I can get behind most of these choices but. . . man, talk about some personal favorites getting slipped an award.

Look, I love the Toyobaru twins as much as the next guy but, as it sits, they’re pretty much a footnote. Christ, you brought up the Integra and Eclipse, waxed poetic for cheap RWD Japanese sports coupes…

If someone didn’t go there, I would’ve.

Seriously. I’ve seen a few builds with various engine swaps and they all seem like a hoot. The CR-Z would probably make my top five “right car, wrong powertrain” list.

Exactly. If they had put one of their more high-strung engines in this thing, along with some handling tweaks, these still might not’ve sold like hotcakes but I’d wager they’dve done well enough to have a new model on dealers’ lots. Honda was just too hung up on trying to push this thing as the “fun” hybrid. If I…

PA’s weird, like in all things. You’d need to lug it to certain inspection stations, but there’s several per county, and then mail the whole mess in if I understand the procedure.

I get how getting something to the middle of Connecticut could be a pain; for such a small state it seems to drag on forever.

Ooh, I’ve got some skin in this game.

Manual trans: unless it’s a poverty-spec car, the manual trans will probably command a premium. It’ll also draw added attention (read: competition) if it’s a unicorn: I more or less won the race for a 2011 335i xDrive with stick.

Leading into number three. . . The N54 had some…

I knew I recognized them from somewhere. There’s also the giant Labbit under the gun wall thing, too.

Bit of a rough game for me: was playing this while my mother was in hospice.  Should really go back and finish it.

There’s several things about this ad that make me irrationally anger. I’ll focus on this gem.

Trade for a K5 Jimmy? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Maybe a Tamiya, unless you’re dropping at least twenty large in the back of the van before I drive off. You’re not a fuckin’ charity.

I can’t say. People just liked it better that way.

I meant the 3 vs 5 in a more general sense, though the Exx-to-Fxx seems to be the era to point to when talking old versus current BMW. Might be a valid debate there (E90 vs F10). Personally, I prefer the more nimble 3; otherwise I’d probably go nuts and find a loaded up 7 if I wanted a big cruiser.

I’m only giving…

I drove mine home from the dealership I bought it at with a full set of winter wheel/tires split between the back seat and the trunk. I’m around 6'2" myself. My coworker’s GTI has less room in the back and it’s David’s suggestion, so unless that kid’s riding in the clamshell from a B58 Hustler, it should fit just fine.

Is any 5, M aside, worth anywhere near that sort of premium over a clean 3-series? I picked up an 2011 N55-powered E90, clean title with mostly complete service records, manual transmission and xDrive as well, with half that mileage (~65K) for under 15,000 this February. And it came with a second set of BMW wheels,…

Mandatory.

Doubtful. The manual in the G8 was pay-walled behind the top-level GXP trim and I haven’t seen one of those under 20K last time I looked.  Reliability should be solid:  it’s an LS/T56 drivetrain with decent aftermarket support for the rest.

Aristo yes, Soarer no: the Soarer has the -GE, which has some differences. Personally, I haven’t done this swap but looked into it a few years back for “research” purposes until, like most GT projects I’ve thought about, it was binned as I essentially already had that particular category of car at the time, in that…

Aw man, the N54 Gang is gonna stroke out over this.

Man, they got lucky. Or the software (which was repeatedly claimed to be the source of the issues) is much, much better now. IIRC, Sergio once made a comment to the effect that the (ZF-designed) nine speed was going to kill him.

I’m kinda with you on this one and might have to see if there’s a four-door V Spec.

I’ve wanted a Skyline since the first time I popped the OG Gran Turismo in my PSnothing. On the other hand, after joining the Cult, I realize the E90's already here, nice ones can be had dirt cheap, and functionally is the same damn…

They’re a domesticated version of a ground-poundin’ junglefowl. Them sticks were built more solidly than, say, the average wild duck’s, before you even account for them being bred to weigh several pounds more than the average similar-sized bird.