So today is a good day. We just got in our 1st (and maybe only) VW GTI 40th anniversary and my GR Corolla arrived! It's a great day to be an enthusiast folks. Now for the not so great news. Our GTI is yellow which looks awful with all the red trim and I still have a lot of nerve pain in my left leg and foot from the torn disc in my back so driving a stick shift is not great for me right now.

I am going to try to leave work early today to try out the GR Corolla and hopefully it is not too painful to drive. I already drove the GTI and I love all the little touches they did to make it the 40 anniversary- much nicer wheels and stickier tires, adaptive suspension, kept the plaid seats, and the gloss black roof looks a lot better than I thought. Too bad it is not red. It is great to drive and a super solid car. Very well built. It feels like a bank vault when you close the door. I highly recommend it if you like hot hatches and you can find one in a color you like- good luck!

The GTI 40th is probably all I need and still an absolute riot to drive while still being 100% practical as a daily driver. Now the big question- is a loaded GR Corolla Core with a better stereo, more power, AWD, and hopefully a better sounding exhaust worth $10k more. (It would normally only be $5k more without my VW employee discount.)

 

The way he publicly shamed his son Edsel was incomprehensible. Edsel was constantly trying to help Ford evolve and Henry humiliated him whenever possible; poor guy died at 49 - young. I seem to recall one example where Edsel attempted to add space for a division that was expanding, then Henry came in and fired everyone in the division and cancelled the renovations. The last Ford CEO (William Clay?) was Edsel's grandson if I'm not mistaken. Ford has a great story. They have the capacity to build 2.9M cars a year, which is roughly half of GM, yet Ford seems to have a much better vision for EV compared to GM. Tesla is on track to deliver 1.8M cars in 2023, so they are gaining ground.

I still find it difficult to get excited about an EV for myself (happy to buy the wife one) as ICE automobiles were one of the only things my old man and I could see eye to eye on. Seems that if I tap out and submit to the matrix (i.e. drive an EV), then I'm divorcing a big part of what shaped who I am today.

Maybe I need a bridge to the other side - the blue pill, fully supported through Ford Motorsports with a $4K crate motor than can launch this thing to 60 in roughly 4 ticks:

 

This is another path I have considered. Yes, you will never get the money back (Supercharger, Rebuild and updated transmission?) out of the car, but if you buy a 45K Red Sport that's worth 25k in 3 years, is that much different? Stillen is just 70 miles or so away from me, and everyone there is easy to work with, so I think the entire experience would be top notch. For now, I'm excited about my new back tires. Damn rear Pilot Sport 4S tires wore so much faster than the PSS tires they replaced. The front still has 7/32s and the rears were running on wear bars after 15k miles. The good news is their bite and how they handle even in the rain and lower temps - always composed.

The Satin kit is now below 7K:
https://stillen.com/collections/forc...uner-kit-satin

 

Isn’t the GR essentially Golf R pricing, or close to it? Why not consider a DSG in either version. It’s technically a better transmission and outperforms the 6mt. If you can’t drive manual…..the DSG in our Audi is solid, and manual mode + paddles is a nice experience. Just saying….

 

The loaded GR Corolla core is about $8k less than the Golf R 20th anniversary I would be interested in and is also definitely more track oriented with much better brakes, lighter weight, much more aggressive styling, etc. I have given the DSG a consideration, but it ultimately takes away a lot of driver engagement.

After driving the GR Corolla I came away very surprised. I love the exterior styling (looks much better in person), wheels, different drive/AWD modes, 800W JBL stereo (on paper), heated steering wheel, wireless charger, handling, etc.

Unfortunately, in real life the car has many more downsides. The #1 reason I didn't buy it was the ride. It is a very harsh ride, similar to a cheap set of Japanese coilovers. It just killed my back on anything even remotely resembling a bumpy road.

It looks great on the outside (except maybe dead on from the front if you ignore the wide fenders), but the inside looks econocar cheap and disjointed. It is plastic fantastic. The wireless charger would charge for about 15 seconds and then shut off. The display screen housing is huge and looks tacked on, but the usable screen is much smaller and then gets split in half when you use the radio. The JBL radio is clear, but you have to turn it up to 25 to get any real volume and there is no bass. It sounds like all the sound is coming from the tiny tweeters way far away near the base of the windshield. The exhaust does not sound good either. It has a nice low rumble at idle, but just sounds like a vacuum cleaner when you rev it up, if you can hear it at all. I accelerated onto the highway with the windows down and could barely hear the car. The pedals are spaced pretty far apart so heel and toe downshifting is pretty cumbersome.

