Jalopnik: Horsepower is only a status symbol, and why slow people buy fast cars.

[RPiM5]

You guys are going to love this one.

A friend of mine found this and posted it up on another site. What do you guys think?

http://jalopnik.com/horsepower-as-a-...buy-1723079245

[elitex]

This is funny. I was having a conversation just the other day about the same thing. My argument was that why buy a sports/fast car if you won't drive fast or go to the track. Either you have too much money or you're just showing off to the neighbors, family etc.

[supershaft]

The article sounded very preachy for a car site. People buy nice or fast cars because they want to. Speculating someone's needs is redundant - we all have our reasons but it's a purchase one makes for themselves and not for your neighbor.

I bought the M5 because I wanted a faster car than the 550. Could I have put in a louder exhaust in the 550 or tuned it? Sure, but I like a warranty and I prefer spending my free time with my family and not tinkering with a new car.

The only thing I would say is that if I had way more free time than I do now I'd buy a E46 M3 or E39 M5 and mess around with that.

[johntomferg]

Hilarious, but in a sad way. We need to get an offering up to fund an M5 for Raphael Orlove.

I say this being an exception to all of the stereotypes that were represented:

Not a high powered business man.
No children to put a car seat in the back to accommodate.
I have tracked the car (and would do it more if the finances of a house in another state not yet sold after 10 months would support it).
I do drive it quickly and spiritedly when I am by myself.
I did not opt for CC as the steels are fine.

It is the only BMW that I ever considered owning or buying, but its ownership has actually made me more aware and more interested in the lower models for other more civil purposes.

[SocalBM]

Jalopnik are a bunch of hipster armchair racers and car geniuses. AKA, talking heads without substance. Boggles my mind how they go popular.

[Mbdurham17]

Remember Jalopniks motto is always Miata or brown manual wagon

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by elitex

This is funny. I was having a conversation just the other day about the same thing. My argument was that why buy a sports/fast car if you won't drive fast or go to the track. Either you have too much money or you're just showing off to the neighbors, family etc.

I pretty much hit triple digit speeds every time I drive.

I'm on my honeymoon in Europe and have so far rented an X3 20d and an A5 2.0 TDI. And I can tell you I really miss the horsepower. These cars are so slow!

[elitex]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

I pretty much hit triple digit speeds every time I drive.

I'm on my honeymoon in Europe and have so far rented an X3 20d and an A5 2.0 TDI. And I can tell you I really miss the horsepower. These cars are so slow!

Oh I completely agree with you. I am always driving in a spirited manner and hitting red line here and there. Been to few mountain runs with my (now sold) Viper and definitely planning on taking my M5 on the next run.

I actually agree with Jalopnik, if you don't like to drive fast then you're just buying a compromised car for daily driving. I would be driving a S550 if I wasn't so crazy about fast cars.

[Aussiefishy]

What is wrong with people buying fast, capable cars just because they want one? You work hard and get to a point where you can afford what you love.

I agreed fast cars or track focused cars are designed to be driven fast, however an M5 is also designed to be a comfortable, every day daily driver and I think that is the main reason why most of us bought this car.

It is unfair to judge others on the motive on purchasing "toys". It is meant to be enjoyed, however he or she might want to do so.

[ozbmwnut]

Originally Posted by Aussiefishy

What is wrong with people buying fast, capable cars just because they want one? You work hard and get to a point where you can afford what you love.

I agreed fast cars or track focused cars are designed to be driven fast, however an M5 is also designed to be a comfortable, every day daily driver and I think that is the main reason why most of us bought this car.

It is unfair to judge others on the motive on purchasing "toys". It is meant to be enjoyed, however he or she might want to do so.

+1..

[elitex]

obviously everyone has a choice. All I am saying is that if you only like the idea of a fast car without ever testing it yourself then there are far better choices out there. hell 550i is a pretty fast car also.

I know of some people that bought an M3 because it was the most expensive 3 series. had nothing to do with its capabilities, which is a shame imo.

