Yep agreed, I noticed the lack of VA folks - no biggie 
Ill be starting my lease hunting in nov/dec - Just wanted to see what the hackrs had to say. TBH such a great forum
I think this is one of the cars you actually have to test drive. If it anything like my dealer, they may just hand you the keys and tell you to enjoy, and you will.
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Yep - Ive always been a fan of the small sedans or coupes - thanks again ill check it out for sure!
Giulia Ti Sport - best handling as far feel / feedback on the market for that price.
q50 is boring. It has nothing going for it except great acceleration.
those are the only 2 I talk about based on personal experience and since having those 2 next I’ll be looking at M340 and suggest looking into one.
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I’m currently looking at the M340i after my CLA45 AMG lease is up in December. I had an RC-F as my last car, and I definitely miss it. However, you aren’t going to be seeing them at $650/month without a substantial cap cost reduction. Mine was a lease transfer at $646/month, but that was with $10,000 down paid by the previous leasee.
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Giuliani Ti Sport has best handling and driving dynamics in the segment. Lexus IS series is most reliable, but reliability isn’t such a high priority when you’re leasing.
I doubt you’ll get E43/S4/M340 for anywhere near 650 a month.
Recommend an A4 P+ for best balance in the segment or a Q50 RS for most power.
Q50 is massively dated and has terrible transmission programming so from a driving point of view I would never pick it. Interior is pretty sad as well. Red Sport isn’t too different from the regular Q50 sports, either.
I think you should look at A4 or Giulia.
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Is that the special NY edition? 
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Most hilarious autocorrect! It will remain unchanged!
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Let’s be honest, the issue with the Infiniti two screen system isn’t that there are two screens. It’s the incredibly poor integration, ux design, and utter lack of effort in offering a cohesive product.
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What a cool guy he was. He waived to me once while coming out of the Manhattan pier with one of his ex-wives in a nice MB convertible. Whatever happened to him?
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As in “What did he end up doing?” or “What happened to make him the way he is now?”
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I currently own an RS400, and just recently signed a lease for an M340i. I’ll be selling my RS400 - it’s been a great car but yes the infotainment is ancient and the steering is a little weird. It’s got a sweet engine though.
That being said, the M340i i test drove was better. It was better to drive, it sounded much better (the RS400 has no distinguishable exhaust sound), and the infotainment is (quite literally) decades ahead of the RS400.
My lease on the M340i is $658/month on an MSRP of $68,920 at 35m/12k. (10% off MSRP + $3k in incentives)
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How do you like the Giulia? Im starting to do my research and so far everything im hearing is relatively positive. FYI ill be using this car mostly for "speedy’ commutes
Also did you get the TI or Sport?
love the car - got the Ti sport package,
it handles amazingly but could use some more power and sound to it. I haven’t had many issues except for one low oil light - not sure if it was actually low or just a sensor but its been fixed
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My two cents:
I would eliminate the S3 and Giulia Ti Sport. They are not in the same realm as the rest of the vehicle solely based on engine. Great vehicles, yes, but unimpressive engines relative to the others. Don’t let the S in S3 fool you. This is quite similar to a Golf R in a nutshell. Not a bad thing, but just letting you be aware.
Next, C43 Coupe and RS400, while a step above, aren’t quite at the same tier as the M2/3 or RC-F in terms of fun-factor. They are performance daily drivers, whereas M2/M3 and RC-F are flagship segment performance offerings that are daily driveable. M240i, M340i and RC350 F Sport would be a more reasonable comparison.
That being said, keeping in mind your $650 payment, 2-4k DAS will net you a C43 coupe or Q50 RS400. Our VA tax kills leasing, so yes, expect to pay 2-4k at signing, assuming you don’t want to roll taxes in. If you wanna roll in, you’re still going to pay anyway, just adjust accordingly.
C43 imo is the best sounding TT-V6 in my opinion, especially with the AMG performance exhaust. It is also well refined overall, waaaay nicer interior than the RS400. However, it does tend to have a harsher ride.
RS400 is a great car for whats on offer. Keep in mind that many folks have criticized the drive-by-wire system for killing handling feel. Also, being a japanese, outdated chassis, you can expect more road and wind noise. But, big plus is that this car is basically a baby gtr with a couple of Infiniti approved mods, and is great VFM imo.
M2,M3, are ‘true’ performance cars based on product placement/marketing by BMW. I don’t know how M2s lease, so no comment. M3, however, will definitely be tough to get down to 650. In fact, if you check around the thread, anything in 600s was considered a good deal. Maybe, if you can find a heavily discounted base model, you can manage 600s with 5k DAS?
RCF. Well, I have a couple buddies who bought em though. As much flack as the RCF gets for being a ‘boat’, its a gem of an engine. But thats about it. Its not as well refined as an M3 or M2 in the handling department I’d say. Keep in mind it may not lease well at all. I suspect you may be close to 1k payments even if you put, say, 5k down. You’ll need a heavily discounted one. Heck, I’d be surprised if you can get a 650 payment RC350 F-sport tbh.
Hope it helps!
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TLDR: C43 is what you need bud. Best overall balance. German handling and tech, great sounding engine, Built on latest platform (Merc’s MRA platform iirc). I’d get one in Brilliant Blue metallic with AMG Perf Exhaust if I were you haha :). Guarantee you won’t regret it.
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Giuliani sounds like a great name for a coupe version!
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I’d be afraid to buy it or else it’d marry my cousin.
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Good to hear i think 280hp should tie me over until i get my next big upgrade.
Do you think its in my price range? I was shopping around and it seems to be a bit out of my range ~150-250 too much for my monthly. Im trying to stay under 650/month to pay da bills