What should I buy? (Car edition)

Jim K said:
You need a DeLorean.
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@Velocity173 has one. He’d probably let it go if the price was right.

Seriously, haven’t seen a WRX mentioned, nor the Hyundai Elantra. The new Corolla is supposed to be a hoot, too.

If I was going to buy a new, sporty car today it’d be a C8.
 
:) Is this a troll thread?

Except for sports cars, I don't think there aren't any American cars left. Just mini-vans ("crossovers"), pickup trucks, different flavors of Suburbans and Blazers, and whatever they call the CJ these days.

So that leaves what - BMW, Toyota, Honda, Nissan? I'd suggest a small Nissan pickup.

Or an old Dodge Diplomat.
 
TCABM said:
@Velocity173 has one. He’d probably let it go if the price was right.

Seriously, haven’t seen a WRX mentioned, nor the Hyundai Elantra. The new Corolla is supposed to be a hoot, too.

If I was going to buy a new, sporty car today it’d be a C8.
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Never, I’ll be buried in it! Actually took it out for a spin tonight.

I was going to mention the WRX but I think the BRZ is more bang for the buck. Looks better too. There is the AWD capability of the WRX though. It’s a toss up.
 
TCABM said:
@Velocity173 has one. He’d probably let it go if the price was right.

Seriously, haven’t seen a WRX mentioned, nor the Hyundai Elantra. The new Corolla is supposed to be a hoot, too.

If I was going to buy a new, sporty car today it’d be a C8.
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The new WRX is hideous. Also, CVT
 
RyanB said:
I’ve been eyeing the Subaru Impreza and Crosstrek and while I like the appearance a lot, I’m not sure the performance will be as good as I’d like, but I still need to test drive them. I’m not sure they make either with a turbo-4cyl so my guess is that they’re under powered.
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A turbo 4cyl Imprezza would be a WRX.
RyanB said:
What cars are the best bang for the buck that I should look at?
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Direct competition for the GTI would be the Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Veloster N or Elantra N and the aforementioned WRX. A few that are kinda indirect competition would be the Mazda3 Turbo and Mini Cooper S.
 
Rumbles are that Toyota has a new Supra coming out with a manual trans later this ear.
 
Velocity173 said:
I was going to mention the WRX but I think the BRZ is more bang for the buck. Looks better too. There is the AWD capability of the WRX though. It’s a toss up.
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Yes, I'd chose the BRZ over the WRX any day, same or better performance, and it looks nice, especially in the dark blue metallic.

asicer said:
Direct competition for the GTI would be the Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Veloster N or Elantra N and the aforementioned WRX. A few that are kinda indirect competition would be the Mazda3 Turbo and Mini Cooper S.
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We have a '19 Civic Si sedan, and I love love love that car. It's very solid, handles well, and drives several price classes above the purchase price. It is quite evident that engineers and chassis tuners who really care about driving put some heart and soul into their jobs, the driving experience is sublime. Best of all, being $25k and a Honda, I can drive it as hard as I want guilt free, not something I could say about a $70k sports car. That I would baby.

The only car I'd be interested in swapping the Si for right now is the BRZ. The Si would be perfect for @RyanB , but he says he prefers automatic and the Si is 6sp manual only.
 
Subaru BRZ is very nice. If they had a convertible, I'd own one.

Veloceter looks cool but drives like a truck. Or at least a big car. (IMO)

Mini Cooper S is a blast to drive, but be prepared for lots of money and time in the repair shop. (I can tell you stories about mine...)

Mazda 3 is a great choice if you want to marry a nice 4 door (and hatch if you want) to a sporty car with good economy. My daughters have owned 3 between them. A blast to drive, 30-40MPG (unless you drive them like I do!) and they are reliable.

John
 
jsstevens said:
Mini Cooper S is a blast to drive, but be prepared for lots of money and time in the repair shop. (I can tell you stories about mine...)
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Amen and amen.

Mine was a great car up until about 80kmi, then it became a rolling restoration. Minimum cost for any repair was 1 AMU, with most being multiples. Finally it broke the timing chain, punched a valve, and I junked it.
 
Half Fast said:
Amen and amen.

Mine was a great car up until about 80kmi, then it became a rolling restoration. Minimum cost for any repair was 1 AMU, with most being multiples. Finally it broke the timing chain, punched a valve, and I junked it.
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i bought mine used at Carmax with 23,000 miles on it. Bought the extended warranty for $3500. Best money I spent. I came out roughly $12,000 (no typo) ahead. In 3 years.
 
jsstevens said:
i bought mine used at Carmax with 23,000 miles on it. Bought the extended warranty for $3500. Best money I spent. I came out roughly $12,000 (no typo) ahead. In 3 years.
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Not surprised. That’s the only car I’ve owned that I regretted not getting an extended warranty.
 
