Riddle me this – another recommendation thread?

I can’t think of any other place where oddball and creative ideas about cars abound aside from these forums.  I hope to solicit that and maybe some practical advice as well.

Budget: Around $17,500.

Use: Daily driver with occasional autocross and ultimately, some HPDEs once in a while with proper prep and modifications.

Needs: Must fit a rearward facing car seat in the back and be reliable. And fit 6’1” me with a helmet.

Brand: Don’t really care, but it’s got to be reliable as the miles pile on.

Thoughts: 2012-2017 Civic Si; Mk6 and maybe MK7 Golf; 2015+ Focus ST; 2010 Honda Fit + NB Miata; E90 BMW

What obvious possibilities am I missing?

What are E90 sedans going for now?

Edit: I'm an idiot and can't read. Mazda3, possibly speed flavored is my next thought.

focus st would definitely get my vote

Cadillac ATS sedans can be had for under $20k and are supposed to drive and handle quite well.

E90 sedans are surprisingly inexpensive!  Finding a manual in decent shape, though, isn't so easy 

Yup, a Speed3 was a thought too, but they're getting hard to find unmodified and usually with fairly high mileage.

MazdaFace said:

focus st would definitely get my vote

Bang for your buck they are awesome.  I previously had a FiST, though, and would like to try a different platform.  

Speed3s are also not real autocross winners, either, since you're basically either off boost or understeering at any given point on course.  At least in my experience.  Plus, finding one that hasn't been hammered to death is tough at this point.

At your budget, I'd look Focus ST first.

Driven5 said:

Cadillac ATS sedans can be had for under $20k and are supposed to drive and handle quite well.

Never looked into them, and never seen one on an autocross course.  Hmmm ... worth looking into.

I hadn't either until a 2.0T Camaro win the D Street autox national championship last year, and it was pointed out that the ATS is basically the four door Camaro I wished existed.

In reply to Driven5 :

Learn something new every day, thanks.  $20k, though, is a bit too rich for my budget.  

$17,500 is "under $20k"...They're a bit sparse with the 2.0T/6MT combo, but are out there in your price range.

I kinda like your Fit with NB Miata idea. Nothing does what the Fit does better than the Fit.  It's basically a Tardis. You can cram just about anything in the hatch with the fold down seats and is still reasonably roomy for even adults to ride in the back. An NB is an NB. I think I needn't say more. 

In reply to Driven5 :

Can't argue with that math.  I'll take a look.  

In reply to penultimeta :

The Fit is just so versatile and reliable.  My wife just sighs and says it looks like a big bug, though 

What are the chances of needing to fit two car seats in the back within the next few years? 

In reply to Driven5 :

50/50 chance.  But if so, they wouldn't be both rearward facing at the same time.  

Even if you were to make it to your current kiddo being 3+ (IMHO) before having another, so they're both not rear facing at the same time, modern front facing car seats also still take up considerably more space than I ever expected. I don't know about any of the others (yet), but I'll tell you right now that a forward facing convertible behind the driver in a (pre-2015) Fit still sucks.  I'm 6ft with  a 34" inseam and have my seat as far forward as I physically (not comfortably) am able to, and my 3.5 year old daughter still hates it almost as much as I do. Every day that I pick her up at daycare we do a seat moving dance just to give her enough room to climb in. I'll know pretty soon how much of an improvement a harness booster is, or isn't, over a convertible in this regard.  Life for any passenger over 5.5ft isn't a whole lot better with the rear facing either, and forget it for people over 6.0ft. 

Fits get their ability to accommodate adults in the back by utilizing vertical space in addition to longitudinal space.  It's an 'upright' vehicle.  This does not really benefit car seat installations.  As a result, it's possible that some sedans with similar rear seat legroom specs may still have more longitudinal room available for car seat installations.  Of course, regardless of specs, this varies from car to car and car seat to car seat.  Ultimately making it largely a crap shoot in the subcompact and compact categories.  I will say that from when I checked one out with a car seat in tow, the 2015+ Fits were a major improvement in this regard, with something like  a whopping 4 inches more rear legroom than the previous pre-2015, although would also eat up considerably more of your budget.

The (pre-2015) Fit is fantastic for what it is, and has served us extremely well in multiple roles, but being a frequent 2x kid hauler does not seem to 'fit' very well into "what it is" so far...With any luck though, a harness booster might be 'enough' of an improvement to at least prolong its usefulness to our family.

While these comments are Fit specific, these issues are not.  Just some things you might want to be mindful of with any and all of the options you're looking at, as none have particularly spacious rear seating areas.

+1 for Fit and NB Miata

Frisbee twins also *might* work. You likely won't have any fun getting a kid/car-seat in and out but we've done it a few times and it works fine. Rear-facing greatly compromises front passenger leg room, though.

In reply to Driven5 :

The real world experience is much appreciated.  You’re right about the 2015+ models eating up more of the budget, but at least they do offer much increased room. We primarily take my wife’s car out with the baby, but my vehicle needs to be able to accommodate a rear facing seat without much drama. 

The 86/BRZ I tried out with a rear facing car seat behind the passenger seat but the front passenger has to be fairly short or really chill to make it work for anything beyond a short trip. 

I did 2 car seats with a gti which was pretty reasonable and still fun...

I guess everyone has different space tolerances. We have made do with a 2008 Honda Fit as the main kid-transport for the past 6 years, three of which had two child car seats in the back, and one has been rear-facing for much of that time. It's done very well for us, though the droning nature of driving the Fit on the freeway has become tiring. Still, it's been an excellent commuter, needing just consumables over 160k miles, and it's fantastic in the city, and has more cargo space than any similar sized car. I'd certainly vote Honda Fit and Miata if I didn't have too much freeway driving. 

Fit + Miata would've got my vote until I got the the 6'1" part. That might be a problem with a helmet and the roof up, let alone a rollbar unless you lower the floor.

CTS V. 

Lots of Fit Love here!  

CTS-V would be awesome but not sure any my price range would necessarily pass the reliability test?

Appreciate all the feedback. Anyone else have any ideas?

The Mk7 GTI would be high on my list.

DSG gearbox that holds more power is good for sport driving and is nice for commuting

Decent mpg

Nice interior compared to others on this list

Competitive in some SCCA autoX classes

I find the seats much more comfortable than the FoST also, hate the FoST recaros for anything but short duration aggressive driving. The two car idea is always the way to go if you can swing it, but depending on your torso/leg ratio as mentioned it will take some shenanigans to get you into a miata its totally doable just wont be in a stock seat.

If I was going to be in your situation with the 2 car route I think I would go Mazda5 over Fit, dealing with kids is a lot easier with sliding doors