Once they get to booster seats, and can climb into and out-of the back seat all their own, and latch their own belts. (A booster seat comes after the child seat.) It's a narrow window of opportunity, because they're only a few years away from the need to cart around their friends, or sports equipment.

I missed my moment, and am only just now getting back to it now that they're 16 and 19. However, now I'm getting old myself and feeling like I'd like something more comfortable than a two-door can offer. Heck, even my sport seats are starting to feel a bit much. For example, I'm sure I'd hate your racing seats, no offense.

You know, with respect to 2-door cars, I'm 100% sure that I've love the comfort, size, and power of a Dodge Challenger SRT. But I can't get beyond the cheap interior, cheap fit & finish, etc.

 

Oh really? So you wouldn't try a coupe even until they can buckle themselves in? At what age is that roughly?

I am getting older too and have had issues with my back (the primary reason I ditched the Evo for the G37). The G definitely rides better and I was very careful with the Sparco seats because the Recaros in the Evo had huge side bolsters that made it tougher and sometimes downright *ahem* uncomfortable to get into, if you catch my drift. I was pretty lucky with the Sparcos fitting right and being pretty easy to get in and out of, but you do need to have the right body type for that to happen.

For my next car I am attracted to the smoother ride of the magnetic shocks in the ATS-V and RS3 because I do realize that the majority of the time the car will be spent daily driving.

Challenger? Not on my short list. Aside from all the other disadvantages you listed the car just feels big to me. I prefer a smaller, more responsive/tossable car, but I know that is totally a personal preference.

 

Kids transition from car seats to booster seats around 3-4 years old, and will remain seated on a booster until they're like 10 or 11. Odds are your kid will ask to get out of the child seat around the time you start thinking about getting a booster. Most two-part car seats are also boosters, if you remove the backrest. Not those Sparco seats.

Really though, it's height that's the determining factor for the transition from booster seats to no-booster. And even then, it's advised to still keep the pre-teen in the back seat, because in the front seat the airbag can actually be a safety risk for kids sitting low. Which sucks, because getting to ride up in the front seat "with Dad" is always a big deal.

Anyway, people tend to make their own judgement, with some guidelines from asking people who've had kids.

I know, the Challenger isn't on my list either. There are definitely aspects to the car that draw me to it, but when you tally up the pros & cons, it fails. In addition to quality and style issues, it's just too damn big.

 

For a while now, Alfa has been teasing about a new model, a small Crossover. Odds are good it will be crap, chasing entry level sales and riding the coattails of this trend. But imagine if they put the same 2.0T inline four with 290 hp, AWD, a sport suspension, sport brakes, and a dual-clutch... in a funky Italian half-sized crossover. And imagine that came with a 10-year B2B warranty, which it absolutely won't, but certainly should.

Anyway, I can imagine that. That would be cool.

Something like the old Land Rover Evoque Coupe, which absolutely looked the part, but couldn't live up to the image.

 

Child Car Seat Guide - NHTSA Keep in mind age AND size. We have our boys in their Recaros still. I believe those seats are good up to 60 lbs and 48". I'd have to go check again. The safest they can be (not necessarily the most convenient) is in the back in a car seat as long as possible, but definitely not beyond the mfg specs. The bio-dynamics focus in my Auto Vehicle Dynamic course in college solidified the importance of this. Keep in mind all car seats are different. The cheaper ones typically have a shorter life because the design is limited by material and features budget. There is a lot of variance if you research. The following recommendation for 4-7 years of age is not discretely defined: "Keep your child in a forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat’s manufacturer. Once your child outgrows the forward-facing car seat with a harness, it’s time to travel in a booster seat, but still in the back seat."

Also, don't think only about the buckling. The buckles on many of the car seats are not designed for children to easily unlatch. You would hope not. My sons have silly strength in other areas. They can open things I never guessed they'd get into. They have even done exceptionally well practicing with my Makita impact. However, the seat buckles on those Recaros are still challenging. They're coming up on 4.

I think you're talking yourself into that RS3, personally. Keep the G, gut the interior, use it for race days and grab-some-milk-at-the-store trips to get your manny fix. I've been contemplating the same. The choices are getting slimmer and slimmer for the 3pedalclub members. And the premiums on those choices are growing out of control. Especially if you want specific color/option combos.

 

I've been a coupe guy my whole life, to the point my friends have always teased me about my "practical car choices" But the 4 door g37 or Alfa could get me into a 4door (if i can still keep my coupe)

im actually dying to see a coupe version of the Guilia lol




But still.... i see why you guys love the 4door g37. Its just a damn good looking 4 door. Its definitely the sedan i could live with.

