Hype is a funny thing. It builds a superhuman halo around certain cars, sometimes over time and sometimes immediately. However, sometimes the hype train misses our station. What iconic car is impossible for you to love? I’m talking about cars so beloved, you’d be a pariah if you said anything negative about them.
If you’re hesitant to answer, be assured this is (for the most part) a judgement-free zone. A friend of mine hates the Ferrari Testarossa. Adrian isn’t a fan of old British roadsters. It’s all good. Let me start with my own coldness to a hero car.
Everyone loves the Honda S2000, right? Winner of a zillion comparison tests, commander of strong resale values, bestowed with a legendary redline and a phenomenal shifter, you’ve probably heard it all by now. Actually, I should say that almost everyone loves the S2000, because I don’t. I respect it immensely, but love? It just doesn’t do the sports car thing well enough for that.
Let’s start with the steering. Honda went with an electric power steering rack, and since the S2000 was launched in 1999, steering feedback is an absentee. The ratio itself is reasonably fast, but your fingertips don’t pick up what the car is doing. Instead, keen drivers will have to rely on sensations through the seat and pedals, and that’s a disappointment.
Speaking of disappointing, the seating position isn’t great. On the stock seats, you just want to be an inch or two lower, something that just isn’t feasible. Oh, and that’s before we get into the frustrating inaccessibility of the powerband. Even the torquier AP2 didn’t properly get on the boil until 6,000 rpm, and given a 2.045:1 second gear ratio, a 4.1:1 final drive, and a 24.7-inch rear tire diameter, means the fun doesn’t really start until 52 mph or so.
Whether a bedroom poster exotic or a humble people’s car, today’s Autopian Asks is all about going against the grain. What’s a widely-loved car that you just can’t get behind, and why? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
(Photo credits: Honda)
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I agree with a lot mentioned here already. Granted I haven’t driven any of them, so a lot is down to styling or what they represent to me. Already mentioned: G-wagons, Mk4 Supra, newer supercars in general. I also don’t like Hummers, Bronco Raptor, Audis (in general, but TT and R8 in particular), Rivians, Aston Martins, and Jaguars. Picking one from “my” brand, I love old Subarus including Gen3 Legacys, but the Baja turns me off.
I would love to hear a defense of the Baja from someone here. I never got it aside from it’s funky.
To me, it always looked like the love child of a BRAT and a ’90s and up Pontiac (i.e. “ribbed for nobody’s pleasure”).
As a lifelong Pontiac fan: “ribbed for no one’s pleasure” is hilarious.
In true GM fashion, it worked itself out of that phase just in time for the end. Sigh.
I’m still driving my old Baja while waiting for the new car to arrive. For all the issues I’ve had with it, it just does right by me. Car has been an absolute workhorse and has absorbed so much punishment. It’s quick (mine is stage 2), surprisingly a lot of utility especially with lay flat back seat and passthrough hatch to the bed. Absolute beast in the snow as well. And I might bein the minority here but I think my car looks really good after the headlight defogging and the 16″ rims on my chunky winter tires.
That does it for me – I didn’t realize it had a pass-through. I knew about the swinging license plate frame, but not that. I get it more, now.
Early E type Jaguars annoy me. The very early flat floored ones I cannot drive, the Mk1a is doable but still looks pigeon toed. The headlights are truly dreadful (I have two cars with acetylene lights).
I don’t know if it ever made it all the way to “iconic,” but man, was the 2004 Volvo V70R 6MT I had a disappointment. The shifter looked cool, but didn’t have a ton of feel. The front seats were ultra-comfy, but also ultra-thick, so for a fairly large, allegedly “do-it-all” type car, the back seat was pretty cramped. The P2 platform was engineered for a transverse inline-six, so it had a horrible turning radius (a huge disappointment if you’ve ever experienced Volvo’s miraculous shrinking 740) and a generally cumbersome feel. The trick pushbutton suspension could bring the car alive under the right circumstances, but most of the time it just didn’t feel at all special. And all of that before you get to the abysmal reliability and super-high parts costs.
