Why do people buy a 2010 STi instead of a 2004 Corvette ZO6 or a 2006 Base Corvette?

troll... do not feed... let die.

I've been very impressed with the Corvettes performance both in Autocross competition, and on the track as well. Were I going to upgrade from my CSP Miata (think "low budget"), I'd probably look for a Z06 or similar.

I autocrossed an '02 WRX for a couple seasons, but never got it to work well for me. And while I never found it on the WRX, my Forry has a fuel-cut speed limiter that sets in at about 110MPH. I'd be surprised if the WRX didn't have a similar _feature_, maybe at a slightly higher speed :-P

That said, try taking that Vette up a mountain pass thru a foot of fresh snow . . . scary at best, but all in a days work for the AWD Subaru; ya don't even have to holster your coffee cup.

"Nuff said.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

Keep the Miata! The guy that holds the track record where I took my WRX wagon a coupla times drives a 134hp Miata.

Dunno why anyone would 'hate' a 'Vette. Just too $$$ for me.

I think the answer to the original question is utility, longevity, and the lack of time that one actually gets to drive as fast as they want. That is why someone would buy a slower STi rather than a vette. Lets see the charger on an autocross course versus an STi. David and Goliath... Actually more of Olympic sprinter versus front tackle.

Back seat?

Would you want to be seen in a Cobalt?

(Actually, I almost bought one. The dealer had a Loss Leader, the HiPo engine, 5-speed, etc for ~$13000, but I just couldn't bring myself to drive a CHEVY and wound up with a Scion tC. However, if it came between a WRX and a Corvette...)

That's a Japanese requirement. All cars in Japan, even the Skyline GTR are limited to 180 KMH, or ~111 MPH.

So you can GET there as fast as you want, but no faster...

I haven't owned a GM product for about 15 years. However, as a mamber of SCCA, I was recruited to work the Chevy Rev-it-up event back in 05 when the cobalt SS non-supercharged first came out. Basically they let people autocross them for 35 bucks in a national competition. I have to admit that I was impressed with the handling of that car. I have never believed in front drivers possibly having good dynamics, but it did. I'm not a chevy fan, but I have to admit that if I could have gotten a brand new supercharged one, or even the newer turbocharged one for 13k, I'd have jumped at it.

I'm not a prestige kind of guy. I don't care what other people think about what I drive. As evidence, I drive a baseline stock 12 year old legacy with hubcaps. No glamour. But the performance that that car offers really is class leading. It beat the GTI, Civic si, and MazdaSpeed 3 in a comparison test. It was the attitude that it just wasn't cool or probably wouldn't be reliable that killed its sales. Kind of a shame.

The sense of shame in owning an American car ironically seems to be an uniquely American psychosis. Canadians have no such problems. Besides my Subaru, my other car is a Pontiac Grand Prix. American cars are easy to find parts for relatively cheaply. No car in existence is ever going to go without a part change somewhere along the way.

And I would think the recent Toyota problems have well and truly put to the grave all pretensions about Japanese car's perceived superior quality.

Yousuf Khan

You can bet that in three years or less, Toyota will be the car to own, and they will probably be lower in price than others.

The Toyoda family is not going to let this go by the boards. One thing the Japanese do that caucasians don't is "save face", and Toyota has a LOT of face saving to do!

Within three years, they will be the best cars on Earth.

And considering a couple hiccups from Honda, don't expect them to be too far behind...

Maybe, maybe not, the stories you heard about Toyota's problems seemed astonishingly similar to stories you normally hear about American car companies, namely compromising quality to save on costs. That's a drug that car companies have a lot of trouble detoxing from. Once you start buying the part that's 5% lower cost, which adds 10% to your profit margin, you'll keep taking that drug.

Face saving is for a Japan of the 19th century.

Yousuf Khan

I've owned a bunch of Toyotas over the years (Corollas, MR2s,

4Runners, T100), and other than the fact that they are a pain in the a__ to work on ('specially that 1st gen MR2; my gawd!), they've all been reliable solid vehicles. I recently unloaded an '02 Caddy my pop gave me a couple years back. I'll have to admit that it was a really nice car. Really, really nice, and it got good gas milage, too (24 - 25 MPG!), but I haven't heard good things about the long-term reliability of the Caddy's. Figured I'd sell it while everything was still working ;-) ByeBye! S. Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

Because I don't want a Sexualliy Transmitted Infection