Had a lot of fun on the "twisties".... in my Mazda 3 sedan.
02-21-2018, 11:36 PM
#32
Good advice! Would love a manual GTI but wife can't drive manual.
I was thinking of a newer WRX, but the headroom is atrocious for my height, and the turbo lag was a NIGHTMARE. It sucked the fun out of the car. And the auto was so slushy that I don't think it'd be proper fun without a manual.
I was thinking of a newer WRX, but the headroom is atrocious for my height, and the turbo lag was a NIGHTMARE. It sucked the fun out of the car. And the auto was so slushy that I don't think it'd be proper fun without a manual.
I have a '15 GTI with DSG in the family fleet. In D mode, it's like a Golf, but louder (fake Soundaktor noise). In S mode, it's a frantic little crazy car that makes me want to run from the cops. And manual mode works as-expected. I'm a fan.
02-21-2018, 11:50 PM
#33
Honda has always been the top of the line in each sector it competed. check out doug's latest video on the honda passport minivan. my brother has it. it's seriously impressive.
and the accord actually is one of the best cars on the road year in and out. i think the may have lost their way w the bucktooth acuras but i would think Honda should definitely be on your list ka
and the accord actually is one of the best cars on the road year in and out. i think the may have lost their way w the bucktooth acuras but i would think Honda should definitely be on your list ka
02-22-2018, 02:13 AM
#34
So I called to get a payoff quote. To buy the car out in April, it’ll cost about $12.7K (before taxes). 2015 with let’s call it likely around 15K miles at the time (we’re allotted 36K). The car has a dent in the front from a fender bender she got in, and otherwise has normal wear and tear for its age and mileage. Mazda allots us $1K in “allowance” of which they’ll take care of that amount. No way to know yet whether we’ll go over that amount, but will know soon. Also, there will be a disposition fee to return the car to them and not lease or buy another Mazda.
Seems like a decent deal. At the same time, would like to find something different and maybe cooler. But won’t find anything like it for $12.7K especially that I have the personal history on, I can tell you that.
Seems like a decent deal. At the same time, would like to find something different and maybe cooler. But won’t find anything like it for $12.7K especially that I have the personal history on, I can tell you that.
We loved everything about our 2016 Mazda 6 GT - the loaded one. Everything except its power. Not slow, well maybe slow...yeah it was slow. That was the reason my wife traded it in on an X5 twin Turbo V8 XDrive50i. Went from 35MPG to about 19. Worth it. This thing is fast... as in in slam-you-in-the-seats-while-passing-cars-on-the-freeway fast. I hear the new Mazda 6 has 250HP, way up from the 187 ours had.
02-22-2018, 02:40 AM
#35
This is very random, and might sound funny to some (and less funny to others who've driven it), but we have a 2015 Mazda 3 i Sport sedan (base spec with screen/tech package basically) which I took on some windy roads I frequent in my 911, and just continue to be surprised at how well done this car is in the fun-to-drive and handling department. Mind you, it's a stock suspension, small wheels, nothing fancy whatsoever. The lease is about to be up, and I'm trying to have a bit of fun with it before we return it (we've put on WAY under the allotted miles 
).
What's funny is that when getting into it after getting out of my Macan, this car felt like getting into a feather-light sports car (it's nowhere near Macan capable at the limit, but at casual speeds it's much more tossable and go-karty car). Now with my 911, getting into it feels like getting into a serene marshmallow of a large sedan.
Onto the recent drive: Even with its newfound relative largeness to my senses, thanks to my 911, I'm constantly amazed at how much feeling Mazda engineered into this car. I drive my 911 as it's meant to be driven, have driven a Ferrari as well as multiple Porsche's on track, etc. And honestly I can't recall a car where I can tell and feel where its wheels are when driving spiritedly so well. I feel like I can draw a line with it way better than most cars. I get so carried away at how precisely I can shave an apex that one time I heard a loud THWAP while being too daring on a desolate road, late at night, while carving a corner. Turns out I SO CLOSELY grazed a lower cement border that what sounded like a collision ended up being an extremely close rub of the hubcap. So close that it almost knocked the hubcap off. I would NEVER try that in a more expensive car, for obvious reasons, but also because even in my 911, I'm not confident enough in knowing where my wheels are.
Steering feel is excellent (I recall when the new Mazda3 came out, on the BMW 3 Series boards an owner started a thread entitled "BMW, call Mazda about steering feel"), which goes an extremely long way in providing an intuitive experience.
