Still waffling

[equ]

Mainly thinking about the s4, but feeling cheap not convinced that I *need* it (but by that argument, nobody *needs* anything beyond a corolla, so there you go)...

Alternative is an a4 sport. No point in getting a loaded one as that gets close to s4 pricing. If I skip some major options and keep it bare, I can get a base car with heated seats & sport package (seats + suspension + 18" wheels/summer tires) in the low to mid 30's. This, right there, finishes off the old generation (b7) a4's for me. I'd be happy to get one, but 2007's, minimally equipped (so perhaps selling price of 31-32) are asking 25 and will likely go around 23. That's just not enough discount on a 3-yr old car in an outgoing model. I have yet to drive a new a4 sport as they are few and far between, but I've located some to check out this weekend. My and my gf's early death sentence on the a4 was based on a non-sport, and the seats/suspension/tires make a big difference, so I'm suspending judgment until a sport is driven.

Real alternative is to get nothing. My gf has moved in so now she fills my second parking sport with the Civic Si (instead of parking on the street), so we'll end up with two light cars, one spacious and fwd, the other rwd. The civic is not so great in the snow, and just turned 125k miles, so it's not the ideal long distance ski trip car, but it's kind of nice around town and on trips up to 50 miles or so.

Fourth possibility is to sell the cayman and just live with the s4. There are some good reasons for this, primarily the hassle and cost of having two cars, but I'm worried that the s4 will not be a substitute and I'll be back in another porsche at great expense.

If I do go for an s4, I'll either pick one off the floor or *revive* the order I put in. Minus the sport diff (which I might not need if I swear to keep a rwd car anyway), the launch sprint blue car is a very good fit. In fact, I've decided I prefer the silver/black to the all black interior, so literally my built order would be a launch car + sports diff. Seems almost not worth building and waiting when I plan to have a rwd around.