Since this thread is already OT... I was never been a fan of this whole "if you can afford this, then you can afford that" argument. This creates a snowball effect with buying something that people perceive as expensive. Where does it stop?

When one buys something like a GT4 they are spending their disposable income. There is really no practical reason to have this car. How much a person can allocate as disposable income depends on a lot of factors and personal choices. I know I am not the only one on this forum (based on other threads and posts) that stretched their disposable income to get this car. I think LWB's are awesome even though I have never even sat in them. I suspect they would fit me well. I lust over the LWB seats but that does not mean I would justify $5k more disposable income to buy them. I lust over a lot of things but that does not mean I purchase them all. I decide what I can afford.

Coincidentally, the only reason I was able to get an allocation was because of the LWB shortage. Had that not happened, it is quite possible my number would never have come up. So in the end I did not have to make the decision to get the LWB seats or not. I have 2-Ways now and I am enjoying the heck out of this car! And a side bonus is that I was able to get the heated seat option which rocks on early morning autumn drives with the windows down!

And finally, my condolences to anyone who can't get the LWB option now and it is a "must have" option. Like others I would caution against passing on an allocation unless it is really that important to you. This car is that good.

 

Again, I brought this up because 9001rpm said that we were burning money purchasing LWBs. Had he not brought that up I wouldn't have mentioned it. You are right it is disposable income, no one should be telling me I am burning my money spending on LWBs or being irrational for not purchasing a car because I cannot get them. I should decide what I should buy or afford right? I am not criticizing you guys for taking the allocations without LWBs, so don't judge any of us for passing up on the car.

 

Agreed and no judgement intended, at least by me!

 

I don't see the potential for a snowball effect with respect to my point. If you can't afford the option cost for the LWBs, then, in my opinion, you are spreading yourself too thin by pursuing/buying a GT4 in the first place. I don't buy a luxury item of any kind unless I can afford it several times over. This may seem overly conservative to some but life is too unpredictable to buy expensive, pure luxuries when you can only barely cover the cost of the least expensive version of them. Far more sensible to buy something like the upcoming M2 and keep some disposable income banked for "unforeseeables".

 

You sig is making me second question my decision on black. Red looks great.

 

(no flame, )I hear you and agree to a certain extent.. But what one considers affordable, may not necessarily be logical for another... So really $ shouldn't be the overall factor in the LWB convo..
Opinions aside, everyone has a limit to how/what they can justify purchasing.

TBH, I will pay for lwb's without a second thought.. but I also know that I could buy a nice watch or maybe 2, with that cash, ( I love my watches!)

 

Technically you are correct and I agree with your financial logic. Technically, I can "afford" much more than a GT4 but I am "sensible" only allocate a small portion of my finances to be disposable. Everyone has to determine what is sensible for themselves. The statement "if you can afford this then you can afford that" gets thrown out a lot and my only point is that if you applied that to everything then eventually it adds up or "snowballs" to so much additional expense that it is potentially not sensible or affordable.

 

My response was it is "your money" and to "burn it however you want"... The entire act of purchasing a GT4 could be chalked up to "burning money". Needless to say the perceived value of seats is obviously very different for some of us. I also found it odd people would pass on allocation when they have never driven the car (just my opinion...not judging). I even offered rides on track to help persuade people to see the value in the entire package.

I am going to tap out of this thread. Far too much drama for my taste.

Like I said, numerous times, I hope you enjoy your car regardless of seat choice.

 

Thanks! Red is awesome but I have to say every color looks great on this car. I personally do love black cars!

 

You make a fair point. I also think people use the terms disposable and discretionary income differently, so I don't think people's opinions are all that far apart on this.

I compartmentalize discretionary income for toys that I allow myself to have, so once I set a budget for a certain purchase I generally stick with it and don't 'borrow' from other buckets of cash. I remember trying to option up a Boxster S once and the dealer kept telling me to add more options. I said it exceeded my budget, to which he responded "you can borrow the additional money". When I explained that I didn't need to borrow the money because I had it, but that I wasn't going to spend over the budget I had set for myself he literally couldn't compute the concept.

 

What is responsible spending is absolutely relative and individual.

For example, I would bet that most of the non-Americans on this forum purchase their cars when they have many times the amount of money in the bank account, and might do it with cash. Whereas, I've heard some American people on this forum have to sell cars because some unforeseen expense came up... Which blows my mind because it means that a sports car is actually a measurable part of their net worth. In Europe we are raised to save like crazy and only spend a fraction of savings.. That's how we define "affording" something.

For example, in my mind I can "afford" a $100k car, but I start to get uncomfortable around $150k... This relates only slightly to how much disposable income I have. Having said that, the most I've EVER spent on a car before this upcoming Spyder is $40k on a used car which now has 130,000+ miles.. I just never let myself "afford" anything more expensive.


In the US, I see people with massive homes and collections of cars and come to find out "affording" means being able to cover a monthly payment for the house and the cars... One tiny thing goes sideways and boom there goes the foreclosure and the repo man. (our government seems to work like that also).

Finances are a very cultural thing, and personal thing... So hard to find commonality. Having said all this, I think that $4500 for LWB, when taken as a percentage of the cars price (which presumably one should "afford" without thinking 2x)... Is money well-spent.

That's my 1c (I'm saving the other cent for a rainy day)

 

Come on boys and girls, we all know the real reason people want the LWB seats....it's because they are the same ones from the 918 Spyder and boy racers want to fantasize about the 918 when driving their Caymans.
By the way I could have ordered the LWB seats, no problem but I tried them out and found them uncomfortable.
I plan on driving my car a lot (no garage queen here) and comfort is far more important to me than looks.

 

As I understand it, you cannot put a childseat or booster seat in LWBs, correct?

This is a reason - at least for me - to go without LWBs. Having my daughters (both under 2) and any future children able to take turns riding with me is important. I will order a proper race seat for driver's side to use with a harness as it will serve track duty.

 

According to all the documentation I've seen, this is correct.

 

This thread has too much drama? Geez, you may find RL to be a bit of a rough ride then.