I'm far more interested in what kind of "Punishment" Mr. Mosley will inflict on the teams who are caught twiddling with their spec motors.

@poxpopulus: Seriously. The photo I really want to see is a picture of the stats sheet. If they can get this thing under 3k lbs and swap out the viscous LSD for a helical/torsen or e-diff, they'll have a winner, regardless of how ugly it is.

Anyone know if the release version is going to have mouse support? The demo didn't appear to.

Great, now what am I supposed to do with all these stickers of Calvin pissing on himself?

More outwardly flared side-skirts, rounder more arc-like A-pillar, rear spoiler extends further rearward over the CRX-window.

This guy will probably sue and probably will win. IIRC and IANAL, but I don't believe you're allowed to ship a car to the US with a feature that voids the warranty. This is why we don't have Prii with an "electric only" mode, and it's why the M3 SMG's launch mode only drops the clutch at 2k rpm instead of 5K for the…

While I doubt that they'll bring over the Spec C as a separate model, here's hoping that they do what they did with the last generation STI, and bring us over many of the important bits on the "regular" STI for 2010.

@Ash78: What's worse, as you mentioned in a previous post about the cost of maintaining a VW, building a downmarket car that has to be fitted with upmarket replacement parts is a recipe for expensive repairs.

Only meets Euro-4 as-is, will likely need urea injection or a much bigger particulate filter to meet Tier-II Bin 5 for the US.

@ViergangFuchs: Yeah, the longitudinally mounted 1.8s, like in the early passats, had a small oil sump. VAG's "solution" to this was to fit an extra large oil filter, which essentially added another half quart or so to the sump. If you have an a4 or a passat with the 1.8t, make sure you're changing your oil a little…

@Ash78: Didn't see your reply down here *cough* reply feature *cough*, but yeah, ditto.

@e30 guy: The 1.8Ts had clutch problems, in that the clutch was too small. This didn't affect the six-speed variants like the Turbo Beetle or the 337/20AE. Coil packs were also problematic, and in fact a replacement set is on their way to me as we speak. There was also an issue with people not changing their oil often…

Oooh, it has "sport-utility-like design", what is GM going to do when they realize that most people only bought SUVs because they were fashionable? What happens when they aren't fashionable anymore, and you've tried your damnedest to make your Cruze-wagon look like it's a mini SUV? It seems like GM is still pretending…

@graverobber- It says Loud Pipes Save Lives: I'm guessing it's a douche-erific plastic cover over a 4-cylinder 2-liter, transversely mounted diesel. The engine is way over on the left, like most transverse motors, because the gearbox is on the right.

Good list, but really you could have filled the entire thing with Toyota's and Lexi.

@Ash78: Well, inexpensive convertibles will always be chick cars. On another note, looks like cosworth makes a 2.3 liter motor that will drop in there... Only $12k...

@MBsam: Of course not. And for the record I'll be voting no on 8. But you got the point.

I want really bad to love the Miata. It's a cheap, tossable driver's car. But I just can't shake the feeling that to drive one around I'd have to have a "No on Prop 8" sticker on the back.

Another car that doesn't look nearly as good in final form as it did as a concept. And that hatch isn't big enough to be useful for much. Bring over a true wagon or a true hatch. This isn't hatch-y enough to win over the utilitarians, and it's not sedan-y enough to satisfy the proles.

That other blog is reporting it will have an electronic LSD, if it turns out to be a decent LSD, that fixes my single biggest gripe with the GTI.