Kinda still Subaru related? Not entirely off-topic... I'm tired to driving a truck around all the time, and I want a fun car (hey, mid-life crisis here). What I want is a small, fun car that's got a decent range of "luxury" features. I like to be cheap, but I can afford more if the value is there. Let's say in the $35-50k range for starters. Must haves: - AWD - At least 250hp, turbo preferred. - Crisp handling. - Automatic transmission is unfortunately, a must (vehicle needs to be drive-able by my whole family, not just me), but it has to be a good automatic, with quick manual shifting mode. - Super supportive, comfortable, heated seats (front at least). - Enough head/legroom in the front for up to a 6' 3" driver or passenger. Backseat can be smaller, but functional for normal sized humans for at least a short trip. - Adaptive cruise control - Traction control needs to be minimally intrusive and able to be disabled in a meaningful way (not like my truck where if the wheels get spinning over 30mph it turns back on 100%). - Android Auto/Apple CarPlay Nice to have: - Heated steering wheel - Cooled seats (at least front) - Moonroof - Hatchback Can't haves: - SUV or Crossover - Anything Fiat/Chryser Prefer not to have but may consider: - German I've test driven the 2022 WRX GT, and while it checks a lot of the boxes, the Recaro seats totally don't fit me. They basically jab into my kidneys and destroy my back. The 2.4 sounds like **** too. I have not driven the lower spec versions of the current WRX, but my 2016 Limited had really underwhelming seats. It's kinda chonky, frankly at 3,500lbs. I test drove a Mazda3 2.5 Turbo hatch. It was nearly perfect. The front seats were like they we made for me specifically, the engine was powerful (310 lb/ft torque stock is sweet), sounds fantastic, and it'll happily detune itself to run on 87 octane if need be. The back seat was marginal, but not a deal breaker. The front door openings however, were so small that no matter how I folded myself up I was hit either my head, knee or hip trying to get in the car. The sedan might be different, but I haven't found one to try yet. Those are what I've actually driven. Golf R? Well, it's German, and the R with the DSG transmission starts at $46K and there really don't seem to be any out there, but it's on the possible list. Corolla GR? Manual only. And I'm under the impression it's nearly impossible to actually get one. Infiniti G50 Luxe AWD? I had initially discounted this due to it's size, but maybe I gotta consider some larger cars to get what I want? I've always liked Nissan cars, so maybe? Too bad the Red Sport 400 trim is outside of my defined price range... BMW M235i xDrive Gran Coupe? German again. $47,600 base price and then it's another $2,450 to add heated seats that I'd expect to see on a mid-level Camry? I hate the interface for pretty much everything in BMWs too. BMW 330i xDrive M-Sport "Design" Gran Coupe. See above. At least the heated seats are only a $1,500 add on to the $49K starting price. Mercedes C300 4MOTION AMG Line? This might actually be the best I've seen on paper, but god damn is it a boring looking car. $50k+ the way I'd want it, but freaking loaded. German though. Genesis G70? I know little to nothing about the fancy Hyundais. It's marginally in my power range at 252hp, but the 3.3T looks way more like it, but gets really pricy fast. Audi S3? Know very little about these. Except German. Provide me with your wildly uninformed and biased opinions the way only MNSubaru can!
I think you meant Infiniti Q50. I have a 2018 Red Sport. The 300 HP 3.0 in the other trims goes pretty good. Spend some time over in InfinitiQ50.org to get a feel for potential issues...turbos, porous blocks, $h!tty infotainment in the older ones. Check out Poquet Auto as it seems like every time I look at their inventory they have a few used Q50s. The platform goes all the way back to the 2014 MY, but in my opinion it still looks good. Nice that most of the HVAC uses physical buttons rather than touchscreen. Same with stereo. Newer model years have Apple Car Play and Android Auto. I don't think they have cooled seats...even the new ones. Most all of them have run-flats and no spare.
Kia Stinger? If it were me, I’d try checking out a Premium/Limited 22+ WRX before writing it off. Watching Engineering Explained’s video about the WRX cvt makes it seem intriguing if you need automatic. Also the normal seats seem a lot better than the VA’s seats. You seem to have the most obvious options listed for your criteria so I’d recommend just go check them out in person.
aww, c'mon Josh, you think I haven't spent hours googling? I'm looking for personal experiences or things I've missed, or failing that, to be entertained.
Ok, I asked ChatGPT. It's a little out of date and doesn't realize the Veloster is discontinued in favor of the FWD-only Elantra N. I totally missed that the TLX comes in an AWD form, I'll have to look into that. Extended family buys a lot of Honda, and I generally find that the products don't age well (they keep working, just everything feels super dated even just 2-3 years down the line). Kia Stinger, as Mike above points out I messed this one. I really don't think of Kia much at all. The Stinger looks good, but reviews seem to indicate the 2.5L doesn't perform up to it's 300hp rating and that the 3.3L is the way to go. That starts at $53K and I think there are a lot of better cars for that price that'll hold value a lot better than a Kia. Lexus IS 350 F Sport generally runs higher than my specified price range, and seem to be out of stock, but with incoming vehicles. F Sport Design is priced a little better but same deal, nothing in stock to check out. Same suggestion as Mike on the lower-spec WRX. I'll look into it. I'm sorta stuck at home right now with the older kid who has COVID (he's old enough to take care of himself, but don't want to leave him entirely alone for long periods in case he starts feeling worse), wife and younger kid are in FL, where we'd all be if not for older kid's illness, so keyboard test-drives are all I got for now.