Veloster :). Honestly, no idea if you are looking for new or used and what the budget is. But if it's similar to GTi you are looking for(depending on transmission choice too): Civic(ideally Si), FocusST, Veloster(N!), Stinger, Elantra(N)(though i think it's ugly). Id stay away from DSG type transmissions, but that's me. BRZ is also a good choice, but not really fast.

It's a terrible time to buy a new car, it's worse to buy a used car.
 
genna said:
BRZ is also a good choice, but not really fast.
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The new BRZ is better, 0-60 5.4, it's a good bit faster than my Civic Si. But the joy in my Si (or a BRZ) isn't the straight line, but the cornering. Both the Si and the BRZ (on the optional summer tires) pull 0.99G on the skidpad, and that is genuine sports car territory.
 
RyanB said:
I’d also like something with decent ‘get up and go’. I’ve been eyeing the Subaru Impreza and Crosstrek and while I like the appearance a lot, I’m not sure the performance will be as good as I’d like, but I still need to test drive them. I’m not sure they make either with a turbo-4cyl so my guess is that they’re under powered. While having something that’s fun-to-drive would be nice, I really don’t care, I just need wheels and also something that looks half-way presentable when I roll up to take the ladies on a date ;).

What cars are the best bang for the buck that I should look at?
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Nissan Altima is a pretty good option. Highway mileage it's rated up to 39 mpg; base 4 cylinder, 35 mpg for the turbo version. A niece has one and it really goes a long way on the highway between fill-ups.

I just got a Kia EV6, so great on the "fuel" economy (it's an electric vehicle), but the entry price is a bit steep. From a financial perspective the Altima or some of the other options previously posted are better options.
 
My wife's gotten 4-cylinder Mustangs as rental cars, and they are actually really fun cars to drive. As far as automatics go, the 10-speed auto they come with isn't bad. Pretty decent mileage too. Probably what I'd be looking at if I was going to get a practical daily driver.
 
wayne said:
Nissan Altima is a pretty good option. Highway mileage it's rated up to 39 mpg; base 4 cylinder, 35 mpg for the turbo version. A niece has one and it really goes a long way on the highway between fill-ups.

I just got a Kia EV6, so great on the "fuel" economy (it's an electric vehicle), but the entry price is a bit steep. From a financial perspective the Altima or some of the other options previously posted are better options.
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Sorry, pretty hard no on Altima. And we have a Nissan product in the family. There is nothing GTiish about it and that transmission is pretty junk
 
Bill said:
Yes, I'd chose the BRZ over the WRX any day, same or better performance, and it looks nice, especially in the dark blue metallic.



We have a '19 Civic Si sedan, and I love love love that car. It's very solid, handles well, and drives several price classes above the purchase price. It is quite evident that engineers and chassis tuners who really care about driving put some heart and soul into their jobs, the driving experience is sublime. Best of all, being $25k and a Honda, I can drive it as hard as I want guilt free, not something I could say about a $70k sports car. That I would baby.

The only car I'd be interested in swapping the Si for right now is the BRZ. The Si would be perfect for @RyanB , but he says he prefers automatic and the Si is 6sp manual only.
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This year’s BRZ got a good clean up. I think has a slight resemblance to a Porsche Cayman.
 
Bill said:
The new BRZ is better, 0-60 5.4, it's a good bit faster than my Civic Si. But the joy in my Si (or a BRZ) isn't the straight line, but the cornering. Both the Si and the BRZ (on the optional summer tires) pull 0.99G on the skidpad, and that is genuine sports car territory.
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New one is better. I haven't driven Si in a while. I've driven an old BRZ. Even if it is faster, it felt very slow. Until you get to corners :).
 
genna said:
Sorry, pretty hard no on Altima. And we have a Nissan product in the family. There is nothing GTiish about it and that transmission is pretty junk
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Concur, Nissans these days are nothing but transportation appliances, no inspired driving to be found. And, their CVT transmissions are known to be crap.
 
BTW, Mustangs and Camaros are great and rather inexpensive(relatively) sports cars these days depending on the trim.
 
jsstevens said:
And 20ish (IIRC) more horses as well.
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They did, but that's not the important part.They added torque and more importantly cleaned up the torque curve.
 
