocked (and still does somewhat) the Lexus IS F for having an Auto (8-Speed Direct Shift), and now all these other makes are dropping their dual clutches and traditional three pedals in favor of Auto set-ups. (better economy, less jerkiness at low speeds, very quick shifting rivaling F1 in some guises). Maybe Lexus was on to something. BMW is still holding out on a few purist models like the M4, but with the enormous power like on the X5 M, that has gone to an 8-Speed Auto as well.

 

The DCT in my NSX can handle that much power, shifts super fast and smooth and no jerky character at low speeds/city driving or stop and go on the highway

 

i often wonder how many of the manual 'purists' know how to execute a heel-toe downshift? Or are they cool with the electronics blipping the throttle for them? Hahahahaha

yes....they are probably a bit more fun to drive. But the ones that prefer them...like my wife....throw around the word 'purist' a bit too much for my tastes.

 

It's only going to be in the $70k range and it's a couple. If I won the lottery a Porsche GT3 would be my fun 2 door. Then I'd still rather have a 4 door daily in which case I would probably still get an LS460 or lease an S class.

 

Yes. I would not want anything higher end. The Porsche would attract unwanted attention and speed danger, which kills it. A nice top end 4-door sounds great. I am very much of a believer of smart money and low stress/less worry.

 

I would rather have this than the LC. One thing that amazes me about Audi sport models is the ability to go from Jekyll to Hyde at a touch of a button.

I bet this thing can be a comfortable "GT" cruiser along the lines of the LC in "comfort" mode, yet unlike the LC, become a wickedly fast barn burner that will paste you into the back of the seat. In fact, that's probably the one gripe people may have about Audis is that it's too quiet, soft and insulative versus the more "harsh" BMW Ms for example, but I think Audi got it down just perfectly right in regards to this split persona. I'm still in awe at this ability to drive around in a quiet insulative cocoon then instantly switch to lightning fast rocket on a whim. I bet this RS5 is no different, but only much faster.

 

Wow, looks great!
Looks much more aggressive than the last model

They can do what mazda does with the miata (an example) by making an auto more expensive than a manual

 

havent autos usually been more expensive than manuals, across the board?

 

Yes, and models with a manual are associated with strippers. Want a manual? Welp, we have no options to offer you. Crank windows status.