Looking for manual AWD?!?! STI, WRX, golf R and what else?

[lee88]

Audi RS4 ��

[cloud7]

I bought a 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD with a 6-speed manual transmission just before we had our daughter. It has served us well. The wife drives it now. It has decent space in the back for baby seats. Adequate power coming from the 3.7L V6 as well. Handling is ok for such a heavy car... a lot better than what I am driving now.

It might be tough to find one in the used car market though.

[CLiVE]

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But I think STI seems like the most interesting car as a baby hauler.

I remember a thread here a while back that someone was selling their STI due to the harsh suspension bouncing their newborn's head around....


As for the Golf discussion. I had a Golf TDI at one point. Worked fine for kids/stroller. Even our MINI Cooper S was fine - until one day I nearly got rear-ended and decided I wanted more of a crumple zone in front of my kids. F150 does the family hauling now, and I have other fun cars I rarely drive....lol

[C4S]

How about Focus RS ?

That is a sweet car ! It is as much fun as a manual 991! I tell you the focus RS is that great!!

Good power, great sound, great seat, (I don't know why people complain about it, may be they are all over 200lb) , great looking. (IMO, best looking within Civic R, Golf R, Sti, EVO, i30N etc)


Bottom line is .. it is a FORD, and it has head gasket issue ...

RS is still ~$35K-40K used, but consider new is $60K, that is good value, some higher km 2016 model are at the low $30K, winter wheel and tire are included, that is $2K saving anyway.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[C4S]

Not for North America anyway ...

[schocker]

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Attachment 86753

I see this one around once in a while. I like the color

Heresy, that one is a DSG!

[bjstare]

Ya, cmon guys. Stay on topic here. Might get @rage2 blood pressure up.

[ExtremeSi]

I had a B7 A4 2.0T and it was super reliable. Car seat fits nicely in the back and stroller in the trunk. Smooth and quiet when you want and also fun, especially with a tune. Now I have a B7 S4 and it's been great so far too. Wife also drives an A4. I don't find them to be any worse maintenance wise than any of the Japanese cars I've owned in the past.

[NWNHT]

Not a popular opinion, but if you are ok with Right Hand Drive, the Nissan Stagea is fantastic. Loads of space, comes with a manual transmission, and with a little wiring wizardry (or by pulling the fuse) you can have a rear wheel OR all wheel car. No kids of my own but I babysit my many cousins, and I have ever had an issue with space! also, the car is wicked fun to drive. Easy passing on the highway, and you can easily give the car more power if you wanted to.
$10,000-$12,000 for the car from a decent importer, then spend a little on an engine refresh (if you want to), and you have a fun family hauler! also, mine has two sunroofs, and the kids in the back love having the sunroof above them.

[arcticcat522]

Did you end up finding something?

[bcylau]

The vehicle I am replacing: 2012 Fiat Abarth

tldr: 2014 Audi A4 quattro - ibis white

Update:

The test drives, I ended testing almost everything that has a manual and awd. Subaru wrx and sti, jeep wrangler, audi a4/ s4, golf R. Plus another ones like hrv, crv, x2, gla. Both the wife and I didnt like the autos/ dsg. Faster and smoother but way more disconnected. Seems like new cars are more "digital" if that makes any sense.

Golf R - great car, drives exactly like fiat abarth with more power and a smoother clutch. I went drove a mk6 golf R and mk7 back to back, driving wise I think the mk6 might be a bit tighter. Mk7 seems more comfortable. With the exception of the R to 1st vs 5th to R placement of the gear, there isnt that much difference between the golf R and abarth. Good stereo, easy to fold down seats, good space for 5'9 people.

