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Don't think it'll sell for anything near $17K. More like $20K+
Budget buyers will opt for the Accent, with the same DI 1.6l and 40mpg as well. Here you go:
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/20/2012-hyundai-accent-five-door-first-drive-rev- iew/
The 2012 Accent five-door equipped with a six-speed manual transmission will hit your wallet for $12,445 plus a $760 freight
the most expensive buildable Accent will carry a price of $16,795
So basically the Veloster picks up where the Accent leaves off. The only reason you'd buy one is to get something sportier or more stylish than the very competitive Accent it's based on.
So for example, if one is a high mileage commuter, 65-75 mpg (not sure what the US version would end up posting) waxes anything available right now. If one does a normal 12,000 to 15,000 miles US drivers average, then it is very conditional. It would not (for example) cause me to jettison either or/both my cars getting 48-52 mpg, 38-42 mpg. However if I was shopping for a compact car for commuting, it would hit my list.
Look at how much a Smart iQ costs compared to a Yaris - about $3000 more, for less car, really.
But it's cutesy and trendy so they can do it. VW could perhaps sell a TDI in that class. Perhaps an Up! TDI.
A Polo is too mainstream and would sell poorly compared to the Fit, Fiesta, Accent, etc. because VW would have to charge the same $3000 premium.
But at the same time, VW has always offered (in most to all trim lines) the 5/6 speed manuals.
They took some "radical" action on the 2012 VW ("American") Passat and the 2011 Jetta. The "American" VW Passat is (up to) $ -7,000, it is also EPA 'd @ 43 mpg H. The 2011 VW Jetta is also cheaper. They managed to shave 300+ #'s off the 2011 vs the 2010 and 2009 MY's.
MINI got the cute + small + expensive thing right.
The Dollar is in the toilet. Gotta pay a lot of dollars to get enough Euros to offset the cost of that Polo TDI. Honestly I think it would only be $1000 cheaper than a Golf TDI.
I think if they plan to build the next one in Mexico, they could pull it off. But isn't the plant there already beyond capacity and about the expand?
Why take up that capacity for a less profitable model?
Only if they needed it for CAFE purposes.
I think the FourTwo scared people because it was European. I think the Toyota aura should help the IQ do better than the FourTwo.
Lower cost, and a bonus with Elantra is cruisecontrol is available with the base model.
We are listing many cars & different models available with manual transmission , so the future of the manual transmission is looking GOOD !
Drive an Accord with manual and there's just no way you can stomach the Hyundai. Any serious driver will pay the extra money or even get a CPO Honda after doing a back-to-back test like this.
And Honda's not that special, either. I consider it a good acceptable standard, though. Anything worse should be off your list.
Or, try the mutant Fit--the Mazda5. Nice 6 speed manual there for just a few more dollars than the Fit.
In fact, probably about the same price. How? Well the 2011 Fit Sport manual has a list of $17,600--but because of the shortages you'll be paying probably full list price.
The 2012 Mazda5 6 MT has a list of $19,900. But because there aren't any shortages my local dealer seems to offering $3000 off list. In other words, you might be able to get a bigger and much more powerful Mazda5 for *less* than a Honda Fit.
It's worth thinking about. The Mazda5 won't get the same high mpg, but it's still pretty decent. And it's a pretty awesome vehicle for the price. Short review by consumer reports of a Mazda5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MBqBM161gI
CU tested an auto. But one of the car mags tested the manual and got 0-60 in about 8.3. That will wup a Honda Fit.
I did not consider the Fit or any non-GM vehicle thanks to almost $5k "cashback" via GM card and Pontiac "retention" cashback.
I did not testdrive Fit but thought that Fit is too small for my preference, with bad mpg for such a small car, bad highway ride, not quite enough of a car to be a "real" car imho.
And with the Fit at the same price as the bigger/better-highway-riding Chevy Cruze, that leaves me with Cruze. (I was considering waiting for the chevy sonic too, awesome/cute car but probably too small for my highway-cruisin taste.)
I'm sure the Fit has an great manual transmission though - every manual honda I've owned/driven has been great.
I bet I would like the Mazda5 MT. Or the Mazda3 MT. !
All this talk about speed/power/0to60 is irrelevant/non-starter for me since I wanted a low-$/slow/stealth car to complement my absurdly-fast other car...
I wonder how much will be the stickshift New New Beetle ! ? I like it. The TDI New New Beetle will be nifty. but probably a lot more than the $20,600 for the 2006 Beetle TDI DSG I owned for a while.
They literally were different in less than ten different (and small ones at that) ways. If someone was trying their best to copy the other, you'd not know which one was being copied and which was the original.
But the same thing doesn't with the Mazda 6 and the new "Accord" It's actually not the replacement Accord - the TSX is. Honda sells the real Accord as the TSX over here and gives us a car that's in-between the Civic and the Accord in quality. It's why the new Accord in the U.S. feels like a small change instead of Honda's typical "next generation" of a model. (just compare the old Civic vs the new one)
So actually the Mazda 6 is a slightly better car than the U.S. Accord. And it has a very nice manual transmission, unlike Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, GM, and most of the rest. And, they year-end incentives, which Honda never really offers due to their huge arrogance are fantastic.
It's the choice to get, IMO.
