Motoring Con Brio

Here’s the third and final segment of our three-part look at good track day performers— specifically, modern cars where practicality (grocery-getting, people-hauling, etc.) is indeed something of an object. To us, this is the most interesting of the lot, since we’ve always had a soft spot for sporty wagons, hatches, and sedans. They are near and dear to our hearts.

You can find the introductory post (with all the boring stipulations and so on) and part one of the list here, and part two of the list here.

MkIV R32. Its narrow-angle VR6 is still one of the best-sounding six cylinder engines, in our opinion.

MkV/MkVI four-door GTI (MkVI shown). For a sporty daily with no motorsport pretensions (serious ones, anyway) it remains surprisingly capable— its generous low-end torque and point-and-squirt nature will often let it play with cars it has no business playing with (ask us how we know). Adding thicker sway bars all but eliminates the factory understeer. Not the most athletic, but arguably the best all-around package among its peer group (its interior frequently touted as being Audi-like) and certainly the most quintessential and iconic— the one that started it all.

MkVI four-door Golf R. Like the GTI, but with AWD, a remapped ECU, and an even more luxurious interior. Expect to pay dearly for those upgrades. And because they share the same base 2.0T (which comes severely detuned from the factory – in the case of the GTI – and can quickly and inexpensively be retuned via aftermarket software), the difference to us is less compelling than the difference between the MkV GTI and the MkV R32, which at least differentiated itself with a stirring six-cylinder note in addition to the AWD.

Mazdaspeed3 (first generation). Cheapspeed3. Cheap, but good.

Mazdaspeed6. Not the prettiest car – its looks have not aged well, especially the front and rear – but still a legitimate sleeper, and moreso with each passing year.

WRX wagon (2006-2007)/Saab 9-2X Aero (9-2X Aero shown). The best car Saab never made is essentially a WRX with Saab trim. Either one – the Subaru or the “Saabaru” – would do nicely.

Five-door WRX (2009-present). Not a looker, but stupidly fast— especially considering the price. And its AWD system is the ace up its sleeve versus the likeminded MS3, which goes after the same buyer. If style, cheap speed and practicality are your only requirements, then look no further. Yeah, we’d roll one, warts and all.

B8 S4. The car that would give the 335i a serious run for its money.

E90 335i. We remain impressed as ever with these cars. They drive great. They sound terrific. They look sharp enough, the E90’s ubiquity notwithstanding. They really do represent the single do-it-all car we’d most like to have (under X amount of dollars, that is— otherwise, give us the M3), assuming we could only have one car.

E36 or E90 four-door M3 (E36 shown). Because a four-door M3 is preferable to a two-door M3.

E46 M3. Two doors limits its practicality somewhat, but it still packs plenty of cargo and passenger volume. And we probably love no M engine more than we love the E46 M3’s S54B32, whose praises have been sung far and wide.

Z3 M Coupe. Two words: shooting brake. You can fit a lot of junk in that trunk.

E28 or E34 M5 (E28 shown). This could have also appeared on part one of this list.

Honorable mentions

Two more that could have appeared on either list. The challenge with these is finding good ones— if you’re able to find one at all. Cars that were rare here to begin with are now exceedingly rare thanks to the unforgiving ravages of time. Good ones should be cherished and given the care they deserve.

Alfa 75/Milano:

Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16:

Let us know what else you think deserves to be on this particular list (again, modern cars where practicality is indeed something of an object).

Hope you enjoyed this three-part feature!

Posted in Still images, What would you buy
Tags: alfa romeo, bmw, mazda, mercedes-benz, saab, subaru, volkswagen, vw