Thirdgen89gta
New member
- May 6, 2025
- 3
- 9
Sup all, I'm a long time GM/Ford guy. Owned a very small collection of cars as I don't trade in much and tend to drive my stuff for a long time.
TLDR, new guy from Chicago. Need to get full PPF on the car, then plan to track the crap out of it at Road America, Autobahn CC, and Road Trip it all around the mid-west and TotD.
Recently was in the market for a replacement for my 2017 Ford Focus RS. I bought it at a time when I didn't have a house, no garage, and so only had 2 parking spots, and my daily driver had to be both Fun, and Fast enough, while also being practical. Hence, a Hot hatch was the way to go.
I wanted to take the RS further, but a lack of aftermarket support meant that the more power I added, the more FWD biased it became. In stock form, it's supremely RWD feeling, with amazing steering and chassis feedback. But I wanted to get the car around 500whp and with no modifications available the RDU would just limit RWD power.
So, since I now have a house, and a 3 car garage, I decided that it was time to hunt for a new Toy car.
Before the Emira, my fleet consisted:
And now on to the Emira.
I've been looking for a replacement for probably 4-5 months now. For the longest time that was going to be a C8 Z06 2LZ Z07 package car. But after a lot of soul searching I decided I wasn't ready to spend $150k on a car. Maybe later. So I changed my budget and started looking at other cars. I don't want low mileage garage queens, I'd just piss people off when I drive it all up and down the US and on race tracks. There is a reason I put PPF on my Focus RS. Saved me from more than a few stone chips.
Runners up were:
But the driving experience on that black car was what set the decision in stone. An Emira would be the drug of choice. So I started searching for other colors. I knew I wanted a black interior car. Whether that was Nappa leather, or Alcantara didn't really matter as much. I'm a basic black interior guy. Simple, easy to clean, doesn't show wear as much as brighter colors.
For exterior colors, Yellow was lower on the list than Red or my ultimate favorite Blue. Found a Yellow local one, but it was the Touring suspension with tan interior. Passed over. Found a Magma red one, but too far to drive since I had to trade my RS in.
Finally, found a somewhat close Seneca Blue 2024 V6/M6 Emira, black Acantara interior with yellow stitching, yellow calipers, full black pack, and privacy glass. Sadly, at some point someone installed a front plate on it, so I need to get those holes filled and painted since I will never allow a front plate to ruin this car's appearance no matter what the state says. This car had every option I myself would have checked when ordering new, and at first look I was sold on this combo.
Decided I had to have it. Called up the dealer, negotiated trade in value, and then drove my RS 440 miles to trade it in. Ended up putting down about 45% DP and drove away.
All totaled, I drove a combined 900 miles, spent 12hrs in the car and came home with it.
TLDR, new guy from Chicago. Need to get full PPF on the car, then plan to track the crap out of it at Road America, Autobahn CC, and Road Trip it all around the mid-west and TotD.
Recently was in the market for a replacement for my 2017 Ford Focus RS. I bought it at a time when I didn't have a house, no garage, and so only had 2 parking spots, and my daily driver had to be both Fun, and Fast enough, while also being practical. Hence, a Hot hatch was the way to go.
I wanted to take the RS further, but a lack of aftermarket support meant that the more power I added, the more FWD biased it became. In stock form, it's supremely RWD feeling, with amazing steering and chassis feedback. But I wanted to get the car around 500whp and with no modifications available the RDU would just limit RWD power.
So, since I now have a house, and a 3 car garage, I decided that it was time to hunt for a new Toy car.
Before the Emira, my fleet consisted:
- The oldest toy: 1989 Pontiac TransAm GTA. All in all, it comes in around 3400lbs, and makes roughly 500hp at the crank at about 6800rpm, spinning all the way to 7200rpm. Sounds amazing at full song. It's in rough shape cosmetically, and structurally 20+ years in Chicago weather means the chassis needs lots of TLC to save it, more than I'm willing to give it. But the driveline components are basically amazing.
- It spent most of its time at Road America turning laps and general street cruising before the rust set in about 2yrs ago.
