Frisky Dingo

I put all my thoughts on the matter in my comment over there @ MT. But essentially, they are that if you can afford a near 100K Vette with gumball tires and a splitter that will scrape everywhere basically rendering it a toy, you can afford a 140K 911. Judged in their entirety, the 911 is easily the better car. Much wider breadth of usability, easier for the average person to drive fast, better build quality, greater refinement, superior straight line performance, and to top it all off, 911's almost always hold their value incredibly well. Given the choice between the 2, give me the 911 all day. It is the true do-it-all-borderline-supercar sports car. For what the car offers and how easily accessible it is, it has no equal. That said, I love the Grand Sport. For a 'reasonably' priced track car, it'd easily be my pick of anything on the market. Owning both would be about the best combo one could assemble.

Wow, no thoughts on this one?

You're insane. I like the ATS-V, but next to the slinky, sexy Cayman, it looks like a boy racer's take on a personal luxury coupe. The sedan is much better. I think we also know which one will be more enjoyable to drive on a back road.

Yeah, I can't believe they have reduced their trims the way they have. It's a shame, they eliminated some really good models, such as the aforementioned Jetta Sport. I think it's a big mistake. The last thing VW needs to do is offer less options. A 3, sure. But the Cruze is a total snooze fest to drive. And I don't think it's really a good choice if you're going for long term reliability, either. As for the price comparison, that is a fair point, but the same thing can be said about other vehicles in the class, especially the 3. Those things get pricey. And while they may have good dynamics, the GTI and WRX play in a different league no question.

From what I see in the business, they are one of the least likely to mske it that far. Aside from the usual suspects- Hondas and Toyotas. On the whole, it's usually trucks and suv's. Besides, Nissan's reliability on their newer models is definitely not stellar.

Brand to brand, Nissan enjoys only a small statistical reliability advantage. In this particular comparison, it would be hard to assess seeing as in how the Sentra's engine has only been used in the Juke, which sells in relatively small numbers, and the Jetta's 1.8T has only been around a few years. Nobody is going to buy these cars to keep for 200K miles. Let's be real.

This took a while for me to arrive at a decision. My initial instinct was an RS5. It's no longer around. Then I thought TT RS. Not out yet. Stripper 911. Breaks out of price bracket. Grand Sport? Not quite. Maybe just keep the M4? Not that, either. Cayman? Idk if I cold spend this kinda money on a 4 cyl. But wait!!! There's still this- And minus the wheels, it mirrors my build on Porsche's configurator- just under 87K all in. Classic H6, true manual, mid-engine goodness wrapped in a sleek sexy package build in low numbers? I'll take it. Cayman GTS

The ATS-V can easily be run up over 75K. Our dealer had an Auto Coupe that listed for 81K. MSRP.

Well, I mean if we're doing that, I'll take a Malibu 2.0T for the highway, and a new BRZ w/ Perf Pkg for the twisties, but that wasn't the premise of the thread.

Last year's Jetta 1.8T Sport comes in a few hundred bucks cheaper even after the Lighting Package and slays this car. It's not even remotely in the same league as the GLI. For MY '17, it gets dicey, as the 1.8T is only in the SEL now, which Auto-only, and almost 3K more than the car I drove. An SR Turbo would need the optional Premium Pkg to match the Jetta's equipment, however, and is only a hair cheaper. Same story there, Jetta all the way.

The fine folks over at C&D just got a piece on the new M4 Comp Pkg up- C&D M4 Compt Pkg Test Almost 90K for a coupe built off base sport/lux sedan bones seems steep, even for an admitted BMW fan such as myself. So let's see what you gents make of this scenario. Base price is $74,845, but as-tested was $89,995. So let's use a range of $75,000-90,000. Rules are as follows- 1) Must be a 2 door performance coupe of some kind. 2) Must be a new 2016-17 MY car on sale now. 3) MSRP MUST be AT LEAST $75,000, but NO MORE THAN $90,000.

No way would I want to drive a C5 Z06 across the country. Talk about torture. I think I'd actually prefer a new Sonic RS 1.4T.

Indeed. I'm curious to see how the CVT car drives. I hate to say it, but it might actually be better. I may have just expected a bit too much on the handling front. It's really not bad, it's just the power makes you push a little harder than you oughta, haha.

@A Horse With No Name Thanks! My list if I were intending to get off the blacktop and take in the wilderness- New- Grand Cherokee 75th Ann Edition- Grand Cherokee Build Comes in almost $500 under the limit w/out even needing discount. Nice road manners coupled with solid off-road chops? No-brainer. Used- Toyota Land Cruiser- Land Cruiser on Autotrader Turns out 20K will buy a nice 100 Series w/ low-100K miles these days. A ride that many a new luxury sedan would be jealous of, and legendary off pavement capability.

Since nobody else has posted this- MT- Grand Sport vs Carrera S Test Great read. Sounds like they were pretty torn between these 2. They both tug at the heart strings and deliver incredible performance, but in different ways.

