Cheap Paddles

I assume OP is in the US since he posted a Mustang interior, and they don't sell Renault in the US. I read a lot of UK car magazines and they all seem to hate the Clio DCT anyway.

You UK/Euro people are spoiled compared to us when it comes to hot hatches. We have no French brands at all, no Vauxhall/Opel, no SEAT or Skoda, no Fiat except the 500 and no Alfa except the 4C and Giulia, and no small VWs. The Ford STs and Golf GTI are so popular in the US because they're literally the only hot hatches sold here.

paddle shifters are so fucking gay to actually use

at least get an automatic with the + and - manual section on the shifter like mazdas have

hot hatches is the only thing we have going for us desu, and it's only because since they are small and light ne don't need to put a big engine in it to have fun. Everything over 250hp here and you get raped by taxes and insurance. In the US the average joe can buy and afford to run a Mustang here if I take the example of Belgium: Mustang V8 (euro model is the premium with track package): 43k€ sales tax included which is reasonable. But then you have to add 5k for the registration tax, then 2400€ annually for the road tax. In France you don't have the road tax but you have a 10k registration tax because "muh pollution".
That's also the reason why we rely so much on diesel since we don't need as much HP to have enough torque.

>we don't need as much HP to have enough torque.
What did he mean by this

>In the US the average joe can buy and afford to run a Mustang

Not so much anymore, unless you go into a ton of debt and spend all of your money on the car. The average joe in America can barely afford a car these days, much less a Mustang that costs 40k+. We have less taxes and our gas is cheaper but with how fucked our incomes are these days it's really the same situation as you guys, it's just that Americans are delusional about it and buy gas guzzlers and then wonder why they're broke all the time.

I'd rather have a dozen options for hot hatches that are actually fun than a bunch of shitty muscle cars can't even keep up with an FF shitbox in the twisties because they're so pigfat.

>40k+
>Mustang v8 is 32k
>Challenger v8 is 31k
>Camaro v8 is mid 30s
What did he mean by this?

I was talking about the same premium + track package Mustang that Europe gets.

Pretty much any of those cars is going to end up being 40k by the time you've checked a couple of option boxes and paid taxes and fees, though, and that's before you even think about interest. (Which is often a major factor because financing terms suck on sports/muscle/pony cars.)

Any electronically shifted automatic can use paddle shifters. Instead of a "bumb shift lever/tiptronic bullshit" you wire that switch up to a set of paddles.

This may trigger people but the automatic BRZ/FR-S/GT86 has paddle shifters and fits OPs price range.

This, the DSG is a good trans. The GTI/LI are comfy cars.

Fit Sport has paddle shifters.
Sport Mode gives complete control.
Direct Mode (i.e. standard "Drive") allows to force a shift up/down, but the car will regulate you pretty tightly and it will go back to shifting on its own as soon as you stop accelerating.

Yeah the Fit's paddles are pretty good. 3rd gear feels so fast while being so slow.

It is a little unpowered, but it's still super fun to drive.
I think if Honda gave maybe an extra 50 on the hp and torque, it'd be the perfect car.

If they made a Fit Si, based on second gen Fit Sport, I would probably buy one.

I cant wait for the turbo civics to start torque steering into ditches just to try a swap.

Lexus IS350s have paddles. It's pretty quick in a straight line and comfy.

And nice clean used ones can be easily found for under 30k

250s have paddles, too, and you can easily find a good selection of 2015s in the $25k range.
If you're willing to accept more miles (and it's a Lexus, so there isn't too much of a downside here), you can get a 2014 below $20k.

Yeah but 250s are slow as shit

t. 250 6mt owner