If I had a mid life crisis, I’d get a 50 vintage 356 Porsche.
Cars like that should smell bad and just go fast, without any assistance from stupid electronics that think they know things better than the driver.
The 356 was a lovely car, but it was not fast by even 30 year old standards. The regular one did 0-60 in over 12 seconds, and ironically the one you’d think would be the fastest, the Speedster, took over 15 seconds.
“…I’d get a 50 vintage 356 Porsche. Cars like that should smell bad and just go fast…”
These cars were enjoyed because they handled well. But they are not quick by any means. But you can negotiate the road faster than in other cars - once you get up to speed.
They felt fast because they had scary handling. But I smile when I see one.
I own a 2002 Audi TT its a 6 speed Quattro American LeMans Limited Edition. What the posters are telling you regarding it is true, its an expensive car to maintain, and you will be maintaining it, at 80,000+ miles the plastic all over the car breaks, leads to needing a new water pump (yes its plastic), the coolant fitting will crack, the washer sprayers will crack, the oil dipstick tube. Likely the timing belt will need replacement ($$$) do that every 60k miles, there was a typo in the Audi service manual and people thought you could go 100k miles on a timing belt…turns out that was supposed to be 100km! So many people destroyed their valve trains when it snapped ($$$). The dashpod/instrument cluster will also need to be refurbed for $400 to fix the LCD and guages. Replace the HALDEX All Wheel Drive fluid every 20k ($100). At 100k you’ll need to replace the vacuum lines or you’ll have boost leaks (use silicone tubing).
The car was famous for being “twitchty” or “sporty” depending on your driving preference (much like the 90’s 91/92 Toyota MR2 I also owned), Audi (like Toyota) decided to numb down the suspension, induce tons of understeer, and add a spoiler for autobaun speeds which add 70 lbs of downforce above 80MPH.
So if you go Audi TT you’ll want to undo everything Audi did to the car to make it safer for the general public, yank out the ridiculously small rear sway bar to put in a proper thick one which will let the car rotate (oversteer), stiffen up the suspension with new springs and shocks and it will handle like it was originally designed.
So you can see you can have a fun car that is pretty rare and both men and women walk up to me when I park to comment on the car, so expect lots of attention. Its a great car for someone who enjoys wrenching and modifying their car, its not for the guy who bring the car into the shop for repairs, too expensive… like the old saying many people can afford a used Ferarri…most can’t afford to maintain a Ferrari. I would HIGHLY recommend spending the $400 to get the ECU reprogrammed to increase the turbo boost, you can get 260hp and 260ft/lbs of torque which makes the car VERY much more enjoyable to drive, people have run 100,000 miles on these tunes with no ill effects to the longevity of the engine… no doubt since Audi actually used forged engine internals in the 225hp versions.
Mid Life Crisis???
Audi TT- like getting a new wife
Porsche Targa - like taking a mistress
You might want to consider an exotic vacation instead.
I’m just going to assume you have your heart set on one of these two cars. I kind of know how that goes.
Anyway, I’ve owned the Audi, and had close contact with the Porsche over long periods of time, just my 2 cents, but go with the Audi.
Either car will be expensive to maintain, the Audi likely more so, but I found it wasn’t really all that horrid on maintenence, but deffinetly more expensive. Absolutely change the timing belt at 60k. I did mine myself saving like 1800 bucks. Good luck to you whichever route you take.
Anyway, it sounds like you want a fun daily driver, and I love the 80’s Porsche, but it’s not really a car meant for stop and go traffic. If that’s what you’re dealing with, the Audi will perform more reliably and be much more comfortable in my opinion, but will be more expensive to maintain.
Good luck either way, and keep an open mind to other suggestions/cars.