[DavidHK]

There are no TVR Tuscans in hk as they cannot be registered as you need on board diagnostics(Tuscan doesn't have) and euro4 emissions. There are Chimeras in HK - they were made in KL for a while.

If you are looking at the 2nd hand (pre owned) market then a lot of the cars are autos as that seems to be what sells.

If you enjoy driving then a manual provides (in my opinion) more fun, more control and more flexibility so if thats your bag then go for it otherwise with the stop start traffic and hills an auto will be easier.

As for the Masers paddle shift box - its good for fast road driving but its low speed manners are a touch dodgy and I'm not totally convinced by the chassis dynamics either.

[mrcheese321]

Oh, okay, you are talking about fairly high end sports cars...

Do you care about comfort at all, or is it all about the horse power?

I mean, you did say that it would pretty much be a weekend car right? Are you just taking it out to race around or are you actually buying it to drive it when you need it? Because I think that changes which you should get.

I personally don't like the Boxter. I kind of fell like it is a toned down car that Porsche just developed so they would have enough money so they could keep producing the 911. Plus it really doesn't fit in the class of the Maserati or the TVR. A 911 Carrera S Cabrio would though.

I think you should throw the Maserati out. Paddle shifting is annoying as hell and you will probably hate it (it is a feature on my Mercedes that was used once and never again).

I say either a TVR or a 911 Carrera S. The TVR is slightly faster on 0-60, but if you can tell the difference on the .4 seconds then you are better than I The 911 is going to probably have better resale than the TVR if you are concerned with that at all.

I think that you should go and test drive all of the cars before you choose. If you are really serious, in my experience, most of the dealership will loan you one for a day or two to try it out. Mercedes (SL/SLK), Porsche (911 Carrera Cabrio/Chayanne) and Dodge (Viper) all let me do a 24 hour test drive for each car. I don't know if TVR or Maserati would let you do that though, I didn't try because I didn't consider either of those as options when I got my car in May.

I ended up with an AMG Mercedes SL 55. I would suggest it, but it only has a auto transmission. It does have touch shift where you can click the shifter up or down manually but it isn't a true manual transmission and I think that with the other cars you are looking at, it is something that you should really be looking for.

C

[mrcheese321]

Originally Posted by DavidHK

There are no TVR Tuscans in hk as they cannot be registered as you need on board diagnostics(Tuscan doesn't have) and euro4 emissions. There are Chimeras in HK - they were made in KL for a while.

If you are looking at the 2nd hand (pre owned) market then a lot of the cars are autos as that seems to be what sells.

If you enjoy driving then a manual provides (in my opinion) more fun, more control and more flexibility so if thats your bag then go for it otherwise with the stop start traffic and hills an auto will be easier.

As for the Masers paddle shift box - its good for fast road driving but its low speed manners are a touch dodgy and I'm not totally convinced by the chassis dynamics either.

woops....I didn't know you couldn't import the TVR. (I started replying before this post went up and I got side tracked so I didn't see it until after I finished). Then I say a Porsche 911 s/4s cabrio is what you should get

C

[tvrlover]

Originally Posted by DavidHK

There are no TVR Tuscans in hk as they cannot be registered as you need on board diagnostics(Tuscan doesn't have) and euro4 emissions. There are Chimeras in HK - they were made in KL for a while.

I was going to pay to have mine modified

Originally Posted by DavidHK

If you are looking at the 2nd hand (pre owned) market then a lot of the cars are autos as that seems to be what sells.

If you enjoy driving then a manual provides (in my opinion) more fun, more control and more flexibility so if thats your bag then go for it otherwise with the stop start traffic and hills an auto will be easier.

As for the Masers paddle shift box - its good for fast road driving but its low speed manners are a touch dodgy and I'm not totally convinced by the chassis dynamics either.

Basically, I'm really between a maserati and a porsche, but I have not decided yet. The Tuscan I was going to have to have modified to get into HK, so that was one of my "no-nos" so to speak.

I was on the road today, again, and I'm having 2nd thoughts about handling a 6sp lol. I guess I'm not used to the traffic and road rules yet either.

P.S. I'm a VERY avid maserati lover

[tvrlover]

Originally Posted by mrcheese321

Oh, okay, you are talking about fairly high end sports cars...

Do you care about comfort at all, or is it all about the horse power?

I mean, you did say that it would pretty much be a weekend car right? Are you just taking it out to race around or are you actually buying it to drive it when you need it? Because I think that changes which you should get.

I personally don't like the Boxter. I kind of fell like it is a toned down car that Porsche just developed so they would have enough money so they could keep producing the 911. Plus it really doesn't fit in the class of the Maserati or the TVR. A 911 Carrera S Cabrio would though.

I think you should throw the Maserati out. Paddle shifting is annoying as hell and you will probably hate it (it is a feature on my Mercedes that was used once and never again).

I say either a TVR or a 911 Carrera S. The TVR is slightly faster on 0-60, but if you can tell the difference on the .4 seconds then you are better than I The 911 is going to probably have better resale than the TVR if you are concerned with that at all.

