Hey GRM Staff...

When y'all get one of THESE for a test please let me know. I can be there in 12 hours.

Oh, that's good - I was hoping that Kia/Hyundai would expand there usage of the Veloster's 1.6T engine into more of their product range. Now if it appears in one of these, I would seriously consider it.

Rumor's floating around is the mid-model change next year will have the GT getting the 1.6GDI-T.

My personal feelings are that hte16.GDI-T needs to be the top level SX engine in the Rio5. The Forte5 should get the 2.0GDI-T from the Optima in top level SX, as well as the Koup. That would best the power and be less weight than the reigning MS3 and Focus ST.

But sadly, they haven't hired me on as a consultant to help them pull their craniums from their lower extremities.

It'll be a battle to share this car among the staff when we do get it. We're also curious how it stacks up against the established hot compacts.

Yeah, enough of the lambo cover cars and "affordable" ferraris. Lets see some cheap speed.

gofastbobby wrote: Yeah, enough of the lambo cover cars and "affordable" ferraris. Lets see some cheap speed.

When you have something called an Ultimate Track Car Challenge, you can't ignore the high-priced stuff.

I was thinking I could bring down my 2010 SX and we could do a side by side comparison.

gofastbobby wrote: Yeah, enough of the lambo cover cars and "affordable" ferraris. Lets see some cheap speed.

Yeah, that Ferarri article was a bit of a joke. Sure, you can buy a Ferarri for the price of an Accord, but you then immediately have to spend twice as much just to get it to run.

dumb question- why is the Focus ST being brought up when that car is a whole lot closer to the Fiesta ST? Same 1.6l turbo, direct injection, ~200hp, etc.

Seems odd that a more obvious comparitor is not brought up.

^ Because the Forte is the same size as the Focus (but a bit lighter). THe Fiesta shares the same size as teh Rio.

jstein77 wrote:

gofastbobby wrote: Yeah, enough of the lambo cover cars and "affordable" ferraris. Lets see some cheap speed.

Yeah, that Ferarri article was a bit of a joke. Sure, you can buy a Ferarri for the price of an Accord, but you then immediately have to spend twice as much just to get it to run.

The magazine is written for all sorts of people with all sorts of budgets. I prefer the challenge-priced builds with lots of DIY fabrication, but that's to be expected; we forum members tend to be cheap bastards. We're not reflective of the general readership who have more money to play with and who don't insist on doing every blessed thing themselves.

Bobzilla wrote: ^ Because the Forte is the same size as the Focus (but a bit lighter). THe Fiesta shares the same size as teh Rio.

And it will come nowhere close to the Focus ST in terms of performance. 50hp means a lot.

It will come close to the performance of the Fiesta. And costs in the same ballpark.

Agreed, and it will give you a larger car that is more refined etc. That's the typical Korean way.

In reply to jstein77:

Just to keep the GRMers apprised, I really enjoyed the Ferrari article.

Bobzilla wrote: Agreed, and it will give you a larger car that is more refined etc. That's the typical Korean way.

Not sure how you can call it "more refined". Sure, the performance engine from the smaller car class in the bigger car. That's true.

Larger, quieter, more "doodads" etc. That, at least to me, is "more refined." Not being crammed into a narrow body with a single seat center armrest is not very "Refined" for me.

JoeyM wrote:

jstein77 wrote:

gofastbobby wrote: Yeah, enough of the lambo cover cars and "affordable" ferraris. Lets see some cheap speed.

Yeah, that Ferarri article was a bit of a joke. Sure, you can buy a Ferarri for the price of an Accord, but you then immediately have to spend twice as much just to get it to run.

The magazine is written for all sorts of people with all sorts of budgets. I prefer the challenge-priced builds with lots of DIY fabrication, but that's to be expected; we forum members tend to be cheap bastards. We're not reflective of the general readership who have more money to play with and who don't insist on doing every blessed thing themselves.

Maybe the reader demographic would migrate more towards the typical forum member if they steered the magazine content in that directions. Chicken or egg??

bravenrace wrote:

JoeyM wrote:

jstein77 wrote:

gofastbobby wrote: Yeah, enough of the lambo cover cars and "affordable" ferraris. Lets see some cheap speed.

Yeah, that Ferarri article was a bit of a joke. Sure, you can buy a Ferarri for the price of an Accord, but you then immediately have to spend twice as much just to get it to run.

The magazine is written for all sorts of people with all sorts of budgets. I prefer the challenge-priced builds with lots of DIY fabrication, but that's to be expected; we forum members tend to be cheap bastards. We're not reflective of the general readership who have more money to play with and who don't insist on doing every blessed thing themselves.

Maybe the reader demographic would migrate more towards the typical forum member if they steered the magazine content in that directions. Chicken or egg??

Magazines need advertisers, and advertisers want readers with money. I'd say that Tim and Co. are doing a good job balancing the content. Admittedly, I'd prefer a magazine named GRM: What's happening in Andy Nelson's garage but that would not sell enough copies to be profitable.

We're also a magazine that discusses lots of different types of motorsport. We're not just about What Happened at the $20XX Challenge and How You Can Win at It. We cater to club racers, which includes people driving or involved in everything from Viper Cup to Trans-Am to Formula Fords to Spec Miata. Also: autocross and rallycross. Also: time trials. Also: track days.

That is a fairly diverse group of people economically, and not all of them care to seat a tire with a can of ether.

Alan Cesar wrote: We're also a magazine that discusses lots of different types of motorsport. We're not just about What Happened at the $20XX Challenge and How You Can Win at It. We cater to club racers, which includes people driving or involved in everything from Viper Cup to Trans-Am to Formula Fords to Spec Miata. Also: autocross and rallycross. Also: time trials. Also: track days. That is a fairly diverse group of people economically, and not all of them care to seat a tire with a can of ether.

All very true, but Ferrari's and Lamborghini's aren't even in the same ballpark as even your typical Viper Cup or Porsche Club guy. Yes, there's more to GRM than the guys with $2 and some bubble gum to their name, but cars that cost more than the average readers house is just as bad of an outlier.

More of the "in-the-middle" stuff, please? (RE: Exocet, used car buying guides, WRX project car, going to your first stage rally, etc)

ransom wrote: In reply to jstein77: Just to keep the GRMers apprised, I really enjoyed the Ferrari article.

i read the ferrari article and felt like i learned something, so , no complaints here.

Since when did a 308 cost $200k?

belteshazzar wrote:

ransom wrote: In reply to jstein77: Just to keep the GRMers apprised, I really enjoyed the Ferrari article.

i read the ferrari article and felt like i learned something, so , no complaints here.

+1. The 308's have been a dream for me since I was a pre-teen watching MAgnum P.I. One of those "I would love to own one some day damn the cost!" type cars. I learned a lot in that article.

I thought this was a Kia thread. A head-to-head test of a new Kia Forte TDI vs an old 308 would be a hilarious and acceptable compromise.

I will say that the 308 article made me realize that a 308 is probably not a great substitute for a 360, which is available for the same money after you buy a 308 and repair everything about it :)

I enjoyed the article, but I'd like to be able to own an F car some day.

I read the B-spec articles, too, but I have no intention of going on track in a FWD POS unless forced to by my evil Chump team. Like I have been. But I digress.