I feel like this car is a solid embodiment (not as much as, say, a GTI of course, but cheaper, and somewhat close) of the differences between "driving a slow car fun" and "driving a fast car fun." Push this 3 hard and it starts to feel like an appliance sedan that can't handle worth a damn. But you can have fun with it at normal driving speeds, if you're on a windy road. My Macan was the exact opposite. Felt large, disconnected, heavy and fluffy at normal speeds. It started to get really fun and responsive when you started pushing it.
The 911 is a unique beast, as we all know. My 2012.5 C2 with PASM, PTV+, S/C, HRE's, H&R's, Sharkwerks exhaust is an absolute THRILL at anything past mellow traffic speeds, largely thanks to the screaming exhaust that makes any drive a sensory joy if you let it sing enough. But the FASTER you drive it, the more visceral and exciting it gets in a dynamic sense, because the limits are so high that it's when you really tap into its hyperness that you appreciate what it's capable of. This Mazda, at its whopping $215 a month, with its lethargic slushbox that's as inspiring and exciting as a conversation with a nun in a library, and its powerless motor, is fun enough to drive at mellow speeds that here I am writing a text book about it on a 911 forum. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.
---------------------------------------------
Now onto the question part. I obviously drew out what I like about this car. We want something with more room than a 911 (but a small sedan suffices) to compliment the 911. It costs $215 a month to lease. We don't drive it enough to really feel compelled to get a much more expensive car to compliment the 911. Anyone have a good recommendation on something that's a step up, but at not too much higher a cost? Open to leasing again (especially since the 911 is paid for), but would probably prefer to buy since we won't use up all the allotted leasing miles. Since it's a second/wife's car, I don't really care what segment of a car it is, I'm looking at everything.
I see lots of people say that the GTI is the perfect 911 compliment. And I agree without even having one. I LOVE the GTI, the perfect car in many ways. It's just maybe a little too short and the wife thinks it's funny looking. Otherwise I would be almost as excited to have one of those as I am toward my beloved 911. Open to any prospects.
).What's funny is that when getting into it after getting out of my Macan, this car felt like getting into a feather-light sports car (it's nowhere near Macan capable at the limit, but at casual speeds it's much more tossable and go-karty car). Now with my 911, getting into it feels like getting into a serene marshmallow of a large sedan.
Onto the recent drive: Even with its newfound relative largeness to my senses, thanks to my 911, I'm constantly amazed at how much feeling Mazda engineered into this car. I drive my 911 as it's meant to be driven, have driven a Ferrari as well as multiple Porsche's on track, etc. And honestly I can't recall a car where I can tell and feel where its wheels are when driving spiritedly so well. I feel like I can draw a line with it way better than most cars. I get so carried away at how precisely I can shave an apex that one time I heard a loud THWAP while being too daring on a desolate road, late at night, while carving a corner. Turns out I SO CLOSELY grazed a lower cement border that what sounded like a collision ended up being an extremely close rub of the hubcap. So close that it almost knocked the hubcap off. I would NEVER try that in a more expensive car, for obvious reasons, but also because even in my 911, I'm not confident enough in knowing where my wheels are.
Steering feel is excellent (I recall when the new Mazda3 came out, on the BMW 3 Series boards an owner started a thread entitled "BMW, call Mazda about steering feel"), which goes an extremely long way in providing an intuitive experience.
I feel like this car is a solid embodiment (not as much as, say, a GTI of course, but cheaper, and somewhat close) of the differences between "driving a slow car fun" and "driving a fast car fun." Push this 3 hard and it starts to feel like an appliance sedan that can't handle worth a damn. But you can have fun with it at normal driving speeds, if you're on a windy road. My Macan was the exact opposite. Felt large, disconnected, heavy and fluffy at normal speeds. It started to get really fun and responsive when you started pushing it.
The 911 is a unique beast, as we all know. My 2012.5 C2 with PASM, PTV+, S/C, HRE's, H&R's, Sharkwerks exhaust is an absolute THRILL at anything past mellow traffic speeds, largely thanks to the screaming exhaust that makes any drive a sensory joy if you let it sing enough. But the FASTER you drive it, the more visceral and exciting it gets in a dynamic sense, because the limits are so high that it's when you really tap into its hyperness that you appreciate what it's capable of. This Mazda, at its whopping $215 a month, with its lethargic slushbox that's as inspiring and exciting as a conversation with a nun in a library, and its powerless motor, is fun enough to drive at mellow speeds that here I am writing a text book about it on a 911 forum. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.
