Automobiles

[murphy]

ha! i had seen them and read some reviews which all were pretty, "meh" about the Veloster... then I rented one in San Francisco because it was the cheapest shittiest thing they had and I figured I'd try it instead of the Fiesta or the Abarth or whatever the Yaris or whatever else was in row D at the airport-- and i was pleasantly surprised. i really liked the way the navigation and phone integration worked right off the bat- the car has really good visibility, it handles fine. it wasn't any more lifeless than other cars with no power or torque and it was comfortable. the stupid three door design was actually pretty practical as well.

if i was in the market for a hot hatch- i'd look at the Turbo R. It is kinda sorta a gti for golf money with better electronics.

but i'm not- instead i'm gutting the interior of my Mustang and putting in a four point cage, some cheap fixed back seats, and deciding what i should do about ripping out this horrible early 2000s DVD player radio satellite nav thing, and all the stupid vibrating wires that are associated with it. i'm going to try to put the giant subwoofer a and the dumb trunk mounted amplifier in Kate's BMW 328i because she announced to me the other day- that her dream, since she was a kid, was to have a really good and loud car stereo system. i had no clue she wanted that- and she had no clue it was possible to put something like that in her car.

Assuming the hypothetical Veloster would be a manual, I would stay away from it. I test drove a few of their sporty cars with manuals (have driven manuals since 2005), and they had all the feel and subtlety of a brick. I never chirp my tires, but that is literally all I could do in that car. Maybe that has changed recently, but my experience was less than positive.

[sailor]

iPod, iPhone. I use my phone for everything in the vehicle. I think the Audi used a proprietary cable to pair up with MMI. I don’t care for BT pairing in the car for music. I’m pretty simple. I want an AWD wagon that can handle team support and not be bogged down under load.

I don’t think an EZ Up will fit in a Veloster. Not that I’d ever consider one.

I don't think an ez-up will find in an allroad, you might need to go up a size to an a6/5 series / e-class / volvo v70

[Blue Jays]

Was out riding the other day and saw that very sharp Volvo V90 wagon on the road.
Boy howdy is that a *really* attractive car when seen live. Bigger than I had anticipated.

[rmplum]

Dug this out of the shop this week for a refresher drive after a few weeks with the non RA.



Oh the steering. How quickly you forget.

[dgaddis]

Was out riding the other day and saw that very sharp Volvo V90 wagon on the road.
Boy howdy is that a *really* attractive car when seen live. Bigger than I had anticipated.

I've never paid much attention to Volvo. Visiting their website and looking at the V90, good grief at the options! There's six trim levels. Each of which with a bevy of engine/drivetrain combos to choose from. 3 different diesel engines, 3 'petrol' engines, and a hybrid option - and all of those are offered with a few different tire choices. I count 22 different engine/drivetrain/tire combos.

And no pricing listed.

[davids]

I've never paid much attention to Volvo. Visiting their website and looking at the V90, good grief at the options! There's six trim levels. Each of which with a bevy of engine/drivetrain combos to choose from. 3 different diesel engines, 3 'petrol' engines, and a hybrid option - and all of those are offered with a few different tire choices. I count 22 different engine/drivetrain/tire combos.

And no pricing listed.

You must be looking at a different "Volvo": Try your country's site, and choose the build option for all the time-eating entertainment you want.

[Too Tall]

Dug this out of the shop this week for a refresher drive after a few weeks with the non RA.



Oh the steering. How quickly you forget.

Geeze, what a dinosaur. Is that a two stroke engine ;)

[Matthew Strongin]

Dug this out of the shop this week for a refresher drive after a few weeks with the non RA.



Oh the steering. How quickly you forget.

Ok, you need to tell me how it compares to the stock STI and make sure there's no reason for me to regret not trying to find an RA.

[rmplum]

Ok, you need to tell me how it compares to the stock STI and make sure there's no reason for me to regret not trying to find an RA.

I usually beef with them, but in this case I think the press write ups (find Johnny Lieberman's or Matt Farah's) hit it on the head pretty solidly.

It's not like the RA is a no-cost option. is it better/sharper? Yup. The steering is night and day different. But if you aren't at the track a handful of times per year, I wouldn't sweat it too much. That's a lot of wing overkill for trips to daycare and the grocery store...

Replacement wheels for the RA also cost a FORTUNE (in Subaru Bux). So there's that to help you sleep at night.

[Blue Jays]

”...That's a lot of wing overkill for trips to daycare and the grocery...”

Very convenient for travel since you can touch-up a shirt, jacket, or dress with an iron before a wedding or job interview.

