What makes the perfect daily driver?

For me, over the last decade, the perfect daily is an EV. Never going to the gas station again, quiet, quick, reasonably comfortable, never having to warm it up or worry about short trips to the store damaging the engine, low operating costs. And for me, reasonably low buy-in cost for a practical hatchback that has all the safety features I want my family in.

Most cars I've owned that were engaging to drive were not good at the daily slog and not happy with say, a 5 minute round trip to the grocery store. I'll leave being engaging for the weekender/special occasion cars now. The Bolt is fun enough for daily use, even without a manual and with FWD.

Mine is simple, chassis of a Subaru outback power train of an RS3 with big wheel wells so I can fit some 16" high profile tires and smash thru potholes and bad pavement. Bonus points if I can get some offroad suspension aftermarket. 

 This is the ultimate DD. I've auditioned many of the above mentioned vehicles, and this is THE DD......

E91 manual with only RWD has been a surprise hit for me. I'm in the south, so AWD is just a waste of mass and is just more opportunities for parts to break. I lived in Michigan for a bit and would argue that winter tires >> AWD, but I'll skip that debate for now. For me in the south, it's easily a waste. 

No turbos, no DI, no transmission computer to deal with, yet modern enough to check most "nice" boxes. For  a few hundred bucks, I have CarPlay and Bluetooth, and it's a wagon. Suspension was getting some age on it, so now I have M3 control arms and adjustable coilovers. Only box it doesn't check for me is towing, but a tow rig and DD are going to have narrow overlap. The last thing I want to do is commute in a 5,000lb box because it *might* pull a trailer if I ever finish my Lotus...

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

Atlanta driving is definitely it's own special kind of thing.

For me its gonna be 1) Entertaining/fun to drive. I can't drive a boring car everyday. 2) Practical, must be able to transport 4 full size adults, and preferrably a hatchback for putting things in. 3) Reasonably efficient. 30 MPG has been my benchmark. 4) Modern - I like my android auto and modern safety standards.

I currently drive a Veloster N, which is currently my dual-duty (and only) car.

I'm daily driving a 3rd gen Tacoma with a Procharger.  Dead nuts reliable with great practicality that comes with a pickup.  It's also got enough beans to be entertaining when needed.  Have surprised more than a few unsuspecting diesel trucks rolling coal.  By the time they hear the faint whine, I'm gone.