This post should be titled "How to drive an S4 slowly." or "How to get laughed at on a track."

PSP-3000!

That was really cool to watch- no doubt that is fantastic engineering on the manufacturing side.

In practice, the LFA isn't a lightweight vehicle though. So, it seems as if the engineering budget was spent on R&D for manufacturing rather than R&D on the practical applications of it. A Corvette Z06 weighs 85lbs less without much carbon fiber at all, nevermind what some of the hypercars in the LFA's price range weigh.

So while cool, it seems needlessly complex when going to 18" wheels would have likely shed more weight while lowering the price. But I guess cars like this aren't meant to make sense, are they?

The STI is a few hundred pounds lighter than the Evo. In Japan, at least, it's faster too. Actually, what other 300hp AWD car is as light as the STI? It's very light for what it is- remember, this isn't a crappy Haldex AWD system, and the beefy transmission itself is responsible for a lot of the heft you criticize. (Look at the weight difference between it and a WRX.)

I don't understand the auto tranny either, but let's not go making up the other stuff.

When I saw the headline, I was hoping the new STI would- finally- have direct injection. Too bad.

City (stop-and-go) traffic is where I loathe an automatic most. I had a 3-mile commute that would somtimes take 45 minutes. Shifting gears gave me something fun to do to keep driving at least somewhat entertaining. And how freaking annoying is a car that always wants to creep forward? You don't need a manual transmission for highway driving because you're not shifting on the highway anyway!

What platform will this be built on? The car looks fast and fun, but I'm guessing it'll be a hybrid Corolla or similar underneath. The overhangs look like a front-drive car, and furthermore the chassis will have to prioritize compactness of suspension and drivetrain bits to make room for things like batteries. I'm guessing this will have a strut suspension up front, front-drive only, and possibly even a torsion beam rear suspension (although perhaps also a compact multi-link).

What a waste of a good exterior if so.

I actually bought one of these last week, so I'm not happy to hear about the price drop!

It's a truly great car, though. It drives just like a Volkswagen, and I mean that in a good way. The ride and handling are totally not what you'd expect- not even close. I thought this thing was monumentally better to drive than a 2010 Mazda3 hatch, which was great to look at but bad to drive. I couldn't believe it.

We also compared against the Honda Fit, BMW 328i wagon, Audi A4 Avant, Volvo V50, GTI, Jetta Wagon, and a few others. This car was my wife's favorite, no kidding. I preferred the BMW as best to drive, then the Volvo, but this car was obviously the most practical for us. It's huge inside but small outside. There's no way any of the others could justify their price with this gem in existence.

The Elantra Touring needs their new 2.0l engine with 20bhp more than the current model to make this car a home run. It's still using an iron block engine, unchanged from ~2002. It's a lot faster than you'd expect, but then your expectations would be very low.

Looks like it's still Haldex AWD... which means it's front wheel drive until a computer engages a clutch. Yuck. Not a fan.

Handling upgrades? These cars come, quite deliberately, with low-friction tires that trade grip (friction) for mileage. And a front-drive car dragging heavy batteries in the rear will never have the agility of a traditional front-heavy, front-drive car let alone a balanced rear-drive car. These "upgrades" are ridiculous.

Hybrids would not exist without government subsidies, from our country or others. It's a technology that might make sense some day, but they're being rushed to market for no good reason. Diesels make far more sense, as do pure electric cars as short-distance commuters. Hybrids are prohibiting the growth of both of these alternatives by being artificially priced below their market price, subsidized by tax payers who are being fleeced. The green movement, whether you find merit in environmental causes or not, is all about fleecing the tax payer and expanding government control. It's not the cause that's evil, except that it's being hugely manipulated for personal and state gain by lobbyists and politicians.

I'm glad Rush, who actually has some balls, is stepping up to the plate to tackle this issue.