- 5.7L LT1, rebuild with a focus on lightweight rotating assembly, and oiling to survive high RPM. AFR 195 Comp port heads, ported LT1 intake, custom cam.
- Swapped from a 700r4 Auto to a T56 Transmission.
- All suspension replaced with either Delrin/Aluminum hybrid bushings, or Delrin/SS roto-joint bushings for zero deflection, but the Delrin wears much better than a standard heim-joint.
- Brakes upgraded with Corvette Z06 brakes from 2004, rear is from a 1999 LS1 Axle.
- Brought back to life from a ratty junker shell I bought back on 2001 with no engine, and no trans. Been through a few engine/transmission combos.
- Daily driver: 2021 Model S Plaid. No mods, easiest/fastest daily driver I've ever owned. Hard to argue with basically a 9 second driven by anyone car that still gets the equivalent of over 100mpg. I don't think I'll ever go back to a ICE car for a DD.
- Old Daily, Road trip car: 2017 Ford Focus RS, stock.
And now on to the Emira.
I've been looking for a replacement for probably 4-5 months now. For the longest time that was going to be a C8 Z06 2LZ Z07 package car. But after a lot of soul searching I decided I wasn't ready to spend $150k on a car. Maybe later. So I changed my budget and started looking at other cars. I don't want low mileage garage queens, I'd just piss people off when I drive it all up and down the US and on race tracks. There is a reason I put PPF on my Focus RS. Saved me from more than a few stone chips.
Runners up were:
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage 2018+ Used. Looked seriously at a few of these. All either missing the options I wanted, or in a color I didn't want. Also, once I finally found one with the right color combo and options, I found too many defects in a $90k used car, and the old infotainment system was god aweful. How a 2019 luxury car has a worse infotainment than my old 2013 Focus ST, I'll never know.
- Porsche 718 GTS 4.0, or an older 718 GT4. Love these, but the used prices are the same as just buying a new GTS, let alone the prices on GT4's.
- C8 Z06 Z07 Package, for the options I wanted, too much money right now.
- C8 Z51 Car, didn't want to buy new, and I was pretty specific in that I wanted a Z51 car with the wing, and a black interior with the Competition Seats/Steering wheel, no stripes, and if possible the Stealth package. Hard to find. I'm picky.
- 6th Gen Camaro ZL1 1LE. love these cars so much. Found one in the right color, at the right price too with the right miles. But rode a tad stiff, and I wanted a car that could road trip as well as hit the race track. And the ZL1 1LE, boy can it track. But it's also a heavy beast and would barely fit in the 3rd garage space.
- C7 Z06 Z07 package car. I'm pretty picky, and I wasn't willing to spend more than 70k max on a 6-10 year old Corvette, but really wanted to stay around the 55-65k max with C7s. I HATE red interiors and god why are there so many Corvettes with red interiors. It looks like a ritual sacrifice in there.
- C6 Z06, same as the C7, much as I love them, they aren't worth $45-$60k. I could stomach low 40's, but really think they should be mid 30's.
- C5's, same, but better be under $25k max.
But the driving experience on that black car was what set the decision in stone. An Emira would be the drug of choice. So I started searching for other colors. I knew I wanted a black interior car. Whether that was Nappa leather, or Alcantara didn't really matter as much. I'm a basic black interior guy. Simple, easy to clean, doesn't show wear as much as brighter colors.
For exterior colors, Yellow was lower on the list than Red or my ultimate favorite Blue. Found a Yellow local one, but it was the Touring suspension with tan interior. Passed over. Found a Magma red one, but too far to drive since I had to trade my RS in.
Finally, found a somewhat close Seneca Blue 2024 V6/M6 Emira, black Acantara interior with yellow stitching, yellow calipers, full black pack, and privacy glass. Sadly, at some point someone installed a front plate on it, so I need to get those holes filled and painted since I will never allow a front plate to ruin this car's appearance no matter what the state says. This car had every option I myself would have checked when ordering new, and at first look I was sold on this combo.
Decided I had to have it. Called up the dealer, negotiated trade in value, and then drove my RS 440 miles to trade it in. Ended up putting down about 45% DP and drove away.
All totaled, I drove a combined 900 miles, spent 12hrs in the car and came home with it.
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