Why not?! It's even ribbed on the inside. You know, for His pleasure…
The real question is: Cardboard or plywood; where's the difference?!? When all is said and done, it's all just glued-together wood particles!
It's all just rigid carbohydrate foam.
Most little cars are a blast to drive.
[...]
A real shame that today's kids will never know, with their plasticy crossovers and raised trucks…
the beauty of the used car market is that those cars still exist, and are all the more importable now! I'd love a Twingo, but the Caterham will do nicely in the small and light blast genre
Hah! Perfect.
My current car is a 2022 Mazda 3 Turbo. Performance tires, but otherwise stock (for now).
No turbo lag and more torque than should be legal, pulls harder up a hill than most cars go downhill.
Like with all modern cars, the steering could be a little more communicative, but the thing carves canyons like nothing else I've ever owned before. An absolute blast to drive, and exactly the right size for me. Hot hatches are a dying breed, though.
That Toyota GR Corolla is reeeeaaaaaal tempting. Unfortunately the only actual rule on cars my wife and I have is that no "new" car that aren't electric. Looking forward to picking up a suspiciously low mileage off-lease GR in a few years, then.
There is no substitute for a Wankel engine. The modern ones are even reliable and don’t blow out rotor tip seals like the old NSUs.
Thirsty as heck, though…
Define "modern" Wankel. Mazda hasn't produced a Renesis in 10+ years.
A WRX built Crosstrek is exactly the car I wanted. Which they don't make. Sigh. I'd be in line to buy one in a heartbeat, with the paperwork for my 2022 Crosstrek in hand for the trade-in.
Nice car, BTW. Bet it's fun to drive on twisty turny roads, too!
Oof, tell me about it. I'd be the one guy to buy an STi and
lift it vs on lowering springs. My favorite project car was an old 2.5RS I put an EJ20 turbo engine from a crashed Saab 9-2X into and had it on lifted rally suspension. So very sad that was a "customer" car and not my own. Though not owning it probably prevented me from meeting trees at high speed.
Sadly the 2.5i Crosstrek Sport has their crappy CVT transmission. Oh, sure, you can fake gear shifts with paddles and software but it still doesn't replace the feel and behavior of a real gearbox and clutch. Compared to a manual gearbox they drive like mush. And they aren't as reliable, either. Forced me to buy the lower trim version just to get the manual gearbox. I'd have bought a WRX except I need the ground clearance. My dirt road gets hungry for undercarriage components during the Spring thaw.
Had an interesting conversation with the service manager at my local Subbie dealer recently about the difference between the CVT and the manual gearbox. His take was that the CVT was more reliable (~100K before replacement) vs a clutch (~75K before replacement). I countered that anyone who couldn't get 125K minimum out of a clutch (assuming competent engineering at the factory) shouldn't be driving a manual transmission equipped vehicle. He looked at me a bit funny as I explained that in EVERY Subaru that I've owned with a manual transmission I've gotten over 150K miles from the clutch. The early EJ25 engines were notorious for needing head gaskets at ~130K or so. When I'd have the head gaskets replaced, I'd opt for a new clutch (you have the engine out already, right?) and a new timing belt and water pump. Then drive it for another 150K or so until it succumbed to rust and body rot.
So far my record is 19 years, 324K miles, one set of head gaskets, one clutch replacement, two water pumps, one exhaust, many sets of tires & brakes. All on one 2001 Subaru Outback with upscale trim. I'd still drive it today if it didn't suffer from a fatal structural failure due to rust. Needless to say, that car didn't owe me a thing when our relationship ended.
OH GOD THAT CVT. HAAAAAATE. ..why yes, I
am driving my wife's Forester today. :: seeeeeethe ::
We still have a Forester bought new in 97. It has had gaskets done. Our main car is a 2019 Outback Limited 3.6R. We love that motor. The one I miss most is the 04 Forester XT w/ tons of STi parts. One I miss the least is the 02 WRX wagon. I hated that 5 speed.
The 3.6R Legacy was a very cool car. No spec.B, but also no head gasket issues..
There was a second gen Forester STi straight from the factory. Unfortunately JDM only and it was lowered a la the Impreza STi. I'm sad they don't even make the XT anymore, though with the CVT it would be a total waste.
I've been hooked on sports cars my whole life. I do intersperse a 4x4 truck in the middle now and then. I started with a 1953 MGTD then upgraded to a Datsun 510 that got the whole treatment. That car would handle! Next was a BMW 2002 then a Datsun 4x4, and then a Nissan 240SX SE. Went from that to a 1998 Tacoma 4x4 then bought a 2006 WRX hatchback that I still have. I now have a 2018 Tacoma 4x4 for road trips but still much prefer driving my WRX to anything I have ever driven including the 240SX.
This thing is just so fast and so stiff and so able to kill you if you don't learn how to drive all wheel drive well.
Nice collection!
A friend who'd owned the Italian and German exotics that we've all looked at longingly, and who knew how to push them took the Toyota out to explore what it could do. His verdict was that it was 95% of the fun of his Porsche for 30% of the price, because the Toyota came alive above 55 mph, but the Porsche only came alive above 120; and as he said, how often do you get above 120?
That sort of thinking and the sorts of roads around where I live are what led me away from Corvettes and Mustangs and other "fast" cars and into loving Miatas and Minis and Lotuses. Well, that and Tesla ruining "fast" for me. 40mph on a curvy road feeling like Andretti for me, thanks.
I paid MSRP for my toy:
One of only 24 ever to be made [That exterior, Long Beach Red, was made only for the first year cars and the interior Morelle Red leather was in combination a production of 53 cars for the year. With the GT3 package Z51 package, down to fewer than 25 will ever be produced].
I say this as a guy who grew up in a Chevrolet household and still works weekends at the Corvette club my dad's been a member of since the 70s: you Corvette guys are wayyyy too obsessed with "this combination of incredibly arcane options and colors makes my Corvette an incredibly rare 1-of-1 limited production!" Said with love, of course. Still a great driving car and very sharp looking.
Oof, I get laid up for a week and a half with the 'rona and I miss almost a hundred pages in this thread, all cars and beer discussion. Couldn't even listen to headphones during it was the worst part! 0 stars, do not recommend.
.
IT'S SO TINY!