Maybe if it had had the Atacama (orange) interior, it would have all been different.
There’s a lot of them, but off the top of my head: S2000, tri-Chevys, E-Type, Mk4 Supra, R35 GTR, original Thunderbird (others aren’t really iconic), Jeeps, MGs, any VW-owned exotic, any Ferrari since the F355, and all but a few cars from Germany.
Jeeps and pretty much anything in the “I’m gonna go out and get my yahoos on chewing up nature” vehicle class. I guess I could see the appeal if I had a farm or remote resource business and needed a work vehicle, but wanting to drive a tractor for fun just doesn’t do it for me.
Sorry David.
Actual off-roaders are cool.
Shiny-ass brodozers that never scale anything steeper than a speed bump in the mall parking lot, and can’t even do that well? They can all die in a fire.
I tried mild off roading once and all I could think was “this trail would be cooler on foot”.
I tend to agree with you, mild offroading would usually be better on foot, but I do like the ability to get way out away from people on some offroad trails for a breather from society. I also like, and have done hardcore offroading. but those are purpose built machines that you would never drive in daily life because it would suck
I love to get away from the dail grind, and to do so I drive on a paved road until reaching a trail and then I hike. No need for an offroader to do that. And it’s less harmful to the environment.
fair enough. I get that.
For me, the best use of offroading is to use a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get deep into some country that you then get out and explore on foot.
yeah, that is what I usually do. I love doing that and just exploring nature.
That does sound appealing but there’s hardly any unexplored open space in France, it’s all cities, fields or trails. Maybe that’s why I fail to see the draw to off-roaders.
That means you need to come to the US and see for yourself.
Maybe someday the Autopian will throw a shinding for freelancers, that’d be the occasion 🙂
My answer is obviously the GTI. I’d wanted one for most of my life, I bought one, and it was one of the perfect examples of why you shouldn’t meet your heroes. It had wheel hop that was so bad it was physically painful. It had countless mechanical and electronic issues in the first 10,000 miles. It absolutely incinerated its consumables.
All that it had going for it was that the interior was pretty nice for a base trim and it was a useful size/form. And as I’ve said a million times, the driving experience is only incredible if you haven’t driven real sports cars. If you’ve only ever driven econoboxes then it feels amazing. But once you’ve driven more purpose built stuff it just feels like an economy car with a turbo, and the VW electronic safety nannies are omnipresent. VW will let you have some fun AS LONG AT IT IS VITHIN ZESE PARAMETERS!
I got rid of mine after two years when I got sick of having to take it to the service bay every 3-6 months for the array of codes it spent its entire life throwing. They are entirely too fussy for the amount of fun and engagement that they provide. I can put up with a fussy car if it’s taking me to driving nirvana every day. I can’t when it’s a $27,000 hot hatch I’m trying to daily.
I then wound up in my Kona N and I regret nothing other than how it’s depreciated like a lead balloon. It’s exponentially more engaging. Traction control almost never intervenes in sport mode and can be fully defeated. The DCT will let you smash it against the rev limiter. The LSD is way better. And it’s had 0 issues. That’s cool and good. I can flog it whenever I want and not have to worry about when it’s going to misfire or fail to start next.
Damn the EA888 to hell.
A GTI is much easier to admire when your not the owner of it for sure. Total money pits once the warranty is up.
Before I bought my Focus ST, I was worried that it would ride terribly, especially on New England roads for the 40-50k miles I drove per year because the comparison articles against the GTI always stated the ST was too much as a daily vs the GTI with the VW being a bit more boring in return. I think they were just trying to think of something nice to say about the more expensive, less reliable, lower power, boring VW. The ST rode great—barely stiffer than the SE and was as reliable as a Camry for 180k when it suddenly realized it was a Ford with an Ecoboost (though, funny enough, I bought a used Camry as a stop-gap while waiting for the GR86 to come in and it felt like it had at least 3 times the mileage as the ST, yet it had only a little more—oil consumption, oil leaks, shot motor mounts, and exhaust leak even though it had been well taken care of).
