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02-17-2018, 09:45 PM | #1 |
Mugwump
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
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Drove a bunch of cars today
I'm not sure the E91 wagon or Cayman will make it through 2018, so I drove (or attempted to drive) a bunch of cars today.
Subaru BRZ / Toyota 86 Apparently no one in the northeast buys these, so no dealers order them. VW Golf R Apparently everyone in the northeast buys these, so they are all have deposits before they reach the dealership Subaru WRX To my surprise, I kind of liked it. The 2018 model has more sound deadening so it's a little less awful in terms of NHV, but only slightly. The tire noise is still pretty bad. The clutch and shifter are also a little less awful than the previous year. It turned better than I expected. And the Recaro seats were comfortable. It's obviously still a low-rent interior. The biggest shock was that it has the worst throttle mapping and rev hang of any car I've ever driven. Pressing the throttle 1 inch gets you 75% throttle. And on the 1-2 shift the revs don't drop! They just stick where they are for over a second. It's insane. But apparently a $695 Cobb Tune solves both these problems. But for whatever reason, I enjoyed driving it. I just kept thinking - this is so much more fun to drive than the wagon. I worry the road noise would grow tiring, but maybe not? VW GTI Since no dealership had a Golf R, I asked to drive a GTI. Maybe it was just the contrast from the WRX and Cayman (which I drove around to the dealers), but I was surprised at how civil the GTI was. Clutch and shfiter much more refined and easy to drive smoothly. It turned in nicely and really hugged the road. I didn't love the engine sound - a little too lawnmower-esque. I left thinking... that was a perfectly fine car, but it was somehow boring. Maybe the R would have fixed that? Do I just a mental block against Golf's because I think they look stupid? Also, Golf R's don't have a spare tire, which just infuriates me. My wagon is a pain to put a bicycle in because there's always a goddamn wheel & tire in the way. I wish I could learn to love a Golf R. It would simplify my garage. 2013 Golf R The only Golf R I could find on autotrader within range was a 2013 Golf R. It was OK I guess? It was like the '18 GTI but old and beat up, a little faster, and AWD. In my experience, VW's age much worse than other cars for some reason. I left thinking, I never in a million years buy this car, but maybe a 2018 R would somehow be different. 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Overland After all equ's JGC discussion I've been intrigued by these. I kind of liked it. It was more car-like than I expect for a nearly 5,000 lbs vehicle. Yeah it leaned a lot if you attempt to turn quickly, but somehow driving it wasn't bad. It was a more pleasant than a pickup truck. The 6-cylinder engine would be fine for me. I just can't see wanting to drive this on a semi-regular basis during the winter, so I can't figure out how it would make sense. I can't justify it as just a home depot truck. Bottom line: I have no idea. I'm doing nothing for now and will re-asses this spring/summer. I'd love to get down to 2 cars though so if I could find a fun AWD vehicle I like that would just be lovely. Model 3? Last edited by rumatt; 02-17-2018 at 10:24 PM. |
02-17-2018, 10:16 PM | #2 |
195
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 24,628
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Interesting about Rs. I haven’t driven a Mark VII GTI so I can’t really comment on the delta, but I can see how one might experience the refinement as boring.
What about a Focus RS? Those are almost done; might be a nice compromise if the VW is too bland and the Subaru is too rough. |
02-17-2018, 10:21 PM | #3 | ||
Mugwump
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
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Quote:
Maybe I'm just looking for something different. Quote:
Right now if you made me choose, I'd go buy a WRX w/ Performance Package, which gains you minimal actual performance - but you get Recaro's and a sunroof delete (yes!!!). |
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02-17-2018, 11:08 PM | #4 |
Old Fart
Join Date: Oct 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: T4R,GTI
Location: San Diego
Posts: 8,576
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I know Subaru’s improved since I owned one but I tired pretty quickly of the shit box interior of my 2004 wrx.
Your cars choices are kind of all over the place. M2 or rs3? |
02-17-2018, 11:28 PM | #5 | ||
Mugwump
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
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Quote:
Quote:
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02-18-2018, 08:44 AM | #6 | |
Oh, are they?
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: S4
Location: H-town
Posts: 10,275
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Quote:
http://www.bmwblog.com/2017/09/27/te...uattro-manual/ Edit: amazingly, my dealer's inventory shows 5 in stock.
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02-18-2018, 10:00 AM | #7 |
Alphanumeric
Join Date: Aug 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: 981S, 340i
Posts: 9,586
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02-20-2018, 09:02 AM | #8 | ||
Mugwump
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
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Quote:
WRX STI: 566 Focus RS: 1,190 VW Golf R: 0 (yes ZERO) Thinking maybe VW dealers don't use autotrader, I searched for a Jetta and got 13,000. So that's not it. In terms of sales volume, it seems it's roughly: WRX STI: 2600/month Focus RS: 500/month VW Golf R: 360/month Last edited by rumatt; 02-20-2018 at 09:14 AM. |
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02-20-2018, 10:32 AM | #9 | |
195
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 24,628
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Quote:
That is weird. There aren't any at either of the big volume dealers near me that had double digit inventories when I bought mine. My guess is that they build them in batches? Maybe they've sold out the 2017s and the 2018s aren't here yet. EDIT: They have a metric fuckton of GTIs, though. EDIT to EDIT: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ly-Here/page46 Sounds like the launch of the 2018s is...not going well? Or is being delayed? Or no one knows. |
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02-20-2018, 11:22 AM | #10 | |
Relic
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,469
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Quote:
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