Ford has the Ecosport, and now the Bronco Sport to fill that niche. Both come complete with lift kit and plastic body cladding. The Ecosport actually predates the Crosstrek by a decade or so. It started life as a lifted Fiesta wagon for Latin markets.

I don’t think anyone interested in a Subaru would be looking at Maverick or vice-versa.

Not sure about Euro standards, but in the USA, emissions are correlated with vehicle footprint. So the bigger the vehicle, the more it can emit.

It’s an N car, which means it’s targeted towards a demographic of people (“car people”) who like silly, inefficient things that add to driving engagement.

t was nice to have 8 gears but downshifts were very slow and it was not capable of skipping multiple gears at a time.

Apparently, they don’t understand how shit works.

The VA/VB handle better, and I think most people would prefer the FA20 power delivery over the EJ25 in daily driving, even if it is down on power. The six speed is nice.

Even when inflation was sub-2%, WRX and similar cars would increase by $600/yr.

The issue was the platform. The Neon platform was never a good option for a retro wagon. Had it sat on the LX platform and features the HO3.5L motor, it probably would have aged a lot better. Granted, it also would have been much more expensive.

It could work if the point were to deemphasize performance and emphasize luxury & comfort. Keep the Mustang’s power, but make the ride ultra comfy.

With a base C8 now costing almost $66,000

The Maverick is the old S10 in spirit. It’s simple, cheap truck transportation, and it can tow well over 1000 lbs and a full sheet of plywood. Yeah, it’s huge by comparison, but that’s because a modern vehicle needs to do it all to be successful today.

The Thunderbird sat in this space of “kind of nicer Mustang.” But that worked because the lower-spec Mustangs used to be garbage econoboxes.  The current Mustang is so nice that it seems difficult to slot something above it.

I was kind of hoping to see a “GR C-HR” I think they look really cool (especially the faux coupe look) and with a 300+HP 2.0T engine and the AWD system from the GR Corolla, this would be a mean rally cross machine.

Anyone who speaks up is subjected to even worse treatment than a civilian would receive. You have to be a bad one to survive.

Combined with a federal go-to-jail list.

It doesn’t seem like video evidence is enough. Even if it is, there’s the adage, you can beat the rap, but you can’t beat the ride.

I suspect looking like a schlub is the best way to pick up a supercar. Or, maybe second best; dressing like the star of a musical about a homosexual cowboy dance troupe is probably the best way. Most sales people probably expect a hungover Adam Sandler to walk through the door, but if they see a pink cowboy hat and…

I was fresh(ish) out of college and looking to buy a new car. I swung by a BMW dealership and they handed me the keys to a 2 series and let me take it for day. It was a legitimately nice car. But I really wanted the M235i which was out of my budget at the time. The 228i was great and in my budget, but I just felt like…

I always thought that the Cyclone V6 from a Mustang would be a great swap for these. The donors are cheap as hell and easy to find with a manual transmission, they are light weight engines, and the Mustang is generally a simple car. They might be too tall to fit under the stock hood though.