I began looking for a second, practical, fun to drive car about three months ago. The obvious choices were on my list; WRX, Focus ST, GTI, and Si. My other car is a '15 Forester and my wife has a '13 X3. I'm a 40 yr old college engineering teacher, not your typical buyer in this category.
The Focus was fast but was hideously unrefined and otherwise had nothing going for it. But, I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt and drive one. It drives and looks like it was designed by a 19 yr old buzzed on Red Bull. Unsafe levels of torque steer, snapping from fake tuned oversteer to understeer without warning. No LSD. If any car EVER has needed LSD, this one is it. The topper was the door jams were obviously not gapped correctly...build quality?!
GTI. Only going for sticker. I've been burned bad by unreliable VW's before. No evidence it's gotten better. But the best car otherwise for my needs and would have been my first choice.... sad. Next...
I did consider the Accord Sport 6mt. But, I wanted just a little better handling. It's actually pretty close to the Si on engine/trans responsiveness, IMO.
WRX was the only other real contender for me. It was a hard choice. Fast, AWD, nice engine.
My final decision was based on my Honda connections, I got an Si well under invoice and over $5k less than WRX invoice. BUT it was the silky manual, smooth engine power delivery, balanced handling/ride, and reliability that really swayed me.
Going down to 17" TSW Nurburgring wheels/tires (rough VT roads), removing spoiler (personal taste) and machining a CNC delete plate for holes, designing my own short shifter, audio upgrade.
The Focus was fast but was hideously unrefined and otherwise had nothing going for it. But, I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt and drive one. It drives and looks like it was designed by a 19 yr old buzzed on Red Bull. Unsafe levels of torque steer, snapping from fake tuned oversteer to understeer without warning. No LSD. If any car EVER has needed LSD, this one is it. The topper was the door jams were obviously not gapped correctly...build quality?!
GTI. Only going for sticker. I've been burned bad by unreliable VW's before. No evidence it's gotten better. But the best car otherwise for my needs and would have been my first choice.... sad. Next...
I did consider the Accord Sport 6mt. But, I wanted just a little better handling. It's actually pretty close to the Si on engine/trans responsiveness, IMO.
WRX was the only other real contender for me. It was a hard choice. Fast, AWD, nice engine.
My final decision was based on my Honda connections, I got an Si well under invoice and over $5k less than WRX invoice. BUT it was the silky manual, smooth engine power delivery, balanced handling/ride, and reliability that really swayed me.
Going down to 17" TSW Nurburgring wheels/tires (rough VT roads), removing spoiler (personal taste) and machining a CNC delete plate for holes, designing my own short shifter, audio upgrade.
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