Known problems - follower cam, haldex weak on earlier models, vw 2.0T problems(oil) . Digital ebrake.
depreciation - budgeting about 2.5k to 3.5k per year

WRX/ STI - Surprisingly, extremely difficult to find a new manual wrx to test, but all the dealers are overstocked on manual sti's. go figure. The handling of the sti is slightly tighter than the golf R and abarth, but far less damped over bumps. Feels like it likes to rev higher and tougher to drive on the lower end. Driven 2009 to 2019 cars, all of them nearly the same feeling. The interiors are updated quite a bit, but driving wise feels unchange for 10 years (the wife thinks its the same). Both good and bad I suppose. It is a really good car. But things like fold down seats are just a little tougher to fold and the seat belts get tangled just a bit more. Plus, I dont want a giant wing, so it was tough to find a unmolested sti without a wing and the owner is pricing it as new. Also, many "tuned" wrx or sti, where the owners think a random tune makes the vehicle more valuable, makes it impossible to negotiate. Tuned vehicles are also the ones where the head gasket will likely go first.

Know problems - head gasket( you have 2! of them) - seems like sti engines are better built than the rest(wrx or na).
depreciation - budgeting about 1.5k to 2.5k per year (after do some regressions, wrx and sti depreciate the same, so if someone is looking just get the sti. higher cost but higher resale)

Audi A4/S4 - Most planted and least nimble of them all. A4 and S4 feels relatively the same normal speeds, but at stops, S4 is way smoother due to more to the V6. The worst shifter position out of all the cars. Best interior and things like the fold down seats are the easiest to operate. Probably has the steepest depreciate curve. 50k new to about 10k for a 10year old example. Best crash rating of all the vehicles.


Know problems - oil comsumption, ringland failure, standard vw 2.0T problems. DSG in certain years also has problems ,but I am looking at manuals. Year 2013+ A4 and year 2012+ S4 have less problems . Digital ebrake.
depreciation - budgeting 3 to 4k per year


Focus RS- hardest to find. Probably the best driving out of all the cars tested. Manual box feels a little fiesta st like, not quite smooth enough and not quite notchy enough. Rarest one also means the most difficult to source parts, expecting audi like maintenance. hatchback is a big plus. Interior just seems like a focus, nothing really stood out during the time I tested. It is like a more responsive STI.

Know problems - unknown due to low samples
depreciation - budgeting 2 to 3k per year due to rarity, there is a chance of appreciation for this car


Abarth - Drives great with amazing turn in. Really, really nimble. The best exhaust out of the bunch. Best for downtown parking, 25% off street parking. Almost always there is someone that cant parallel and the fiat just slips in. 30L for 600km+. Best steering wheel by far, it is on par to vehicles at the M3, rs4, rs3 level. I dont want to sell it, but probably will. The shifter is at a strangle van-like position. Fairly high-end appointments for a low cost car, cheap plastic on dash and doors. Great leather seats.


And we ended up with, just a week ago: 2014 Audi A4 quattro - ibis white at 62k. for $20k . I am anticipating a resale of about $10k in Year 2024 for a depreciation of $2k a year. I am on a higher maintenance curve but lower depreciation curve, might work out ok. Now have to look at a new mechanic. Going to clay the bar and wax, then I will post some pictures.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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And we ended up with, just a week ago: 2014 Audi A4 quattro - ibis white at 62k. for $20k . I am anticipating a resale of about $10k in Year 2024 for a depreciation of $2k a year. I am on a higher maintenance curve but lower depreciation curve, might work out ok. Now have to look at a new mechanic. Going to clay the bar and wax, then I will post some pictures.

Great choice. The A4 is IMHO easily one of the best all-round sedans out there right now.

Tune Dub is your one stop shop for Audi/VW maintenance.

[arcticcat522]

Good choice man. You will love the car, I'm sure. From what you where considering, I think this was a no brainer decision.

[freshprince1]

Nice to see a thread go from birth to death with the appropriate steps and full closure! Nice choice. Reading through it, I was excited to pitch in a suggest the Subaru Legacy GT. I had one for 5 years and it was awesome, handle 2 car sets for us, and was a blast to drive (although mine had a lot of add-ons ). The down side is they only made the GT up until 2012 (with turbo and manual), so it would have been an older model. Congrats!