Which Car Would You Choose?
[ July 1st, 2008 ] By: Charles Smith Posted in » Questions
If you were to make a rally car, which of these cars would you choose and why?
- VW Golf GTI (’93)
- Subaru Impreza STI (’08)
- Suzuki SX4 Crossover (’08)
- Mazda Protege (’00)
Granted they have differing price ranges, but there are some pros and cons for each of them. For the older Golf GTI I would say a big con is possible frame damage, but it is the cheapest option. The second cheapest option, the Mazda Protege would be an uncommon rally car (which could be a good thing) but I’m not sure on the frame damage again (2 accidents).
The next two options increase in price a lot. The Suzuki SX4 Crossover (w/ AWD) is a 2.0L Naturally Aspirated car that comes brand new at $15,000. However the Suzuki is the lightest of the bunch stock but it has yet to be rally proven in the US (the WRC has a Suzuki team that debuted this year). Finally we come to the most expensive option, a brand new STI coming in at $33,000. The STI is the only one in the bunch designed for rallying (with the help of Petter Solberg). However, it is also the heaviest of the bunch…stock, and the most expensive.
So which would you choose?
July 1st, 2008 at 9:50 pm
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIf you were to make a rally car, which of these cars would you choose and why? VW Golf GTI (’93); Subaru Impreza STI (’08); Suzuki SX4 Crossover (’08); Mazda Protege (’00). Granted they have differing price ranges, but there are some … […]
July 9th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
The GTI. Cheap, simple (esp. the 1.8l 8v), strong, spares new and old freely available, loads of collective experience (rally and otherwise). Is it an A2 or A3? I think ‘93 was the very last of the A2s and the start of the A3s. A2 is preferable IMO, but either works.
The Protege would be my second choice, followed by the SX4 then the STI, neither of which are truly rally-proven and both of which will be a great deal more complicated than you want in a rally car. And expensive.
July 13th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
STI - hands down… $/performance makes it an easy decision…
If you’re talking about a platform for blue sky build of a rally car, initial purchase cost isn’t the consideration, but if you’re talking about a vehicle that will require the least amount of fuss to go out and thrash gravel… the STI is purpose built for it. Bring your A game.