novaderrik wrote: i think Dodge used to sell awd minivans with turbo motors in them... that's pretty "grown up" and stealthy..
By that logic, Previa. Mid engine, can be had with AWD + supercharger.
novaderrik wrote: i think Dodge used to sell awd minivans with turbo motors in them... that's pretty "grown up" and stealthy..
By that logic, Previa. Mid engine, can be had with AWD + supercharger.
rob_lewis wrote:patgizz wrote: forester XT?Second that. Big, roomy, boxy (for stealthiness) and share the same motor (and suspension, too?) as the WRX. So, anything available for the WRX is available for the Forester XT. Or, anything an STi owner is upgrading, you can use to make an STi Forester. -Rob
Actually the Legacy GT, Outback XT and Forester XT all use the EJ255 which is similar to the EJ257 used in the STi. It is a 2.5L turbo with a smaller turbo and not pushed as hard as the STi engines.
The WRX used the EJ205 from 02-05 and then used the EJ255 from 06-??
Another vote for 05-09 Legacy GT. We had a 2005 that was a great car, and would probably have been replaced with another if Subaru hadn't gone all Camraccord on us...
Not sure about cars in your price range, but LGTs of that era are getting to be higher miles and pretty cheap these days.
Another option is WRX/STi with FMIC and flat hood and trunk for sleeper status. Clean cars may be more than you're budget, though...
328xi? The xdrive versions have a better awd and handling setup.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=06484&endYear=2017&maxPrice=10000&showcaseListingId=418068452&mmt=%5BBMW%5B325IX%5B%5D325XI%5B%5D328IXD%5B%5D328XI%5B%5D330XI%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=325IX&makeCode2=BMW&modelCode2=328IXD&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=4395561&makeCode1=BMW&modelCode3=325XI&startYear=2007&firstRecord=0&makeCode3=BMW&searchRadius=100&listingId=419970046&Log=0
No such car exists in that price range if you don't want a Subaru. You're better off going with two cars or something like a GTI with dedicated snow tires.
I vote S4. I suspect you may find that you enjoy it enough to not want to beat on it on the track so it's able to focus on being an excellent all weather high speed interceptor DD. Don't let the naysayers win, VAG has quirks but they are very well built cars.
2005-09 Legacy GT would be a decent choice, although every person I know that has/had one has blown their motor at around 100k.
They are a great looking sedan and arguably the cleanest, prettiest looking car Subaru has ever built.
The 2008+ WRX is essentially a Legacy underneath, so there's that. No one likes the 2008's, so maybe you can score one on the cheap.
Talk to estey about the legacy gt. His blew up. And I know of another that was a constant $$$ sink.
I wouldn't get a turbo Legacy GT after all the experiences my friends have had with them. One blew his motor up because the banjo bolt filter screen thing clogged up the oil feed line (easy fix if you know about it ahead of time) then my cousin has gone through I think three different motors before he got a good one working in his wagon. Granted he bought a rough one up front for very little money. There just seems to be too much preventative maintenance that people defer on them that can really mess the car up. Doesn't help that pretty much every Subaru needs to have the motor pulled to do anything other than the most basic maintenance, hell even spark plugs are near impossible to change with the motor in the car.
Harvey wrote: One blew his motor up because the banjo bolt filter screen thing clogged up the oil feed line (easy fix if you know about it ahead of time)
This is what we suspect happened to a friend of mine's 2005 Legacy GT wagon. That got clogged, turbo failed, and everything went south. He even wiped out his cam lobes. I think they did away with that screen a few years later, but this is the kind of BS you have to put up with when you get one of these. It happens to cars without the screens too.
None of this is making me comfortable on the subject of DD#1 replacing her Impreza with a WRX 5-door. She really wants one, but she autocrosses 6-8 times a year and I really really don't want her to blow it up. She's also a normal 20-something and while I don't expect she would do a ton of bad modifications, I also doubt it would be babied or even get the oil checked at every fillup.
SilverFleet wrote:Harvey wrote: One blew his motor up because the banjo bolt filter screen thing clogged up the oil feed line (easy fix if you know about it ahead of time)This is what we suspect happened to a friend of mine's 2005 Legacy GT wagon. That got clogged, turbo failed, and everything went south. He even wiped out his cam lobes. I think they did away with that screen a few years later, but this is the kind of BS you have to put up with when you get one of these. It happens to cars without the screens too.
Right, then the tunes on the turbo cars like the STI have been notoriously bad so between the issues with the oil feed and the tune then you start wondering, is this the original motor in the thing and if they replaced it what did they replace it with?
Then you have the issue of modifications and what has been done to it in the past, whether someone turned up the boost on it for a while or what and whether the drivetrain has had an additional 50hp-100hp pushed through it for a while.
Basically if I got one I'd want someone to do a comprehensive check on it for a number of possible issues before buying it. Compression, leakdown, turbo health.