May not be exactly what you're looking for, but if you want sporty with decent hwy mileage (30mpg), the Cadillac ATS/CTS lineup is really decent (built off of the Alpha platform). The ATS-V and CTS Vsport (both use the same basic TT v6) run used in the low 30's and will dust the Kia Stingers and similar, plus they are built to handle extremely well.

ATS-V (they make coupe and sedan versions)
2016-cadillac-ats-v-coupe-carbuzz-388965.jpg
 
SoonerAviator said:
May not be exactly what you're looking for, but if you want sporty with decent hwy mileage (30mpg), the Cadillac ATS/CTS lineup is really decent (built off of the Alpha platform). The ATS-V and CTS Vsport (both use the same basic TT v6) run used in the low 30's and will dust the Kia Stingers and similar, plus they are built to handle extremely well.

ATS-V (they make coupe and sedan versions)
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I love almost everything about ATSV(I drive CTSV). But then you have to live with CUE. And that is a really difficult thing for me to agree to do.
 
genna said:
I love almost everything about ATSV(I drive CTSV). But then you have to live with CUE. And that is a really difficult thing for me to agree to do.
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My 2017 CTS VSport has the "newer" version of CUE and it functions fine. I even have a USB dongle that plugs into the center console port and provides wireless Android Auto connectivity, so no wires needed. Just hop in and go.
 
SoonerAviator said:
My 2017 CTS VSport has the "newer" version of CUE and it functions fine. I even have a USB dongle that plugs into the center console port and provides wireless Android Auto connectivity, so no wires needed. Just hop in and go.
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I can't remember what they changed in CUE2. Functionality was fine(if really slow) in CUE1. I hate the touch "buttons" for everything systems. My G2 CTSV is pre-CUE. It has considerably less functionality. Most notably the lack of BT audio and Carplay. Both can be added in aftermarket. I still like it a lot better than any CUE. Real buttons!
 
genna said:
I can't remember what they changed in CUE2. Functionality was fine(if really slow) in CUE1. I hate the touch "buttons" for everything systems. My G2 CTSV is pre-CUE. It has considerably less functionality. Most notably the lack of BT audio and Carplay. Both can be added in aftermarket. I still like it a lot better than any CUE. Real buttons!
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I believe 2016 was the first year for the newer CUE version and it's pretty responsive. I'd put it on par with the other automakers' infotainment systems, where the early version of CUE was a half-assed effort for sure. CarPlay and Android Auto/BT are all standard, but Carplay/AA are not wireless from the factory. A $100 Motorola USB dongle fixes that. The only downside on the overall design is Caddy's over-use of capacitive touch buttons which is mostly only a pain when trying to turn the volume down quickly using the console buttons. I use the steering wheel controls which are actual buttons, and it works great.

The VSport is 430HP stock, but is easily tuned up to 500HP and is faster than the V2 CTS-V (in stock form). However, it's hard to top the sound of a blown V8! The magnetic ride suspension and overall refinement in the 2014+ CTS is quite a bit better than the V2 as well (as one would expect). The ATS-V and CTS VSport really are great cars that went largely unnoticed during production and are great sports sedans.
 
CTSV etc., any of them stick shift?
 
Bill said:
CTSV etc., any of them stick shift?
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Yup. The V2 CTS-V/ATS-V were available with a manual. Even the newest iteration (CT5 Blackwing) has a manual option. The v3 CTS-V/and V-Sport didn't come with a manual option though, but the paddle shifters and 8spd Auto is pretty snappy.

ATS-V manual:
2016-cadillac-ats-v-coupe-3_800x0w.jpg
 
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SoonerAviator said:
Yup. All of the CTS-V/ATS-V were available with a manual. Even the newest iteration (CT5 Blackwing) has a manual option. The CTS V-Sport didn't come with a manual option though, but the paddle shifters and 8spd Auto is pretty snappy.

ATS-V manual:
2016-cadillac-ats-v-coupe-3_800x0w.jpg
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Something to consider! Cadillac is doing nice things with chassis tuning and handling. Interestingly, Cadillac is more Germanic in how they drive than most modern German cars.
 
Bill said:
Something to consider! Cadillac is doing nice things with chassis tuning and handling. Interestingly, Cadillac is more Germanic in how they drive than most modern German cars.
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Yeah, I believe I saw a review/video that mentioned that aspect. They said that the German auto makers (especially BMW) had lost a lot of that German-handling that they were known for in exchange for a more numb-feel, where Cadillac brought that feel to the forefront.
 
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