Thoughts On A DD

[nalc]

It really depends on your price range and how much maintenance/mods/effort you want to do, as well as how fast you want to go and what kind of fuel economy you want.

I came from a '00 LGT 5-speed to the BRZ, and that's got a lot of advantages for winter driving. It's stylish in a sort of clunky, industrial way. It's got plenty of room. The handling is pretty decent, and it's got a lot of grip thanks to AWD. It's kinda good looking, very competent in snow, kinda fun, and available for a pretty reasonable price, so it's no big deal if it gets rock chips or gets covered in snow or anything like that. Only major drawback is gas mileage - not horrible, but quite a bit worse than the twins.

But if you're looking at some rare, high-end sporty luxury sedans, it's a whole different ball game. Are you looking for an older, cheaper car that's competent in the snow and that you aren't afraid to put a lot of miles and a lot of wear and tear on, or a car that's similar in price to your BRZ, to be your primary vehicle, and have the BRZ as more of a nice weather toy?

[elbles]

Originally Posted by @Art_Mighty

Kinda hard to find but the car you're really looking for is the E46 330i and 330ci ZHP package. It's kinda a hybrid between and regular 330i sport and an M3.

That is the ideal car, yes. I think it's just about perfect, except they're a little hard to find, and I think they're a little overvalued by their owners (generally speaking, and no offense to anyone who has one). Aside from the 6th cog and the Alcantara, just about everything else can be retrofitted to a normal 330i as things need to be replaced (especially suspension components).

As for some of the other questions:

* I don't have the GTI anymore (the lease ended, and I chose not to buy it out). Part of me regrets that, but I wanted to move on to something else, and a bit cheaper (and preferably, a bit easier to work on... I tend to hate working on transverse engines... yes, this statement is made somewhat hypocritical by virtue of driving a flat-4 car with absolutely zero clearance on either side of it, but I digress).
* On that note, price is flexible. $8,000 is about as much as I want to spend, but I'd go as high as $10k for the "perfect" car/example.
* I have (and am) considering Audis, but in terms of how easy they are to work on, I prefer the BMWs, from what I've seen of both of them. I will grant that the Audis have nicer interiors.
* The car is going to be more-or-less my only car in the winter, and an occasional DD (rainy days, days when I go to happy hours after work, etc.). I prefer RWD, but wouldn't mind the right FWD or AWD car (i.e., aforementioned Audis, maybe a LGT). Snow tires will go on whatever I buy--my first car was a 240SX, and every winter I had it but one was spent with it on summer tires. Admittedly, not a smart move, but it gave me zero qualms with having a RWD car in the winter, provided the appropriate rubber.

Sorry about the delays in posting, really hectic work week.

[Luis_GT]

E39 hands down... they are also easy to work on if something goes wrong...

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by elbles

That is the ideal car, yes. I think it's just about perfect, except they're a little hard to find, and I think they're a little overvalued by their owners...

You're not kidding. I just spend a few minutes looking and it appears that ZHP owners are asking M3 prices for their cars (silly, silly people...)

[so26]

Audi A6 Avant ... nice ride, decent power, AWD, and good space.

This is a nice example: eBay link

[davtbaum]

ZHP!!! Great car but definitely overvalued