>looking for a new car
>have only owned American/Japanese econoboxes before
>test out a BRZ and Fiesta ST, both are stiff and noisy and kinda cheap but a fuckload of fun
>test out a VW GTI, interior is quality and quiet, steering can be done with one finger, can hardly hear engine, handling is precise but joyless
I feel like I can enjoy "shittier" cars because nice ones are lacking for personality and fun
Why doesn't it squeak when I steer? Why doesn't it rattle when I brake? Why doesn't it vibrate when I go pass 50?
youre driving a car with stock internals and a stock suspension...
Anything that doesn't have a SLIGHTLY stretched throttle cable and maybe 90% brake fluid level feels weird to me.
my mk4 is more fun when it was stock than any of the newer ones, even the Golf R is lacking in any amount of power, for an AWD it just doesn't have the play of it's competitors, which is sad to say because it has a nicer interior, the stock Evo X is quicker than the Golf R by a large margin, the engagement from this car and from the newer golfs in general is lacking, the steering is almost dead. They feel "safe" when your driving it, like something is throttling it when your driving around corners.
>TL;DR, buy the other 2 if your looking for fun
I'm in the exact same situation. I have the same short list as you. I drove the GTI expecting to love it and it was pretty nice, then I drove the Fiesta and fucking loved it. I walked away from the car with a smile on my face but with the GTi, meh.
A decent set of coil overs and a tune really woke my GTI up.
Why not a WRX?
Why are you parked on the curb
It isn't a curb so much as a gentle slope.
That's how I felt when I test drove a 2015 GTI, car felt like it was steering itself and it felt cheap overall. Test drove a 2012 GTI and steering was much better and build quality was good. Test drove a Golf R and was actually blown away how smooth it drove, felt much more refined and took turns better than the GTI,
But I prefer older cars, they're not stuffed with electronics and it's pure unadulterated driving pleasure.
Quiet fancy cars are boring
My biggest complaint: Why is the ride so quiet? It feels like I'm driving a padded cell from the funny farm.
GTI are kind of like luxury hot hatches so yeah their not gonna be the fun violent that everyone wants even though their pretty fast and perform well.
Once again
The answer is always miata
Yes. more rwd disappointment than fwd, though that might be because i test drove more rwd cars. Biggest ones i disliked were modern muscle cars with the exception of challenger because i didn't drive that one. That and the rx8, seats feel all wrong and the car just feels cheesy.
yep. been the market for a bit looking at the same cars. the gti and wrx are quick but they feel more removed from the action than the likes of the fiesta st.
kek. my car does all of these and I love it.
Audi A3 was underwhelming. It wasn't shit, it was just not special. It felt average as fuck and to me, my old ass Opel is more fun to drive.
i drive small happy car without a power steering, and whenever i have to drive my moms car, a dacia with powersteering, it feels super weird to drive and i feel like i actually have no direct input on how the car turns lol
Anything with throttle by wire, electric steering feels poop to me. I like a luxury car when I'm not driving it. I care about a decent sound system and that's about it. Since I'm looking at road when driving, I really don't care how well made the interior is. And I only tolerate red backlighting.
I drove a brand new Jetta GLI and Jesus that was disappointing
The interior was rock hard, from all the plastic interior to the fucking cheap leather seats and they wanted 35K. A Chevy Cruze has a nicer interior and ride
>drove an a3 2.0t
>feels boring, pigfat and overall average
>drove a 2013 3 door swift sport
>life boils out of the little fucker, engine and exhaust sound insanely good, revs like a motorbike
>is almost 2 seconds slower on paper than Audi
Woopty doo
I drove a 2013 Mercedes C250 and while it was nice compared to every other car I've driven (all 10+ years old and/or poverty tier), it wasn't actually that fun after a while. The older and shittier the car that I drive, the more I fall in love with it and the more fun it is to drive.
The steering and I think handling (no touge, mostly straight and some corners) were nothing special, my shitbox e36 compact legitimately handles better, the engine didn't make an noise but it sounded like a diesel Citroen with lung cancer from the outside. It was pretty fast for a sedan and had nice acceleration, but not that much torque and the ride was surprisingly hard. the back was cramped and the leather seats were quite hard, and the suspensions soaked up most bumps without being that responsive in the corners. The brakes were really fucking nice though, not too sensitive but stopped pretty well. Decent gearbox but I only drove it in auto so I couldn't really tell.
>>first car
07 Hyundai Accent
>>second car
15 MB B-250
I know what you mean about the steering, electric a shit. Dual-clutch transmission is also jerkier in traffic and ride is not much better. Not a bad car at all, but a real eye opener about all this '''''premium'''' German car nonsense
Comfort factor is no comparison, tho, and I put a lot of highway miles in each year driving to work. Stepping out of that Hyundai after a six-hour drive to see family felt like crawling out of a coffin.
I've owned a Buick, Tahoe, Golf and Camaro. My parents owned an Escalsde, Silverado, and Saturn. My VW was probably the best car out of all of them except for the Tahoe and Escalade which I would say were about tied.
VW makes high quality stuff. Just make sure you buy the model that was out together in Germany and not Mexico.
I tried out a new Audi TT. The interior was as plastic and awful as a 90s Chevy Tahoe and the handling wasn't very fun. The seats were also pretty hard.
It's perfect for driving in the city and on motorways, because it's incredibly quiet and accelerates/stops quite smoothly, but I wouldn't want to take it on a twisty uphill road or harsh roads.
I felt like they made the suspension harsh and the steering incredibly light so that it would respond really well on curvy roads, but there's no steering feel and the suspension just amplifies the presence of obvious bumps. If you put it in eco mode (start/stop function) or drive a diesel engined one as a daily commuter or on long trips, it would be the best car in the price range.
That is known to be one of the most boring cars in the world though.