Post your cliff notes up Weels, they're always good. I'll whack mine up this arvo when I dig them up.
Here we go. Feast on:
Juke:
- The worst ride & handling… combined with the most aggressive seats
- Notchy shifter, my least favourite, and I like notchy shifters
- High rock hard bolsters make entry/exit a challenge. You better be of narrow ass to fit in here
- Feels a bit underpowered based on the ratings
- Suede on dash, seats & armrest feel nice – rest of interior is ok, except for:
- Those frigging floor mats. Sole purpose apparently is to bunch up under the clutch. Shred these into tires or something please.
- All the other cars in this comparo are better. All I can think when driving is ‘who would buy this thing’ when there are so much better choices… I guess there are enough that love the froggy looks because I see a few around… in fact there are two on my street, including one that looks identical to our tester. I have funky neighbours.
WRX:
- Favourite car of the bunch. Put the biggest grin on my face
- Shifter needs a deliberate shove (which I like) into its notchy gate (which I also like) , leaves no doubt whether or not you’re in gear, although if it did feel a bit more like the FRS I wouldn’t complain
- Heaviest clutch of the group, but not uncomfortable
- Awesome turbo rush. Great engine
- Really nice steering wheel, nice & meaty. Feels really good
- Interior still feels a bit cheap, but improved. No nav or leather, so a bit down on features. This mattered to me not one bit.
- Seats could be better
FRS:
- Nice clutch & shifter action. Very precise, smooth & easy to drive. Tied with the MX5 as my favourite
- Down on power, but best corner carver. If it hasn’t been mentioned before… could use more power
- Big fan of the boxer growl
- Difficult entry/exit, but to be expected when your rear-end is 4 inches off the ground
- Interior feels a bit cheapy, but OK
- Back seat useless
Civic SI:
- Nice clutch & shifter – found it easy to drive
- Handling not quite on par with the best in this group, feels too light and didn’t inspire confidence, however to be fair, this was first car I drove on our loop
- I am a torque fan, so the lack of it here is noticeable. Brought back memories of my old TSX… a smooth operator, but feels a bit slow in this group
- Didn’t like the seats
- Still not a fan of the two-tiered dash, but at least the quality is now decent, and finally an updated nav
MX5:
- My first time behind the wheel of a Miata – ever! Yes, it is bags of fun with that top down
- Favourite clutch & shifter. More power of course would be nice
- No usb, or any technology whatsoever from after 2000 or so.
- Expensive for what it is, but easy to get many thousands off that msrp
- Would be my first pick for “fun to drive”, but unfortunately for it, the WRX showed up, that being said, I’d still happily own one.
Cooper S:
- Wow – what a fun to drive little rig – this one was a surprise that I liked it as much as I did… in fact I think I’d take this over the GTI.
- Like the looks of it too… but I’d take mine in BRG
- Buttery clutch & shifter… easiest car to drive. Rev matching here too
- Too quiet! Needs more attitude, especially at launch, you can’t hear a thing
- Nice steering wheel.. one of my favorites
- Very nice graphics on nav… interior has an upscale/premium but still funky feel
- Kick butt stereo
- Really liked the seats
GTI:
- Shifter very smooth – nicest feeling of the bunch.. in fact, even sitting still I was rowing through the gears just to feel the lovely snickety-snick
- That being said… curiously the GTI was the only car I stalled. Twice. Also a bit too easy to select reverse instead of 1st
- Nav very dated & small screen.
- All materials very nice, interior very nice, shifter very nice, road manners very nice….
- Overall very polished and smooth… because of that I would choose the DSG here instead of the 6 speed
- Before driving anything I expected this to win (and still just might) but overall, I was mildly disappointed…mainly because the WRX came along saying ‘get out of the way puny german…’
SURPRISES:
- Liked the Cooper way more than I expected. Today I think I’d buy this ahead of the GTI, but I’d want a thorough test of a DSG equipped GTI first.
- Didn’t expect to fall head over heels for the WRX. Looks like I am a new Subaru slappy.
- Came in fully expecting to love the GTI. I just didn’t.
Favourite Engine:
- WRX. No contest, then GTI and Cooper S.
Least Favourite Engine: Juke.
Favourite Clutch/Tranny:
- Tied – FR-S and MX5, with the WRX just a tick behind. I only pick the FRS & MX5 ahead because they are just a bit easier to live with.
- The Cooper is nice, but prefer the more ‘raw’ feel in the other three
Least Favourite Clutch/Tranny:
- Had the hardest time getting the feel for clutch in the GTI, though the shifter is very nice. Dis-honourable mention here also goes to the Juke.