Carshopping, and 4 mini-reviews

"Bryan doesn't drive a 1M" (bryantakespictures) 04/10/2017 at 12:30 • Filed to: None

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First up, the Golf R. I test drove a DSG-equipped Golf R and thought it was the one. Amazing chassis, good power, ridiculously nice interior, very German. Rear-seat space and cargo storage were ok, but on the small side. The DSG is so good, but I just can’t do an automatic, yet. Which leads me to my next test drive.

The closest thing to a manual Golf R on the VW lot was a GTI. I love the golf-ball shift knob, but the shifter was junk. Long, imprecise throws and even though the golf-ball is cool, it’s very plasticky in a way that does not mesh with the rest of the high-quality interior. Come on, VW, put the quality where people will notice it. We spend a lot of time touching our knobs and they should feel nice! Power was noticeably less than the R, but still adequate. The R and the GTI, unfortunately were eliminated mostly because of the terrible shifter, with extra points lost for merely average seating space. I should note here that the dealership experience at the VW dealer was very good. Low pressure and a very knowledgeable salesperson. They didn’t act like the R is made of unicorn farts and fairy tears.

I drove nextdoor to the Subaru dealer, intending on testing an STI. Unfortunately, they had none in stock, so another quality salesperson took me in a test drive in a WRX. The new 2.0 engine is a peach. Unfortunately, the interior in the WRX is not even in the same league as the GTI or R. Not as awful as reviews would lead you to believe, but not exactly good. The shifter was better than the GTI, but just barely. Long throws and vague feel left me with mixed feelings about the WRX. The back seat room was great, and the trunk, while not a hatch, was very roomy. Plenty of room for activities. Handling and acceleration in the WRX were both exciting enough that I preferred it over the Golfs, but that shifter... I planned on finding an STI later, since I liked the WRX size and character a lot.

Next came the Focus RS, and the shittiest dealership experience of the weekend. The salesman couldn’t remember “RS” and kept trying to look up the Focus “SR” and then when we were looking for the cars on the lot, he couldn’t tell the difference between the base Focus and the ST or RS. When we got to the RS (one of 6 on the lot), there were signs all over it saying “no test drives!” The salesperson and the manager confirmed that they wouldn’t do a test drive under any circumstance because nobody’s going to buy a Focus RS with 30 miles on it. I called bullshit on that to no avail, but I decided to drive a Focus ST just to get a feel for the platform. The ST had excellent ergonomics and a fantastic shifter. The interior is high-quality, but not to my taste. Ugly and chunky is how I’d describe it. When it came time to check the rear-seat space, I was shocked to see just how little there was. It was like a reverse TARDIS in there. After a very pushy conversation with the manager haranguing me for not putting money down on the RS without a test drive and “see? this is why we don’t give test drives. You weren’t going to buy it anyway.” I told him I’m not buying it because I didn’t get a test drive (and the back seat was way too small anyway).

The search continues... (or continued, because I have a new car as I’m writing this)

tl:dr:

Golf R: 7/10 fun, 7/10 practicality, 8/10 interior

GTI (manual): 7/10 fun (+1 for manual, -1 for less power), 7/10 practicality, 7/10 interior

WRX: 8/10 fun, 8/10 practicality, 5/10 interior

Focus RS: 0/10 fun, 4/10 practicality (-1 because hatchback but still no space!), 6/10 interior

Focus ST: 7/10 fun, 4/10 practicality, 5/10 interior

E90M3 > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 12:38

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Did you get rid of the 1er?

vicali > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 12:41

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Still the best;

Vítor > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 12:43

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Maybe a Mini Cooper? You can get it in manual, and there is a 5 door model now. And the Clubman of course

Textured Soy Protein > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 12:44

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My wife has an Impreza with the same basic interior as the WRX. Hers is the cream colored leather with black dash top and carpets (because light-colored carpet in a car is an abomination). It’s not “premium” per se but I’ve never really had complaints about it. It’s functional and nice enough.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Textured Soy Protein 04/10/2017 at 12:48

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The interior is really not bad, it’s just not good enough to be an incentive.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > E90M3 04/10/2017 at 12:50

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Yeah, mentioned it in a previous post. I’ve created offspring. I will miss the 135i horribly, but will probably be sufficiently distracted.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Vítor 04/10/2017 at 12:55

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Too late now, but I had already eliminated Mini with online shopping/reviews. My wife hates the look of Mini’s, so it was starting out handicapped.

Textured Soy Protein > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 12:55

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True. I guess the way I’d put it is the interior is not a reason to not buy the WRX if one is otherwise a fan of the car. Like, I would disagree if someone said, “I thought it was really fun to drive and totally meets what I’m looking for in a car but the interior was a dealbreaker.”

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Textured Soy Protein 04/10/2017 at 13:02

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I think Chevy or Dodge are the only ones who can make an interior that bad. If anything else about the Caliber was good, the interior alone should have dissuaded people.

LongbowMkII > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 13:12

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I’ve recently tested the wrx and gti. I was surprised at how meh the GTI was. Does the sport pack add a better shifter? Because it was bad. The WRX has enough “weeee! booooost!” to make up for some of the shortcomings. The GTI doesn’t.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > LongbowMkII 04/10/2017 at 13:15

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Pretty much how I feel about them.

