What Would Jesus, or at Least zman, Drive

My recent car post yielded an unprecedented outpouring of requests for more car posts. Exactly one person asked me for another car post and that is the biggest request for a follow-up post in my short tenure on the G:TB masthead.

But what to write?

I like cars and, as a result, am often asked for car-buying advice. My response is often that if you want a sedan there's no reason not to get a Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry; if you want a minivan there's no reason not to get a Honday Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna; and if you want an SUV there's no reason not to get a Honda Pilot or (if you want to go big) a Toyota Sequoia. All of these cars are reliable and sensibly priced in their respective segments, and the Accord can even be fun to drive.

However, no one is excited about getting any of these cars. They are transportational appliances designed to shuttle you, your family, and varying amounts of your possessions to work, school, and soccer games with minimal fanfare and inconvenience. If you don't like cars then you'll be fine.

For my money, I'd look elsewhere. Accords and Camrys can list over $30,000 once you option them up. The Pilot, Odyssey, and Sienna all start at about $30,000 and can get over $40,000 with exuberant optioning. And a well-dressed Sequoia can cost an eye-watering $64,000+! At these prices we can find something more interesting.

Like an Audi S6. Two certified pre-owned examples are for sale in Massachusetts for under $38,000. This is a cool car for a number of reasons but the primary allure, in my opinion, lies under the hood.



Volkswagen owns Audi and Lamborghini, and parts are shared between the brands in an effort to achieve economies of scale. So Adam Smith would be just as excited as I am about the V10 (i.e., 10 cylinder) engine taken from the Lamborghini Gallardo and shoehorned into an Audi A6, thereby creating the S6. The engine is actually slightly larger in the S6, rewarding the driver with 429 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque.

This means it is powerful, so much so that if you stomp on the gas it will slightly alter the Earth's rotation. Thus it is fast, but it's still a big comfortable luxury car that looks just like a regular A6, allowing you to glide along the highway in relative anonymity. Unless you do this:



Audi still makes the S6 but they dropped the V10 in favor of a twin-turbo V8 last year, so if you want the Lambo engine (and you do) look for one made between 2006 and 2012.

I can hear the accountants out there wondering about various practical things. Yes, it requires premium fuel. Yes, it swills gas like Clarence swills Dale's. Yes, you should get it serviced by a dealer. All this increases operating costs.

I can also hear the cogniscenti asserting that the new A6 has a supercharged V6 that is almost as powerful, probably just as fast, and comes with a full warranty (as opposed to the CPO remainder warranty). This is true, but it starts at about $50,000. Whether the warranty is worth an extra $12k is up to you.

My point is this: for less than a decked-out Honda Pilot you can get a 5-passenger Lamborghini. Every on-ramp will be a joy to attack. Every tailgating donkey will eat your dust when you have room to blast off. Every pimply fast and furious teen in a slammed Civic will be trounced from stoplight to stoplight. Even people who know nothing about cars will say "Oh, an Audi" so you'll increase your standing with valets and possibly your neighbors. And you get to listen to this whenever you want: