People come up with some pretty obscure reasons why the manual is superior. My favorite is “theft deterrent.” I just skip the non-provable stuff and say I drive one because I like it (which is the truth).

I agree with that #hottake. I got myself a 2018 SE manual in Tornado Red. It looks awesome. I ordered it from the factory in order to get the manual transmission, as well as driver assist options. Honestly, it was a painful process. VW is NOT set up to provide factory-ordered cars to their customers in even a…

How is this thing not coming to America? Subcompact crossovers are literally the hottest thing right now (I mean, as far as I can tell). And this one is at least prettier than that goddamn Toyota C-HR.

I don’t know about you all, but the application of Random Capital Letters to Non-Pronouns really screams stable genius to me.

No joke, I remember struggling with this in...first grade.

I’m mostly preaching to the choir here, but that’s been possibly the most troubling thing about the Trump era...all the previously semi-reasonable Republicans jumping straight off the cliff after their dear leader.

Are you the couple in that cute VW ad where they keep boning in progressively larger VWs?

And yet, this is still a stupid cheap shot which will further convince Trump’s true believers that he’s under attack from a violent radical left and their MSM allies. It may be perfectly legal and satisfying you to and I, but it’s beyond pointless. This is one of the few times where I wish someone would’ve pulled…

I prefer “rotary.” Is this a New England thing or just a my-family thing?

Mhmm, well said.

I don’t know, it doesn’t seem to weigh on Clarence Thomas’ conscience too heavily. Granted, we are now in a different “moment,” but I don’t have much confidence that a Justice Kavanaugh would feel any shame about this.

Agree, but their relative tech savvy and meme-literacy still worries me. Even if they’re just adopting existing/random symbols and dropping them as soon as the mainstream media starts catching on, it’s still a language/currency that they can traffic in and use to build support. See this stupid photo with Nunes as an…

Huh. I’ve heard some hate, but personally didn’t have any issues when I ordered a number of things from ECS in the 2009-2012 time frame. Frankly, I wasn’t ordering anything too high-end, and it was probably the functional, polished website that drew me in. It was just easier to order from them. Sounds like others have…

There are car magazine rumors (I consider it only rumor until the order guide is released) that the 2019 Alltrack SEL will be available with the manual transmission. So, you might be able to have your cake and eat it too. Alternately, maybe they will make adaptive cruise control available on the SE, which is available…

It’s about 1.5" when you consider suspension and tire changes. See my comment above.

A common misconception. It gains about 1.5" compared to the regular wagon: 0.6" from suspension changes, and 0.9" from taller profile tires. I understand that last part seems a bit gimmicky, but...the numbers work.

Well, my first thought was that it looks good. I didn’t notice the lack of the signature BMW headlights, which tells you about how much I follow the brand. But maybe this bodes well for average people liking them and buying them.

Cool! Whenever I’ve seen this, my low-tech explanation (to myself) has always been, “Bent frame.” So...not really correct. But hey, it’s something.

Hell, Hannity could take up a whole segment just bitching about that acronym and why he has to be subjected to it (the horror).

I rented a lower trim 4-cylinder Camry today. The laggy downshift upon throttle application was the first thing I noticed. Initially I thought I was just used to the sensitive throttle on tip-in with other rentals I’ve driven. But no, if you really punch the gas, it takes surprisingly long to downshift and get going.

I always assumed it was just a weird-shaped muffler because...what else would be in that location? I guess I was semi-right. Also, I note that there IS a heat shield for the muffler as well - above it.