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      07-06-2012, 10:14 AM   #40
rconti
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flinchy View Post
And people used to say the e87 wasnt good looking

.. What a hideous rear.. At least the sedan looks good from behind.. All the f30 fronts have cheap+ricey looking headlights -_-

Ed: the need to look to the passat/merc wagons for design cues imo
I love the e87, too. I guess I just have terrible taste for not wanting a generic me-too car! Might want to try the phrase "rear end is not my style" rather than "hideous", when it is clearly, objectively, NOT hideous.

I don't disagree about Merc wagons, most of them look good, although some look a bit too bulbous in the back, rather than streamlined. I LOVE the look of the Passat wagons, now that VW has gotten away from the "chrome ALL THE THINGS!" mentality. I'd love to have an R36 Passat wagon in the US; I might even be willing to drive a DSG instead of a stick, it's that sweet a car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bread
Notice that he said B7 A4 Avant, which did come with a manual, but just like the B7 S4 had the older quattro setup with more power going to the front wheels and the engines almost completely in front of the suspension. The B7 cars are no fun to drive, regardless of transmission.
Yup, this.. on all counts. I wouldn't say "no fun to drive", but definitely "not as much fun to drive as most BMWs". The automatic completely kills the "fun to drive" factor, though, so at least the B7 would be KIND of fun. It's worth noting that the B7 S4 had the 60:40 rearward bias; an aftermarket center diff is mandatory on the non-S cars if you want to have any fun. And the cost savings buying used gets you a lot of toys.

As for fuel economy -- for whom is it NOT a factor? I don't care about the cost of fuel; I probably only drove about 5000 miles last year. However, I geek out over efficiency, with an emphasis on range. I'd love a 330d with tons of torque and drive-all-day range -- if only they had an even larger fuel tank so it could go 600-700+ miles without a fill up, that would be amazing. Of course that's far longer than my bladder can last, but that's not the point -- it's just COOL to me. However, I also love fun, fast cars. It's been ages since I saw over 300 miles on a tank in any vehicle I owned, so you can see which way I end up leaning. I'm equally thrilled at the idea of an unexpectedly quick and efficient 330d, as well as the new N20, or even the idea of a 335 wagon, the ultimate sleeper. Whatever the car, it has to be cool and unique, something that gets you excited about it.

And at the end of the day, as I said, when you sit down and make the drive-versus-fly decision on some of those common up-or-down-the-coast trips, if you had a car with terrible economy, you might be more likely to choose flying. Having an efficient car just increases the likelihood that you'd drive it. It might be counterintuitive to some, but there's the reason I'm of a split mind when it comes to big power vs big efficiency. I'd never pick an econobox over fun, but when BMW gives you a gem of an engine like the N20, or if they'd over the 330d here, you can have both! Just one man's opinion.
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