The type of people that drive Camrys aren’t generally the kind of people who really know what a well taken care of car looks like (ironic seeing as I’m a Camry driver).
My Grandmother sold me a (different than my current one) 2004 Camry that had supposedly been “well taken care of.” Except the shocks were completely shot, the front brakes were on their last legs, the rims habbitually leaked air (chome plating peeling off), and the parking brake was entirely for show.
I think your Camry experience is more a product of the way it was taken care of rather than the build quality of the car itself.
BTY I had a Focus SE back in the day; fun little car, responded quite well to simple suspension modifications.
My SE was great. Got totaled with over 200k, was also Toyota reliable (5 speed), and felt like it had about 1/4 the miles on it. My biggest issue with it—and the primary reason I picked the ST to replace it—was the damn stability control intervention, which couldn’t be shut off in the SE.
Still think the Camry is an overrated POS. I’ve never had to do any particular maintenance to have motor mounts last, they just do and I’ve never had a car consume and leak so much oil—and that’s with three old Subarus. My ’90 Legacy was severely beaten and seemed like it had half the mileage of the Camry when it had about 80k more as well as greater age and being built in a time of much lower chassis rigidity. About the same amount of squeaks and such, too. All that for a driving experience in the Camry that was far worse than I imagined a car could provide even with the stereotypes as it felt like it pulled personality and soul from my body every time I drove it. Also had the worst seats I’ve ever experienced and they were the higher end power ones. I never felt so terrible after driving any car, even ones that should have been in a junk yard and an abominable Kia Rio rental. I will credit the Camry for being rust-free, even underneath (oil leaks probably helped), and everything worked except for the cruise control (that I never use), which I guess was a common problem.
Just curious, what year was the Camry?
’08 SE 5MT.
Owned both a Focus ST and 2 MK7 GTI’s. The Focus sucked, plain and simple. Interior had rattles at 2k miles, shifter was balky and the ride was too damn stiff. Stiffer than my Boss 302 w/ suspension in its hardest setting. Also, so buzzy and loud. And Sync was abominable. The car was like a hyper yapper dog that never settled down.
It got totaled less than a year into ownership and I was genuinely thrilled. Promptly went out and bought a GTI. It was a revelation. The handling was every bit as good but rode so much better. Power was the same (regardless spec sheets), but the proper LSD meant I could use it, which made it more fun! Much nicer interior. It was so good and reliable that when I had to sell it (bad back and manual), I went and got another just like it, only DSG. Again, dead reliable.
The only positive thing about the Focus were the Recaros and Hoonigan driving experience. Good riddance.
Fucking Buick Grand National man. I never understood why people lose their shit over those things. I’ve always viewed them the same way I view Boomer Bait Muscle Cars. I guess they look kinda cool, and they can go fast(ish) in a straight line, but they are really not very good at anything else.
Oh, and the Mk4 Supra. Actually, every Supra. I will never understand the appeal of that thing. I am a Toyota fan, and yeah, the 2JZ is pretty awesome, but that’s where my appreciation ends. I always thought the FD RX-7 was the best car of that era, right up there with the NSX. The Supra was always more of a GT car to me, not a sports car.
I liked the 2nd gen Supra best. Particularly the latter ones.
The original Jaguar E-type is another one that comes to mind. To me they look like a clown shoe with some wheels stuck on it.
S2K never really did it for me. Neither did the Supra.Honestly, I never loved the Mitsubishi Eclipse. I guess just about everything in the FNF movies annoyed me.
I heart the Eclipse, but…the forgotten 1st gen. Along with its Plymouth and Eagle comrades. Futuristic and sleek, but not mean n edgy.
1G AWD DSMs with pop-ups and automatic seatbelts will always have my heart.
And for me, the dash.
I have a dashboard fetish along the lines of Torch and his taillight thing, and I LOVE the overall effect – angular, asymmetric, futuro-industrial…like something Ellen Ripley would operate.
Yes! The only thing I didn’t like about the interior was the pistol grip shifter, I swapped that out with the short and squat shift knob from my old Conquest and it was perfect.
