I rented a hyrbid fusion for a week once -- it was so insanely underpowered that i was flooring it everywhere and getting poor mpgs considering. merging onto highways was seriously scary; the car could simply NOT keep up.

the gear dial selection made me lose all faith in humanity.

edit: lol, I just looked it up, the 0-60 is 9 seconds.

 

My daily is a 6 speed '06 G6 GTP
ever since i got my miata, its basically only useful for winters, going fast-ish in a straight line and carrying more than two people.
not having popup headlights is a huge turnoff for me

 

The new-generation Volt is really a nice driving car. Lots of punch around town, and even from 70 moh it accelerates to 90 very nicely. No it's not comparable to a 300+ HP sports sedan, but it's more than enough even out where I live and we have 80 mph speed limits on the freeway here.

I'd daily a Volt in a second.

 

 

and accelerates the same at altitude, because electric

 

'13 135i, DCT, M Sport package, HK stereo, etc. It's quick, comfortable, super nice, white over Coral Red interior. In short, I'm in love with this car. 300/300, tune and exhaust are worth 70/90. Only suck thing is that since it's a '13 I have to remove the DME (in the engine bay behind and below the intake manifold) to be bench flashed the first time before it can be flashed through the OBD-II port after that.

The DCT trans is great driven in anger, but a bit grumpy around town. But I knew that going in. Coils, tune, exhaust, wider wheels and tires, done. I think this car is going to be the perfect mix of quick, nice, capable. Knocked down 1525 miles in 33 hours to go from OKC to Indianapolis and back. Girlfriend was a trooper to go with me. Lunch at Schlafly Bottlewerks in St Louis on the way back was fantastic,

 

9 seconds is the same as a stock 1.6 and quicker than my 2011 Honda Fit. Just requires a little more forethought and planning.

 

Great value cars.
I ran the Nokian Hakkapeliitas stretched the 225s square on the m sport 18s to make sure they really sunk in the snow. (First gear was useless, even at 5% throttle.)

 

You will be pleasantly surprised at the increased steering feel when you throw a larger wheel up front.
Do plugs every 20k.
Do the Water pump + Thermostat at 80k.
Do a downpipe before an axle back.
Report back when you load up a corner and feel the rear isolated cradle deflect before the sidewall/ control arm bushings.
Hoon Responsibly,

 

Yeah, plan is to go with the APEX wheels and do 245/35 front, 265/35 rear PSS or Conti ExtremeContact.
I'll add plugs to the list since it has almost 27k miles on it.
Was planning on doing water pump/thermostat, around 50k since I drive the car so few miles, may even do it sooner, since I want it to be reliable as a german turbo car can be for the occasional HPDE.

What's the solution on the rear cradle? Stiffer bushing? Bracing?

ER oil cooler, ER FMIC, SSR pan for the DCT I'm hoping will be enough to keep heat under control for cool track days........I don't mess with going to the track in June/July/August when it's already 90° at 9am.

 

I love Apex wheels! Was looking to get a set for my Cadillac but they don't have a good offset match for my car yet :(

 

Meet "Dirty Diana", aka my DD

 

'

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-superpro.../spf3946k~spr/

 

That's what I was afraid of, I really, REALLY don't want to drop the rear diff.

I think I may start looking into the E90 M3 rear subframe swap..........bushings, brakes, diff, M3 suspension bits all at once.

 

Same face I made at seeing a running 323 GTX

 

Sweet! Way more stylish than the Subie.

Let me know if you need parts I have a friend with two 323 GTXs here in CO and he hordes parts.

 

pretty much the reason @Splitime got rid of his, iirc

 

That thing was SO much fun, setup as an autox car but on blizzacks in the snow it was just a beast. I get scared of rust on a car I actually like... so I passed the project onto someone who sounded ready to keep it alive longer.

 

What setting do you usually drive in the city? Never felt it was grumpy, but I think my standards for harshness are very low due to my miata being such a POS

Hmm I guess maybe my expectation of grip may be the problem haha

 

Yeah still thinking I will end up with a Ford Focus ST. VW did just announce the Passat GT. Could this be the comeback of the Corrado?!