But if you're looking for a micro-van type vehicle, well, we just don't get very many good choices. Of them all, the Jeep Patriot actually gets my vote. The Fit has a much smaller opening than the cargo area's width, which just irks me. The (current generation) Matrix is, well, it's a Toyota and while it's nice, it drives more like a minivan now and needs at least 50 more HP. Most of the crap GM makes in terms of small cars should just be rolled off a cliff (Cruse is probably the only exception). And VW, you have to love them and all, but while they make the perfect cars for this sort of segment, your bank account won't like the costs of keeping one running.
The only thing that I would recommend, then, would be a previous generation Subaru Impreza wagon. You can get one in great shape and it absolutely will do what the OP wants.
They literally were different in less than ten different (and small ones at that) ways. If someone was trying their best to copy the other, you'd not know which one was being copied and which was the original.
Interesting; three years ago I was in the same boat as your sister and feel the differences between the Civic and the Mazda3 were much more significant. Forgetting the intangible of how well they drive (the Honda isn't even in the same league as the Mazda in this regard, IMHO), the single largest difference was price. I found the Mazda3 i Touring Value Edition compared to the Civic ES was about as apples to apples as I could get, and the MSRP of the Mazda3 was running about $2,200 less than the Civic (more importantly, the Mazda was almost bang on $2,800 less after negotiations were complete).
But yes, as I stated with the 6 (and it's true for the 3 as well), the prices are much better on the Mazdas. I liked the Honda's interior a bit more, but the fact that I couldn't see out the rear while backing up or see the front of the hood were huge negatives. And the video-game dashboard in the Civic isn't really my cup of tea.
I wouldn't generalize like that.
If they put the same stuff in Kia's, I didn't like the Optima's manual, but we drove a Kia Sportage back-to-back and that shifter was very entertaining.
So it could even vary by model, so hopefully the smaller cars have more satisfying clutches/manuals.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=154881
Mini: Get In Touch With Your Inner 'Manualhood'
by Karl Greenberg, Friday, July 29, 2011, 6:27 AM
Manual-Up-
For the record, responses to my query on Wednesday about which automaker would (have the audacity to) launch an ad campaign promoting manual transmission, by far favored Dodge, which is not that surprising given the brand's rakish advertising. But it's not Dodge. Nor is it the other brands people offered: VW, Audi, Porsche, Nissan, Mazda, two votes for Fiat, a couple of votes for Cadillac, two Chevrolets, one Corvette (which I sort of don't see as Chevrolet), two Chryslers, one vote for Jeep, and one for Saab.
Only one person actually got it right (kudos to Tom Keane at USA Weekend.) Yes, it's Mini. And the BMW unit actually makes perfect sense if one recalls that when the brand (re)launched here in 2002, it offered the Mini Cooper only as a manual-shifter, and most certainly the brand has the highest manual take-rate percentage among any automaker that isn't a pure sports-car brand.
Thomas Salkowsky, manager of Mini brand marketing, says that in spite of an increasingly clutch-free world, about 34% of buyers of the Clubman, the Mini Cooper convertible and the hard top buy the manual version, and that even for the AWD version of the Countryman, Mini's answer for a crossover, the manual take rate is about 30%. In New England, according to Salkowsky, it's a 50/50 split between auto and manual, and even in highway-bound L.A. it's about 15%. That's a huge percentage, given the national average. AOL Auto's editor, Kirk Seaman, wrote last year that back in 1985 22.4% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. came with a manual transmission. By 2007, it was 7.7%. AOL Autos says last year it was about 5.5%.
So the Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based Mini this week is rolling out a campaign celebrating its "Manualhood," touting the virtues of old-fashioned shifting, and new-fashioned technology that makes it just a bit easier during those terrifying moments starting from zero on hills: the widgetry keeps the brake on for about three seconds so one does not ram the car behind when the light turns green....
As far as the take rate, we've all discussed it before. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you offer fewer manuals, fewer manuals will be purchased.
They really believe their little cars are fast.
I always like to zoom out of toll booths--it's a rare chance to legally do a quick 0-70 with little chance of being slapped for it.
It was more like mom's couch with a motor.
Which is trumped by your plates - MA plated always get the right of way because, well we're Massholes and we really don't care about you!!
It was more like mom's couch with a motor."
LMAO!! Funny stuff.
Manuals really can help you get the maximum performance out of whatever vehicle you're driving. And the turbo Minis are fast! 0-60 in about 6.5 right! That's fast. Makes me think of Star Wars:
Han Solo: Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?
Obi-Wan: Should I have?
Han Solo: It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you old man. What's the cargo?
Obi-Wan: Only passengers. Myself, the boy, two droids... and no questions asked.
I want to get ahold of a Countryman All4 one of these days. I have to imagine it to be a LOT of fun on otherwise dreary winter days. :shades:
Speaking of MINI, they just released new variant.... the MINI Coupe!
A 1200cc air-cooled Harley has a little getup & go, but not a lot. The 883 and smaller are dog-slow; 50HP and less. The watercooled V-Rod is pretty fast, since it has well over 100 horsepower.
People riding the slow air-cooled bikes are still used to out-accelerating cars and trucks because they often accelerate as fast as it's capable, whereas most of the time cars aren't trying to prove they're cool.
Seriously.
They do break a lot though.
Of course, my love is classic cafe racer type bikes like the Moto Guzzi and Bonneville. The modern recreations are great to look at and yet are 100% modern where it counts. And some of them will go really really fast. And even go around turns
Of course I can't say older BMWs bikes were any great shifters. It was
Put in first
rev to proper speed
squeeze clutch lever
count 1-2-3
SHIFT (CLUNK!)
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/04/mini-offering-500-discount-on-manual-transmis- sion-models/