another car thread

SunnY S

SunnY S

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went car shoppin with a member of the fam.

First stop, Mazda. Sorry, but the 3 is a huuuge disappointment. Tight, poor ride, unimpressive interior. Reasonably priced, and a decent value, but we'll take a pass. Just didn't light the fire. The new CX-5? Took one of those out..... very nice. A tad gutless, but most of the vehicles in this class are. Huge and very impressive interior. The the overall shape and front styling is quite striking. Excellent drive and ride. Price was reasonable too. But deemed too big for the family member.

Next, Honda. Time to reevaluate the Civic again. Havent had a good look at one since it launched. Took the Si for a boot. Niiiice ride, but too "sporty". Took a EX civic. Styling is a very ho hum. But not sure why all the neg reviews on the interior? Pretty impressive and detailed dash with 2 screens. Quite roomy, and far more detailed and upscale then the Mazda 3. Drove nice, and rode nice. Excellent value too. Honda's got some nice rebates happening on 2012s.

Next week.... off to the VW dealer to inspect a Golf. I really like this car, and need to check it out to see if it will make the short list.
 
I really liked the GTi when i test drove one (2012).

But i ended up just not buying a car.


I would really appreciate any comments on the FR-S. I would like to get another manual RWD car but the options seem quite limited now. (other than roadsters)... IS 250?
 
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A guy I work with has an FR-S. Very happy with it.

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To the OP... Check out the new Ford Focus - very solid car. The new Focus ST is out now as well.
 
In this category

Mazda 3
Honda Civic
VW Golf
Nissan Sentra
Subaru Impreza
Chevy Cruze
Dodge Dart
Ford Focus
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Forte
Suzuki SX4

Now you gotta say what features are important for the fam member (gas mileage, driveability (fun), safety, winter driving, price range, etc etc)
 
I said short list. Apart from the Focus, those others won't make the cut. :)


LePhillou said:
In this category

Mazda 3
Honda Civic
VW Golf
Nissan Sentra
Subaru Impreza
Chevy Cruze
Dodge Dart
Ford Focus
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Forte
Suzuki SX4

Now you gotta say what features are important for the fam member (gas mileage, driveability (fun), safety, winter driving, price range, etc etc)
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Don't know how long you can wait but there's a redesigned 3 coming out for 2013 that will have all the Skyactive technologies (current one is a mish-mash of old and new). Promises an excellent power/fuel consumption compromise for compact cars like the CX-5 does for cute-utes.

Or spend little more for an FR-S that you get to drive sometimes.
 
SunnY S said:
I said short list. Apart from the Focus, those others won't make the cut. :)
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So, either explain how we are supposed to read someone else's mind over the internet as to WHY certain vehicles that are in the same class won't make the cut, or explain some selection criteria!

The Chevy Cruze is in the same size and price class as Focus, Civic, etc. So is the Hyundai Elantra, and if you want a hatch, there is the new Elantra GT. The Dart is another Focus/Cruze etc competitor although I can understand not wanting a first-year model. Same deal for everything else on that list that was given.

I have a funny feeling that the Golf will be out of the price range under discussion. It's marketed as a premium model. The Jetta (Trendline, i.e. 2.slow gas engine) is now the cheaper model, even though it's bigger. The new Golf 7 arrives in North America next year.
 
The FR-S handles like a go cart on rails.
However it's pretty gutless engine is screaming for a turbo. You need to keep the revs up near redline to keep he peppy.
Very disappointing indeed as far as power, but beautiful car and handles great.
Toyota is in the process of gettin a turbo out for it, and I'm sure the Subaru following will have something to do with adding there little tweaks too.
 
boooya said:
The FR-S handles like a go cart on rails.
However it's pretty gutless engine is screaming for a turbo. You need to keep the revs up near redline to keep he peppy.
Very disappointing indeed as far as power, but beautiful car and handles great.
Toyota is in the process of gettin a turbo out for it, and I'm sure the Subaru following will have something to do with adding there little tweaks too.
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I probably wouldn't end up buying the first model year. I wanted a 370Z but the roadster is just a bit TOO impractical. So I thought it might be a decent compromise.
A turbo option is interesting, but I think the truth is I would want to see how much room is in the engine bay entirely... =D
 
When I say it's gutless I mean its just slightly faster then the corolla xrs.
I think Toyota was testing the waters gettin back into the sport car market and didn't want to dump to much $$ into these to keep the cost down.
I'm sure it will have a huge import following.
The FR-S is the predecessor to the old '86 corolla gts.
 
boooya said:
The FR-S is the predecessor to the old '86 corolla gts.
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the other way around? =D

anyway. I do remember the 86 and i also remember it was a bucket of crap. but it was fun to boot around and it was a nice platform. Whether the FRS will end up being like that. I don't know.
it does bug me that the car has a "trunk" instead of a liftback.
 
