everything from WRX/Sti fits in it:thankyou:
i’d say look into the lesbian xt…i mean forester. There were a few at the track when i had the omni there, mid to low 13’s is what they were doing.
WRX Wagons, rule.
I am in no way biased by the fact I own one.
But seriously, it’s a fair balance of everything. Only thing that sucks, is that it’s just that. Decent at everything in stock trim.
if i lived in FL or CA, i’d be on this idea in a heartbeat. thing is, i need a car to get me to school for the next 3 years, snow, rain, shine, etc. buffalo winter would :ham: me
to be honest i see myself going this way the most. i wouldn’t mind a wagon one bit but if i had the choice i’d probably go with the sedan. there is a black '04 WRX with a 5M and a car seat that i see all the time @ UB in ketter lot…makes me drool…
i have a couple of questions if you don’t mind…
how long have you owned it?
what year/model/options do you have?
in your opinion what are the pros and cons of owning one?
what would you change about it?
would you rather have something else (besides the WRX you mentioned)?
if anyone else has a 3 series of this vintage feel free to jump in and tell me what you think.
31 is a bit of a stretch. I get mid 20’s @ 75 with my 6 speed.
As for the snow though… Pick up a good set of snows and the GTO does just fine in WNY winters. I’ve got a set of 225/45/17 iPike 409’s on it now and with the T/C turned on the car pretty idiot proof even in real bad snow.
i’m not that concerned about the snow thing to be honest. i drove for almost 3 years with no traction, no ABS, open diff, and almost bald tires, so it’s an “eh” kinda concern. i always loved how the new GTO looked but i rarely see people using them year round which gives me second thoughts.
Well, one, there aren’t a whole lot of them on the road period. Two, a lot of the guys are old muscle car mentality types who would never drive them in the salt. :rolljerk: Then there’s another group that thinks no high HP RWD car could be safe in the snow because they bought into the whole FWD is good BS from the auto companies. That leaves a very small group of GTO owners like me who just drive the piss out of them year round. 
There are downsides to the GTO though.
- The power seats are painfully slow. If you’re going to be using the back seat much and don’t keep the passengers seat most of the way forward it could be a huge PITA. It works for me since I rarely have tall passengers who put the seat way back.
- The trunk is tiny because they relocated the gas tank vertically which consumed about 1/3rd the trunk. The Aussie version has the tank under the trunk.
- It’s domestic, so who knows what will break down the road.
^ I was also a member of that group. I had the LS1 variety, which could easily be had with low miles in your price range. Coming from a V6 f-bod, I couldnt believe how much better the goat was in the snow. 1 sandbag in the trunk and snow tires, and you’re golden. (Mine made it through snow up to the hood during the October storm, only casualty was the windshield wipers)
lol i guess i’m not the only one that has the mentality that anything (when driven carefully and properly) can be driven in the snow. i never had snow tires or sand in the trunk, just some wal-mart all seasons and a PVC potato gun in the trunk for weight. GTO really turns me on though.
Another downside to the GTO is weight. Fucking thing is 3800lbs. Looking at in the parking lot next to a Civic I just can’t figure out where they put all those pounds. So no matter what you do it’s never going to handle like a 3100lb 3 series.
Damn im really going to consider a GTO too as a daily driver.
I bought my e46 for the winter basically. Had it for just under a year.
I have a 325 XI which is the awd version(window sticker says XI-A), fully loaded tan leather and cold weather package, hid, etc. Its great in the snow actually and i have never gotten stuck even when we had the small snow storm. I was able to drive around people who were stuck on the unplowed blo streets.
pro- has not cost me too much to own, basic maintance and such i find reasonable considering i have owned other german cars. I dont find my self wanting to mod this car so thats saving me tons on money. I got a steptronic auto (manual/auto) so best of both worlds… even tho i prefer manual
con- if you need to repair something it can be expensive, even oil changes can add up if your doing it your self.(had to replace a stering angle sensor which ran me 500, rear lower control arm 400 w/ alignment and thats it.)
For my e46 i would not change anything… it was actually a custom built one when purchased new with options and what not.
I was actually thinking about getting a new car in the spring and i think if anything ill get a wagon/hatch. I almost bought a cx7-awd, a few weeks ago but changed my mind last minute. for the price… i didnt like it and it only comes in auto. To me once spring comes my cars get a back seat to my bike… so i dont think ill get a new car anytime soon
Hope that helps… if you need something else pm me
i appreciate all the input. it’ll really help me out. thanks a bunch man.