Automobiles

[rmplum]

Best 3-pedal car for the cyclist and best bang for the buck is the Volkswagen GTI. IMHO. My 2006 is still going strong.

Yeah, the new Golf (even in non GTI trim) is pretty good - I wasn't sure if Matt was considering fwd or not. The Ford Fiesta ST is also quite fun, affordable and has a modicum of utility. Ditto the Mazda3, which has a manual trans option. The new Mazda3 is not quite as much fun to drive as the previous gen, but it's a lot nicer inside.

[Matthew Strongin]

This would be more of a daily driver for my commute, but not our only car. I own an FJ (6 speed FTW) and my wife will always have something practical for taking people around. So room to transport people is good, but not required at all. Being able to fit a bike, just in case, is a bonus. The more different it is from the FJ, the better. I also don't care about luxury features. For reference, here are some of the cars I've had over the years that fit a similar purpose. All manuals, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

- Early 2000s WRX wagon - probably my favorite car ever.
- Jetti GLI - fun, but a let down after a few years in the WRX.
- Mini Cooper S - I had two. I learned with the first one that they don't float. With the replacement I learned they're nearly impossible to restore to proper function after even a small accident. The torque steer was scary at times, but driving down the highway in a go-kart was a blast.

[Matthew Strongin]

Yeah, the new Golf (even in non GTI trim) is pretty good - I wasn't sure if Matt was considering fwd or not. The Ford Fiesta ST is also quite fun, affordable and has a modicum of utility. Ditto the Mazda3, which has a manual trans option. The new Mazda3 is not quite as much fun to drive as the previous gen, but it's a lot nicer inside.

Interesting options...I had thought about the Mazda3, but heard the new one isn't as much fun as the previous gen. When my wife and I started dating she had a little Ford Focus SVT. That car was about as cheap as it gets on the inside and was way more fun to drive than it should have been at that price.

[jitahs]

The difference between the way the Fiesta ST and Mazda 3 are sprung is enormous, the difference between tuning on a glass-smooth "proving" ground and the real, rim-denting world. I was shocked how noisy it was and its jittery-ness, every pebble vibrating the ear drum. This coming from an MX-5.


They're also going in opposite directions: the ST is Ford's extreme hot hatch, the 3 Mazda's attempt at upmarketing the segment. Still the 3 can hold it's own against the ST and on a bombed out CA back road swallows most things really well where the ST just skitters across the little ruts and generally loses contact patch, much like the Abarth but moar. Literally, horses for courses.

[liv2bike]

Saw one of these over the weekend. Exactly like this one...x drive and diesel with the M package...exactly as I would build it. Damn. Finally a diesel option to the Jetta. Unless I missed the boat, I didn't realize BMW was offering a diesel 3 series wagon.

CosyVehicleImage.jpg

[sbornia]

Saw one of these over the weekend. Exactly like this one...x drive and diesel with the M package...exactly as I would build it.

But no manual…sad.

[swt]

Saw one of these over the weekend. Exactly like this one...x drive and diesel with the M package...exactly as I would build it. Damn. Finally a diesel option to the Jetta. Unless I missed the boat, I didn't realize BMW was offering a diesel 3 series wagon.

Jesus what happened to this thread...
Anyway, I have a 2014 non-M and it's a pretty freaking awesome car.

[rmplum]

We can only dream...

BMW 1 Series Hatchback spotted in Los Angeles

2012-BMW-1-Series-hatchback.jpg

[Brandon White]

We can only dream...

BMW 1 Series Hatchback spotted in Los Angeles

2012-BMW-1-Series-hatchback.jpg

Can a person buy a car in Mexico or Canada and "import it" to the US? I suppose there are some import taxes associated with that.

[Matthew Strongin]

Can a person buy a car in Mexico or Canada and "import it" to the US? I suppose there are some import taxes associated with that.

I think you also need to make sure it meets US safety and emissions requirements.

[madships]

1 series BMW are very common in the uk, and in all honesty I don't think they are that special. Granted they are RWD when nearly all similar ones are FWD, but there are far more interesting alternatives for similar money. Can you get Renault (specifically renaultsport) in the US?

[jitahs]

1 series BMW are very common in the uk, and in all honesty I don't think they are that special. Granted they are RWD when nearly all similar ones are FWD, but there are far more interesting alternatives for similar money. Can you get Renault (specifically renaultsport) in the US?

NO!!!!!!! I wish. Except it's a Renault.

They'd be a very viable alternative to so many Subies, small Beemers, BRZ/FRS and other hot hatches if so.

Ultimately we Mericans prefer our sporty cars very heavy, expensive and luxurious.

[madships]

build quality is passable at best I admit, but in terms of practicality and driving enjoyment, they are great. if you insist on a small rwd hatchback, may I suggest a clio v6? (before you ask, no, you cant fit a bike in the back).

[jitahs]

The perceived value of a car across cultures could supply enough material for a short-lived sitcom:

"Our U.K. correspondent, Mike Duff, doesn’t think much of BMW diesels, especially the small ones. Recently he was overheard calling them “crap,” which is British shorthand for “not quite as lovely as the alternatives.” Duff wonders why some Americans get all frothy about a 3-series diesel when they’re common as cats in Europe, where they’re the preferred mount of widows, vicars, airport taxi drivers, and other people who want BMW prestige and luxury on the slowest, most frugal possible terms. In Duff’s estimation, a 328d is as close as BMW comes to building a Buick Verano."

[sk_tle]

Diesel used to be very frugals and reliable, at the expense of being very dirty and rough. Manufacturers put a lot of engineering to make them less dirty/noisy/less prone to vibrations and in the end they have become much less reliable.

The most common issue with diesels is related to the madatory Exhaust Gas Regulations systems.

Add to that the studies linking diesel exhaust particules in the air to cancers and diesel becomes less and less interesting.

[sk_tle]

On an another note, my father had a chance to look at the papers in the old family house last week-end and found the serial number of the Bugatti type 57SC Gangloff of my grand uncle then grandfather. He found it back in a Bonhams sale (5.2M$ !) in 2009. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17327/lot/243/

Apparently, they didn't know the story about it in the 1943-1948 years, exactly when it was in the hand of my family. According to my late grandfather it was taken over by the germans in 1943 for Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel then Wehrmacht commander in Paris. It was stolen back by the french and my family kept it hidden in a barn until the end of the war. My grandfather auctionned it in 1948 with other cars.

What a gorgeous car.

[jitahs]

Jaw. Dropping. The story, the car, everything.

[jitahs]

Can a person buy a car in Mexico or Canada and "import it" to the US? I suppose there are some import taxes associated with that.

I think on the Jay's Car Show they had one with a 90 day restriction.

[Brandon White]

I think on the Jay's Car Show they had one with a 90 day restriction.

Read a little more. You need a signed form from customs and the epa certifying the emissions meet our laws and stuff. There is only a 2.5% tax for consumer automobiles. I'm sure there are other fees and I'm guessing the timeline for approval is slow, as is anything from the federal government. Could be a cool way to get a tiny MB A-Class or a 1-Series.

[jitahs]

Read a little more. You need a signed form from customs and the epa certifying the emissions meet our laws and stuff. There is only a 2.5% tax for consumer automobiles. I'm sure there are other fees and I'm guessing the timeline for approval is slow, as is anything from the federal government. Could be a cool way to get a tiny MB A-Class or a 1-Series.

Must be more to it I think, some hidden gotcha. Otherwise all of us 10% tax Californians would fold in a trip to Michoacan to pick up our new cars from the factory like folks used to do with Volvos et. al. Hey their carnitas are fantastic and close to Baja...