Help me choose a new car

[DGuller]

What's the point of 900 hp in any car, or even half that?  All that's giving you is a temptation to lose your license.

The strongest car I drove so far was a Merc S500 with 400 hp. The charm is that you can always accelerate. Going up a hill and everybody gets slower? Get into the left land and accelerate to 250 kph. 

[Iormlund]

If you are interested in the Subaru, Mitsubishi makes a very similar beast, also derived from their rally car: the Lancer Evolution.

[viper37]

That looks really nice... thanks Iormlund!

[Zanza]

What's the point of 900 hp in any car, or even half that?  All that's giving you is a temptation to lose your license.

The strongest car I drove so far was a Merc S500 with 400 hp. The charm is that you can always accelerate. Going up a hill and everybody gets slower? Get into the left land and accelerate to 250 kph. 

Yeah, I also find it annoying that they electronically limit the car to 250 kph. 

An aquaintance of mine recently told me "I am in the 300 club now" - he had driven a Mercedes SLS at night and reached a top speed in excees of 300 kph (186 kph). I hope I'll get a chance for that sometime.

[Zanza]

Is the Mercedes a coupe or a sedan?

Coupe, sport package

Is it the CLC then? If so, consider this: underneath the facelifted design, it's a technically old car based on model year 2000 C class, not the model year 2007 C class. And it's made in Brazil and I have no idea how the quality standard there was.

If you can afford it, my suggestion to get an E class coupe still stands. That's a proper Mercedes.

[Iormlund]

That looks really nice... thanks Iormlund!

Yeah, it looks a lot better than the Impreza IMHO. It's a pity they don't make them anymore.

[Barrister]

I think you'll have problems finding a used Mitsu Evo.  I don't think I've ever seen one on the roads.

[Iormlund]

I've seen a few.

[Barrister]

I've seen a few.

You also live in Spain.

Viper lives in Canada.

[Iormlund]

Yeah, the AWD and snow settings would be much more useful there.

[Barrister]

Yeah, the AWD and snow settings would be much more useful there.

A quick google reveals that the Evo was not available in Canada until the 2008 model year due to not meeting low speed collision requirements.

And even then Mitsubishi itself was not in the Canadian market for a number of years, and only re-entered Canada within the last 10 years or so.  As such its dealer network is very small, and you see very few Mitsubishis of any model on the road.

[Iormlund]

A quick google reveals that the Evo was not available in Canada until the 2008 model year due to not meeting low speed collision requirements.

Silly Canucks. When have you heard of an Evo colliding at low speed?

[viper37]

Is it the CLC then? If so, consider this: underneath the facelifted design, it's a technically old car based on model year 2000 C class, not the model year 2007 C class. And it's made in Brazil and I have no idea how the quality standard there was.

If you can afford it, my suggestion to get an E class coupe still stands. That's a proper Mercedes.

No really, it's a 2008 C-230, unique to Canada for this year, at least.
http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2008-mercedes-benz-c230-4matic

Alongside the B-Class hatchback – a model not sold in the U.S. –  Mercedes now offers the Canada-only C230, the new entry-level version of  the C-Class, itself the starting point for Mercedes' sedans.

And here is the one I'm looking forward to test.

Yeah, it looks a lot better than the Impreza IMHO. It's a pity they don't make them anymore.

They do... At least for Canada.  And there are a few out there. Actually, I just found one right near me, though it's an automatic.  I'm hesitant, and it is pricey, 10 000$ more than a manual one I found in Montreal, but it also has 80 000km less...

[Iormlund]

Be warned, they are not exactly cheap to own either. At least the older models were not.

On the other hand, you can run circles around anything you meet out there.

[viper37]

Be warned, they are not exactly cheap to own either.

Gaz? Big Repairs?  Small repairs?