I need to recommend a car to my old man

My dad is in the car market for something new, or possibly gently used. Traditionally, he's only driven60's/70's AMC products, and the newest thing he owned was a 1980 Datsun 720 until he bought his first brand new car, a 1st year Cobalt SS/SC Coupe. He drives 180 miles/day for work and is getting ready to roll over 250K on the Cobalt. He loves it, but he's ready for something new before this one starts to break. The problem is, he's an old-school curmudgeon, but wants decent mileage. The Cobalt gets him 35 average on his work run (99.9% highway), but he thinks it's too slow.

He already drove the Cruze and hated it, and the Camaro. He'd buy a Hyundai before a Ford, so the FiST/FoST and Mustang are out. He loves the Challenger but is worried about the mileage, since he'd have to get at least an R/T V8. What else is there? Dart GT? FIAT 500 Abarth?

On the used side, I'm trying to talk him into an 05/06 GTO, but they're too old for him already, or an RX-8 (he is a rotary fan), but he's worried about the mileage.

He lives in Florida by the GRM HQ BTW and besides the Cobalt the current fleet is an 11-second all-motor 390/4SPD 68 AMX, a 70 Javelin, and a 69 Ambassador. (Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?)

Turbo Hyundai of some sort?

Fast + good mileage = Corvette.

Is he looking at coupes or sedans?

Hellcat, duh.

Seriously though, a Challenger of some sorts seems like exactly the kind of car he wants...if he could live with the mileage. Short of that I'd suggest some kind of Euro/Japanese luxo/muscle-sedan.

Corolla for work, then buy a toy.

I had a Challenger rental for a company business trip. We got 28 doing 75 from outside Knoxville TN to Charlotte.

V6 rental spec. Very comfortable car. Made me put the Challenger/Charger on the list of possible cars. (Then I followed up with a black Charger in Chicago. Blues Brothers behaviors were hard to contain) My only gripe about the car as a daily is the brakes. Needs new pads or something. Weak.

Buick Regal GS? 295hp and awd. Available with a manual in theory. I think they look good.

bgkast wrote: Turbo Hyundai of some sort?

Probably a love/hate type of suggestion, but maybe the Veloster Turbo or Rally?

There's also some new variants of the Elantra, or the Genesis?

No mention of Subarus yet, but maybe WRX? Not great mpg, but should be better than the economy of a big V8.

Part of me wants to suggest the newest/cleanest AMG sumthin-er-other he can get.

180 miles a day is enough to make a lot of people care about comfort.

I'd think the C class, but you can get different balances of comfort and speed in different AMG cars. It sounds like the budget is somewhat flexible, so he can get what he wants, within reason. Personally, I'd look for the nicest, newest, lowest mile C55 AMG I could find.

I think I'd avoid the V12 cars though. I'd rather feed the maintenance requirements of a V6 or V8 than a V12.

Speed and mpg...

Could he be intrigued by the instant torque of an electric motor?

Chevy Volt

I think the Corvette sounds good. It's a bucket list sort of car.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Speed and mpg... Could he be intrigued by the instant torque of an electric motor? Chevy Volt

I had one. The get up and go from a stop is nice. Passing at highway is acceptable, but not something I'd call fast. This is a good suggestion if dad is going to put on his miles in the city and wants a specific kind of fast.

Range with a full 9 gallon tank is something like 250 miles. Not sure how the other cars would do, but that's a lot of fill ups.

I think the Volt was one of the fastest cars I could have had, because most of my driving is in a grid, with stop signs every other block and a 25MPH speed limit. From a stop, there is no clutch or torque converter, so I have immediate go. The calibration seems to stop just shy of tire squeal, and the electric motor makes no real noise, so I could bury the pedal at every stop sign if I so chose, rocket to 25MPH, and cruise to the next stop. That makes it fast by the "slowing down the least" measure.

I drove a BMW i3 a few weeks ago. Salesman claimed the BEV version was the fastest BMW in the whole lineup, including M cars, in the 0-30. It felt pretty impressive.

why not stick with the animal he knows?

buy a last year (2010?) turbo Cobalt SS with low miles.

I think better than 35 MPG is squarely in the new direct injected turbo cars if you want decent fastness in a comfortable DD package. It's too bad about the Ford aversion - they have some really good contenders right now. The Mazda 3 should be available in a 40MPG, faster than a Cobalt arrangement new or lightly used.

IMO, with that much driving eachday, gas mileage should be considered more than performance. I would suggest a hybrid Camry, Altima, etc. and a different toy. If he starts his curmudgeon grumbling on that, just mention that hybrids aren't new since they Prius came out in '01 in the US, I believe. Other cars to consider are an E90 335d or a Jetta TDI. Maybe an NC Miata is the answer.

jstand wrote:

bgkast wrote: Turbo Hyundai of some sort?

Probably a love/hate type of suggestion, but maybe the Veloster Turbo or Rally? There's also some new variants of the Elantra, or the Genesis? No mention of Subarus yet, but maybe WRX? Not great mpg, but should be better than the economy of a big V8.

Yup, the Veloster. Old guys love them.

Kia Optima. Great-looking car inside and out, plenty of power and good MPG with Kia reliability. Outside of an Aston Martin, where else are you going to get cross-weave seats?

Abarth, Regal GS and the Optima would be my suggestions.

Mazda6 skyactive

optima turbo or Veloster turbo were going to be my suggestions and they're both already here. I believe the Elantra GT and Rio may be available with the turbo as well.

pinchvalve wrote: Kia Optima. Great-looking car inside and out, plenty of power and good MPG with Kia reliability. Outside of an Aston Martin, where else are you going to get cross-weave seats?

Also a solid choice.

pinchvalve wrote: Kia Optima. Great-looking car inside and out, plenty of power and good MPG with Kia reliability. Outside of an Aston Martin, where else are you going to get cross-weave seats?

This would be my choice.

none Z06 Corvette... they pull nearly 30 mpg on the highway......

Javelin wrote: The Cobalt gets him 35 average on his work run (99.9% highway), but he thinks it's too slow.

There are ways of making an SS/SC a whole lot faster. Or get an SS/TC and go faster yet? Should make ~330whp on the stock turbo. That would make for a quick car.