which car do I want, AWD edition

Having spent almost all my life in the American Southwest, there's a decent chance I'll be moving to Utah in the near future.

Requirements:

AWD/4WD

wagon/suv/sedan

nothing German, no Subaru

something kinda sporty would be nice. gas mileage isn't a concern

edit: also has to be an auto, wife can't drive stick. Otherwise I'd buy an evo and be done with it

so far the short list has landed me with either a V60 T6, a SHO, or maybe the nicest S60R I can find. If I give up any pretense of fun maybe I just give up and get a GX470/LX470. Any other obvious choices I'm missing?

G37x sedan 6speed manual?

Mazdaspeed6?

Lexus had the is350awd too

we've got an IS-F currently, so the IS350 would feel like a bit of a step backward, but that's a good call. I guess I could throw the EvoX in there, but I don't know how reliable those are.

How do we feel about a Model3 Performance? Those are AWD, right?

No German, but Volvo?  Volvos are German cars with a different accent.  Same parts different package.

In reply to calteg :

Oh, the isf seems to me a really nice car. I dont think about another japanese car similar to it.. acura rl/tl should be less sporty, nissan maybe a reliability downgrade...

A gtr maybe? :D

Dont know much about awd cts though. 

Is there a budget that we have to work within?

Buick Regal Tour X is an AWD wagon that's not a Subaru.

There were also some AWD Hemi Chargers, although I'm not sure you can buy them new anymore.

Acura TLX Type S offers AWD.

If we're ok with SUVs, then you can consider Ford Edge ST, or Explorer ST. Dodge Durango RT or SRT. Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT.

Budget is under $50k. I don't know how quickly cars rust in salt laden areas, so my initial reaction is to focus on sub $20k cars and just consider them disposable. 

All SUV's but I have been hearing some good things about the Genesis brand and of course the Telluride/Palisade. I have a friend with a Telluride......very nice.

Winter areas in the west do not rust cars like winter areas in the northeast, not even close.   
 

Acura TLX seems like the droid you are looking for, the TypeS has 350hp

Put tires on your shopping list if you are going to buy a Tesla. In stock form it is absolutely garbage in the snow. 

Utah has very little rust compared to Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan. 
 

id just focus on buying what you want.  
 

for disposable rust belt cars, I go to gmt800's. The Tahoe and suburban are cheap and available at 180k miles for 3-4K.  Buy one drive it for 3-4 years dump it and repeat.  Sure you'll have to fix little things here and there but everything is soooo cheap. 
 

Acura TL or MDX would be "fun".  I know you said no German but a cayenne is probably the right combo here.  

In the used $20k category, here are a couple depreciation kings...

Infiniti M56x/Q70x. That's 420hp of awd from 5.6Ls in a sleeper sedan. The overlooked, unknown, unrecognized Godzilla of Infiniti's US offerings.  If you can get by with only 300 hp there is a 3.7L version. Non X models = rwd.

Lincoln MKZ is optional awd of 2.0t or 3.0t putting out 400hp. Take it up a notch of lux and you have the Lincoln Continental on the same chassis. 

We have been very happy with the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk we bought as my wife's DD.  It's comfortable, good on the highway, has most modern conveniences and genuine off road chops.

There's a lot of beautiful country in Utah if you get off the beaten path, not sure if that's in your plans or not...

The Kia k5GT just hit my radar the other day as an AWD sedan for under $30k new. Don't know much moor than that about them though. 

Acura TL was available with AWD in the last gen beak-like body style. My neighbor has one. That's another to consider.
 

Agreed on the rust thing. I lived in Idaho for 20 years. Cars almost never rust in the mountain west. And at least in Idaho, they don't use salt in the roads like they do in the Midwest and East.

Racebrick said:

Put tires on your shopping list if you are going to buy a Tesla. In stock form it is absolutely garbage in the snow. 

Proper snow tires should be on the shopping list regardless of what car you chose. AWD helps you go, tires will allow you to stop and turn.  I believe in some of those mtn areas, snow tires or similar may be required, AWD or not. 

calteg said:

edit: also has to be an auto, wife can't drive stick. Otherwise I'd buy an evo and be done with it

How about an Evo X?

Everyone forgets about the Suzuki SX4. Everyone.

Living and commuting in a heavy(500+ inches) snow area, I feel snow tires should be a priority. In Utah, the valleys don't get crazy amounts of snow, so good tires will cover most situations. I'm on ski vacation this week in SLC and we've gotten 1-2" in the valley. Haven't touched my transfer case, but I'm glad I've got snows mounted up. 

calteg said:

so far the short list has landed me with either a V60 T6

I love my V60 T6 AWD.  If you find a V60 CC (not an XC60) it will be the regular wagon body with maybe another 1-1/2" of suspension travel and clearance.  V60 CCs are also a lot more common than plain V60s.  The automatic is actually pretty nice.

John Welsh said:

In the used $20k category, here are a couple depreciation kings...

Infiniti M56x/Q70x. That's 420hp of awd from 5.6Ls in a sleeper sedan. The overlooked, unknown, unrecognized Godzilla of Infiniti's US offerings.  If you can get by with only 300 hp there is a 3.7L version. Non X models = rwd.

Lincoln MKZ is optional awd of 2.0t or 3.0t putting out 400hp. Take it up a notch of lux and you have the Lincoln Continental on the same chassis. 

That's great info, I didn't even know that existed. Might be exactly what I'm looking for.

Duke said:

calteg said:

so far the short list has landed me with either a V60 T6

I love my V60 T6 AWD.  If you find a V60 CC (not an XC60) it will be the regular wagon body with maybe another 1-1/2" of suspension travel and clearance.  V60 CCs are also a lot more common than plain V60s.  The automatic is actually pretty nice.

 

Yup, I've got a V60 T5 currently and I love it, but I'm worried the FWD isn't going to cut it in the snow.

Another question for y'all in the frozen North. When we visited SLC this past weekend, there were 7ft snow banks on the side of the road. The locals indicated this was an unusual amount of snow, even for them, but it made me worried that a sedan might not have enough ground clearance. Is an SUV the better option? In my mind I have an irrational resistence to one, even though it seems like they make a lot of sense in this scenario. 

Mazda 3 with turbo and awd and a manual or automatic seems like a great answer to this question :) 

https://www.mazdausa.com/vehicles/mazda3-sedan

The Mazda awd system is supposed to be quite good 

In reply to calteg :

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15130176/2011-infiniti-m56x-short-take-road-test/

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/08/review-2011-infiniti-m56x/

Notice the reviews mention lots of nanny's. Most of those nanny's are expected these days but this was written in 2010 about a 2011 model; 12+ years ago.   The first car to offer a factory rear camera (and standard) was a Q45 in the late '90s.

Some sort of SH-awd honda-acura.

My pick would be a base tlx. Less weight on the nose, double-wishbone front. Turbo to be less wheezy in the cottonwoods.

Other options include 4th gen TL with SH-awd, new tlx, rdx, newer pilot, mdx.

V6 charger zf 8-speed awd? I would probably want a turbo if you plan on being up at elevation or in the canyons though.

The Achilles heel of these Honda options are the lack of an enthusiast grade auto-transmission.

The Kia Stinger is available in AWD, and new or used should be under budget. CPO or new would get you the 10yr/100k powertrain warranty.