GR86

If I had to buy something tomorrow? Golf GTI. It's sporty enough and in a practical package. And I'm a sucker for the clean, simple exterior design. Unfortunately, the 6-speed manual is going away after the 2024 model year.

If my car died tomorrow I'd be looking at 30 year old cars. New cars don't excite me much. My commute is 15 minutes and I need something to occasionally haul big stuff for the house. Currently driving a lifted 99 Legacy wagon. Once I catch up with deferred maintenance (about $2k) the car will be perfect for my needs and reliable.

Looking at your list it looks like you want something on the sporty side. Do you ever to haul kids, groceries, etc?

My only comment for your choices is a bout the the Kia. I don't believe they try to do the right thing for their customers. They never took full responsibility for the exploding engines. Now with the "Kia Boys" hack they left customers on their own, again. I was caught up in the engine fiasco but my Kia is higher end so not easy to steal. The streets in my area were littered with stolen/trashed Kias for a while but I think the kids ran through the supply.

I think I've decided if/when I get a new car it'll be an EV. I'm hoping the lineup will diversify beyond SUVs/crossovers by that point...

Recent Miata’s seem like they would be in good company with your other picks

If I had to choose right now... probably something boring like a Subaru Legacy.

My car should hold out at least another 6, 8, or maybe even 10 years, though. I hope that small city trucks catch on by then.

The Mavrick wasn't a phenomenon, but people seem to like them. The Santa Cruz is weird looking, but I'm here for what it's trying to do. From what I know about the Stout, that seems like it'll be pretty cool.

Keep shrinking them, I say! Hell, let's go full ute & bring back the El Camino or the Ranchero. I'd love that.

I'd spend $75,000 on overhauling my car.

The 2002 Subaru Outback was perfect.

Well theres a 67 Mustang with a 289 on craigslist right now for 3 grand. No ac, not much interior, first gear slips, and theres rust.

So that.

Biggest thing for me is way too many models have had decades of the same fucking design. Same shape. Same engine types. Just new paints parts and fancy cheap LED all over the place.

And when they do let a designer make something new we get the most stupid shit imaginable like the Santa Cruz

If my STI died tomorrow it's getting a built block haha. That car is staying with me to the grave

I’ve had three Jeep wranglers across the past 20 years and I liked them because they were fun to drive, easy to fix, and relatively cheap. That’s not the case anymore so when my current Jeep dies I’ll likely end up in some kind of EV. If money weren’t an issue I would do a new Bronco with 35s but those are insanely priced. If I had no choice and needed a car now I would probably do a used BMW 3 series like the e90 or something.

If I could get one at msrp I would get the GR Corolla hands down. It is the coolest hatch in recent years other than possibly the focus rs.

Anyone have cool electric picks?

If my current car died tomorrow… I’d probably buy a 20ish year old car. Maybe an Acura Integra, TL, or a Honda Civic SI. Don’t think I could afford much newer than that and still have fun with it the way I want to.

Honestly, my main goal is to stick to what I’ve got, and pick up an old Honda Insight for daily driving. Of course, there are more practical cars to get, but I like what I like.

If I had to pick new cars, probably a brand new Civic

Rather than list a bunch of cars let's get a list of needs, wants, and nice to haves so we can make an actual suggestion?

If my car died tomorrow I'd be pissed as hell, but I'd upgrade it with a 2nd gen MazdaSpeed 3. Planning to upgrade this summer assuming the budget allows.

Originally I wanted a Speed6, but seeing all the electronic and rust issues my standard 6 has I don't think it's a viable long-term car.

I always though a Mustang with the smaller engine (310 hp) would be fun. The lower weight should improve handling and 310hp would still be plenty of fun.

Not from the US but I felt like sharing. I would get a Renault Clio station wagon It's about the right size for me and I can do some decent road trips through all of Europe with it. I currently drive a Smart and it would be a gigantic upgrade.

I'm ready for another Mustang even though they aren't the most practical. About a 2016, I don't like the new ones.

If my 2015 Mustang GT (base 6MT, non performance-pack) got t-boned by a dump truck tomorrow, I'd buy another 2015-2017 Mustang GT base. I might try to find a Premium. The 2018-2023 looks a bit better, can have active exhaust, and has marginally more power, but they screwed up the manual gear ratios; it's viable in automatic.

It's fast, loud, comfortable, surprisingly economical, and has a big trunk. It's not really a sports car (hence omitting the performance pack), but it's a damn fine grand tourer and a very livable daily driver.

I've tried a lot of the other options, for durations ranging from a test drive to a few years.

• Hot hatches are fun if you drive like an asshole but don't feel special if you drive them normally. Some people love that aspect, but personally I think it makes them boring too often.
• The GR86 is an absolute riot if you live near twisty roads and punishing if you don't.
• Corvettes feel huge and unwieldy in traffic even though they're not that big. The lack of even token back seats makes them a lot harder to live with, too.
• Camaros have lousy visibility.
• The Challenger drives like a moderately-quick truck.
• Kia dealers treat the Stinger like it's a Ferrari, so good luck buying a new one.
• The WRX is still decent, but I think it also suffers from the hot hatch syndrome where it only feels special when you drive it hard.
• I haven't driven a Z. My instinct is that it'll be years before the price gets reasonable on a new one, but the old models might be fun if you don't need back seats.
• I haven't driven a GR Corolla. No idea if it'll have the hot hatch problem or not, but I can't find one to try anyway.