[jerk]

that RA is bad ass....

i remember a bunch of years ago Mitsubishi offered a Lancer only in white with no wing or aero nonsense- it also had no power windows, no AC and no radio and I wanted one- but the mitsubishi dealer was a fucking idiot so i bought a 1.8t GTI instead.

[jerk]

that RA is bad ass....

i remember a bunch of years ago Mitsubishi offered a Lancer only in white with no wing or aero nonsense- it also had no power windows, no AC and no radio and I wanted one- but the mitsubishi dealer was a fucking idiot so i bought a 1.8t GTI instead.

an perusing the internet shows that those Evo RS are still worth the 25k they cost new 15 years ago. Weird.

[Lionel]

Saw a GT3 touring today in the flesh. This is one bad ass car.

[Matthew Strongin]

So there's that to help you sleep at night.

That helps. I love my STI too much to have buyer's remorse.

[dgaddis]

FYI, Costco has an auto referral program, apparently it's the largest in the country. Costco Auto Program The way it works:

.....

More as this story develops.

Closing the loop on this :: bought myself a car over the weekend. Never heard back from the original salesman at the Costco approved dealer, so I talked to the sales manager and got him to send me a quote to order a base model Ridgeline. They didn't have one in stock, in fact, almost no one does because they mostly stock the higher end trim levels that sticker for about $37k. There was only two on dealer lots in the entire southeast - one happened to be here in town. I went and test drove it Saturday morning, really liked it, and asked if they could match the Costco price. The truck had absolutely no options or add ons other than tinted windows, which is exactly what I wanted. They got within ~$150 of the Costco price, so I took it home with me. Sticker on it was $30,9xx before taxes and fees and whatnot and I got it out the door for $30,7xx, which I was reasonably happy with.

Fits the road bike in the back seat without taking off a wheel. MTBs will ride in the bed, already got a DIY rack started just need to order some Rocky Mounts. I can put my hitch mounted rack on it and comfortably carry three others plus their bikes and gear.

[Too Tall]

Nice, I see what you are doing there.

[rmplum]

Fits the road bike in the back seat without taking off a wheel. MTBs will ride in the bed, already got a DIY rack started just need to order some Rocky Mounts. I can put my hitch mounted rack on it and comfortably carry three others plus their bikes and gear.

Excellent. That's all the truck most people need. I drove our 2017 Silverado 1500 around this weekend for thrift shop runs. What a boat. Rides smoother than our 2015 F150 but I dislike it more in every other way.

[rmplum]

an perusing the internet shows that those Evo RS are still worth the 25k they cost new 15 years ago. Weird.

My neighbor has one of those, though it's quite beat. Garbage interior (all of those Evo VIII, Evo IV, etc) other than the terrific seats, but they handle and steer so well out of the box. Like a fast, AWD Miata.

[dgaddis]

An EVO 8 was my dream car while in HS and college - it was cheap and hauled ass, especially with a few mods. I remember Sport Compact Car did an EVO special one month, they pitted a bunch of EVOs against one another in various tests. The mildest car was pimp stock other than a ~$1200ish kit from Vishnu Tuning (cat back exhaust, boost controller, and ECU reflash if my memory is good) and it did 0-60 in like 3.8 seconds - I WANTED THAT.

But by the time I got out of college and could buy a car they were up to the EVO X - it was a lot more expensive, ~350lbs heavier, it was slower because it had the same HP from a new engine that was a joint venture with Chrysler (ewwwww) and it was uglier. I didn't want to buy a used one because I know how people treat those cars haha. I ended up with the more economically sound choice of a Civic Si sedan with the K20 engine - kept it for 8yrs and loved it. It wasn't super fast, but it was a lot of fun to drive and got pretty good gas mileage and was super easy to live with as a daily driver. I put some Eibach springs on it, some bits to correct the camber from lowering it a bit, and a big rear sway bar, and it handled like it was on RAILS but didn't beat you up at 5am on the way to work. You could easily get the rear end to step out. I also liked that it looked like all the other Civics, other than the color, wheels, and the Si emblems (which I removed). No crazy wings or scoops or anything.

The version right after mine all came with a red interior - the local dealer had a Flinstone push-pop orange one...with the red interior, ugliest color combo ever.

The newest Si's have a 1.5L turbo non-VTEC engine. Where's the fun in that?

[jerk]

Saw a GT3 touring today in the flesh. This is one bad ass car.

my pal's GT3 gets delivered next week. Only a six speed though- doesn't have the 7 that the car that is being replaced had.