The GTI was the Autobahn trim, which I think includes everything? Either way, the shifter was garbage and I probably would have gone with the DSG.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 13:20

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you need to find a better ford dealer. i went to my local one and asked to test drive an RS and was upfront about not purchasing today and they tossed me the keys. i mean i still needed a dealer chaperone but they even let me take it up on the highway for a 5 mile loop

Tripper > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 13:32

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Have to agree on the VW manual. Honestly I’ve never driven a VW/Audi manual where I like the feel of the shifter. Even the RS4 feels plasticiky. I’d get yourself in the driver’s seat of an STi before you make a call. They are soooo fun, terrible ride/interior but so much fun.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 04/10/2017 at 13:37

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Yeah, I don’t think it would be hard to find one that would allow a test drive. It’s a $36,000 car, not a Ferrari.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Tripper 04/10/2017 at 13:38

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...spoilers

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 13:42

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If I was in the market, and I may be in a few years I think the standard WRX would be at the top of my list. And screw those ford salespeople, how do they expect to sell a car if they won’t let you drive it. Considering they would let you test drive a $60k F350 king ranch.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 04/10/2017 at 13:49

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I think my immediate response, which probably didn’t help my case was “You know it’s a Focus, right?”

If you don’t need/want a RWD coupe, the WRX is the performance bargain of the century. It’s so much more fun than the GTI or Focus ST, even if it lacks a little in refinement.

camarov6rs > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 13:50

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Timeline for purchase? The Civic Si and Type R are soonish so you might be able to get your hands on one. Idk if the Golf R shifter is different but to me it’s possible because of the different driveline. The biggest downside of the Fords really is the lack of practicality for hot hatches compared to the rest unless your single or 1 of 2.

MossInTheUSA > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 14:02

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I made my Ford dealer give me a RS as a loaner car when my Fusion Sport was in the shop.

That dealer sucks.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > camarov6rs 04/10/2017 at 14:08

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Timeline? Yesterday... I seriously considered the Type R and may regret my choice once reviews of the Type R come out. I’ll post later today to reveal what I ended up with. Oppo loves a slow reveal... I think... right?

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > MossInTheUSA 04/10/2017 at 14:09

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Seriously? That’s fantastic. Kind of makes sense, though, based on the relative prices of the two cars.

uofime-2 > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 15:15

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Saw that one coming haha

Better shifter

better steering

better sounding exhaust

terrible fuel economy on premium

ringlands?

same everything else

ZoopZoopLoops > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 15:29

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I drove a Focus RS recently so I’ll fill in that feedback for the unfortunate dealer you experienced:

It is very fast, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it. It was surprisingly muted from the driver seat. The exhaust is fairly loud from the outside, but a little bit distant from the driver seat. You don’t feel much of the engine, so much so that they put an upshift indicator on the dash screen everytime you exceed 3500 rpm. Granted, I’m used to driving an S2000 so I’m accustomed to hanging at high RPM and letting the engine sound buzz around my skull. In the RS I could be cruising along at 4500 rpm in boost for 5 seconds before looking down and realizing I should upshift.

It was the type of speed when I changed lanes to get around a slower car, revved out two gears for fun, looked down and I was exceeding double the speed limit. It could get me into a lot of trouble because the speed was too easy.

I loved the quick steering rack and I loved the driving dynamics, a little biased to oversteer. Suspension isn’t as supple over bumps as the GTI. The GTI has always had that stiff yet supple suspension. The Focus RS stiff body does get some motion over bumps, but I definitely wouldn’t say harsh.

Absolutely loved the look with the flat gray color. Liked the burbly exhaust note on acceleration, loved the brap-brap-brap backfire when lifting off of the throttle.

Disliked the clutch. You can feel the clutch delay valve at the bottom, and the bite point is very close to the floor so perhaps the cdv is necessary. But not terrible, I could get used to it and forget about it in the long term.

camarov6rs > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 15:36

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Aww I see!!! And no my attention span competes with goldfish!! My guess is Golf R DSG with RS in second

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > ZoopZoopLoops 04/10/2017 at 16:14

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Thanks. I would have seeked one out to drive if I had been happier with the packaging. The rear seat was just too small.

AM3R, lost another burner > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 17:03

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Why not get an E90 335i? Actually, you could get a CPO F30 335i m-sport within budget.

Orrrr, an E90 M3 ;)

E90M3 > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/10/2017 at 18:03

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I didn’t see that post, kinda sucks you have to let the car go but sounds like it’s worth it.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > AM3R, lost another burner 04/10/2017 at 19:02

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All good recommendations, and I like BMW, but I wanted to try something different. The M3 was massively tempting, though.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > E90M3 04/10/2017 at 19:04

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I could have waited until she’s born just to see how bad it would have been, but I’m pretty anxious about all of the non-car stuff. I don’t want to have to car shop while I’m figuring everything else out.

AM3R, lost another burner > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 04/11/2017 at 00:10

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Ah no problem, I don’t blame you for wanting to try something else. What do you have in mind?

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > AM3R, lost another burner 04/11/2017 at 09:59

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I ended up buying an STI, which I will be posting about shortly.