PalomarKrew Canyon/Mountain Drive with GoPro and Drone Footage

Taking the M4 and S5 for a drive up Palomar Mountain

Audi S5 KickDown Explanation/Demonstration

We explain and demonstrate how the kick down feature works using a 2015 Audi S5

Sub 30k Sports Car Showdown - GenesisCoupe3.8 vs WRX vs BRZ

Today I had the opportunity to drive the Genesis Coupe, WRX, and BRZ back to back to back. And by back to back to back I mean I literally stepped out of the Hyundai, took two steps to the WRX in the next stall, and after the WRX another two steps to the BRZ. I drove the same exact route for each car which included a windy freeway onramp and some twisty back roads.

 The first car I was handed the keys to was a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 which was by far the most powerful car of the bunch with 348 peak horsepower. However, before we talk about power the first thing you notice about this car was the extremely tight steering. It might not be such a bad thing considering you are getting a bicep workout every time you drive the car but it almost felt a little awkward with how tight it was. The second thing I noticed was how heavy the car felt; it doesn't look it but this car weights 3,400 lbs. While it did remain flat and had a firm suspension every corner clearly felt like I was throwing around a lot of weight.

As a naturally aspirate car the torque was weak down low, almost comically so when you are flooring the pedal and getting very little acceleration. Peak torque doesn't arrive until 5300 rpm but from there the power comes on very linearly as we would expect from an NA engine until the redline of 6,700 rpm where the peak hp of 348 does put you in the back of your seat. The linear acceleration can cause one to perceive the car isn't pulling as hard as it actually is. Overall the Genesis seems to be getting you a lot for you money, if you can find me another car with 348 hp for 27k please point me to it.

The WRX was the next of the bunch and instantly I could feel the difference with the turbo and throttle response. In the WRX peak torque of 258 arrives at 2000 rpms so you can feel though pull of the engine in most gears while in the Hyundai you have a lot of power but it is in a very thin band of rpm. The WRX definitely felt more nimble and on its toes through tight corners but handling wasn't incredible. Even though the WRX is only about 100 lbs lighter than the Genesis it sure felt like a lot more, that is until I got into the BRZ…

The BRZ turned out to be my favorite of the bunch unexpectedly. It felt just about as fast as the WRX even though I know it isn't with its measly 200 hp but it felt much more like a sports car than the other two. It was clear this was a car you can throw into a corner and trust it to get you out. To put into perspective in the WRX and Hyundai I took the curved on ramp to the next freeway in the 60s vs 77 MPH in the BRZ.

In the end these are all great cars for your money that come with nice acceleration and handling as long as you remember what you are paying for them.

How budgets go from a used WRX to a McLaren 570S

Wow I can get a used WRX for 20k; 0 – 60 in 5 seconds, that is awesome and perfectly within my budget! It doesn't look half bad, I'll just make sure it has a clean car fax and get a compression test!

But wait brand new WRX with ZERO miles is really only 30k? The warranty will offset most of the cost anyways and they barely depreciate…

 

Hold on, an STI is ONLY 5k more?? Why would I ever buy a WRX when I'm a few paychecks away from the legendary STi? It even comes with that awesome wing on the back that will let everyone around me know I mean business! For 35k I could walk out the door with a brand new STI! Well I obviously need navigation and leather seats so more like 40k OTD…

Wait, if I'm spending 40k that puts me in m235i range which will SMOKE the STI AND I get a nice German interior! After all what is a car that doesn't look good when you are sitting inside it, which is where you spend most of your driving time anyways. m235i is the best of both worlds...

But at this price instead of being a "poser" with a wannabe m car I can get a legit AMG badge! The CLA45 AMG at a little over 45k is an amazing deal and has thrust and torque for days.

But those cars are WAY too small. Anyone over 5 foot tall can't possibly be comfortable sitting in this tiny clown car.

I’m going to need to have friends in the back when I'm showing off launch control so an Audi S4 at 52k perfectly fits my needs! Sexy, All wheel drive, supercharged what more could you ask for… 

Hang on... the SUPERCAR all new BMW M4 only starts around 64k?? What's that, two more months of work? I could smoke anything I ever came across on the road and never worry about that little kid in his modded 350z again. Lets see.. some nice leather interior, navigation, carbon ceramics, wow this car is 80k OTD, that’s fine a couple thousand more for options isn't THAT big of a deal; wait…I have EIGHTY KAY, you know what costs just about 80k…

A BRAND NEW Porsche Cayman GT4!! Are those even out yet?? I would be the talk of the town! Approached at every gas station. I would daily drive one of the best track cars in the world! However…

With a little more $$$ I could snatch up the new i8. It has all the fancy electric tech of a tesla and looks like something from the distant future, people in the whole city would know me as the guy with the i8. I would roll up to car shows and immediately get ushered to the VIP parking! BUT I’m spending 120k for this car and you are telling me I only get 0 – 60 in 4 seconds?? That’s like only a second less than that crappy wrx I was looking at earlier for a sixth of the cost. That’s a supercar price for non-supercar performance; you know what has supercar performance?

A McLaren 570s, those things are only 170k and I would be stoplight drag racing Buggati Veyrons like no big deal. Don’t even get me started on the sexy looks of this thing! Okay I think that’s it, I didn’t stray too far from my budget right?

Update:

Went to the dealer, turns out you have to pay little above MSRP for this thing; that’s fine though I just called the bank which approved me for a 200k mortgage on my… “house” I just bought ;) Little do they know I’m living the dream!