Which front-drive cars did you consider when buying your FR-S/BRZ?
 

For myself, I was briefly drawn to:

The Hyundai Veloster and Veloster Turbo.
The Fiat 500 and 500 Abarth.
And a lightly used Volvo C30.

Apples and oranges. Just wondering if I was alone. I know the Civic Si and Golf GTI are popular, but I was never drawn to them personally. After being disappointed by the driving experience in both Velosters I just went ahead and bought an FR-S. I realized I wasn't going to be happy with anything else. I never tried the Fiat or Volvo.

i thought about the Veloster turbo too also thought about an s2k but thats rwd

Mini Cooper S but I've already owned a Cooper so I thought it would be a step backwards in my car career

Gti, fiesta St focus St but I don't think I could have went from my 350z to any of them fwd doesn't work for me although I wanted something reasonably priced and quick

I am in the midst of acquiring information on a fun car so for FWD options for the same price range (ish) or under to a fully loaded BRZ (in Canada):

- Focus ST (loving it as a DD but as a weekend warrior... ehhhh)
- Fiesta ST (ditto)
- Mini Cooper S (feels not very value driven for price tag)
- Veloster Turbo (already written off after a test drive)
- Golf GTI (have reservations on this)

The first two are the most likely I would go for if the BRZ suddenly were not possible for reasons OTHER than financial.

None.

Came from a MKV GTI so I naturally considered:

-MKVI GTI
-Golf R (didn't think the incremental $ was worth it to be honest)
-Veloster Turbo (didn't even bother to test drive, just was a thought)
-Focus ST (wasn't available yet in Canada, did some research on it though - looked like a proper platform for a hot hatch in stock form)

Still a big fan of the GTI, would like to get another eventually as a family/touring car.

RWD cars considered:

-Genesis Coupe 2.0
-FRS/BRZ

In the end, wanted to give RWD a shot (FR-S is my first) and the after market development for the platform was just insane...

Only one I looked at...

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/FWD-FTW-Tricy...NnB!~~0_35.JPG

Veloster Turbo
Accord Coupe V6
GTI
Jetta TDI

I drove the first two (Veloster Turbo had a weird shimmy in the rear end over cracks in the pavement; Accord was nice, but meh and reminded me too much of my sister's TSX that was also meh) and drove a plain jane 2.5 Jetta and hated the way it drove and how the seats and wheel felt off center in relation to my body. I would imagine the TDI to just be a faster/more grunty 2.5 Jetta and the GTI to be a smaller Jetta.

refuse to own fwd

My other car is a GTI, but that aside, the only FWD car I consdered was a Mini Cooper S w/LSD. Fun cars.

Honda Civic Si. My before car was a Civic LE, 2008.

I was looking at the Fiat Abarth & the Fiesta ST.

well i had both a BRZ and Fiesta ST .. they are hands down the 2 cars i liked the most .. BRZ driving position is better tho but in terms of handling the Fiesta out handles the BRZ and also has lots more torque... it doesn't really feel like a fwd car you can even get it to oversteer because of that torque vectoring thing ..
Keep in mind that with decent tires the BRZ will have the edge in terms of lateral grip
2 awesome cars, each have their pros and cons.. the fiesta is a much more quiet car on the road and well i thought the BRZ seats were awesome till i sat in the recaros of the fiesta :P
the cool thing about the fiesta is that there is actually useable trunk and backseats and pussies dont need to store it for winter

btw i test drove a focus st before getting the fiesta and found the focus to be boring .. the fiesta is just so much more nimble in the twisties

The only front-drive car I ever owned was a '92 Saturn sport coupe (SC2) that was given to me by a family member at 200k miles.

Somehow I put another 60k miles on that car, but I can't remember a single detail from those years in my life. When I first got into that car I was twenty years old, full of life and hope for the future. I woke up six years later when I sold that car, as if from a coma, with no recollection of where I'd been or what I'd done. I don't remember a single girlfriend from those years, (probably because I didn't have any) or a good meal or the sun on my face.

It was a good car and I absolutely hated it, boring as hell.
Handled great in the snow.

FWD can go die in a fire, for all I care...

Honda Civic SI Mugen... :-)

None.

I've only owned RWD cars for over 12 years.

Cooper S and GTI

I have a 249whp mini cooper s that I love. But the BRZ is an amazing performance. I do not dwell on FWD RWD AWD as I own all 3 ;)

I would have considered the Focus ST. These days I would have also considered the Fiesta ST. That's about it.

The new civic sucks IMO. TSX isn't in the same class of car that I was looking for.

personally i would never own a fwd car... like many other members have said "they suck"

Me too, but if I had to it would have to be something with a turbo. A GTI perhaps for the wifey.

FWD is not an option for me, I refuse to own another car with that drivetrain configuration.

So to answer the OP, none.

A used 4th gen Celica GT-S.

Didn't consider any. It's the entire opposite side of the spectrum of where I was shopping. Out of my list, there were 3 RWD and 1 AWD in the fight.

Which AWD were you considering?

the fiesta is a pretty surprising car .. i ve never thought a fwd car could be as fun to drive as the BRZ but seems like ford did it.. every time you sit in that car the only thing you want is to beat on it and take it through the twisties first time i ever see a fwd car that can oversteer with too much throttle input

I was cross shopping the BRZ and 4 cylinder Accord Coupe. Knew I wanted the BRZ more, had to decide if it was practical enough.


The useless trunk pass-through on the Accord Coupe made that decision easy as did the fact that it was slightly more expensive than the price that I got my BRZ for.

Amen to that.

if the fiesta was 2 door and AWD with a turbo, I would have gotten one.

didn't consider any as I already have a 97 civic hatch

My 95 Impreza is FWD, it was a fun college car that is awesome in the snow. Give it the same power as a BRZ and it would be almost as fun(suspension would need a ton of work). Since I got the impreza I have wanted Subaru to make a new 2door so the BRZ was my only choice.

A Civic SI or the CR-Z

A cherry '98 Integra DC2 Type R, I would have even settled for a 98-99 Civic Si.


But guess what they don't exist and no one I know of makes a FWD car anything like these double wishboned wonders today..


I bought a 2009 Yaris with the intent on trading it in for an FT-86 when they finally came out. With a TRD suspension and Scion wheels the little Yaris is a keeper, handles so well I decided to make a down payment on the FR-S instead of trade-in. And a Yaris is indestructible, the 1.5L engine has proven itself with many 500k mi+ examples. I think the little tossable Yaris is under-rated among budget fwd cars, probably because its not fast in a straight line.

I looked at a vw GTI due to the amount of room in the car.....I'm a tall guy

Way to heavy for me, I can only find joy with lightweight when it comes to FWD.

Acura ILX (the 2.4L with the 6 speed)
Mazda3
Jetta TDI

Test drove all of them, but I've been driving fwds my whole driving career (~7 years) and really appreciated how different rwd is. Only gonna get a fwd if my focus is 100% on gas mileage.

I prefer light weight rwd cars also. But being 6'6" i dont always have a lot of choices of cars.

Only one I would have wanted for myself is the mk6 gti, though I would have probably opted for the golf r.

My wife has a focus st though.