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A friend of mine was in town yesterday so we decided to go test drive some cars instead of riding bikes or golfing. We drive a G8 GT, WRX, GTI, and a Clubman.
G8 is a monster really big really fast. Sounds great and handles surprisingly well. The interior is actually very nice as well everything is very well dampened and the layout is very logical and cleanly designed.
WRX possibly the disappointment of the day, not the car mind you, but it was the lone car that the salesman joined us on our drive. We were asked to keep it below 4,000 rpm (about the same place the turbo kicks in) and we were limited in distance. The car felt really nice and the steering had great feel and you could feel that there was a bunch of power higher up in the RPM's but not getting to explore that stunk.
GTI, some things just do not change. I last drove a GTI in 2005 and yesterday I got the same feeling. Fast, but not fun. My buddy explained it that it goes really fast, but you can not feel through the steering wheel what is going on at the road. We agreed it would be perfect for a Passat, but not for a hot hatch. The DSG is really nice, it does not hold a gear like I would like, but it bangs into gear really fast which is really nice. I think with some time behind the wheel it would become intuitive, but for a test drive it required thought as to which paddle to pull.
Clubman was a nice break at the end of the day, we drove a regular not an S so it was much slower than the other cars, but what you lost in speed you gained three fold in feel and fun. One thing I noticed from the passenger seat is that the rear end gets really light when braking and it makes the car feel pretty squirrely maybe it was the non sport suspension I do not know. It did feel a bit more composed on mid corner bumps that the last S that I drove so maybe there is a trade off with the different suspensions.
So after a day of driving if I were spending $25K on a car what would I buy out of the group that we drove?
Easy elimination is the GTI, going into the day it was the car I most wanted to drive and the one I thought I would like the best. But the power is just not enough it has a nice interior and all, but the lack of feel in the steering kills it.
Tough elimination is the Mini. I want to like the CLubman, but neither the S nor the Cooper I have driven has excited me the way my Mini does. The S is too jumpy on mid corner bumps and the Cooper just does not feel fully composed. And of course three times during our drive one of us changed the radio station when we wanted to increase the volume.
Final 2 WRV vs. G8. Very different approaches, but very similar results. The WRX felt very familiar right away the hatchback can hold a ton of stuff and the all wheel drive made it feel really sticky to the road. The downside is that the interior feels cheep. The G8 really amazed me it is a really big car there is enough room for Shaq in the back with Tony Parker driving. The power is just astounding, again we drove a GT not the GXP, had we driven a GXP we would probably be in the hospital today because we got plenty sideways with the 361 HP the 400+ probably would have been too much for us. The interior is really nice and even the brakes felt really good, the car was very composed under hard braking and there was not much nose dive either. The downsides? Well it uses more fuel and Pontiac could be gone any day now, and no stick shift.
So who would get my $$$? Probably Subaru I really like the G8 and one day I want to own either one of the GXP's or a GTO from a couple years ago, but the WRX felt safer and I really do enjoy shifting for myself. I also like the thought of going sideways down a gravel road, when I actually spend most of my driving on interstates where the G8 would be a wicked comfortable country crosser. I am glad I am not buying a new car because it really would be a tough decision, thank goodness I have a Mini that I love and plan to keep for a long time.
A friend of mine was in town yesterday so we decided to go test drive some cars instead of riding bikes or golfing. We drive a G8 GT, WRX, GTI, and a Clubman.
G8 is a monster really big really fast. Sounds great and handles surprisingly well. The interior is actually very nice as well everything is very well dampened and the layout is very logical and cleanly designed.
WRX possibly the disappointment of the day, not the car mind you, but it was the lone car that the salesman joined us on our drive. We were asked to keep it below 4,000 rpm (about the same place the turbo kicks in) and we were limited in distance. The car felt really nice and the steering had great feel and you could feel that there was a bunch of power higher up in the RPM's but not getting to explore that stunk.
GTI, some things just do not change. I last drove a GTI in 2005 and yesterday I got the same feeling. Fast, but not fun. My buddy explained it that it goes really fast, but you can not feel through the steering wheel what is going on at the road. We agreed it would be perfect for a Passat, but not for a hot hatch. The DSG is really nice, it does not hold a gear like I would like, but it bangs into gear really fast which is really nice. I think with some time behind the wheel it would become intuitive, but for a test drive it required thought as to which paddle to pull.
