Cool story. Very chill group, at least on that night. I’m sure they have their moments. Not all of those D1GP folk learn to drift on the track! Maybe they do now??

Yea, you know all about it. I couldn’t have imagined it was an all-new thing.

I couldn’t help but think as I was reading your description of the undesirable behavior when shifting - I wonder if the M3/4 suffers from rev-hang?

Audi in 2000, before they steamrolled the race for a decade. I can’t remember the first time they did it with the R8, but there was this moment when they pulled a limping car into the garage, ripped its back end off and replaced it with a spare... engine, transmission, everything, all in minutes. I recall this causing…

Was it a good deal?

An AH-64 on a mission to kill you is pretty much the single worst thing on planet earth. Even worse than a massive wave of zombies. Or a huge volcano that spews nuclear bombs. Because you might be able to get away from those things.

VW screwed up bad. They don’t even have an ETA on the Golf Alltrak or a new CUV. Meanwhile, whatever little crossover they do bring will end up being $5k too expensive. Probably a miniature, less practical Tiguan. Such fools.

Yea, I know where I can chop off a few seconds, maybe even 3 or 4. But all of it involves high-risk flirting with DQ. And there’s no way I’m going back. It is not worth the frustration of getting DQ’d over and over. I will go bananas, and my family will fear for their lives.

The low speed understeer I found easy to compensate for, and the FWD means that mashing the gas as you roll out into the straight is way less risky. The high speed cornering is a whole different story. Almost too responsive, I found myself oversteering into those goddamn cones at very high speed.

How hard can it be to pull one clean lap? HARD! I understand making it hard for the cheaters to cut corners, but HOLY. Just putting a wheel into the shoulder on the Mulsanne DQ’s you. Places I never dreamed of being off limits shut that lap down! Far and away the main challenge is avoiding DQ.

I’ve been positing these same questions and making these same exact points for a year or two now, and the only thing I can conclude is that VW of America hates itself.

I agree. Never imagined this would end up on this list, let alone so high up. I 100% prefer the fixed lights.

Insane, but not surprising. I can’t believe they don’t require a license to operate a bicycle on public roads over there. They don’t do they?

Looks like me behind the tree! I’m psyched that you guys made this #1, because it deserves that spot for better or worse. The open class competition is mighty thin these days (you’re looking at the whole group in this picture.) This is a bummer for a few reasons. First, big names attract attention. Second, they also…

I suspect that their supply of the differential is really tight. I recall that finding local suppliers was a key factor in delaying PP in the first place. Short supply would explain the absence of PP cars on lots (not enough diffs to build ordered cars which should have priority) and maybe even the randomness of the…

The OEM Subaru all weather mats don’t do a very good job, though. My carpet is perma-crusted with salt after just one winter now, and I thought I did a pretty good job keeping up with dumping the heavy juice out from time to time. My VW OEM mats kept the carpets spotless. I’m wishing I went with Weather Tech for the…

That’s true. I was thinking that because the new WRX with CVT has SI-drive, it could be that... but that’s only the CVT. This has 6-speed. If they built a “Levorg STI” like this for Japan, I’m certain it’d get the real deal drivetrain. For the U.S. ... we’ll just never ever get one at all!

Yea I’m thinking even with the squishiness that’s a lot of energy bouncing around in there. Actually, I was thinking they could have water-filled cabins that help moderate their momentum and absorb crash energy. This assumes that they still like to keep moist and are cool with spending time under water.

I read through this whole article and still can’t believe it’s real. Great stuff.

So if you want all of this at a similar price but without the hassle, get an old STI.