The interior also feels very claustrophobic because the headliner dips way down in front of and behind each seating position. I have no idea why they did that as the roof is totally flat on the outside. This is not helped by the fact that the seat height is high at the lowest setting and the steering wheel is low. The rear doors are also very tiny so it is pretty tough to get in and out of the back seat. On paper the rear seat legroom is nonexistent, but I am 6'1" with long legs and adjusting the seat the way I drive I could sit in the back seat just fine. Getting in and out was another story due to the tiny rear door. The cargo area in back is also miniscule because they had to raise the load floor up due to putting the battery in back for weight distribution.

Sorry to rant about the GR Lego, but I think you might like the next part.

Compared to the GR Corolla, the GTI 40th anniversary's cabin and cargo area seem huge. The fit and finish is in a completely different league in the VW and the ride quality is an enormous improvement with the adaptive suspension. The performance and handling seem very similar in the GTI and tuning is very simple in the GTI. As a result I put in a request for a Tornado red 40th anniversary 6 speed manual GTI first thing this morning. I really hope I can get it the car. I keep trying to convince myself that I won't be too heartbroken if I cannot get one because I hear there are "big upgrades" in store for the 2024 GTI. My guess is more buttons and less haptic controls. Fortunately, I can handle the haptic controls ok and the 40th anniversary actually has a volume ****. I can't believe it would be my 1st VW. The 40th anniversary in Tornado red certainly holds some nostalgic value for me so fingers crossed...

 

i thought you quit track when you sold the G and were going practical! Oh how the mighty have fallen!

All jokes aside, I hope all is good man, glad to see you still driving hard, lol (my vote is golf R between those 2)

 

Haha! I have not done a track day since the G37. The rest of that post is about how I am not getting a GR Corolla because the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. It is a great looking car and fun to drive on glass smooth roads, but not a great daily driver. I don't think I would do track days again unless I picked up a Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing or a used BMW M2. But it gets hard to justify the extra expense for a couple days a year and give up snow traction with RWD. Speaking of my old G and not doing track days, having 2 days off in a row this weekend gave me way too much time to go down the rabbit hole of car options again so bear with me here for a minute. Lol

My top two new cars would be a red GTI 40th anniversary 6 speed manual or a red (maybe black) Civic Si. I am just not sure how likely I am to get either car.

If I really got the itch to do track days, a CT4-V Blackwing or used M2 as I mentioned above would be my top picks. However, an extra $20k or $40k (compared to GTI or Si) is tough to justify for a car that will be 99% daily driver.

My wife keeps bringing up convertibles for herself so a used 2015 or newer M3 6 speed would be another option as they seem like a decent deal now and most have lower mileage.

Now for the less likely candidates:

Another convertible idea (or coupe) would be another G 6 speed that I would just tune for the street. This would be my car since she has no interest in the car for some reason. There seem to be some decent deals on these cars and I know exactly which mods to make thanks to all the time I spent on my last G. The only problem with this idea is that I have already done it with my sedan. The other problem is RWD for our winters.

I always like the idea of an R33 Skyline. In reality it is at least a 25 year old car that would probably need all new bushings and a bunch of other hard to get parts. The engine has great potential, but it would take serious money to get the car and get it tuned the way I want up to date. At that point I might as well get a Blackwing with a warranty and probably blow the doors off the Skyline if I were to track it.

The most far-fetched idea is an E36 M3. I have always wanted one of these just because I never owned one. Probably a bad idea for all the same reasons the GT-R is a bad idea- age. Also, everyone is asking a mint for them. Kbb suggests a value of $8-$12k for just about all of them and everyone lists them for $25-$35k

 

I hear ya lol. i like pretty much every car you mentioned (aside of the gr corolla and the civic si).

Red Gti definitely looks sharp, cant argue there. The Blackwing idea is pretty neat tbh, i dont see them often here so that rarity makes it more appealing to me. Also as much as im not a chevy/gm guy, they look pretty badass in black, and sound pretty damn nice too.
( i myself have started to feel interest in 2012 ish z06 in dark blue for some reason lol).

