What car do you drive and why did you choose it

[Tarmop]

For sure, BUT...25k for a new 200 kW I30N is cheap, catalogue price...

Another century, guys. Once it was wow, a 4wd fast rallycar and their street-legal versions also great , in terms of performance (road-legal). Now we have economical and powerful diesel and petrol engines (well, another changing thing i guess) mounted to 4wd and a comfy middle/high-class, offering same or better dynamics for road users, than the once "wow" impreza etc, but the comfort, no competition from them... Then we have those old cars, for parts, ebay, aliexpress, etc, that offer cheap tools, cheap tuning options etc...end result is that building something like...lets say, from modern age, a Fiesta mk7 4wd 400bhp (or more, depending how much money you have) or from older cars, an Audi b4/BMW e30/e36, born as a 1.6l or something....world is open, things are cheaper, you can get much more fun for less money, fan of rally or not. Just like smartphones, available today for 20 usd. People spending 30-50k on a car, minus the cost of production, minus dealership fees, minus taxes etc...not profitable, apart from brand awarness, testing something.

[AL14]

I've never owned a car in my life. I use car sharing services at my city and if I have to go out of the city I rent a car and/or use my gf's car.
At the end of the year I've spent less money and I don't have to think about fuel, insurance, tires and so on.

[Norm75]

. . . . use my gf's car.. . . .I don't have to think about fuel. . .

Ahh the old fuel light roulette . . . bet your gf loves you!

[AL14]

Ahh the old fuel light roulette . . . bet your gf loves you!

I don't have to think about fuel when I use car sharing. But when I use her car I pay fuel and also help with other expenses. I love her too.

[JUF]

Interesting thread.

Currently we're owning three cars:
-Audi A6 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro Competition
-Audi A5 1.8 TFSI
-Audi S5 (still with a V8 engine inside)

We´re Audi lovers, not much to explain .

[stefanvv]

I don't care about road car versions of rally cars. Always had the C line models of AUDI, petrol N/A engines with some cylinders in advance

[Franky]

Currently have 2014 Impreza 1.6 hatch, because the Mazda dealerships weren't interested in selling me a car and got a good deal for Impreza. Had Forests in the family before.

The other one is Daewoo Tico 0.8. The cheapest way to live life on the edge. You need to be truly mental to drive that thing fast but drove through the Pamirs with it last year and even at 4000m, it was fun on the twisty gravel roads in the Wakhan valley.

[GravelBen]

Saying that owning a Subaru isn't related to rallying because they aren't in WRC anymore is rubbish to be honest, they are still in many national championships with production-based cars that are far closer to what you can buy. I think the closest road car you can buy to a rally car is still an Impreza STI.

I've had 4 Subarus (currently a Legacy GTB for compromise between fun and practicality), all of my Subaru ownership has been at least to some degree related to their rallying - not just because of the brand association, but because of features that were developed/improved through rallying like AWD and good suspension etc.

[Mirek]

Saying that owning a Subaru isn't related to rallying because they aren't in WRC anymore is rubbish to be honest, they are still in many national championships with production-based cars that are far closer to what you can buy. I think the closest road car you can buy to a rally car is still an Impreza STI.

I've had 4 Subarus (currently a Legacy GTB for compromise between fun and practicality), all of my Subaru ownership has been at least to some degree related to their rallying - not just because of the brand association, but because of features that were developed/improved through rallying like AWD and good suspension etc.

It's not rubbish. They are not involved as a factory anymore and the small marketing effect which their rallying still brings has little to do with the recent factory activities in rallying (simply because those are near non-existent). It has more to do with the brand's history.

For Your information in many European countries Subarus nearly dissapeared from rallying. Here in CZ there is rarely more than 1-2 per rally and it's a miracle when it appears in top 20. Also Subaru sponsorship of the teams is close to none unlike several years before.

And I would say that there is also less STIs overall in the country. Those You can still see parked around are mostly older models. Very very rarely You can find some recent one. This used to be different in the past.

[GravelBen]

It is absolutely rubbish - you're saying that if someone buys a new STI because of the connection to rallying and the engineering spinoffs from rallying, they just don't count. You're welcome to speak for your own reasons for buying cars, but assuming everyone else shares your thinking makes you look arrogant or stupid, which I'm sure you're not really.

It seems like you think WRC marketing is the only part of rallying that matters or influences car buyers, which is not the case at all - local profile affects local markets, and many people (in NZ at least, maybe Europe is different) actually buy cars for their capability not just for the badge.

Skodas aren't very common in NZ, and they are mostly driven by old people for fuel economy. Subarus on the other hand are very popular - partly because we have a lot of gravel roads, and they are very good on gravel. Part of the reason they are good on gravel is because of what Subaru learnt from rallying. Its not just about marketing, but engineering as well! And production based rallying gives a much closer link.

Overall sales have many other factors too - local economic situation, different taxes (IIRC European made cars get much better tax rates in Europe so Japanese cars become relatively more expensive), competition etc. The competition combined with taxes might be the biggest factor in reduced Subaru sales in Europe - there are more different options with similar performance to choose between now like Golf R etc.