A high mileage complex luxury cars with scary electronic integrated gizmos should put the fear of the electron into any sane person…and I count myself in that small group. A mid 2000s Audi A8, for instance, is going to be overly complicated and certainly cheap because it is going to cost arms/legs/kidneys/children to repair…but if […]
The term hot hatch is tossed about like gonorrhea in a college co-ed dorm building, but what does it really take to be a hot hatch. First, you need a hatch. And then you need powahhhhh….maybe! What you need in a fast hatch is something that is equally at home in a parking lot dodging […]
Proton is a Malaysian manufacturer which made cheap runabouts in much the same vein as Hyundai and Kia during the 1990s. Based on an old Mitsubishi Colt, the Satria was nothing special. However, the GTi badge can work magic, as it did on the Mk1 Golf and Peugeot’s 205, and the same rings true for […]
During the hot hatch wars of the 80’s and early 90’s Volkswagen Golf GTIs squared off with Honda Civic SIs in the United States each with a dedicated following. It looks like with the Ford Focus ST now joining the two well-known models and what seems to be and arms race of horsepower in the […]
by Cory — The 4g63 engine is sort of the Hercules of Japanese import tuner world. The 4g61 was it’s little brother and originally came in this 1989 Dodge Colt turbo. This 4g63 engine swapped 1989 Dodge Colt is listed for $2200 in Minneapolis, MN. The seller mentions the perennial red flags to tinkering with […]
The Subaru Leone (Italian for Lion) was a compact econobox manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries from 1971 to 1994 and marketed as the DL in the USA. Like most Subarus, it was powered by a flat-4 engine and was available in multiple body configurations including the funky-cool El Camino style BRAT (Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter)…but […]
The Mazda MX-3 was a sporty 2+2 hatch that used much of the BG platform (Familia/323/Protegé) functional parts. The thing that set Mazda’s little CRX/GTI hunter apart was the the addition of an optional high revving (7,800 rpm) 1.8 liter V6. That is not a typo, it came with a V6 that was smaller than […]
It is Wednesday so that means another time for a Mid Week Match-Up (TM)! DT reader TinyFrogs is looking for a commuter in the $5k-$12k range. Find him something good. In his words: Anyway, later this summer I’d like to pick up an efficient, reliable, and fun-to-drive compact wagohatch of some sort, manual transmission, ballpark […]