Quote:
Originally Posted by pylon
Save 8 grand, buy a GTI with a performance pack, get an APR tune, and laugh at the golf R in your rear view mirror. Plus you can get that sweet, sweet Jacky plaid interior. But...but AWD!! The performance pack gets you a full locking mechanical diff, and adaptive suspension. So traction and torque steer are non-factors.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
If it was my money, I'd probably go GTI as well (AWD is nice, but not imperative for me).
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One of the safe ways you can have fun with a good handling car on city streets is to punch it once you're at the apex of a on-ramp as the curve opens up.
There is nothing more disheartening than giving it full throttle and having your tires light up and having your front end start to plow.
With rear or AWD, you need insane power for this to be a problem, and if you do break loose, you're having tail happy fun (or terror) not a pedestrian plow towards the shoulder until you let off.
My list:
2002 Oldsmobile Alero (the only thing I could afford to insure. Wanting really bad to be a ricer, I still made it an awful, awful teenage joke of a car)
2005 Cobalt SS (this car handled incredibly, but had enough torque to create the above problem, being FWD)
2004 Audi S4 (redid the entire suspension to get rid of the oversteer. I miss it every day. Sold it before an $8000 timing issue reared it's head)
2003 BMW 325xit (wife's car she brought to the fold. I mention it, because I fix it. Constantly. Surprisingly awesome to drive. Huge piece of crap.)
2007 Volvo S40 T5 AWD (A big "meh" in all departments)
All cars above were manuals. I am sad that looking at anything newer, it seems that requirement might have to go away.
After driving the S4 for a while, I also vow to never drive a FWD car again. I looked forward to every on ramp and every snowfall in that car. I come close to buying another one often. We are looking for a newer manual, AWD wagon, but looks like if we want anything newer than 2011 we need to drop one of those requirements.