I find it interesting that many of you are not biased to RWD cars after owning the G. I've driven mainly Euros for about 18 years until buying my G, but part of the reason for buying it was the RWD. I see a lot of FWD cars being considered for the next one. Not surprised to see AWD. I personally just DO NOT like driving a "performance oriented" FWD car. Performance and FWD do not go together imo

 

Seca just gains Recaros and a Torsen limited-slip rear differential. Both are available in the normal(?) Boss 302. Rear seats removed and a cage. Suspension is upgraded which you can do yourself. Not really a whole lot separating the two.

Throw fatter tires on it and it matches the 1 LE. You basically have a Leguna Seca with just beefing up the tires, suspension and a cage. 302 threw it down at Leguna Seca. As for 00-60 the Solid rear axle will plant and rip a lot better than the Independent. So 1/4 is a toss up.

Just playing Devil's advocate here but I think a modified, standard, Boss 302 will be quite a lot of fun and put up a hell of a fight against a 1LE.

6th Gen is fantastic looking though. Enormous improvement over the 5th gen. 1 LE package is very affordable too. $6,500 extra in goodies for electronic LSD, Fat custom super stickies, Brembos, beefed up cooling, short throw shifter, Recaros and more?

 

Good advice. I leased a Leaf for 2 years before and it was the perfect commuter car and actually kind of fun to drive. With 100% torque instantly it was actually quicker than my 370Z up to about 40mph and handled pretty well due to most of the weight being down low with the battery. The lack of any regular maintenance was nice too. Aside from a few months in the winter, I should be able to drive the Elise to work whenever I want.

However, that brings up a good point and what I ran into with my previous Leaf when I had an E46 M3. I agree that it is more fun to have a dual purpose daily driver that can be fun any time you want to step on the gas as opposed to having 2 different cars. The other reason I was not a fan of having 2 cars just for me was that my old house did not have enough room for all the cars. The new house has a much larger garage so that is no longer a problem.

I am 6'1" 175 so I should be ok. I know I fit in the Alfa 4C just fine. Due to my height I want a soft top so that it is easier to get in and out. I don't feel like folding myself into a pretzel anymore to get into a car.

I think there was a bit more to the Laguna Seca, but I get what you are saying. I think with the right mods a Boss 302 could be a hell of a lot of fun too. I think if I make a change I want to go with a car that has a more upscale interior and does not weigh close to 2 tons like Mustangs and Camaros.

 

Having owned a 1986 Dodge Shelby Charger Turbo and a 1994 Sentra SE-R, I hold a different opinion. I was somewhat frustrated when racing a Sentra SE-R in 24 Hours of LeMons but I enjoyed both cars on the street.

 

Those are both fun cars on the street and I would add the VW GTI and the new Civic Type R to that list. But as you found out racing, physics will give any FWD car limitations on a track compared to AWD and RWD. When you try to get the front tires to do all of the steering and acceleration they will get overworked much earlier.

 

Since I'm not racing the G's replacement, FWD is perfectly acceptable.

 

FWD works fine on the street and they have gotten so good now that torque steer is almost a thing of the past.

 

That was my point. My wife drives a 2014 Volvo S60. When you move the shifter to sport it actually does a slight remap that boosts power. Definitely feel the difference, but you can feel the front wheels struggling to do all the work. Mind you, it is a VERY nice driving FWD car. I actually considered buying a T6 AWD for myself before I got the G.

As with anything, it all comes down to preference. My autotragic G will probably never see any track time but I personally prefer the overall feel of RWD car characteristics. I like a rear biased AWD car too (Audi)

 

My last car was a FWD Buick with a supercharged 3800. It was basically a device for turning rubber to smoke and testing your grip strength.

 

Like anything it depends... I'd take something like an ITR over a Buick Roadmaster any day

Back in the day I had an H22 swapped Honda Accord with a Quaife differential.... that thing used to actually torque steer into the corner under power. It was unreal. With all the ducks in a row (mechanical LSD, good tires, good suspension design, reasonable power) FWD can be great. Problem is there aren't too many FWD cars with all their ducks in a row. And I'd be weary to gamble on buying a FWD car to try to re-engineer the drivetrain and suspension.

 

The Torque steer was a big deal with the MS3 and the Quaife differential apparently made it non-existent. Need everything working in unison, like you mentioned, but the amount of support is only there for a select few models.

I'm bias now. After driving both, the RWD is what I prefer over FWD. If I ever considered FWD again it would have to be modeled after Mazda's approach to the MS3. Great performance, practicality, reliability, decent handling, good aftermarket but most importantly - very affordable.

Feels like too many cars that are FWD with any sort of performance over 200hp have huge mark ups. Fiesta and Focus ST might be the only ones that fit the bill but compared to a Mazda Speed it's lacking.

 

Do people not like the Q70 with the 5.6 V8? I haven't read or seen much about it, but I thought I'd see a lot more of it here.

 

No aftermarket. Only offered in 7AT which is a no-go for a lot of members. Even more lag in the throttle response. At that price, there's a lot more options....

 

Keyword being almost.

I've yet to experience a FWD car that didn't have torque steer while powering into a corner. Fighting the wheel while a FWD car spins the tires just feels cheap, whereas a RWD car getting loose in the same way doesn't

 

my roommate test drove his friends IS350 F sport and he said the sound system (Mark Levinson) is the best he's ever heard in a car...any truth to this?