Another "What car should I buy?" thread.

So I’m looking to get a new car. Right now the top contenders are the Subaru Impreza WRX Sport Wagon (with the Limited Package option), the Mazda MX5-Miata, and the Pontiac Solstice (with about all the options that come standard in the MX5). All are 2006 models (well, the Solstice only comes in a 2006 model). I don’t really want used because I like the features they’ve added to the 2006 models, and since I want a manual transmission, finding recent model used cars with manual transmissions in the Chicago area is hard to do. So I’m willing to eat some extra depreciation costs by buying new.

Other cars I am considering but aren’t really in the running are a Mini-Cooper and a Honda Accord.

I’m probably leaning toward the Subaru for the most part. First of all, it has decent cargo space, something the roadsters lack. It also is AWD which is fairly nice for when Chicago gets its blizzards. The rear-while drive roadsters are at a disavantage here as well. (Although, the Miata does come with an option for limited-slip rear differential, traction control, and stability control. The Solstice comes only with the limited-slip differential option.) The Subaru also has a better engine, though, since it weighs more, the overall performance is probably pretty equal. The roadsters edge out the Subaru just slightly in gas mileage. The roadsters have more visual appeal to me as well.

Granted, I’ve yet to test drive any of them, and really, it’s the feel of the car and the type of deals I get that are going to weigh heaviest in my decsion, but I’m curious as to what others think?

Do the 'roo. WRX comes from a highly dependable manufacturer and unlike the Honda does not beg for thieves to come and play with it. Which isn’t to say it’s theft proof, but not as likely a target unless you trick it out. I’ve heard the WRX coup compares favorably to the Mitsubishi Eclipse in terms of performance and handling. Kind of a nice combination of useful and sporty ride.

If you are looking for an AWD platform, consider the VW R3.2 which is a nice entry level german engineered sports hatch coupe. Maybe an Audi A4 Quattro is in your price range with the 2.0L turbo engine. Comes in a sedan and wagon variant.

I’d get the Subaru, but that’s because I want a new WRX Sport Wagon and don’t have anywhere near the money or wish to go into debt to buy one.

[thread=239017]In which the characteristics of the Suzuki Aerio are enumerated.[/thread]

Subaru. By far. Although maybe not the wagon. A friend of mine got one and let me drive it once. Sweeeeeeet. More fun than a BMW, in my opinion.

Say, by the way, Hoopy Frood = The Demolished Man?

I think you should probably decide what your priorities are, as you’re looking at two vastly different kinds of cars. If cargo room is important to you, you’d better cross the roadsters off your list. Ditto AWD.

And you mention performance. You need to decide what kind of performance is important to you. The WRX with a MT will gobble a Miata or Solstice in a straight line. In the curves the WRX will be left in the dust. A WRX is a sea of body roll and understeer when it comes to turning. (I’m sure some people who don’t drive well-handling cars will say that the WRX is a vision of awesome handling, but really, it’s not).

A good part of the WRX, besides the cargo handling and AWD, is it’s incredible mod-ability. If you plan to mod your car, buy a WRX, hands down.

The roadsters are roadsters. If a convertible top is on your list of important things, then you can rule out the REX. From reviews I’ve read, the Solstice and Miata are basically toss-ups, with maybe a slight edge going to the Solstice.

The Aerio isn’t in the same legaue as any of these cars, and an R32 is like a WRX wagon without the performance or the cargo capacity, but with added German maintenance and reliability problems.

All of this IMNSHO.

Don’t quite follow. :confused:

The handle comes from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

And to add, if you are willing to post up what is important to you in a car, I’d be happy to recommend something, maybe even something you haven’t thought of.

I wanted a Subaru until I drove the Mini Cooper S. Ha. I am very happy with my Cooper. I’ve had it since May and I still get the biggest grin on my face when I slide behind the wheel.

No other car I have driven has garnered such positive attention from other people; everyone comments on it. I get thumbs up from other drivers. Squeals from teenage girls. Points and screams of “Mini Cooper!” from children.

I don’t regret choosing it over a Subaru; YMMV.

If you can afford it, you may want to look into the Saab 9-2x. It steers much better, imo, than the WRX, and is just as fast. It’s not quite the quirky Saab like the 9-3 or 9-5 (I haven’t had time to test drive the 9-7 yet), but that’s both good and bad. Regardless, of the choices you mentioned, I would go with the WRX in its own right.

Yeah, but the speedometer is in the MIDDLE of the dash! That’s jsut wrong! :stuck_out_tongue:

In the middle of the dash so that they could put the tachometer right in front of you, which is exactly right. :wink:

I’m a fan of the Miata and it is quite the fun car to drive, but truthfully it does have its drawbacks, espically if you do not have another car or are unable to borrow one from friends/family. (Note: much of what I say may apply to the Solstice as well, but I have not been in one.)

Negatives, some of which you’ve noted:
*New body style coming out for 2006 (NC body), which is from what I know is a complete redesign of the car. Reliability and build quality will be unknowns.
*Lack of storage space. Forget picking up some one from the airport if they have any thing more than a small bag, or picking up both toilet paper and paper towels from Costco at the same time.
*Four cup holders in the new NC body style. (Not really a negative, just a WTF? to my mind.)
*Lack of foot space for the driver, but the new body style should be better about this.
*Lack of head space for tall people, but again the NC body style is apparently better about this.
*Tall people tend to find the top of the windshield is level with their eyes. Once again, apparently not quite the issue with the NC body.
*Convertable roofs need more TLC than regular ones.
*(General convertable top issue) I know of some people that are so paranoid about their tops being slashed that they never lock the doors.
*Small car that seems to dissapear from other drivers’ viewpoints. Nothing like being just about as high as the bottom of the side mirrors on a Hummer. :eek:
*Low car + speed bumps.