I forgot about that shifter (I only ever ogled these from afar and in magazines at the time)! I’m not sure pistol grip shifters have ever made good on anything but dramatic looks.
I loved the pistol grip shifter in my Subaru XT because it had the 4wd button on it: pew-pew! (In reality, more like cha-clunk—but it worked 🙂 )
Speaking of dashboards that get me all hot and bothered…Tron meets Bauhaus! And why can’t we have more asymmetric steering wheels anyway?!
They were actually pretty good ergonomically, too. The top was decently shaped if you wanted to use it like a regular knob with your hand on top. When I build my boat with control stick steering like an old fighter plane, I’m planning on using that shifter as a template.
Agreed on the diamond star trio. Clean styling, and had awesome cockpit styled dashboards, too boot. The only negative on them was those damm power upper seat belts that would try to strangle you every chance they got when you got in and out of the car.
Bought one of those AWD Talons new, in 1990. A bit heavy, but so much fun to drive!
Uhg, mousetrap belts and that terrible interior space made me not want one. My sister had a ’92 (non-turbo, no pop-ups, automatic) and my ’93 Civic was just hands down the car I wanted to actually sit in for any period of time. Besides being the rocketship that they were (turbos) they really just sucked overall.
Supercars as a general rule.
I second the S2000 not doing it for me.
I’m a bit anti-trendy, so if a car has a ton of hype, I probably love something to one side of it more. Tri-fives are ultra-popular, but I love tri five era Pontiacs more. 2nd Gen Chargers are all the rage. I would rather have a first gen. I would rather have a modified CRX over an S2000.
The exception? 1st Gen NSX. yeah, if I had the cash I would own one of those, and daily the hell out of it.
Agree on the supercars. I never thought highly of the S2000 until a neighbour of mine and I discovered we were both going to the same golf tournament and he offered to drive. He had a first gen, which I understand wasn’t even the best one. When we got to the back last mile stretch, he pulled over and offered to let me drive. It was a short run, but I suddenly got what all the fuss was about.
Packing the clubs in was a PIA though, but we did it. Would have never managed two people and two sets in a Miata.
Agree on 1st gen Charger and I owned a 2nd gen.
Rolls Royce. I love pre-Volkswagen Bentleys, but the vast majority of Rolls Royces just don’t do it for me.
I can’t think of any Volkswagen I really want to own.
Also, nothing against them but I’m pretty worn out on tri-fives and Chevelles.
Pretty much any Lambo. I can’t stand the straight-edges everywhere. And until recently, it looks (from videos, never been in one) like they are ergonomic nightmares.
Also, the C8 Corvette. The specs are amazing, but too many straight lines. What happened to the sexy curves?
Mercedes G-Wagen, er, “G-Class.”
I’ve never really understood what it’s going for. Retro? Tough? Super-pricey celebrity mobile? To me, it’s always (I guess except for the ’70s) seemed weirdly out of touch with everything.
Carpool mom car.
African strongman special is my take.
These days I think Russian oligarch too.
Used to see a 90’s barebones ones drive around. It was very cool looking, wish you could buy one here in that configuration.
911’s, or as the old mechanic I used to work with called them…”goddamned glorified Volkswagons!”
I’ve always found Ferrari’s to be boring to look at. Far from ugly, but they just don’t catch my eye.
Concur, with the exception of the 250 GT Berlinetta.
Escalade, at least older ones as I haven’t been in any from the last 5+ years. Never before have so many people spent so much money on such a bad riding car and called it “luxury”.
Good one. I feel it (and the imitators) exists now purely b/c at the single right fulcrum point in time, rappers and athletes (two groups of people known for subtle and discriminating taste) thought they were cool.
59 Cadillac. Those huge fins are vomit worthy to me.
Oh, good one. I forgot how much I dislike most American car styling from ’58-’62.