I'll keep this one brief, as I didn't get a real long stint due to the near empty gas tank new cars are delivered to the dealer with. Just enough time to get a pretty decent impression of it. Car was a 6MT that stickered for a shade over 23K. Right off the bat, I'm not a fan of the clutch. It's softer than a marshmallow, with an absurdly long travel, and a super vague engagement point. No feel to it whatsoever. Made me feel like a manual car-novice. The next impression is the acceleration. And it's pretty modest. Yeah, yeah, I daily a GTI, but still. This is an engine that likes and needs to be revved. There's not much going on down low. It wakes up above 4,000 rpm. And if you're not careful, it hits the rev limit hard. The red hash marks start at 6,500 rpm, and that's precisely when the fun ends. Not 6,600 rpm, not even 6,500.247 rpm. Six and one-half on the dot. And when you hit it, it takes an eternity to gather it's wits and let you continue on. Ok, so don't do that again. Second gear now. The shift itself is just okay. The shifter is kind of ropey and could use a bit more effort. But the throw isn't terrible, and it goes into gates pretty decent. Acceleration I feel is best felt in most milder street cars in 2nd gear. It feels alright. Certainly adequate enough to get you flowing with traffic easily and with enough gusto for small levels on entertainment. Third gear now. The straight line fizzle is mostly gone. As you run up over 60 mph, you've asked for about all the accelerative force this guy can muster. That's okay, we haven't hit any turns yet. Now we have, and we're understeering towards a guard rail. Oops. Dial it back a little, and while the steady, and early, push is still there, it's not as bad. Easily manageable. There's a fair bit of body roll, as you might expect. 205/50/17's and enough wheel gap for a CUV are mostly to thank for the soft cornering attitude and modest limits. The tires squeal early and often. But it's not totally unenjoyable to push this little car laughably hard while not risking life and limb, or a massive ticket. The steering is pretty good. Nissan typically does steering right, and this one's no exception. It's pretty quick, nicely weighted, and accurate, though offering little feel. It allows for easy wheeling around turns and parking lots alike. The ride is nice and smooth, as you might expect given the less-than-exciting driving dynamics. The braking is okay. They work. They're not particularly strong or weak. I didn't give it much attention, but this thing did return pretty good mileage while I was zipping around in it. The interior is mediocre at best. It's roomy. It looks pretty decent. Idk what more you want here. All in all, this is by no means a terrible little car. It's no GTI or Fiesta ST. It really doesn't even make too compelling of a case against it's more realistic rivals, like say a 5MT Golf SE or a manual Mazda 3 Sedan, which can be had in Grand Touring trim for not much more money. Incentives will probably make that real-life number more in favor of the Nissan, however. Judged for what the car is- a slightly faster trim of a slightly sportier trim of an affordable compact economy sedan- it's not too bad. You could certainly do worse with 23K. But you could also do better. It's really probably only a set of good springs, wider/stickier tires, and a $650 tune away from being a riot of little daily driver. So consider it a bit of a diamond in the rough, and appreciate, like I do, that someone is at least still willing to build a stick shift 4 door sedan in today's world of automatics, and relentless electro-nannies ready and willing to make you more of a passenger than a driver.

New- Golf R 2017 Golf R Pretty sure I can manage a $195 discount. If not, I'll take a left over '16 that is under on MSRP. Used- E46 M3 E46 M3 on Cars.com $19,500, and a 6MT at that. As much as I love the outdoors and nature, I don't think I could compromise my enjoyment levels on twisty roads for the sake of being able to venture off-road. I may have been tempted by a GT Premium w/ Track Pack, but the way I'd want, it comes up over the limit. I may do another with trucks or SUV's.

Very nice, I dig it. Gonna need time to deliberate this one.

Now for one using no Anniversary Editions- Crystal White Frost Edition CTS-V (only 31 made) Gallardo LP 550-2 Balboni Porsche 911 GTS Club Coupe Jeep Wrangler Moab Edition Viper GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR

I and others were easily able to do it.

2003- $200 for my Dodge Dakota R/T Currently- $414 for my GTI I've had many in the $500's in between, and over $600 for one car. At one point, I had $1,200 in car payments between my two cars. Young and dumb.

Very nice, Olds!! You stole one of the ones I was going to use in my second list. Hmm, I may still use it.

I so wanted to go A6, but optioned like I want, it breaks out of the price bracket. Thought about the CT6, but ditto. Lexus GS makes the price cut, but I don't think I could drop 60K+ on an N/A V6. A stripper M3 makes the cut by a few hundred dollars. I was left with two top contenders- MB C43 AMG loaded out, or loaded S4. And I like the S4's styling a bit better. Loaded Misano Red Prestige w/ DSG and Sport Pkg with all the goodies comes in at a shade over 62K. A pretty good deal, if you ask me. With the money left over, I could do Eurodyne tune and Milltek exhaust.

Much the same here. I'm not o fond of the rear end, and the engine is a deal-breaker for me.

C&D just did an instrumented test on the new Volvo S90, and I thought this would be a good basis for a 'WWYBI' thread. Link- C&D 2017 Volvo S90 Test The car as tested ran 65K, but starts at 52K. So let's use a range of $52,000-67,000. Rules- 1) Car must be a sedan. 2) Must be a new, on-sale MY 2016 or 2017 model. 3) Must be AT LEAST $52,000 MSRP, but NO MORE THAN $67,000 MSRP.