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Well I got it. After lurking the boards, after spending half a year looking for exactly the car I want to buy (used, classic, new), after carefully pondering every single sports car built in this country for the last 40 years (I even considered building my own), I got a black base sport.

And it's sweet. I don't have photos yet, but I figure you all know what a stock black Z looks like.

Driving it home last night, I felt like I made the right choice. It's a bit heavy compared to my AW11 MR2 - I could feel the weight on the bumps and transitions. But it's very well damped, really planted, and it handles amazingly. The feeling I get driving it is that it could eat the road and most of the cars for breakfast without even trying. It's a cliche, but I've never driven something that I felt so *owned* the road (the Viper was impressive, but in a different way). The Z has so much capability beyond what is usable on the street, but it's so user-friendly. I really can't imagine buying this car and not taking it to the track. Freeway onramps and on-road twisties feel like they just reveal a tiny part of this car's capabilities.

I have no issue with the noise level or the noise from the wheelwells. Compared to the MR2, this thing is so refined, it feels like a luxury car (in fact, I almost didn't buy it because I was worried that it would be too insulated). Love the smoothness, love the torque. The speed is deceptive; it doesn't feel as fast as it is. I'm looking forward to doing intake and exhaust, for the sound as well as for the slight bump this car can easily handle.

So - I love it. Glad to finally be a proper member. I may not have the money to keep up with the Joneses (or RCZ or Travis), but I'll be at least trying to follow in their footsteps and do solid upgrades.

For now my upgrade path is based upon monthly paychecks. I'm going to start with the short shift kit, just because the shifter feels too spindly now (and the shifter is half the interface to the car).

Then, on to the important bits I need before I can track the car:
-Oil cooler
-Carbotech pads (hopefully they have the rears out by July).
-I'll also probably try the 15mm rear spacers while I have the wheels off.

Performance/sound (phase 2):
-Catback - leaning toward the Stillen because I love the sound; don't like the weight
-Berks HFCs - I'll risk it in California, but the headers will be too much of a pain to swap when smog comes around, for too little gain.
-Stillen intake

Stereo (phase 3):
-Subwoofer - still finalizing
-Sub Amp - Alpine PDX 1.1000
-Still trying to figure out if I want to do the H/U
-Front speakers (hopefully the Focal K2 165 3 component group, if I can afford it)
-Front speaker amp - Alpine PDX, most likely, depending on speakers
-Still trying to figure out if I want to add the rear speakers.

Phase 4:
-Sway bars (hopefully sooner rather than later)
-Flywheel (watching travis carefullly)

Long term:
-Coilovers (when I start feeling like the car is holding me back on the track)
-Quaife differential
-Supercharger (some day, if Stillen gets it right, and I've got money laying around)