This is an unpopular opinion that I’m always worried will get me out of the automotive enthusiast community but I’ve never liked the 4th generation Supra. I didn’t like it in the 90s, I didn’t care for it when “Tuna no Crust” made a hero out of one with overnight parts from Japan, and it still hasn’t grown on me. Its styling was always too big and bulbous and I much preferred the 2nd and 3rd gen Supras from the 80s with their sharp and angular lines.
Get out of my head. I need a tinfoil hat. These are my exact thoughts!
Given the handle are you suprised?
You glorious cheap bastard.
The 4th gen Supra is a perfect answer. I will never understand the cult like hero worship and following they have. People pay SIX FIGURES for nice ones these days too. JDM bros are a weird bunch.
I’m in agreement. 2nd and 3rd gen all the way.
Bingo. Always thought these were ugly and bloated looking. Still do.
I owned a MK3. Loved that car despite all the issues I created for it. They used to get a lot of hate for no reason really. In stock form they’re underwhelming (as most cars are), but with coilovers and JZ swap they’re surprisingly planted and quick. And for the time were fairly advanced: multi-link rear end and double wishbone front end.
Also the stock R154 and diff can handle a ton of power.
Totally. The 4th Gen Supra is completely repellent. Same with the 3000GT/Stealth.They were homely then, homely now, and undeserving of their status.
Ta-effing-coma
Sucks as a truck. Sucks as a car. Cheaper and better to buy one of each.
Wait, really? Do Tacomas differ significantly from Hiluxes?
I guess I’m more wondering….if it’s clearly a “compromise” option, but will also outlive the alternatives…well, is it so bad now?
Old hilux was great, newer US tacos have proven themselves to be far less than reliable in my experience. My old department has a bunch as security for the prisons and in three years they burned up 9 transmissions in 4 trucks, and toasted all of the electrics in 2 more. Then I made the mistake of getting a 4runner and went through 2 transmissions in as many years and no it wasn’t abused, in fact it was babied.
Before I get all the hate here, yes I know how to take care of them properly, and I do so, as for my old department. . . Not my circus.
Fair enough. Was asking by Toyota’s reputation, not personal experience.
Their reputation is why I relented and we got the 4runner in the first place. When she wanted a truck of her own I made her try to use her dad’s tacoma as a family hauler, and that experience let me get her something that could actually do the job she wanted it to do.
Yup. My wife wanted one until I made her actually drive her dad’s for a week while hauling kids around and taking care of her horses. She gave up and I got her a ram 1500 instead. We have my obs for the heavier stuff but hers is the family hauler and occasional feed delivery rig.
Nissan 240SX and GT-R. Maybe I’m just biased against Nissan, which is weird because I really like some old Datsuns…
Is it because those two now have, effectively, fandoms around them?
The question was specifically about “iconic” cars, so of course they have fanbases.
I guess I should have been more specific.. GT40s are iconic but they don’t have that same weird cultural fandom around them like most JDM cars do, I guess it’s hard to articulate what I’m getting at..
The word you’re looking for is “cult”
Perfect! To your and Cool Dave’s example, it’s like how eastern religions often get a small but intense following in the west, whereas a GT40 is basically a Protestant to Ferrari’s Catholic.
This is easy:
Dodge Viper.
Because what is the point of a V10 roadster that can’t handle a rainstorm, much less taking a curve?
And while they’re better at handling rainstorms generally – Any Lamborghini post-Miura. Because they’re just uncomfortable doorstops generally owned by people I would not like spending any time with.
“Much less taking a curve”
You’re welcome to your opinion but please don’t post slander.
https://www.carthrottle.com/news/dodge-viper-acr-badass-enough-hold-13-track-records
As soon as I saw a comment begin with “Dodge Viper” here I assume a big red light, klaxon, and screen reading “DEFCON ONE” started going off in V10omous-ville.
I’m on vacation so I’m not posting as much, but when I’m needed, I’m there.
Roadsters not being able to handle rainstorms was pretty much the rule until the Miata.
My MGB had a leaky top but also a leaky floor so it handled rainstorms reasonably well.
Flow-Thru.
Kept the dirt out of the carpet, too
Mostly it carried the dirt deeper into the carpet which, at first, was sort of like getting rid of it.
