This is probably a biased forum, but I need some help.

I need to buy a car. My trusty old chevy truck isn't as trusty as it used to be now that it has almost 200k on the clock. I started an MBA program and now have to drive 40 miles each way to school a couple of times a week. My wife and I are also trying to start a family so I need a more sensible car. My wife's car is a loaded '04 Saturn Vue Redline V6 AWD. My budget needs to be around $300/month.

I want AWD or RWD. I really prefer a Manual Transmission. I am a gearhead and need enough power to feel like a man, but within reason for fuel milage concerns. My truck gets about 18mpg, my motorcycle gets average 27 and 50 on the highway, my street/strip S-10 Blazer with a 454BBC gets around 8-10mpg. The Saturn gets around 25 combined and actually is pretty fun to drive with only a K&N cold air kit. I am also doing a resto-mod/pro-touring build on a '77 Pontiac Ventura. I've had a number of muscle cars and f-bodies over the years. I also had a '94 3 series BMW and was disappointed with its performance. It handled OK and braked well after adding aftermarket parts. It was just underpowered. It also was expensive to fix and maintain. I did all of the work myself and found as many parts off the internet as I could. An alternator was $700 at the dealership though.

With everything going on I want something reliable, yet modable when time/money permit. My sister has an '04 A4 2.0T 6sp and she loves it, but for me it is too slow. A buddy at work has a worked over '01 S4 that is quite fun to drive, but I'd like to get something a bit newer for reliability sake. I test drove an '06 MazdaSpeed6 and it was pretty damned fun to drive and from what I've read they are good on gas, but with only a 2 year run I'm guessing there are few replacement parts or an aftermarket at all. I looked at an '04 S4 and was impressed, but hear they get very bad gas milage and are impossible to work on. EVO's and WRX's just seem to childish for my tastes.

What other cars are out there that meet my needs?
Audi A4/S4
Audi A3
BMW 330i or xi
BMW 540i
Lexus IS300
MazdaSpeed 6
Mercedes-Benz C230compressor
Nissan/Infinity
Volvo S60R

Anyone have experience with the Mazda?
What would be the most popular mods and companies?

Can a '04-'08 A4 2.0T be fast and reliable?

Have later model BMW's fixed the reliability and electrical issues?

I know it's a long post for my first one, but I need to do something soon. Winter is coming.

Thanks for the help.

 

AWD Ford Fusion (276hp AWD) should be added to that list.

 

I did not know that those were available with a manual tranny, or that they were under $20K. I'll check into that

 

What about a 3rd or 4th gen Subaru Legacy?

 

Just buy a used mazda6 i with manual. It is very cheap. It is not easy to find used mazda6s with manual compare to 4cy.

There is no 276 hp ford fusion. 2010 ford fusion 3.5 has 263hp.

 

You might check out the Mazda3. They get rave reviews in the car mags, are reasonable to buy even new and folks I know that live with them think they're the greatest thing since canned beer.