 

Maybe I am asking the question wrong about coupes. I am all read up on the car seat guidelines and the seat I have now does transition into a booster. I was wondering who has used a coupe with a car seat and what age were the kids. Can I start thinking about coupes when my daughter can climb into her own seat and I can buckle it or is that still a huge pain to do and I need to wait until she can do the buckles herself?

If I had 2 cars I would go the opposite way- I would keep the G as the daily and get something more track focused. I have done that before, but I would rather get one car that can handle track duty and daily driving duty. It's a tall order, but the ATS-V seems to fit the bill the best. The problem is AWD would be nice (we have been getting pounded with snow all week) and the interior of the ATS-V is not the nicest place to be compared to the M3 or RS3. If I give up track days the M3 or the RS3 win. I really think it is between those 3 cars and with all 3 expecting new versions in the next year or two maybe one of the three will rise to the top.

That concept 2dr. Guilia with all the extra power sounds awesome. Hopefully, it comes to fruition.

 

Been looking at the Peugeot 406 as a replacement to the G once they become 25 years old. They're front wheel drive. You can modify the 2 liter engine to make 310 hp reliably. Almost the same width as our G's, but a much shorter length. Super light too. Don't know if I'd want to replace my already French style Renault Japanese Nissan with a different French car. Would be a good hill climb car, too bad it's not that popular in the US besides Pikes Peak which is annually and more of an endurance race if anything.

 

I'm a little ahead of you--6 and 8 year old girls--they can climb in and buckle the seatbelts themselves. I've largely crossed coupes off my list, which is unfortunate, because it would open up more options. Could you do it, sure, is it practical, not for me, and not worth the hassle.

For example, I drop my kids off at school every day--it's either bus pickup at 6:20 or I can drop them off at school at 7:00. Carpool line drop off is on the passenger side. You cannot exit the car. There isn't a realistic way for me to open the passenger side door for the kids to exit. And even if I could, the limited space would make it virtually impossible for them to get out of their seats, operate the seat release, and climb out toting their backpacks.

If you're just planning on one kid, it might be marginally easier, but I just don't think it's practical, unless we're talking about Challengers lol.

 

Now imagine your kid and two of her friends, each with backpacks, and a 30 pound bag of field hockey goalie equipment the size of a small coffin.

Coupes don't really work for family duty. And no matter how much you intend to only use your car to only drive you around in, there will be moments when it has to be used for other more awkward tasks. It's inevitable.

Problems like this can really only be solved with three cars: the family hauler, the utility car, and the toy. And of course once your kids start driving too, everything changes again.

 

+1 It's like the ghost of Christmas future

There is also the added complexity of long coupe doors. It's really nice for everyone to be able to pile in without having to help open doors and power seats forward. And my back isn't up to the task of constantly bending over into the back seat to help buckle in the kiddos. I probably have the same Recaro seats as another poster in my wife's A4 and I have high back booster seats in the R. It took both kids some time to figure out the mechanics of a seat belt vs the harnesses. The seat belts aren't as easy as having a the harness buckle right in front of you.

3 cars is where I'm going, and at this point, I'm 3 years away from adding a toy car. Probably a Camaro SS or Mustang GT of some flavor.....but Challenger SRTs, Cayman S, M2, Chevy SSs and 370Zs occasionally bounce around in my thoughts.

 

Thanks for the advice about coupes and kids guys! I appreciate it. I never even considered school drop off lines and back packs. I guess that means the M2 and GT-R are out of the mix. Maybe I would consider a new Z car once it debuts if it is a great car and keep the G as the daily driver. More than likely though this means I will stick with another 4 door.

Good news on the 4 door front- Cadillac is apparently putting a 6 speed manual in the hopped up version of the CT5-V and CT4-V (blackwing?). I think I already like the styling better of the CT4-V than the ATS-V since they rounded off all of the hard edges. The styling just looks a bit more cohesive, but still aggressive and this is not even the top performance version. It sounds like it will have the same twin turbo V-6 so I am interested to see what changes they make. The interior will probably be a lot nicer too. I bet it will debut at the Detroit auto show this summer.

https://carbuzz.com/news/rejoice-the...-a-stick-shift

 

^^^
That's a pretty picture. Wow.

 

I bet it looks awesome in black!

 

The yearly car show came to DC again, got a chance to take a look at (most of) the cars in once place again. For some reason Merc, bmw, audi didn't show this year...
Pretty much nothing different from last year, and nothing that REALLY makes me want to jump from the G still. After having another look around the G70 I still like it. I wish the seats were a little more bolstered, but the interior is pretty nice. I really don't like the fake plastic aluminum trim all over the interior though. It looks and feels cheap. The only other cars I would have liked to look at are the S3/RS3 and S4 but Audi didn't show.

Oh, and Infiniti. still the same as ever. Looks like the q50/60 got minor improvements for 2020. The center screen is actually decently responsive now but overall the car is still the same as ever. It's funny, their booth got almost no attention as well.