Downtown commute in M?

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by einscot

while this may be true, the OP has a 6MT. odds are he/she's safe enough as is with that tranny. we get two or three stories a year here in FL about carjackings being spoiled because of the manual. it's my built in theft deterrent.

Where in FL do you hear stories like that? I have lived in Miami-Dade or PB county for over 25 years and have never heard a story of an aborted car jacking due to MT.

[einscot]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Where in FL do you hear stories like that? I have lived in Miami-Dade or PB county for over 25 years and have never heard a story of an aborted car jacking due to MT.

there was a vette owner in orlando not too long ago, read another one in the tampa times (it may have happened out of state, but read about it here in FL), and if i remember correctly, there was one last month that had a sad ending.

[damageprone]

Driving around the roads/freeways of Downtown Los Angeles a few weeks ago was rough for me with the stock suspension. Luckily parking wasn't an issue for me as it was on Sunday. I'm all for driving around the M daily, but some cities aren't built for cars like these.

[pittperson]

Absolutely. I've done in my 07 Corvette, 14 Corvette and now in my M4. I just always plan my route and avoid all of the ridiculous potholes/plates. Charlotte is a rather tame city to drive through.

[TypeOne]

I drive mine 24 miles a day to the office and back. I love driving it. I will likely keep driving it every day but I have another car to use when it's raining or nasty outside. hehe

[jckloo]

I commute with my M4 (and before that my E46 M3) into downtown San Francisco. The only issue for me is the annoyance of traffic that's just crawling along but neither car has minded.

[CPWINCH]

Yes I do. Why buy a cheap DD when the M is already a cheap DD? Joking about the cheap part but it is a perfect daily driver. I commute 50+ miles everyday and I am slammed on coilovers that are set up really aggresive for track use, i have sparco racing seats and full exhaust. No complaints

[John dillinger]

Originally Posted by boss2k

Would you take your M to downtown every day for job? Assuming the work place has a proper parking facility is it worth driving the M in downtown traffic every day and put miles or buy a cheap DD ?

here u go - leave the M in the garage

[boss2k]

Originally Posted by TypeOne

I drive mine 24 miles a day to the office and back. I love driving it. I will likely keep driving it every day but I have another car to use when it's raining or nasty outside. hehe

to downtown?

[MN2///M]

Originally Posted by DC-T

...

Wear that shit out I say!

[MN2///M]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

The news make it seem like carjacking is somewhat common in Atlanta, so I would be hesitant. forget about the mileage and possibility of car damage... don't get targeted because of your car!!

.

[boss2k]

Originally Posted by voodoojar

You should be riding Marta

do you know if Marta parking is good/safe?? Does your car get dinged? Today i drove to downtown and it was hell.

[Alpine Missile]

I live in Atlanta also (northern suburbs) and have leased stripper Honda Accords for $200/month to have piece of mind during the commute Monday through Friday. Not utilizing the practicality of the M as a DD then becomes an issue...keep in mind I had the Hondas primarily when I had Porsche cars etc. I would never feel comfortable driving an M downtown everyday considering the road conditions or park down there for that matter...just asking for trouble.

[Bunyfofu69]

I drive in DTLA. Not a fan with the construction and pot holes. I use a 6MT. I can't wait to move to the OC.

[Ian1973]

Yes, it's not a Lamborghini or Ferrari.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by Ian1973

Yes, it's not a Lamborghini or Ferrari.

Context of where OP is driving matters a lot though. commuting to downtown sf or downtown Palo Alto is a lot different than downtown oakland, for example.

alpine Missile's approach is what I would take (and will be taking now that the east bay in NorCal is part of my commute)

[voodoojar]

Originally Posted by boss2k

do you know if Marta parking is good/safe?? Does your car get dinged? Today i drove to downtown and it was hell.

I live in Candler Park, walking distance to Little 5 Points. I used to park my car at the Marta station and ride Marta up to Dunwoody for work. Now I ride my bicycle.

My wife and I decided a couple years ago living in this neighborhood means you need to just leave your car unlocked in the driveway unless you like broken windows. I leave my M3 and M5 unlocked in the car port with a camera on them that sets off an alarm on my phone when someone gets too close. So far it's worked and I've caught two dudes in the act, no arrests because the cops dont care.

[boss2k]

Originally Posted by voodoojar

I live in Candler Park, walking distance to Little 5 Points. I used to park my car at the Marta station and ride Marta up to Dunwoody for work. Now I ride my bicycle.

My wife and I decided a couple years ago living in this neighborhood means you need to just leave your car unlocked in the driveway unless you like broken windows. I leave my M3 and M5 unlocked in the car port with a camera on them that sets off an alarm on my phone when someone gets too close. So far it's worked and I've caught two dudes in the act, no arrests because the cops dont care.

How was the parking in Marta?

[jpdchicago]

I use the Gts as a daily except during winter months. I am lucky since my commute is suburb to suburb (25 mn commute) with some tollway driving (the fun part). I also do not have to park on the street.
Had an E46 and an f80 before that and only missed 3 days in the last 11 years including winters. The f80 is great on winter tires.

[MishaTheBear]

I drive every day to Manhattan, sometimes very slow and sometimes very fast, the car gets very dirty, I hit pot holes, I drive in the snow on winters and sometimes it takes weeks for me to get the salt off (gasp), it gets parked in a lot, both the car & myself survive....the F80 is perfect for daily driving

[blackout23]

I drive pretty regularly in DC. I don't have a daily commute but I'm downtown about 2-3 times a week most weeks.

Honestly it is pretty rough on the car; fortunately for me I haven't got any door dings and the car is white so scratches are hard to see, but I've bumped up against a few curbs and lost track of how many times I scraped my front splitter. The parking garages are a nightmare too- previously I had a 2015 STI that I tagged the rear bumper pretty well on one of the many stanchion things that populate underground garages.

All that said, there isn't a better car for the job. The car makes the "commute" as fun as it could possibly be for such a soul-sucking activity, and as many others have said it's not worth worrying about the relatively trivial things that could happen to your car, it's best to just drive it.

One last thing to consider though- if you can realistically look at yourself in the mirror and come to the conclusion you won't take the car to the track on a fairly frequent basis... that changes everything. There are other cars that are fun to drive, but not purpose-built dual use cars like the M4. I've told everyone considering one of these, if you don't track it, you're really not extracting the benefits of having a car like this.

[jckloo]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

Context of where OP is driving matters a lot though. commuting to downtown sf or downtown Palo Alto is a lot different than downtown oakland, for example.

alpine Missile's approach is what I would take (and will be taking now that the east bay in NorCal is part of my commute)

While I commute in my M4 to downtown SF, I live in Oakland and drive in and through downtown Oakland in it quite a bit. I park it downtown pretty frequently. Downtown Oakland is no less safe than SF (and the road conditions may even be better - downtown SF is chewed up from construction).

Palo Alto on the other hand seems super safe but it's the only one of the three where I had a car broken into. So you just never know...