I had a 2012 veloster, avoid pre-2017 models because engines tend to eat valves. Also not good if you're taller than 6'
Good to know (I'm 6' with a long torso so headroom is important, and my son is 6'3"-ish). Only looking at new cars at this point though.
Also, I know that I can't live for long without a truck, I use it way too much and it'll drive me nuts to not be able to go grab lumber or furniture or tools, or whatever. So I'm budgeting for a beater truck at the same time, or I'd be willing to spend more.
I owned a 6M 04 S60 R way back and loved it! Or, better yet, if you can find one is the V70 R wagon. 300hp AWD.
Hmm. Have a very toxic past with Volvos, and I think the local dealers are some of the worst scum in the local car industry, which is saying something.
But now they're owned by the Chinese rather than the Swedes...what could go wrong? If I had to look for a new sedan tomorrow, I think the NA engine in the Acura TLX would be more of a draw for me than the turbo motor in another Q50.
Why a new car Mark? So many good used options out there. And some of the “out of the budget” new stuff could be obtained if only slightly used. I’m talking something like 15-30k miles on it. Are you going new for the warranty factors and whatnot? Just get a Dodge Charger and call it a day. https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...Vt8mUCR2fewANEAUYEyABEgLZFvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Anything with any "sporting" pretenses worries me about how it was treated by the previous owner. It's simple as that. I'm guessing most Mustangs, Chargers, and Camaros are treated like the porn stars of the automotive world.
Plus a Dodge Charger just screams "Carjack me and do donuts in a Minneapolis intersection on Friday night."
I think that all of those “mysterious fires” that plagued south Minneapolis in 2020 were all started by Chargers.
Consider wagons? I have the FWD version of the VW wagon (SportWagen) but they do make a AWD version (Alltrack). They stopped making it in 2019 but they can be had for a reasonable price and sport 170whp stock. Very easily can be tuned for more power and still maintain reasonable gas milage (Mid 30's in my FWD version) The traction control on my SportWagen is a bit invasive but can be turned off and stay off since it was tuned (not sure if it would stay off before it was tuned or not)
If I had it my way there wouldn't be....getting real hard to find a new wagon here in the US that is turbocharged and under 40k.
My brother-in-law living in North Minneapolis sends me pics on a regular basis of cars jacked and crashed upside-down through people's fences. It happens so often it's become almost boring.
I follow a few of the scanner (crime) apps on Twitter. It's enough to make you lose all hope in humanity. And we all pay for it through higher insurance rates.
That's like when MPLS was burning to the ground and all those stupid f**ks were like "but that's what insurance is for, derp".
Everytime I go look. I'm like "I'm tired of Subarus" And then I just hate everything else. So I put down a deposit on a 22 Limited today. Driving around the wife's Forester with snows has been so much fun the last few days. So many cars today shut you down hard the moment you try to have a little fun in the snow (like my truck). Keeping the truck though. It would save money in the short term to replace it with an older truck, but at risk of higher potential costs, and it'll hold it's value pretty well if it's not getting a lot of miles on it, so I can always change my mind later.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That out of the way, I would actually love my next car to be an EV, but Tesla has a **** track record for taking care of their customers, and nobody else has really quite gotten there just yet.
The new Kia/Hyundai EV's are pretty sweet. Otherwise my buddy is about to get a Rivian which seems alright. I personally would only go plug-in hybrid at the moment though because I don't want an otherwise practical car that can't feasibly do road trips or tow. Full EV only makes sense for around the town driving which I already have plenty of cars for, only reason I would want full EV is for putting a lot of cheap miles on which Hybrids do much better at the moment. With electricity rates these days I have heard EV's aren't even much cheaper to run these days when you take everything into account not to mention super expensive batteries taking a **** after like 10 years and totalling the car. I think the new crop of fun hybrids is also the way to go. The Corvette E-ray hybrid, the Mclaren Artura, the NSX, etc are all way lighter and cooler than a full EV sports car.
I think I get what you are implying, but my point is we haven't really ever had "cool" hybrids yet and I think they are the future. All hybrids have been slow boring things like the Prius or just hybrid versions of the Rav4 etc. EV's got made "cool" and fast by Tesla and now others and then went down market to the slower more boring cars. I would love if they made a plug in hybrid new S2000 that had a small battery, electric motor for torque fill, and a high revving NA motor. Or even a hybrid WRX/STI. I have no desire for a full EV STI like the rumors say.
