Yes, please keep this stuff coming. I have a VW on order and I need all the info I can get before it arrives and I have to go in and take it home. I did previously negotiate price via email with an internet sales guy, and I’ll be bringing a copy of that email with me, but it’s hard to trust a dealer, and I’m a weak…

I’m young enough to still think of myself as “young” (31), and I have a pack of flares in my trunk. My parents gave them to me when I started driving. Hopefully there’s no expiration date. I’m not sure if I’d remember they’re there, but probably. I’ve just been lucky not to need them. I’ve certainly barely ever seen…

You’re not being paranoid about the gears, only the clutch wear if you don’t rev-match well. But you could always compromise and leave it in whatever gear it’s in, while still using the brakes to stop? Then you’re still getting a little bit of engine braking (and no fuel consumption), but not risking a missed shift.

That’s more power than I might’ve expected from a 90's car. 20 years later and the current WRX is only 30 HP more.

Seriously. Who the hell thinks engine braking, in and of itself, is bad? Something is being lost in translation here.

Any way to make it less visible as well? God I can’t get my head around Rolls Royce styling. Although you might say it is “timeless.”

How about my 2000 Golf 1.8T with low miles but worsening rust. $1200 and it’s yours...

Can’t wait for my Alltrack to come in. BTW I fully admit it is basically a wagon-shaped version of ever other smallish CUV on the road. I have more or less fallen for the same tricks that crossover buyers do (AWD! Moderate ground clearance! Not-horrible gas mileage!). But it looks better, and will have a stick shift.

I’m trying to figure out what kind of vehicle it sounds like when it was waiting on the line. More like a piston-engined airplane than a car, haha.

The 9-5 Aero was more intriguing to me than other Saabs back then, due to the extra power. I didn’t really know what I was looking at, but I liked the name and the horsepower...

My gut reaction is no. No way this would sell. In my mind (not saying I’m right), Subaru owners come in two flavors: Go-fast WRX/BRZ types, and everyone else who buys the more pedestrian models. The overlap between those groups must be vanishingly small. Yes of course you’d get a few outdoorsy-and-also-sporty types…

Would you consider the Alltrack? It has those things. Or just get the regular AWD Golf wagon if you don’t actually want the crossover aspect.

A couple thoughts (full disclosure, I have a Golf Alltrack on order).

They need to bring Formula E to the streets of Boston like IndyCar tried to do a few years back. God, what a freaking disaster. A bunch of yuppies in the Seaport district complaining about the loud engines disturbing them in their ultra-luxury high rise apartment buildings for ONE lousy weekend. Just go to your summer…

I didn’t know rear bumper cutouts were EVER heat shields, even if they did have a real exhaust tip behind/within them. Yes, at least that would have some functionality. But I mostly just perceive them as a huge hole cut in a plastic panel (which ain’t shielding anything), and a chrome trim piece around it.

My god, I hadn’t seen that example yet. That is even worse! (Side note, I am totally fine with downturned tips and NO visible exhaust on the rear, like my Mk4 Golf has - but not like this!)

You know what, I’m a big VW fanboy (the type who would buy a GTI without even bothering to cross-shop other hot hatches), and I’m not even mad at you. We’re all allowed to have our colorful (heh) opinions on here, including irrational hatred. Even I hesitate to recommend VWs to anyone. I perceive them as less reliable…

Now if only someone would fix the giant fake exhaust outlet problem that plagues so many modern cars. You know, the giant chrome exhaust “tips” molded into the rear bumper cover, barely concealing a plain round exhaust tip inside.

I’m with you. Now I’m left wondering, is there literally any practical reason at all to have a fastback like this? More room over the rear shelf?

Doing my best. I’ve got a VW on order in “Tornado Red.” My parents just bought one in “Silk Blue.” Clearly I’m a shamely VW loyalist, but I am somewhat satisfied with their color palate. They also do a nice dark blue that I’m a fan of, and new for 2018, a sort of emerald green (but not sure on which models). And of…