First car I bought myself was a '95 3000GT VR-4, which I've always kind of considered the Eclipse GSX's older brother. Despite weighing as much as the RMS Titanic, that thing was a rocket when you started flogging it. Rad young person's car indeed.

It may be that nostalgia is getting the better of me.

The chassis may have been excellent, but if it's as good as you say it was, I feel like they didn't use it to its full potential.

My buddy did a co-op at Honda R&D while we were in college. His opinion was that the Civic Si was the nicer of the two cars interior-wise.

It feels like the last gen Celica itself was a downgrade compared to previous Celicas. In some kind of weird hybrid of current VW and Scion tactics, they cheapened the car to appeal to more/younger buyers. As you might imagine, just like it doesn't really work today, it didn't work back then either.

Who was Toyota's chief designer back in the late 90's? Seems like both the MR2 and Celica got beaten with the ugly stick right around the same time.

How about something like a mid 2000's Outback or Forester? Safe, decent on gas, slow, excellent in inclement weather, and reasonably reliable.

The answer is rarely Miata, especially when the question is what to give your teenager as a first car.

My STI will spin all 4 on snow if I'm not careful, even with winter tires. I can't imagine trying to sanely drive around with more than double that on tap.

That was true 10 years ago. Last year, Subaru sold 50% more cars than VW. They are no longer a extremely small car company. Granted, they aren't Toyota/GM size, but neither are they Volvo/Mitsubishi size anymore.

Is there any chance, as it is using the same engine as the Ecoboost Mustang (which I assume is oriented longitudinally), that this wouldn't have a Haldex-based drivetrain? Or would that be a pipe-dream considering the costs of developing a new AWD system from scratch?

I agree 100%. The practicality of anything with a rear hatch is just light-years ahead of a sedan. Plus, if done right, I think they can look awesome.

So he's pissed. So freaking what? What's he pissed at? That he didn't know whether his car came with a spare tire? That he didn't know what kind of tires the car was equipped with (run-flat or otherwise)?

IMO, get the formula for the Golf R right, and then I'll listen to talk about a limited edition super Golf.

Until they stop making them this year?

Formula Zero/F-Zero?

You know, it says a lot about me that the first thing I really notice is "Hmmm, that blonde carwash attendant is kinda cute...."

Glad I read through the comments before posting this.

Right arm would also be acceptable.

I'd trade in my STI hatch for one of those in an instant.