You ever thought of a used Lexus isF? i know its rwd but they are pretty damn fast, sharp looking in the right colour, and sound fantastic with a ppe header. Being a toyota v8 doesn't hurt either since they seem super reliable no matter how hard you push them. (I track with a few of them who run KWv3s and man they just outclass my G, lol)
I quite like them even though i prefer 2 doors. I've often been tempted to go down the isF route but the challenge of wrestling a z06 down the track seems like it'd be more exciting/dangerous lol

Anyhow your taste in cars is awesome, thats probably why you are having such a hard time. Every car you mentioned has a lot of positives going for it. You may have just have to spin a wheel and see what it lands on .

I personally wouldn't re-build the same car you sold though, life is short and you may as well throw in new experiences over re-living old ones. Maybe just simplify winters with a winter beater, so you can follow your heart which obviously seems to love rear wheel drive lol. Anyhow goodluck on your search, i am definitely curious which car will end up being the one!

 

I really prefer a 6 speed manual if I can which rules out the Lexus if I remember correctly. Uncorked V8's do sound good, but I remember that car being pretty heavy too. A friend of mine had one and it was a cool car.

You might be right about spinning a wheel to decide. Lol Honestly, it probably comes down to availability at this point. I am leaning new if I can get one before I go used, but there are some cool used options and some of them are coming back down to reality as far as pricing.

However, some dealers are still crazy with new cars that are really not that rare. I just called a dealer in Chicago about a red Civic Si that was listed with a $500 discount. I talked to the salesman who said I needed to talk to the sales manager to get the correct pricing. So I talked to the sales manager and he would not tell me anything over the phone. I told both of them I am not driving 3 1/2 hours if I don't know the price. Finally, he texts me the price and adds a $7,500 "market adjustment" and throws on a $1,750 "Honda protection." I am so glad my store does not do any of these stupid games. What a waste of time for everyone.

Anyway, I tried owning a winter beater and a fun summer car before but we have long winters and I was usually just in the wrong car. I would much rather have the swiss army knife of cars that does everything really well. I think the GTI ticks all of those boxes better than any car right now. I am only considering the Civic Si because some places rate it better and it might be slightly easier to get.

The Blackwing popped up on my radar because they are releasing a bright red for 2024 that looks nice. It would be an awesome car and I would have to track it a few times in order to justify the price. However, that is really tough to do when the GTI will be roughly $40k less. For that I could get a used M3 convertible for my wife and drive that when I get bored of the GTI. There you go, I think I just found the perfect solution. lol

 

^ That right there makes a lot of sense tbh, hard to argue with that logic. I think you definitely have found the perfect solution lol.

 

Follow my (potential) path and get a 6MT E9x M3! High-revving V8, and you can get a vert for your wife! Verts go for less money than the sedan/coupes I believe since they're heavier.

 

I have given lots of thought to the E90 M3's with their awesome sounding V8. The issue is most of them are 15 years old and that motor requires upgraded bearings and I forget the expensive fix with the intakes/throttle bodies. The other issue is they are heavy and lack torque so you need to rev the **** out of them to get them to move. Not exactly something I feel comfortable doing on that old of a motor in need of better bearings.

The next gen M3 is not much more expensive, but provides a significant increase in performance and reliability. It also has a much better set of brakes and a much nicer interior. Don't worry I always think about older M3's. lol I even looked at convertible E46 M3's because I loved my coupe, but the chassis is about as rigid as a noodle with the top down.

 

I have given lots of thought to the E90 M3's with their awesome sounding V8. The issue is most of them are 15 years old and that motor requires upgraded bearings and I forget the expensive fix with the intakes/throttle bodies. The other issue is they are heavy and lack torque so you need to rev the **** out of them to get them to move. Not exactly something I feel comfortable doing on that old of a motor in need of better bearings.

The next gen M3 is not much more expensive, but provides a significant increase in performance and reliability. It also has a much better set of brakes and a much nicer interior. Don't worry I always think about older M3's. lol I even looked at convertible E46 M3's because I loved my coupe, but the chassis is about as rigid as a noodle with the top down.

 

Do you need the rear seats? 350Z/370Z convertible can be had with 6MT. Older Porsche 911 at that point even? ~20 year old cabriolet. Or another option way the other direction, Jeep Wrangler can be had with an MT and the whole roof and doors can come off. If you remove the MT requirement you could look German with an E-Class convertible or go Audi with an S4/S5.

 

G37 convertibles are very nice. We had one when I worked at the dealership, and they look great since they aren't a soft-top. Just make sure you don't put anything in that "trunk" or you'll have problems with the roof closing.