I think that you should go and test drive all of the cars before you choose. If you are really serious, in my experience, most of the dealership will loan you one for a day or two to try it out. Mercedes (SL/SLK), Porsche (911 Carrera Cabrio/Chayanne) and Dodge (Viper) all let me do a 24 hour test drive for each car. I don't know if TVR or Maserati would let you do that though, I didn't try because I didn't consider either of those as options when I got my car in May.

I ended up with an AMG Mercedes SL 55. I would suggest it, but it only has a auto transmission. It does have touch shift where you can click the shifter up or down manually but it isn't a true manual transmission and I think that with the other cars you are looking at, it is something that you should really be looking for.

C

Actually, I used to own a Maserati in the states, a 2005 maserati spyder Cambiocorsa, F1. I LOVE Maserati's, but after having some 'love' with the Tuscan TVR, I went nuts. Unfortunately, I had to move, so now I'm here car-less.

Personally, after seeing the response here and talking to my friend at the import dept., I'm leaning towards my Maserati. As I found out that to modify the Tuscan, it could cost me another $50k - if I want it done properly. Turns out the emission standars and Engine CC standards have to be met in HK, so even if I got the 2nd class Tuscan (not 400 BHP) - 350 bhp - I would still have to modify it to fit emission standards. +++ import tax for it is about 150% of price!

I actually enjoy the F1, as I don't paddle shift, I just put it on the 'auto' mode and enjoy my ride. The only reason I wanted manual was for the Tuscan TVR, but now that's looking like a long/far-away dream .

Yes, this would be a car that I would only drive on the weekends and maybe during the weekdays to the restaurants - not even sure of that. I'm a hermit, so really I just want a car my wife and I can enjoy - she a HUGE Maserati fan and wants to learn to drive just to drive ours haha .

I think I might go for the Maserati, most likely a silver /red interior - one my wife likes, or Red / cream interior.

If anyone can recommend me a way of getting a Tuscan TVR here, I'd be very thankful.

[tvrlover]

Originally Posted by mrcheese321

woops....I didn't know you couldn't import the TVR. (I started replying before this post went up and I got side tracked so I didn't see it until after I finished). Then I say a Porsche 911 s/4s cabrio is what you should get

C

yeah, I found out that I couldn't damn shame...maybe they can sneak one in for me mafia style

[Anthony Green]

In the debate stickshift versus Automatic, it doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone here that to drive a manual gearboxed vehicle in HK one needs the "correct" grade of driving license. i.e. If you are authorized to drive an automatic - you can NOT drive a manual vehicle without an additional driving test.

However, once one has a HK driving license "good" for a manual - then there's no requirement to take an additional test for "automatic" vehicles - or for horse & buggy either. <Grin>.

I insisted that my daughter learn & pass the manual gearbox driving test so she can drive any car, and, as an added bonus for her, she now can drive my automatic.

[tvrlover]

Originally Posted by Anthony Green

In the debate stickshift versus Automatic, it doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone here that to drive a manual gearboxed vehicle in HK one needs the "correct" grade of driving license. i.e. If you are authorized to drive an automatic - you can NOT drive a manual vehicle without an additional driving test.

However, once one has a HK driving license "good" for a manual - then there's no requirement to take an additional test for "automatic" vehicles - or for horse & buggy either. <Grin>.

I insisted that my daughter learn & pass the manual gearbox driving test so she can drive any car, and, as an added bonus for her, she now can drive my automatic.

WOW! I did NOT know that thank you

[golfduke]

Dude, no offense, but if you buy any of the cars you mentioned with tiptronic, I would have to slap you all the way back to England. You are a very lucky man to have the choice between those cars, and to waste a porche with the tiptronic is just sad in my eyes.

Sports cars (especially the ones you selected) beg to be driven hard... you will never EVER get the full potential of the car with any sort of auto. I have driven the porche tip, and to be honest, it isnt nearly as much fun driving as a standard 6 speed.

Edit: and if you are planning on throwing down that kind of money, why not look into ferarri? You could get a 360 modena or stradale very lightly used for the same as a new carrera4 or imported tvr/ masi???

[tvrlover]

Originally Posted by golfduke

Dude, no offense, but if you buy any of the cars you mentioned with tiptronic, I would have to slap you all the way back to England. You are a very lucky man to have the choice between those cars, and to waste a porche with the tiptronic is just sad in my eyes.

Sports cars (especially the ones you selected) beg to be driven hard... you will never EVER get the full potential of the car with any sort of auto. I have driven the porche tip, and to be honest, it isnt nearly as much fun driving as a standard 6 speed.

Edit: and if you are planning on throwing down that kind of money, why not look into ferarri? You could get a 360 modena or stradale very lightly used for the same as a new carrera4 or imported tvr/ masi???

I can't import a tuscan , unfortunately.

The porsche tip idea was temporary, as from the newspaper it was impossible to find a 6sp boxter.

Haha, ok you can slap me for it, but I'm still an avid Maserati fan. I guess I fell in love with the new Maserati spyder a while back . If I can't have my tuscan, I have to have my Maserati

360modena is about $2mil HKD , Maserati is about $690k HKD, so there is a price difference.