I think one of the problems of the Viper is that it barely revved high enough to make proper V10 noises, and instead only made high displacement noises, which made it sound only as special as any common V8 muscle car.
Are we specifically talking about the first-generation Viper? Because 3/5ths of the Vipers generations were available with solid roofs (5th gens are only available as such), and the 3rd generations got one model year with a solid roof.
Viper. I get it, I just dont like it.
Oh, and any C3 ‘Vette, especially past about 1971
Boo!
🙂 Just saw your avatar! Never got around to putting my GTI on mine lol – Fun stuff!
Turnabout is fair play lol
It is indeed my friend!
Every modern supercar/hypercar. Basically the Diablo was the last one I was interested in
This was almost my answer too, and the older I get the less interested I am.
I’m there with ya Bud
Back when we had Cars and Coffee in Houston I’d always find myself walking right past the rows of modern Ferraris and Lamborghinis. The 80s and older ones are cool but anything after the late 90s just sparks no emotions in me.
Last big show I went to had crowds around all the exotics, all wearing out of state plates, obviously.
I got so much more joy out of talking to the guy that rolled up in his everyday Challenger he had put a cage and blower in. You know, a car guy, not a guy with cars.
I’m usually chatting with the guy who actually showed up in a Gremlin with a bike in the back “in case it breaks down”. You get more interesting stories from those folks than the Italian crowd.
They’re all so samey after a certain point. Oh wow. A million hrsprs. A dual clutch transmission. Some form of hybridization. Gets driven like 200 miles a year by some bro-ey orthopedic surgeon or something.
Who gives a shit? I’m not going to sit here and say that supercars were never dick measuring devices for the 1% but that’s literally all they are now. Any jackass can hop in and go 200. It takes someone with real skill to drive an F40 or Carrera GT well.
To me that’s cool! Those cars demand respect and take time to learn. Any old douche can roll out of a McLaren dealership in something that’ll set lap records on your local track with 0 effort. Who cares?
I agree. People think that because I’m a ‘car person’ I must have a strong love for supercars, but I honstly just can’t be bothered enough to care. There’s no chance I’ll ever be able to own one, and those that can afford them will probably never drive them the way they were meant too.
I don’t think it helps that there are influencers out there that parade their supercars around to generate clicks, allowing them to go buy more supercars and repeat the cycle over and over again. I now associate most supercars with douchey people who profit by displaying their success to us peasants. At that point, its no longer about car culture, it’s just another way to show off how rich you are.
“Gets driven like 200 miles a year by some bro-ey orthopedic surgeon or something.”
In LA they’re daily drivers for Nepo-Babies and Scions of Offshore Money-Launderers who wreak havoc with them by day, wreck them after nighttime street racing, then walk away and wait for Daddy to pay the settlement and buy them a new one.
C8 Corvette.
Full disclaimer, I’m not a Chevy guy but I like Corvettes up to the C6, the C7 was decent but a little too ‘Transformers’ looking for me. The C8 to my eyes looks disjointed in design from front to back and personal opinion, the motor needs to be in the front.
I find it looks much better in person. It’s a lot smaller than you think.
THATS WHAT SHE SAID.
Really though, I’ve seen a few of them, I just don’t get it.
I agree with this take. They have a lot of presence. One parked in our work lot yesterday and I couldn’t stop staring at it.
Gotta disagree. I had one. My garage would disagree with it being small. It was too damn long. Good car, but too big. Screw the golf clubs.
In the right color, they almost look decent, but mainly they only look good moving from a distance. I liked the same Corvettes as you, plus the earlier ones, but the C8 does nothing for me. Unlike most people, I don’t have a race driver fantasy, so I don’t have a fetish for mid-engine cars, so that holds no appeal, plus it’s automatic only. Sure, I’d happily take one for a drive if someone offered, but to own or admire? Eh.
GTI.
Adequate at many things, great at nothing, and a VW besides. If you can only afford or have space for one vehicle, I can understand appreciating it, but for anyone else, it’s just a compromise.
