LikeEmFast

Personally I am a shocker with cars. Had 81 of them and I am 43, and not a car dealer. Hmm a Sigma. Suprisingly many years ago I was looking for a Sigma turbo. Back when they were considered quick. Been there on the WRX too. Suprisingly people used to panic when I drove it hard. But it is a WRX, you should look after it. My take on that was "It is here for a good time, not a long time". Had the XR6 turbo for a couple of years too. Got over it, as I do all the cars I have owned. Suprisngly of all the cars I have owned I kinda miss my hot EH I had when I was 20. Also I have to buy a V6 Capri GT someday. Had a thing for them for years and never bought one. Nostalgia :D

If I coulda afforded an EVO I woulda been there Seriously considering the Lancer Ralliart next year though.

Standard prices excluding On Road Costs. Did you actually read the options on each? Had I wanted a standard WRX they offered me one for $39,000 on road. Tynans Sutherland are a good yard to hit at the end of the month.

Well my options on the day were: WRX with factory sat/nav, aftermarket wheels, aftermarket suspension, tinted windows, factory leather. End of month deal. New price was $53K drive away (thanks to all the options) Had them down to $45K. Which was damn good deal in anyones books for a brand new highly optioned Rex. Along comes my XR5. 4 months old, 1500kms on the clock, factory leather and reversing sensors, mats weather shields etc etc. Again the dealers love to give deals at the end of the month. $36,990 and do a deal at $35K. Then add a sunroof for $2200. So A drive away on a virtually new car for $37,200. No denying the WRX was a great car. But on the day it was just not $8,000 greater. The biggest letdown with the new WRX is the loss of the WRX sound. Just dampens the driving experience. Basically I would have been paying $8000 to get to 100kmh .9 of a second earlier. Through the corners the WRX is good, but didn't seem as good as an older Rexxy I used to own. Had the Mazda dealer been offering a better deal on the day I might have been in the MPS, but ya gotta take whats there for the best value.

I didn't like the VW at all. Particularly when I weighed up the price difference. If I was spending VW money the WRX wins every time and still leaves cash over.

I have to agree there. I drove all the hot hatches before I got the Ford. The MPS is an accident waiting to happen in the hands of anyone besides an experienced driver. The torque steer on them is horrifying when you plant it. To make it worse I took one on a second test drive in the wet, as I did all the hatches, and the torque steer problem was multiplied by 3. To make it worse the steering wheel is a thin standard Mazda 3 wheel simply wrapped in leather, that gives you nothing to grip when the beast is trying to drive you everywhere you don't want to go. Come on Mazda, not even a sports wheel. The MPS and the HSV VX-R are both unrefined torque steering cars that really need some work to make them worth the $40K asking prices. All these comments from a person who wasn't going to buy another Ford because I have been hit so heavily on resale market on the previous XR6 Turbo and 2 Fairmont Ghias. In the end the XR5 won out for being damn fun to drive. Not as quick as the others but a better package.

That is actually a good thing. After directly comparing one to a WRX as my next purchase I chose the XR5 for a few reasons. Yes the WRX was a little quicker all round but the XR5 was no slouch through the corners in the wet either. The WRX that I was looking at getting was $8K more than the XR5 I bought. It wasn't $8K more worth of car. I then compared insurance. WRX was $250 more per year. Doesn't sound a great deal but at the rate I get that is 25% dearer. The AWD cars use more fuel on average. I don't drive much but still a consideration. Now the big one. Service costs. The WRX servicing is almost double because of the AWD. The XR5 is a nice balanced package for the cost.

Hehe. A CAI is my first upgrade I want to do. Not paying $400 to $1000 though. I will make one and give it a run on the dyno to see if I know as much about airflow as I think I do After that I am going to look for a Dreamscience tuning box. Stupid me didn't get up early enough the other morning and missed one on Ebay UK for $350 cheaper than a new one. Paid $24 today for a mod that everyone running $600 plus boots on their car should do. A simple change from air in the tyres to nitrogen. Cooler running temps and more consistent pressure. Here are some more pics of the car now I have it home and the sunroof is fitted. http://morecars.com.au/index.php?option=co...6&Itemid=29 And a teaser pic or 2.

Well I flew in from Thailand today and went and picked up my new baby. The wife and kids suprised me by catching a train up to the airport so we could all go pick up the Focus. On the way home I found it to be a great car to drive and the addition of the sunroof has really put it in another league. The 6 stacker MP3 player is great too as I bought back heaps of MP3 discs from Thailand. The Ford dealer could have detailed it a bit better though, so tomorrows job is a nice clean and run up some more K's before I decide to sit down and start working again. More pics to come soon.

If it wasn't for the steering wheel and the fact the seats just didn't suit me in particular I may have bought one. In my case the leather recaros in the Focus are really comfortable, but for some reason the Mazda ones just dug into my ribs badly in 2 spots. As for the steering wheel Mazda really should have done better in a car costing $40K. A lot of it was economics as well. If I was to have bought the Mazda it would have only cost $2500 less than the WRX deal I had lined up. If it came to that the WRX was the winner every time. At a lot less money I am happy with what I found . On aother day another car may have been the best deal.