Audis have corrupted me too (longer)

[Taka Mizutani]

Tony, Keith:

This seems to always be an issue on the list- you get so much car for
so little initial out-of-pocket expense by purchasing an old Audi
quattro that it's very hard to improve upon the car without a huge
cost increase.

I suggest that you look at a few cars if you're looking for a decent
car that's fun to drive- the Mazda 3s and 6s are pretty good (don't
get the "i" for performance), the Altima SE-R is a hoot (but needs
brakes and suspension to be truly good), the Honda Accord V-6 with a
manual is fun, the Acura TSX and TL manuals are fun.

Once you get above those cars in price, you are talking serious
expense (north of $35000).

Looking at trucks and SUVs and comparing them to a type 44 is silly-
they're definitely not going to be as good to drive as the type 44.
The only SUVs I've driven that come close to any car in terms of feel
and handling are the BMW X5, Infiniti FX and Porsche Cayenne, in
increasing order of fun-to-drive factor. Still, they are big tanks, so
they're not going to be that much fun.

You could always stay in the Audi family and look at a preowned '02-04
A6 3.0, 2.7T or 4.2- they're pretty reasonable and they are a bit
better than the '98-01 cars in terms of looks (the exposed tailpipes
look better IMO) and the 3.0 is better than the 2.8 for power.

Taka