I was sent to the Toyota dealer (as part of my job) and saw some cars I admire. Normally I don't care to look at any of the vehicles on display. But this time there were three cars on the showroom floor and all three caught my attention: 5th gen Toyota Prius Toyota GR86 (stick shift) Toyota GR Corolla (stick shift) They are about the only new cars that say, "buy me." But I'll never own one. However, it was nice to actually be able to see them in person. It gave me something to look at while I waited for the service to be done on the vehicle I had brought in (2024 Sienna). If I were told I could just take any one of them for free it would be a tough decision; but probably would go with the GR Corolla. I'll never own any of them. They're just too expensive and either will stay too expensive or likely be abused, or both, so will never be considered on my list of used cars I'd buy. But I guess it's nice to daydream from time to time.
Love manual tranny. However, I learned certain personal issues may make shifting difficult. Had to join the ranks of auto transmissions. Miss working the clutch on back country dirt. Just something to consider, esp. If you are a "bit older." Also selections of manuals are very limited. Saw only five percent of US drivers work a clutch. My father ONLY taught us on our old five-speed Toyota. I thank him for that foresight. kris
The sadder thing is that as a truck driver, I'd lose my job if I couldn't double clutch a manual. My dad taught me to drive in his 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook with a manual 3-speed column shift, aka. "three on the tree."
An old boyfriend had, I believe, an REO Speedwagon, I think was three on the tree. Pretty simple. Working various backcountry jobs in my late teens/early 20s, it was a blessing/curse as so many others were lost with a clutch. My last job, my rig was a gear grinding pickup. kris.
Great REO history, thanks for posting, but now making me think boyfriend John's rig was something other than REO. kris
Your humble reporter mostly attends to how 'science' is affected by interpersonal conflicts. Some of those, dang. Yet it seems to happen all over the damn shop.
Last I heard he was involved in gold mining in Elko, NV and had married a Basque woman. That should help. kris BTW, how'd this get turned away from the OP and Corollas?
It's all good. Thanks for sharing a bit of your story. Or John's story. He drove something with a stick shift. Not that automatics are terrible. But some of us (me) find modern cars rather boring. There are only a few that tickle my fancy, at least a little bit.
I went down that wabbit hole virtually and learned some things. Of the three on this list the GR86 seemed to be the most intriguing to me. Basically, a Subaru BRZ in drag. RWD. 6 speed. Modest BHP in a < 3,000# car. Naturally aspirated boxer engine with enough BHP to be somewhat interesting. Advertised as a $30,000 car which means that you MIGHT be able to get one for less than $40K. Toyota Corolla..GR I was shocked to discover that they actually SELL a $40,000 3-cylinder, 300BHP Corolla, although I'm not sure who would buy such a thing given that it's got about the same fuel efficiency as my full size GMC truck with one fewer seat belts. This seems to be the result of telling a 13-year-old man-child to make a Corolla go from 0-60 in less than 5 seconds no matter what it costs or how it looks when you're finished. (**) My vote among these three for most 'normies' would actually be the base model G5 Prius.... (**) If 'hot hatches' are your thing? Pay the extra 5-10K and get a Civic Type R and get some shop to take that idiotic wing off of the rear and do something with the exhaust tips. I say this as something of a Honda lifelong critic.
In reality I wouldn't buy either of these cars. The GR86 or Subaru BRZ is intriguing. But, although it seats up to 4 (maybe 5, but I think 4) it would be a bit too small for my family. I find the technology behind the Corolla intriguing. It's 4WD or AWD system (whatever you want to call it) not only can do FWD but also can change torque bias between front and rear. 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, or something like that. It's exhaust is also interesting in that it has two paths depending on throttle position: 1) out the two side tail pipes or 2) out the middle for more power. But yes, the GR Corolla is overpowered for my tastes and gets terrible fuel mileage. And I don't need AWD or 4WD either. The good thing is it is a 4 door Corolla, so could work as a family car. The Prius is kind of interesting to me, and perhaps the most practical. But it's also kind of the most boring, just another iPhone car, a little better than last gen. Still, I don't need another car right now and if I did, I'd probably not spend more than $10,000 on one. In fact, I'd probably look for as cheap as possible that still makes sense. The only requirements would be that it be fairly safe by modern standards, get fairly good fuel mileage and seat 4 people. If the A/C works or not or things like that just won't matter to me at the time of purchase.
