In anticipation of buying a new car, I've test driven a whole lot of stuff in the past month or so, let's recap (in the order driven).
'13 Mustang V6 PP - This was kinda disappointing. I have been interested in these since they came out in 2011. Finally drove one and was really underwhelmed. I'm sure it would be fun on the track, but otherwise it was like a rental car. I had a hard time coming to terms with the clutch as well, stalled it many more times than anything else I drove.
'13 Mazdaspeed 3 - Driving this made me want a hot hatch. Great power, competent chassis, etc. Just maybe not a MS3. I can't get over the joker grin, and the interior is kinda dated. If this car was based on the current gen I'd be sold.
'14 Kia Forte Koup SX - Misspelling aside, this is a pretty great little car. I drove it on a whim while a friend was looking at an SUV. Nice interior, slick shifter, good midrange punch from the turbo (same engine as the Veloster I believe). I thought the engine compared very favorably to the MINIs. I liked a lot of the exterior details as well, the LED trim in the headlights and taillights for example is pretty attractive at night. The one that I drove didn't have quite enough headroom due to the sunroof. Given the choice, I'd pick one of these over a Fiesta ST.
'10 & '11 MINI Cooper S - These seem like a pretty good bargain if you're not afraid of reliability. I was considering getting one with a CarMax sort of warranty so that I wouldn't have to worry too much. They're certainly fun to drive, the '11+ with the N18 was especially punchy. The shifter is a lot better than I remember from the R53. The miniature iDrive in the '11 was really frustrating. I didn't have any trouble figuring out the controls, but I couldn't find in the menu where to turn on bluetooth audio so that I could listen to Pandora. This is the only car where I haven't been able to do that straight away. The tiny amber screen in the '10 was even more awful.
'15 MINI Cooper S - It's almost like the MINI is becoming it's own tribute band. The F56 is a good car, it looks great in the right colors, the chassis is solid and well tuned, the 2L is punchy if a little underpowered compared to it's peers. But I feel like it's lost some of it's way, with the center speedo being gone, and the seats that look like they belong in a 3 series or something.
'16 Subaru WRX - I loved it, except it seems like it's always in "kill" mode. I found it very difficult to drive smoothly, as it would surge into boost so easily with the slightest tip of your toe (Car & Driver had this exact complaint). You would think that EyeSight® would have picked up on the fact that there weren't any cones around. The forward visibility in one of these is outstanding, way better than any other car that I drove by a long shot. These have a much nicer interior than the Impreza that I leased. I didn't push it too hard since there weren't any miles on it, but the chassis is very solid and confidence inspiring.
'16 GTI & GTI DSG - My favorite of all the cars I've driven so far. Nice interior, easy to use infotainment, easy to drive like a normal car. The 6 speed is so good that I wouldn't want the DSG, the only car that had a shifter that good was the Forte. When you push it, it makes all the right noises, and just goes without any drama. Compared to the MINI, I had my phone paired and Pandora playing before the salesman had time to make a copy of my license.
'14 Focus ST - Sadly I'm very critical of these after driving one. I guess the nicest thing I can say, is that it is better than the SRT-4 and the Cobalt SS. I wasn't impressed with the low-rent interior, although the seats and steering wheel were nice. It's definitely a hot-rod that reminded me of my dad's old Shelby Charger. Punch it in second, and you go whichever way bushing flex ends up taking you. I felt bad telling the salesman that I didn't really like it.
'16 Sonic RS - This is a cool little car. The salesman at the Chevy dealer where I looked at one of the MINIs was a car guy, so we were talking and the RS came up which turned into a test drive. The engine could be a bit hotter, but is certainly ahead of just about everything in this segment short of the Fiesta ST.