OpenGambit said:
the other way around? =D

anyway. I do remember the 86 and i also remember it was a bucket of crap. but it was fun to boot around and it was a nice platform. Whether the FRS will end up being like that. I don't know.
it does bug me that the car has a "trunk" instead of a liftback.
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What bucket of crap? Other than easily rusting bodies they were the perfect sporty car.
 
Current fr-s not made for speed, made for handling, for curves.
You dont need power for curves you need handling, and its crazy low center of gravity gives you that.

If you want more power, its faisable if you have the money. But to make it "affordable" they created a car that modifiable for power but has all the handling you want and more... and the + is even that is upgradable! :)
This kinda explains it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD3hgleEOXA

Otherwise, yeah i understand your list is a short one but yeah, if we want to help we need to know what were looking for hehe
 
fastar1 said:
What bucket of crap? Other than easily rusting bodies they were the perfect sporty car.
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Sorry but I don't agree with that. They were grocery getters that were cheap and had excellent sports car characteristics. but it wasn't a sports car out of the box. It needed to be modified to be the 86 that people think of nowadays.
 
OpenGambit said:
Sorry but I don't agree with that. They were grocery getters that were cheap and had excellent sports car characteristics. but it wasn't a sports car out of the box. It needed to be modified to be the 86 that people think of nowadays.
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Every car could be called a grocery getter, but usually the term is reserved for those cars that don't do anything more than that. As you said, it had excellent sports car characteristics too. And cheap does not equal a bucket of crap so I'm still not getting where that came from.
 
I am car shopping at the moment as well. Have not driven a lot of cars, 3 to be exact. I like Subaru, only heard good things about them. A week ago I took a 2013 Impreza hackback out for a ride. It was ok, nothing that really sold me on it, and was a bit smaller then what I wanted. After that I went over to Hyundai to look at the Elantra GT. Very sharp looking car inside and out, but again to small, so I took out a Sonata SE for a test drive. Thats is a very nice car, well styled, smooth, but still a large sedan that while stunning to look at just didnt feel like a long term car. Went back to Subaru and took out '13 Outback. Now thats the car I was looking for, solid, great size, quiet, had enough juice under the hood to satisfy me (not that I care to much about that). Nice interior, though the car in base model is more then the Sonata SE which almost comes fully loaded with leather and all that.
 
subaru's a tank of a car, tractor like, so, horrible pickup unless you get the turbo, but always been hogs on gas...i can't believe my old impreza, while reliable and built tough, would get me 10L per 100km on a 2.3l 4 banger...in manual, cruising at 100 on the highway...my passat with a 2.8 V6 would attain 6.5L per 100km cruising the same as the subaru...but when it got wet out or the weather hit, damn that car was fun to drive...
 
GayManLoveIsOK said:
subaru's a tank of a car, tractor like, so, horrible pickup unless you get the turbo, but always been hogs on gas...i can't believe my old impreza, while reliable and built tough, would get me 10L per 100km on a 2.3l 4 banger...in manual, cruising at 100 on the highway...my passat with a 2.8 V6 would attain 6.5L per 100km cruising the same as the subaru...but when it got wet out or the weather hit, damn that car was fun to drive...
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The new Subarus with CVT are supposed to be pretty good when it comes to fuel economy. The car was plenty fast to me, no slouch getting to highway speeds, but not a sports car either.
 
I have finally admitted it and hate to say but Hyundai is the only car company in this segment that produces anything worth purchasing new in my opinion. They drive nice, have a ton of features, cost little to operate and are on the lower end when it comes to vehicle purchase price. I don't currently own one but they will be the first manufacturer we go to next year to look.
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