Clubman was a nice break at the end of the day, we drove a regular not an S so it was much slower than the other cars, but what you lost in speed you gained three fold in feel and fun. One thing I noticed from the passenger seat is that the rear end gets really light when braking and it makes the car feel pretty squirrely maybe it was the non sport suspension I do not know. It did feel a bit more composed on mid corner bumps that the last S that I drove so maybe there is a trade off with the different suspensions.
So after a day of driving if I were spending $25K on a car what would I buy out of the group that we drove?
Easy elimination is the GTI, going into the day it was the car I most wanted to drive and the one I thought I would like the best. But the power is just not enough it has a nice interior and all, but the lack of feel in the steering kills it.
Tough elimination is the Mini. I want to like the CLubman, but neither the S nor the Cooper I have driven has excited me the way my Mini does. The S is too jumpy on mid corner bumps and the Cooper just does not feel fully composed. And of course three times during our drive one of us changed the radio station when we wanted to increase the volume.
Final 2 WRV vs. G8. Very different approaches, but very similar results. The WRX felt very familiar right away the hatchback can hold a ton of stuff and the all wheel drive made it feel really sticky to the road. The downside is that the interior feels cheep. The G8 really amazed me it is a really big car there is enough room for Shaq in the back with Tony Parker driving. The power is just astounding, again we drove a GT not the GXP, had we driven a GXP we would probably be in the hospital today because we got plenty sideways with the 361 HP the 400+ probably would have been too much for us. The interior is really nice and even the brakes felt really good, the car was very composed under hard braking and there was not much nose dive either. The downsides? Well it uses more fuel and Pontiac could be gone any day now, and no stick shift.
So who would get my $$$? Probably Subaru I really like the G8 and one day I want to own either one of the GXP's or a GTO from a couple years ago, but the WRX felt safer and I really do enjoy shifting for myself. I also like the thought of going sideways down a gravel road, when I actually spend most of my driving on interstates where the G8 would be a wicked comfortable country crosser. I am glad I am not buying a new car because it really would be a tough decision, thank goodness I have a Mini that I love and plan to keep for a long time.
Gee, and here I always had you pictured as a Suzuki "MINI Killer" man, albeit with an orange cape, instead.
Bet your Hundie could show a Zukie a thing or two...
...or not. It's strictly the touring sedan for when we have company from out-of-country, and otherwise, the daily driver for my wife [who is wary of small cars].
Great report Allen. I'm not much of an American car guy, but always had a soft sport for muscle cars. The G8 seems perfect -- Corvette-based engine in a european (actually australian) styled sedan. Something about the sound of a V-8 makes my knees weak.
Regarding G8 gas mileage, picked up this nugget from mpgomatic.com:
"Now you’d expect any true muscle car to be thirsty, but the G8 GT’s V8 is equipped with Active Fuel Management, to good effect. The official mileage estimates for the 2009 G8 GT are 15 city / 24 highway miles per gallon (MPG).
We had a blast putting over 500 miles on our Stryker Blue Metallic G8 GT review unit and were able reign in the right foot (just a bit) and match the official estimates, with an average of 24.8 MPG on the Interstate highway and 19.9 MPG combined.
Test period temperatures ranged from the forties through the fifties, with freeway speeds between 60 and 72 miles per hour (MPH).
G8 GT Highway MPG Testing
Cruise control on @ 68 MPH - 24.2 MPG
Cruise control off, target speed between 60-72 MPH - 25.3"
The G8 I saw on the Pontiac stand at this year's Detroit auto show had three pedals and a 5-speed! Could be a keeper for the coming years' "Orphan Car Shows".
You must have seen a GXP, the big daddy with 415 HP. I drove the 355 HP GT. Have been thinking about trying out the 265 HP base model, but question its existence since it only gets 1 more MPG than the V8.
Speaking of test drives...I think that there will soon be a new MINI Support Vehicle in our garage. M.A.D. has been thinking about replacing her Rav4 so we went and test drove the new Kia Soul. She really liked it and it gets better gas mileage. I liked the fact that Ricart has a little test track that you can take the cars on. Lil' B.A.D. kept wanting to go around again, but M.A.D. was starting to look a little pale.