[Aussiefishy]

I agreed it is somewhat a waste to not making the best use of a fast car, but I don't think you can meaningfully make "use" of 570 hp anywhere on public roads.

I cannot eliminate the fact that status symbol being a part of the reason people buy fast cars! Hack I think it is perfectly okay to have a status symbol in life, as long as you work hard for it. It is a celebration of your hard work!

As I have said, to each it's own. People buy cars or toys for different reasons, just because a person drives a race capable car doesn't mean they have a public duty to drive fast everywhere or have to redline the thing on a daily, nor they have to love to drive fast.

How often do you see a Ferrari or a Porsche (which both brands produce cars that are more track focused and are meant to be driven fast) redline their cars on a daily basis or race their toys?

I agreed that there are much better alternatives than a M5 if you drive fast all the time or for race track duty. However speaking only from my experience I bought the vehicle because it looks mature and mean, comfortable and quiet when I want to safely get home after a long day of work, and plenty fast if I want to attend a track day or feel some crazy acceleration when the lights turn green.

I like to know the limits of what my car is capable of, that is why I go to BMW drivers training and M events/power tour. You drive a fast car or your fancy race prepped spaceship because you can. In life terms or financial terms.

Btw, I used to own a E71 50i tuned so I can attest that the 550 power plant is plenty quick.

[ozbmwnut]

^^ for the second time today, i agree with your comments 100% sir.

[AGS]

I agree with Aussiefishy, if someone's earned their money, it's their decision how to spend it. It may not make sense to some of us, but who are we to judge. These people are actually helping us out by keeping M5 production volumes up which ultimately keeps prices at a lower level.

Originally Posted by elitex

I know of some people that bought an M3 because it was the most expensive 3 series. had nothing to do with its capabilities, which is a shame imo.

The phenomenon of buying the "top of the line" just because it's perceived to be the best isn't limited to high performance cars. As my sig says, I also follow the Jeep world. Bought a wrangler as a weekend family fun car for tooling around town with the top and doors off. Since I'm using it mostly on road, I got a Willys edition, which is basically the base sport model with some added cosmetic features and slightly better gearing. I see soccer moms driving the top of the line Rubicon Hard Rock ($12 to $14 grand more) all the time, and I'm pretty sure they're not rock crawling to take advantage of the electronic sway bar disconnects and locking differentials.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by elitex

Oh I completely agree with you. I am always driving in a spirited manner and hitting red line here and there. Been to few mountain runs with my (now sold) Viper and definitely planning on taking my M5 on the next run.

I actually agree with Jalopnik, if you don't like to drive fast then you're just buying a compromised car for daily driving. I would be driving a S550 if I wasn't so crazy about fast cars.

Exactly how I think.

Yes people can spend money however they want, but an S500 is a much better car than an M5 if you aren't going to use the performance. I regularly use the performance. Basically only an idiot would buy an M5 and drive it the same way you can drive an S500.

BTW can you invite me on your next mountain run?

[RPiM5]

Alright, I will voice my opinion on this now.

As many of you have pointed out, I also think this article is complete rubbish, purely based on their two main points:

1. That horsepower is a status symbol and,

2. That most people who buy these fast cars are slow drivers.

I will try to keep my argument related exclusively to these two main points.