Bonus answers: Maverick, diesel wagons, anything from JLR.
Boo! But, appreciate your right to have the wrong take 🙂
Ha! One of my previous cars (2009 GTI) and my current car (2014 Sportwagen TDI) made it on your list. The German car gods must have smiled on me because had a good GTI, no real issues to speak of till someone hit me and totaled it around 60k miles. I liked it because it was something I could track and also use as a daily, with a practical hatch to boot. A great car for the enthusiast in college, because it really did do it all.
Sportwagen would be dull as fuck without the manual transmission and the lowered suspension. Totally agree with you there. But I can chip it, keep all my emissions equipment and end up with like ~160hp and ~390 ft/lbs, so not bad. And it’s red which is way better than the stereotypical “brown manual wagon.”
But don’t ask me about my experience with my 2012 VW CC that made me swear off any 2.0T gas engine VW ever built…believe me, I’m no VW apologist lol
*290 ft/lbs of torque
Also own a ’14 TDI sportwagen manual. Blue with Black interior (wife’s desired combo – I like it but really wanted the Brown/Tan one we looked at).
3.5 years, 0.5 of those WITHOUT the CEL on (currently for glow plug 3). Warranty replaced DPF 1.5 years ago, but took a year to get approved and parts and time to do it given dealership location and hours. It also needs new front suspension and tie rods. Pano roof is in-op right now (difficulty closing) and just developed a drain rail leak so need to attend to that as well. All with ~78k (bought with 58k). Engine lacks character…outside of the torque wave feeling, it just sounds meh. Maybe I need a faint turbo whistle to fix that point. Notchy shifter more often than not (although I like the throws and gate spacing).
I am thinking about jacking it up slightly with the suspension needs as DC roads suck, but tires are only 10k old (and DWS 06+s), and I’d want something with a thicker sidewall Thought about ripping out the DPF, but I’m too fundamentally eco-friendly. Still desire to Karma/Malone Stage 2, but with all the above how much am I spending to fix up a, checks notes, 10 year old Volkswagen? Add on the DPF ~$3k wear item now and it’s a complete reversal of my car ownership experience [3 Hondas, 1 Toyota, 1 Mazda, 1 GM(sucked)] . I really only like it because it’s a stick wagon and diesel is not a good, primarily city car, fuel.
This feels like a car confessional right now so sorry about the long post. But think I need to go car shopping ????
Eh, I could read that like, ‘Honey, I know it’s been a bit rough lately: why don’t we get married?’ -Expecting that to fix things.
Conversely, if the modifications will make you fall back in love, why not?
> I’m no marriage counselor, but it does rather sound like the joy is gone already.
Yeah, I’m not helping here. Sorry!
Rotflmao
And here I am wanting to get a second vehicle…do I buy the first one a bunch of nice things and convince them to let me open things up? I don’t think German’s take to kindly to the ménage à trois I’m interested in.
Damn, I really think I must have just gotten lucky with the Sportwagen I got. I have had to replace endlinks and the rear sway bar, but that’s because being lowered kills stock endlinks, and the previous owner installed the wrong sway bar and it was rubbing against the fuel filler pipe. Front brake discs but that’s because VW resurfaced them and didn’t replace them (Dieselgate buyback car). The only thing that has actually gone wrong with it is a sized rear brake caliper. Although I do need to replace the shocks, previous owner got H&R springs but kept the stock shocks and it’s getting a bit bouncy.
You’re running the same tires as me! I love those Continentals. Have them on my partners Mazda3 too. I’m running 235s on some TSW wheels I’ve had for ages.
I’ve done a few minor things to it…upgraded headlights, and a much louder than stock horn. The Euro shifter kit helped shorten the throws, but I wouldn’t mind something that makes them shorter still.
All things considered, it’s been a great little car for me. I make monthly trips to visit family out of town so I really like the highway fuel economy. Around town isn’t bad either. I feel like with VWs there’s good and bad ones, I’ve had two good ones and one bad one. Three good ones if you count the 1972 Super Beetle I’ve had since I was 11…which was 20 years ago now.