[Smokin]

True. I already have the BMW, so I am all too familiar with that.

Something else with the ST is that right now it feels a tad overpriced. Truecar has a base GTi listed for around ~$19/20k, whereas an ST with recaros is ~22.5/23k. Perhaps waiting a few months for the ST hype to die down will bring the price down a little.

Don't think the price will come down much below current, especially for a Ford. They are selling lots of cars.

Also I don't believe you can get a new GTI for $19000. Of course with their faulty engine they may be heavily discounting them.
I have a 2011 GTI which cost $29,000 and even though my ST won't be in for another week or two, I am really curious to compare them performance wise.

What I didn't see in these posts is that an ST is a subcompact which your bimmer and Evo are not so the only real decision is do you want that small of a car. My wife asked that question and I told her that it's small and fun like the Scirroco of old and she liked that.....

 

[Smokin]

At least for the US market, the VWs have a nagging inability to fully turn off stability control. I don't recall this being addressed by APR or other tuners, but surely it must have?! You can't track a car with stability control!

The new Audi S3 is intriguing. I've had many Audis and will always have a soft spot for them.

I'd like to drive a manual Golf R, but only if they fix the software. I'm unclear if that's just a US market thing, or if others don't care (or know) that you can't fully defeat it?

Not to belabor this but the GTI ESC was capable of being turned off. I had over 300 Ax runs including with hi speed sweepers in Blytheville, Topeka and Lincoln with and without R-Comps with never a hint of TC. And for S&G's I left it on in a couple of wet autocross runs and liked to killed myself. It turned like a tractor...
Interestingly (as I never drove one) a local with an R32 told me the Golf R was the one you couldn't turn off.

 

[Smokin]

Don't know where you'll get $2500 in rebates. Mine was $1800 incl X-Plan and the Christmas Holiday deal......

 

[Smokin]

Mine was from the time I read about it in R&T to the time I put the magazine down....

 

[Smokin]

So other than blowing your own horn (too much and too loud) what's your point?