While I do agree that to some extent horsepower can be a status symbol (yes I'm talking about you, Dodge Hellcat owners), it's really not the main reason why most people want these kinds of cars. My personal theory is that cars like the M5, E63, S63, CTS-V, CLS-63, M6, M3, M4, C63, RS5, RS7, ATS-V, are most coveted nowadays by people because of the way they look and their styling. Back in the day, when the E28 M5 started the whole 4-Door Sedan as fast as a Ferrari thing, people appreciated and wanted that car for it's performance not because it looked so much different and better than a base BMW 5-Series, which the E28 M5 really didn't look all that different from a regular 5-Series either. No, the status symbol mentality today comes from driving a car that looks the most aggressive out of all of the offerings from that company. What if BMW made every single 5-Series model have the same exact styling as the BMW M5? What would that do to M5 sales? Here you have a BMW 528i that has the big air intakes in the front, the trunk spoiler, the aggressive rear diffuser, the aggressive 20" wheels, all the same as an M5, but only has the 2.0L Turbo engine in it. I mean we see it all the time right? People who buy 528i's, 535i's, 328i's, 435i's, that retrofit bits and pieces on them from the higher M Models and sometimes even slap an authentic M3 or M5 badge on the trunk. Why do people do that even though they know that their 535i has the same old 300hp engine in it as a 335i? It's because they like the better styling and the status symbol that comes with looking like they drive a more expensive and more aggressive looking car. Horsepower in and of itself isn't a status symbol to most; just look at Porsche owners who pay $150 grand just for 400hp in a standard 911 Carrera 2S or whatever. By Jalopniks logic, every one should be climbing over each other to go out and buy a new Dodge Charger Hellcat if horsepower were really a status symbol.

Why slow people buy fast cars. I would like Jalopnik to define a slow driver first off. Is someone a slow driver because they obey the posted speed limits? Or are they a slow driver because they never take their RS7 to the racetrack, or their BMW M4 to an autocross? Come to think of it what defines a fast driver too? Perhaps someone who flys down the highway at 140mph, which in most countries besides Germany is highly illegal. Conversely, am I to assume that all Mazda Miata owners are fast drivers because they drive in a parking lot autocross on most weekends? Or more logically is someone a fast driver because they can drive a 6 speed manual E63 M6 on the drag strip and trap into the 11's, which is very hard to do.

I will say that I think most buyers of cars like M5's, RS7's, C63's, S63's, etc, are in fact very interested in testing their cars capabilities, much more so than a Nissan Altima owner. The average owner of a higher performance car has some idea of it's capabilities, now whether those capabilities can be safely explored on public roads and highways is a whole different conversation. For me personally, whenever I step into any kind of regular car, like a rental or a loaner, I tend to drive much slower, because those cars have no performance and it's just no fun driving a slow car fast.

[Boss330]

Generalizing is always a fools errand. If you walk around in London and Monaco you would definitely believe that people who buy/drive Lambo's, Ferrari's, Aston's etc only do it to show off and to be seen in. Arab oil sheiks even fly in their supercars to cruise around Kensington and Monaco.

But all of the above cars are mainly exotics that scream for attention at any speed. Some people buy their M3, M4, M5 etc just because it's the most expensive and exclusive model in the range. Others buy them because of the "Heritage" while other buy them because they want a practical but yet fun and exciting car. To generalize like Jalopnik apparently do is just foolish IMO.

[elitex]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Exactly how I think.

Yes people can spend money however they want, but an S500 is a much better car than an M5 if you aren't going to use the performance. I regularly use the performance. Basically only an idiot would buy an M5 and drive it the same way you can drive an S500.

BTW can you invite me on your next mountain run?

will do. should be coming up in the next 2-3 weeks.

[Aussiefishy]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Exactly how I think.

Yes people can spend money however they want, but an S500 is a much better car than an M5 if you aren't going to use the performance. I regularly use the performance. Basically only an idiot would buy an M5 and drive it the same way you can drive an S500.

BTW can you invite me on your next mountain run?

I would say the owner of an S500 who drives it like an M5 would be more of an "idiot" than it is the other way around.

Cheers.

[elitex]

Originally Posted by Aussiefishy

I would say the owner of an S500 who drives it like an M5 would be more of an "idiot" than it is the other way around.

Cheers.

I think general public probably thinks we're all idiots for spending this much on a depreciating asset and driving like a hooligan.

[B-1Pilot]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

I pretty much hit triple digit speeds every time I drive.

I'm on my honeymoon in Europe and have so far rented an X3 20d and an A5 2.0 TDI. And I can tell you I really miss the horsepower. These cars are so slow!

Hey, quick sidebar... Congrats! I hope your spouse shares or at least understands your car passion. I wish you both many happy years together!