Saab 9-3 XWD (not the 9-2x) is another contender if you can find one in the price range.
Javelin wrote: Charger R/T AWD
BOOM goes the transfer case.......and no, that's not premature.
MS6 is the easiest to find in your proposed budget.
Even though I love my Legacy GT Wagon, I'd have to recommend against it, or any other turbo 2.5 Subaru unless you plan on an engine rebuild. And the engines are expensive and difficult to rebuild correctly. I've spent more on my rebuild than I've spent on repairs for all of the other cars I've owned added together. It's also a bit disconcerting when you bring your block and heads into a machine shop and they cringe and send you away. There are lots of contributing circumstances to the failures, but from what I've seen, the prime suspect is that the factory spec on the ring gaps are way too tight for a turbo motor. There is little margin for error, resulting in lots of broken ring lands, even on stock cars. Word to the wise. Subaru fixed a LOT of cars under warranty. So many, that lots of dealers took shortcuts on the rebuilds just to make room for the next car.
For comparison's sake, I also own a Galant VR4, and a $6000 Galant VR4 would be more reliable and have more potential than a $6000 Legacy GT.
V50 T5 AWD manual
Boost_Crazy wrote: For comparison's sake, I also own a Galant VR4, and a $6000 Galant VR4 would be more reliable and have more potential than a $6000 Legacy GT.
Strong statement there. 
BoxheadTim wrote: Preferably one that isn't spelled "996 Turbo". I've been considering an early WRX as a combined really E36 M3ty weather winter jalopy and track car as my 996 isn't doing that well in really grotty weather, plus the carpark at work is pretty small so taking my extended cab/long bed F150 really isn't that great an idea. Problem with the WRX especially is that they seem to attract the wannabe F&F extras with no modifying skill and no money, so finding a good one and getting there in time before someone else like me snaps it up is almost impossible for me. Plus, I'd rather have something that flys a little more under the local fuzz's radar. So, what would be a more grown-up version that still has a decent aftermarket so I can slowly build into a street class time attack car and can be had for 6k-7k? Basically, AWD sedan or station wagon with good snow tire availability (that's one of the problems I'm having with the 996) and decent aftermarket. Preferably turbo for for those Auto-X sessions at 5000'-8000'. BMW 330xi comes to mind but supposedly the handling is a bit compromised due to the AWD system. Mazdaspeed6? AWD converted Miata? In Japan, one could get a Legacy GT-B or a Mitsubishi Legnum that were targeted at people with exactly those requirements, but both are not old enough to be imported yet.
How about a 335xi or just get the 335i and snow tires. Might have to stretch the budget a little but the early ones had the N54 which has lots of potential.
Early g35x? I don't know if they're down into that price range yet.
Ian F wrote: Where do you live again? Maybe it's because I live in the northeast snow-belt, but I see a lot of WRX's & STI's puttering around and most of them are stock/original cars.
Reno, NV/Lake Tahoe area. This is more lifted four wheeler (and pickup truck) country than sportish car country. Basically anything reasonably sporty and Japanese either belongs to one of the local track/Auto-X/drift people or the junior hot rodders.
oldtin wrote: The extremes in weather conditions and performance desires seem to outstrip what most vehicles can deliver for you. What about having a dead nuts reliable 4wd suv to deal with the winter commute and either continue the development of the MR2 or swap for a track/toy that's good to go? My take is that anything that can deal with your winter will be too compromised for you to be happy with in better weather.
I have a suspicion that you're right, although I really dislike the idea of being cooped up in an SUV for the winter. I'm getting a surprise amount of use out of my truck so I don't really want to sell that unless I'm upgrading to and F250 for better towing abilities.
The main annoyance is that with the weather patterns out here, you only ever need cars for hardcore winter duty every four to five years but then you really need them.
mattm wrote: How about a 335xi or just get the 335i and snow tires. Might have to stretch the budget a little but the early ones had the N54 which has lots of potential.
Without trying to rekindle the "nobody needs AWD if they have snow tires" debate, RWD isn't cutting it for the sort of winters that show up here every few years.
rwd and snow tires.
In reply to Woody:
I think they're still slightly over my budget.
Audis are generally not on my radar due to the lack of specialists I trust to work on them. That's one of the other unfortunate effects of living here - I know an extremely good mechanic who I blindly trust to work on my Japanese performance/track cars, we have a Porsche/BMW specialist we trust (the people looking after the 996) and a Land Rover specialist who does good work. Other than that it's pretty much crickets out here unless you're talking Ferrari and the like, or you like paying for main dealer work of not always stellar quality.
I will continue to follow this thread, the Mini R56 is not working with growing kids, I'm looking for the same thing. A Volvo V40 wagon is at the used car dealer with really low km's, too bad it's an auto.
lnlds wrote: Saab 9-3 XWD (not the 9-2x) is another contender if you can find one in the price range.
I have to agree, I've been after a Turbo X for a while now, turbo v6, awd, 6 speed.
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