s3q and s4 coupe quattro

[Larry C Leung]

A car/company which I'd equate with quality and spartan would be Mazda,
as in Miata. To a degree, Honda and S2000 (though that's not cheap). Many
a good true sports car (nowadays) exudes quality while keeping things
simple. I'd have to say Subes are MUCH better than they were even in the
late eighties, but the difference between a WRX and a Mazda Miata in
quality is notable. And comparing a strpped WRX to a similarly priced VW
Jetta would yield performance vs. quality. The WRX would be fun, while it
lasted (okay the drivetrain will, but the little things will begin to
fail.). As a comparison, just when the Neon ACR came out, my former SCCA
region held a driving school, in which a guy arrived with his barely
broken in ACR. He had basically taken it from school to school to school
in it's first 3000 miles. Wll of the instructors drove it, and we were
all VERY impressed with it, in terms of it's track performance. We
thoughas a car, it outclassed all that it was placed with it, including
our own vehicles, and this was on STREET rubber. But, as the students
started doing their Solo free laps, we watched as it puffed smoke as the
owner got on the throttle, and puffed again as he lifted. We looked at
each other, and at our own well worn (mine had 120K at the time, Dave had
90 K miles) rides and said, "It may beat us...today. Next year.....?".

Now I don't think the Sube will suffer quite the same fate in terms of
driveline (it's a pretty bulletproof drivetrain), but the other Neon
maladies (interior parts cracking, breaking, or falling off,  electrical
problems, window mechanisms jamming, etc) will likely surface, seeing the
WRX interior bits. It's really no advancement on my parent's '89 Legacy.
The NEW Legacies are much better, but the Imprezas haven't moved up to
the same level. 

LL - NY

On Sat, 20 Oct 2001 01:03:13 -0400 Brett Dikeman <brett at cloud9.net>
writes:
>the accessories.  They're pretty close, the base 1.8 and the top 
>WRX...but they are -totally- different in terms of quality, features, 

>I wouldn't be asking "why is it that at twice the price the S4 can 
>barely beat a WRX", I would be asking "why is it that a bare bones 
>fast-ultimate-in-handling-cheap WRX is beaten in most reviews, by 
>what is in comparison a luxo-boat sports sedan?"  The WRX is spartan 
>at best; the only thing with more gadgets than an S4 is Billy Gate's 
>house(or perhaps maybe an LS400 with those massaging rear seats.) 
>Just doesn't add up, all this business about "spartan=better 
>sportyness."  The price makes sense; the fact that the S4 trounces 
>the WRX doesn't; a more "pure" sports sedan should win.  It's a 
>testament to Audi engineering that it can outclass what everyone 
>seems to consider a very serious contender in the "driving 
>experience" arena.
>