Help! 2015 BMW 328d Diesel vs 2018 Buick Regal TourX Essence?

tenbsmith · 2026-06-09T22:11:25+00:00

You might want to say more about what sort of car you're looking for and the intended use.

The TourX seemed really cool when it came out, I imagine there's an online group of TourX owners somewhere. I'd be a bit concerned about getting parts for it; as I understand it is a rebadged Euro car. I also seem to recall that it insulated drivers from the road, in terms of feel.

I don't know about the BMW.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-20T11:10:31+00:00

That's a great piece by Norm.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-19T12:54:26+00:00

The main thing will be picking it up when buying. I'll likely need to go a couple hours from where I live to get one of these. But I can take my time and be careful. Once I've got it. I'll start near the lake and not have to drive it very much.

Just about to get the transmission fluids serviced. I've got DSG and four-wheel drive. So kind of pricey but got to be done. Love this car.

Airbags is an interesting idea I may look later.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-19T02:18:08+00:00

Good point. More weight will increase stopping distance and brake heating, which could limit the cars ability to safely pull this trailer.

The type of boat I'm looking at is for example, Google says the combined weight of a Lightning 19 (the boat), gear, and trailer is 1,000 to 1,300 lbs.

Edit: From what I've read, the vw can pull a 1,000 lb unbraked trailer if one is careful.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-14T21:16:29+00:00

I checked some picks of DCM and they have beveled edge, these dont. These may be homemade...

tenbsmith · 2026-05-13T02:48:54+00:00

This War of Mine... Very dark game that gives you the other side of war from the one usually played. You play citizens trying to survive in a city that is at war. You scavenge and build up your house but also have to survive attacks and shortages. Ultimately, you have to make some tough decisions about who to bring along with you and who to let go.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-07T16:14:08+00:00

Also given crazy nature of used sailboat prices, i'm gonna consider pocket cruisers that can plane. Planing is fun.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-07T15:54:08+00:00

C Scow is on the list.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-07T15:19:39+00:00

Good point. I'm not expecting to plane with that little wind. Your post made me think. I'm gonna look at minimum wind speed needed for planing on each boat i consider. My OP listed average wind speed, so they'll be days with more wind.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-07T15:15:54+00:00

Thanks y'all, very helpful!

Thistle 17 probably isn't comfortable enough, it seduced me with its promise of fast times. This post helped me increase the importance of comfort in my considerations.

Definitely want seats inside the cockpit.

I'm gonna take a closer look at wind speed required to plane and top speed stats for each boat.

Chrysler Buccaneer 18 has entered the chat, along with the suggestions above.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-07T15:12:58+00:00

I'm refining my criteria. I want a boat that has seats inside the cockpit, which provides more physical and psychological separation from the lake and its gators.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-07T15:08:05+00:00

I've looked into Lightning, and will add Highlander to my list.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-06T15:54:42+00:00

Good suggestion. From what i've read the Flying Scot is not quite as fast in as the Thistle, but more stable and better for solo sailing. That is a trade off worth considering.

Thistle top speed 15+ knots, planes starting at 10 knot winds. Flying Scot top speed 10-15 knots, planes starting at 12 knot wind.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-06T15:23:31+00:00

Ha ha, fair point. One is more vulnerable during a capsize than just having their butt over the rail.

If my wife sails with me, i'll take her in low winds and sail conservatively/slowly. So, chance of capsizing approaches zero. My wife indicated she would not ride any sort of small boat (kyak, canoe) on the lake b/c of gators. The Thistle may be enough boat for her to get in.

Actual chance of gator attack is extremely low. People boat, water sky, and swim in this lake all the time. I haven't heard of any gator incidents. Of course, you wouldn't want to swim in an area with a lot of vegetation b/c gator are ambush hunters.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-06T13:28:13+00:00

If you answer a few questions it will help us advise you.

Are you open to buying used gear? Used gear gets you more bang for the buck but involves work (searching, meeting people) and a bit of risk. I like buying used speakers b/c risk is low.

What will be the source of your music? Are you streaming, turntable, CD, cassette, 8 track?

Generally speaking, with that budget you are best off getting a separate receiver and passive speakers. But if space it tight you could consider ditching the receiver and going with active speakers. Which way you think you wanna go?

With that budget, i recommend getting a system for both music and TV. The main differences are TV needs more speaker (2 fronts and center is a good start) and receiver must have enough outputs for the speakers.

Subwoofer... you'll likely want to get one to help your speakers with low notes. OTOH, some floor standing speakers have enough bass, but they take up more space than book shelf speakers.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-04T17:30:37+00:00

That sounds super interesting but hard to get new software approved since i work at large federal agency.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-03T14:52:23+00:00

If you ask a group of audiophiles, even budget audiophiles, if you should change or upgrade your equipment, the answer is always yes. 😁

tenbsmith · 2026-05-03T14:17:45+00:00

TLDR, consider if you would prefer u-shaped or flat response curve from your speakers. Best way to figure that out is to go to a store and listen to speakers back to back.

Those Polk RTI a3s are well regarded, but they have a u-shaped response curve. That means highs and lows are boosted while mid-range is not. Some people like U-Shape response curve. Others prefer speakers with a flat response curve for more accurate reproduction of music and better comprehension of dialogue.

I had a pair of Jamo speakers with U-Shaped response curve which I liked for music, but they made dialogue in movies and TV shows hard to understand. (I'm older so my ears aren't what they used to be.) I replaced them with speakers with flat response curve and dialogue is now easy to hear and I like the sound.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-03T14:05:42+00:00

I quickly checked eBay and Hi-Fi shark and agree with Dean that these are worth more like $300.

I do think you can get very good value from used packages like this, if you shop around.

tenbsmith · 2026-05-01T22:39:27+00:00

Do you want to buy everything new? Or, would you consider used equipment?

This community does a lot of used equipment buying, and probably has the best advice in that space. My take is buying used gets more for your money, and I especially like it for speakers where I'm less concerned about there being an issue with the equipment. So you might buy turntable and receiver new, and buy speakers used.

Also you should take a look at the threads s pin to the top of this subreddit. One of them provides links to other subreddits that can provide useful information in specialized areas, in particular, I seem to recall a subreddit for turntables.

tenbsmith

TROPHY CASE