---------------------------------------------
Now onto the question part. I obviously drew out what I like about this car. We want something with more room than a 911 (but a small sedan suffices) to compliment the 911. It costs $215 a month to lease. We don't drive it enough to really feel compelled to get a much more expensive car to compliment the 911. Anyone have a good recommendation on something that's a step up, but at not too much higher a cost? Open to leasing again (especially since the 911 is paid for), but would probably prefer to buy since we won't use up all the allotted leasing miles. Since it's a second/wife's car, I don't really care what segment of a car it is, I'm looking at everything.
I see lots of people say that the GTI is the perfect 911 compliment. And I agree without even having one. I LOVE the GTI, the perfect car in many ways. It's just maybe a little too short and the wife thinks it's funny looking. Otherwise I would be almost as excited to have one of those as I am toward my beloved 911. Open to any prospects.
02-22-2018, 02:45 AM
#36
Our Abarth was more fun, in many ways, than my GT4. No joke. Also shockingly roomy for four adults inside (in a pinch, and two need to be 5'6 to maybe 5'10, but if they are you'll be surprised by how comfortable they are...it's like magic). When we bought our 2013, they couldn't give them away. Got $7k off sticker ($24k) with no dickering. Felt so bad, I actually bought an extended warranty—and it proved to be Honda reliable over two years and 18,000 miles. Our nanny bought it and is well over 20,000 miles with no problems.
The Mini is a better car. So is the FiST. And the GTI/Golf R is definitely a nicer/better car. But I would do another Abarth. Just gets under your skin. Driving position is very strange (but that feeling goes away after a while, kind of like it does with your first 993, and I even grew to like sitting up high...and I usually like to sit as low as I can in a car), shifter is so-so, gauges in the early cars are a hot mess, and the turning circle is like the Exxon Valdez's (they had to put limiters in for the fat tires), but maaaaaaaaaaaan was it fun to drive and useful. Great seats, great engine, really fun handling up to 6/ or 7/10ths (all you need on the street), decent brakes unless you try to keep a well-driven 997 Carrera S on R-compound tires in sight on a very twisty road (which the thing could actually do...until the brakes started smelling like they were going to catch on fire), and a TON of interesting aftermarket stuff out there. Had I kept it, I would have done Neuspeed springs with Konis, a bigger rear bar, a Neuspeed shifter, Assetto Corse 17s, and 6-piston Wilwood brakes.
This is making me want to buy my old car back, or go find another.
). With the 911 it may be too many "toys" for someone who barely can get enough of his 911 as it is. However, if we do eventually get room for a third car, I will definitely run toward it.Funny you mention that about the strange driving position of the 993. Every time I sit in an air cooled 911, it feels SO weird in regards to position. You're right up to the windshield, the car is fitted around you in a very unconventional way, and even the dash doesn't feel as that traditionally driver oriented (very straight-across, not coddled around you as some newer "driver oriented interiors" try to be). I honestly always initially feel "this doesn't FEEL like an engaging position." Of course, the air cooled 911's are living proof that unconventionality is genius, as the car and position prove to be exactly right and engaging.
Also SUPER funny you mention that about how comedically the Fiat can fit people into it. I now remember my cousins Fiat (not Abarth, but a loaded lower trim) in Paris, which was such a joy to be driven around in, I came back home and started searching for them online. My initial setback was like yours: The small size and crumple zones (or lack thereof) i.e crash safety. But what a fun car. One time there were like 5 fully grown adults (maybe even 6) and we ALL piled into it. It looked like one of those clown car skits where everyone disappears into this tiny vessel.
Honda has always been the top of the line in each sector it competed. check out doug's latest video on the honda passport minivan. my brother has it. it's seriously impressive.
and the accord actually is one of the best cars on the road year in and out. i think the may have lost their way w the bucktooth acuras but i would think Honda should definitely be on your list ka
and the accord actually is one of the best cars on the road year in and out. i think the may have lost their way w the bucktooth acuras but i would think Honda should definitely be on your list ka
2016 Golf R as my daily driver. Great car, but I don't think the handling is all that spectacular.
My brother is just now getting rid of his daily driver 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 (first-gen Mazda 3) for a new Golf R, and we both agree his car is much snappier, better turn in, steering feel, feedback, etc.
My brother is just now getting rid of his daily driver 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 (first-gen Mazda 3) for a new Golf R, and we both agree his car is much snappier, better turn in, steering feel, feedback, etc.
They've done it before - I had a 5MT '90 Acura Legend Coupe that was amazing V-Tech NA 6Cyl that ran like a top and wound out when I wanted to. Suspension was very well done as well. And that car became the 2001 Accord Coupe - which with a suspension upgrade and a $25 shift link upgrade was killer too. They've been crap since...but maybe back on track...fingers crossed.