Kinda bad and kinda good:
*The new Miata from what I’ve read will require preimum gasoline: the cost of ekeing out the power they’ve gotten from the engine. However, the Miata is a relatively dainty sipper at the gas pump which helps offset this.

Positives:
*Convertable. 'Nuff said. :smiley:
*Nimble and quick to respond.
*Decent to good handling. I’ve taken turns rated at 30 MPH (you know those little yellow suggested speed signs on turns) at 50 to 60 MPH with no problem, not even a token squeal from the tires.
*Handles surprisingly well in incliment weather. I’ve driven it in what’s perhaps one of the worst situations: just warm enough during the day to melt the snow and ice and turn it into mush, below freezing at night to turn everything back into solid stuff again. How much of this is due to the limited-slip rear differential I don’t know, but I do know good tires will make a BIG difference here. (As a side note, a comment I read about the stock tires that came with mine were that ‘they were great for going sideways at 30 MPH at even a hint of moisture on the road’.) Apparently they did design the Miata such that with the stock size wheel and tire configuration you can put snow chains on it, but I think that if the weather in the Chicago area is bad enough you are seriously considering snow chains on any car that you’re better off staying home. :slight_smile:
*Easy to park.

You may want to poke about the miata.net forums to see what’s being said about the new model. I’d also find fan (or not so fan!) sites for the Solstice and WRX and see what they have to say (espically about quirks that may not show up during a test drive).


<< Zoom-zoom! >>

Well, I test drove a Miata yesterday, and here are my thoughts.

Handling and acceleration, very nice. I did take a right turn (green-arrow type) out of a stoplight fast on purpose. The car skidded slightly coming out of it, but there was no hint of even a chance of losing control (I’m pretty sure I was in base model, i.e. no traction control, stability control, or limited-slip differential.) I think I might have freaked the salesman a bit, but I’m of the opinion that if you’re going to test drive a car, push it near its limits (granted, since you might never have driven the model before, you have to use care when doing this). I didn’t expect the car would actually slip when I took the turn (but just in case I made sure the road was clear when I did this and was turning into a two lanes in my direction area, so I knew I had some margin of error), but was impressed that I recovered from the slip as easy as I did without having to change speed or steer differently. (Really, the skid was minor.)

It was also interesting that this is the first time I’ve drven a car where the shifter is higher up relative to the driver. I’ve had three cars, and of the two that were manual (1983 Mazda 626, 1998 Honda Civic) the shifter is closer to seat level. It was wierd the first time I shifted, but I soon didn’t notice it.

The Miata has a huge drawback, and that is the space. Seeing as how this will be my only car (I’m separated and on my way to divorce. My wife is getting the existing car, and I’m getting the new one), the lack of storage is a huge negative. (I knew they had small trunks, but I didn’t fully realize how small until I actually looked in it. I’m surprised they have room for the spare.) As far as riding comfort, although I’m just under 6’2", and this is the smallest car I’ve driven leg room wise, it wasn’t uncomfortable. My knees were higher up, but with the tilt steering (a 2006 addition) and the relative positions of everything, it isn’t something that is going to cause pain on long drives. Also my head didn’t touch the ceiling. Although, looking out the top part of the windshield was a little odd.

So in summary, a nice car, and probably something I’d consider as a second car, but not really what I need for a primary car. But, at least I had fun driving it.

See, not to sound like a broken record or anything, but this is where the Aerio excels. You sound like a big guy, and the Aerio has major amounts of interior space. The sedan’s trunk is huge, with folding seatbacks. The seating position is very upright, and the seat cushions, although very firm, are very comfortable. The Aerio is also available with four-wheel drive (altho only with the automatic), which could be useful in snow country. The engine is, I think, 155 HP; either the biggest or among the biggest in its class.

We own a Miata, and it must be our particular tires or something, but the Miata, although the neatest car in the world to drive on dry roads, scares the #$%&! out of me on wet ones. I put our last one into a guardrail when I hit a patch of gravel; maybe it made me into a Nervous Nellie.
Oh, and I figured out my mistake. Chaka Frood is a character in Bester’s The Demolished Man.

We own a 2003 WRX wagon (fairly performance-modded now), and it is tons of fun with tons of cargo space. I enjoy my little Nissan 200SX far more going around corners and driving on twisty roads, but man is that pushed-into-the-seat-by-acceleration feeling awesome in the WRX!

There’s quite a WRX community out there - check out theNorth American Subaru Impreza Owners Club . There are regional forums so you can find people near you, and we even met some of the Chicago folks a few years ago.

WinkieHubby suggests checking out/comparing insurance rates, since the WRX can be expensive to insure - WRXs tend to get crashed a lot, even by grown-up, careful drivers (why yes, that is personal experience talking.)

The Sebring Convertible is larger and more spacious than the Miata. But people tend to either love or hate it. Saab and Volvo both have nice 'vertys.

A bit of lateral thinking reveals the perfect car for you.

More luggage space than a Cadillac DeVille.

30 MPG on the highway.

Powertrain that any mechanic can fix.

12.9 second standing quarter mile.

'98-'01 Corvette.