Personally, I think it’s hard to beat a 2005 330ci. Just beautiful. But where is the competition? I’m talking about the hardtop here. Audi offers nothing similar, other than the TT. Acura used to have the CL, but that was never a true competitor. The Mercedes CL doesn’t seem to do it either.
If Lexus would offer the new IS in a 2-door (with fold down rear seats), I’d be all over that. Lexus, for some stupid reason, won’t offer any of their sedans with fold down seats, which makes it impossible to fit my bike inside. I try not to use my rack as much as possible.
Who else am I missing here? The G35 coupe is based on the Z, which is super tiny.
Whatever happened to 2-door version of a popular sedan, with room to spare? The only thing close is the Accord coupe or Solara.
Never been in a G35 coupe, but i suppose it will have enough space for a bike with the front wheel off. My prelude is tiny. The space between the rear wheel buckets is just a little over 2 feet but i can fit my bike fine.
Yeah, the G35 coupe (although slightly larger than it’s sibling Z) doesn’t have much in terms of cargo space.
A prerequisite for my next car is to able to place a road bike with the front wheel removed inside with ease. My Civic, Accord, Mazda6 and Passat all had fold-down rear seats which made this a piece of cake.
Right now, it appears that the 3-series coupe is the way to go. After all, not that much else out there. I even thought about a TL, but it doesn’t have fold-down seats either. Errr…
You should consider something with hatchback, but I can’t think of something that is comparable to the 3 series. I was thinking of cars like tC and RSX.
Look around for an RS4 if you want Audi wagon with performance. Pretty hard to find here in the states though, but you certainly wouldn’t see too many of them.
Actually, I havent’ test-driven a CLK yet, but it’s on my short-list. I think the median age for a Benz driver is slightly older than a BMW owner though. It’s a very sharp car, no question about that.
Scratch on the A4 and C70. They’re both convertibles and that just won’t work for my lifestyle. A moonroof is perfectly fine with me!
Even though it’s not a coupe, I’ve thrown the new 530i into the mix too. Probably can’t afford that though!
Yeah, the 5 series really grew on me. The proportions are just so bad ass. The 6 series is the winner though, too bad about the price!
There is just not much in that 3 coupe market segment right now. A lot of things at that size are 2 seaters. I mean even in the 3 sedan, the back seats are pretty painful for anything more than a 15 minute drive.
The CLK is a nice car if you’re in a hurry, for a short period of time.
The wife has a 320; glance where you want to go, and you’re there. The seats are made from proprietary M-B cast iron and will render your lower extremities senseless after about a four hour tour. No adjustable lumbar support, no lateral support. Plenty of motor; and especially at $2.89 for premium.
Like I said, nice machine, if you don’t need to drive from SF to LA … very often. A bit twitchy for long haul freeway work, but a great canyon stormer.
The TT is way, way too small. Trunk is about 4" deep. True, the seats fold down, but it is only 4’ from the trunk lip to the back of the front seats.
I’m just really disappointed to find that there aren’t any 2 or 4-door hatchbacks out there that don’t look like little econocars. Even the GTI is too small, besides the fact that I don’t like the profile. The Mazda6 hatchback (aka 5-door) is the only car out there that looks like a sedan with a real trunk, but actually is a versatile hatchback. Where are the coupes like this? The Probe used to open up like that. The Eclipse does, but the area behind the seats is built up to accomodate subs and crap. The Acura RSX has a big hatch area, but the design is long in the tooth and desperately needs a redesign.
I’m getting annoying at the lack of choices. But if I want a big-a&& SUV, GM or Ford has those in every possibly configuration known to man. Idiots.