I'll say that outside of a Cayenne or X5M - my (slightly modded) Acura '15 MDX SH-AWD DD is a blast to drive. Too bad no manual.
I'll say that outside of a Cayenne or X5M - my (slightly modded) Acura '15 MDX SH-AWD DD is a blast to drive. Too bad no manual.
Speaking of Acura.... a late 90's Integra Type R in yellow.... talk about a legend! I'm sure those things hold very well on the used market.
Depending on the type of milage you put on it... go with the Maserati Ghibli !!
If you see a guy driving down the PCH in 2nd gear with everyone else flying by... that would be me
Honestly I love the sound of that car!... just goes to show ya it IS possible to make a turbo sound GOOD.
The styling is pretty good too, interior... not so much.
With 3K down you can get one for $400-ish a month.
OK granted the turbo lag will kill you, it's nuts.
It's a (small-ish) 4-door like your looking for, oh and... it's Maserati
If you see a guy driving down the PCH in 2nd gear with everyone else flying by... that would be me
Honestly I love the sound of that car!... just goes to show ya it IS possible to make a turbo sound GOOD.
The styling is pretty good too, interior... not so much.
With 3K down you can get one for $400-ish a month.
OK granted the turbo lag will kill you, it's nuts.
It's a (small-ish) 4-door like your looking for, oh and... it's Maserati
You know what, now that you mention it, I started thinking about how their terrible resale can be used as a benefit! I wonder how much I can pick a pre owned one up??
02-22-2018, 02:54 AM
#37
I totally agree and think you have your "most sensible" answer right there. Now, I can always come up with the sensible answer, it is just rare that I follow through with them.
We loved everything about our 2016 Mazda 6 GT - the loaded one. Everything except its power. Not slow, well maybe slow...yeah it was slow. That was the reason my wife traded it in on an X5 twin Turbo V8 XDrive50i. Went from 35MPG to about 19. Worth it. This thing is fast... as in in slam-you-in-the-seats-while-passing-cars-on-the-freeway fast. I hear the new Mazda 6 has 250HP, way up from the 187 ours had.
We loved everything about our 2016 Mazda 6 GT - the loaded one. Everything except its power. Not slow, well maybe slow...yeah it was slow. That was the reason my wife traded it in on an X5 twin Turbo V8 XDrive50i. Went from 35MPG to about 19. Worth it. This thing is fast... as in in slam-you-in-the-seats-while-passing-cars-on-the-freeway fast. I hear the new Mazda 6 has 250HP, way up from the 187 ours had.
I agree about the power. Honestly, the thing my 3 lacks the most in terms of truly maximizing its chassis' engagement prowess and potential is the transmission. After being spoiled with a PDK, the Mazda slushbox just does not inspire you to want to do anything but drive it boringly and lazily. Also, the engine could use some more HP indeed. I don't need anything crazy, but 200 or so (I think mine has 155 HP), mated to a nicer tranny would be nice.
*I* don't need a DD, especially since I drive my 911 so little even as a DD (most everything I do day to day is local to me) rendering most of my time in it for pleasure and during weekends, But the wife wants a car too.
02-22-2018, 07:32 AM
#38
Ah yes you're right in that sense. The gauges do look a bit cartoonish, and it would have made a lot of sense having speed and clock switched around.
02-22-2018, 09:10 AM
#39
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I don't mind that for a sports car but for a daily I need to take calls on bluetooth and drive conference calls.
When my ex wife left (she saidI was too opinionated if you can believe that....) she took our 2005 Honda Van. I LOVED that thing. Wife.2 says no minivans and we've aged out of having babies anyway.
See comments about too loud for phone calls. My daughter loves a few hours away so I need something quiet enough to take calls and get work done. Also, need a 4 door daily. The 911 is a great everyday car and I envy those that drive them every day.
I used to be a Honda zealot, then we owned an Odyssey Touring and the build quality just wasn't what it used to be. The thing just fell apart over time, not to mention the run flat tire fiasco that cost us about $3,500. When I was buying my kids a car, I cross shopped the Hondas and the Toyotas and the latter just seemed higher quality, plus they were less expensive. Four years on with a Camry for my son and I know why that car is the best selling car on the road. Not exciting by any means, but what a great car for what it's designed.
See comments about too loud for phone calls. My daughter loves a few hours away so I need something quiet enough to take calls and get work done. Also, need a 4 door daily. The 911 is a great everyday car and I envy those that drive them every day.
