Happy Friday! We’re at the end of a short week, so I thought we’d take our three winners and pit them against each other in a game of Track, Daily, Burn. The rules should be self-explanatory; it’s just like that other party game, only with cars. One becomes your new weekend toy, another your new daily driver, and the third must be torched for the insurance money.
Our third winner for the week was, if I may say so, a very deserving one: the red Audi Quattro absolutely creamed that cosplaying cop car. Don’t get me wrong; Studebaker Larks are very cool old cars, but I highly doubt any were ever actually cop cars – though there was a special long-wheelbase taxi version, so I guess anything is possible. At any rate, this one was turned into a cop car by someone with a vinyl cutter and no spell-checker. “Heros,” honestly. Come on.
The early Audi Quattros, with their lockable diffs and mandatory five-speed manuals, were way cool cars, and much simpler machines than you think. They’re just a little weird, so you have to approach them on their own terms, kind of like Saabs. Get a good repair manual (Bentley, none of that Chilton or Haynes nonsense) and some decent tools, and dive in. The drive is worth the maintenance learning curve.
All right; we all know the game, so let’s recap the contestants:
2011 Mazda Mazda2
This little green Mazda was Tuesday’s winner by default, after a bunch of you pointed out that its Camaro competitor was a bait-and-switch deal. They say cheaters never prosper, which sadly isn’t necessarily true, but not on my watch, they don’t, bucko. This Mazda2 is beat-up – and worse, automatic – but it’s honest.
Obviously, this would make a good daily driver, especially in the city, with its compact size and good fuel economy. But small front-wheel-drive economy cars like this make pretty good amateur rallycross cars too, and the automatic doesn’t matter so much there. Or, I guess, if you really can’t find anything redeeming about it, it’s probably pretty flammable.
2017 Ford Transit Connect
When you’re waiting on delivery of something cool – a vintage Genesis concert T-shirt, maybe, or a Funko Pop figurine of Bill Nye The Science Guy – what vehicle delivers it is the last thing on your mind. But a lot of those delivery vehicles end up on the used car market like anything else, and you can buy one. This Ford van has delivered all sorts of cool stuff, and probably a lot of lame boring stuff as well, all over the upper Midwest, and on Wednesday, it delivered a narrow victory over a pale yellow VW Beetle.
You might think the idea of putting a big, boxy vehicle onto a race track is silly, but there is plenty of precedent, including from Ford itself. Since this is based on the same platform as a Focus, technically you could shoehorn the drivetrain from a wrecked Focus ST or RS into this, and create a little mini-Supervan of your own. When it absolutely, positively has to be there right now… oh wait, that was FedEx, not DHL.
1985 Audi 4000S Quattro
I admit it; I was really hoping this Audi would win yesterday. I grew up with VWs and Audis of this era, and I’ve always liked them. Several years ago, I was actually on the hunt for a 4000 Quattro, and had this one been around then, I might have jumped on it. It’s closer to stock than most inexpensive Quattros you see, and despite some rust, it’s actually in pretty good shape.
Obviously, with its racing pedigree, this car would be a natural for autocross or rallycross, or even track use if you really wanted to. But personally, I think it would be a tragedy to pull out that nice interior to make this a race car. Lots of folks are afraid of German cars this age, but not me; I’d daily this thing.
So there they are, and you know the game: choose one as a daily driver, one as a track toy (keeping in mind that “track” can mean any motorsports activity), and one to set ablaze. I’m not doing a poll, because it would have nine entries and be really confusing. So you’ll have to just put your choices in the comments. You’ve got all weekend to debate, discuss, and decide. See you back here on Monday!
No bad choices here today, honestly – I could see an argument for all three being both dailied and tracked. What I’d do is probably:
Daily: Mazda – the closest thing to my current daily, wouldn’t be much of an adjustment, and I’m a creature of habit.
Track: Audi – saves me from having to hunt down the few gremlins it has – and likely always will. Just make sure it’s mechanically sound, juice it up a little, and send it. I see Mark’s point about the interior, but the driver’s seat is so beaten up in this one that I wouldn’t even feel bad.
Burn: Sorry, Ford – this is me avenging that Beetle.
Agreed all around. If I could keep my current daily as well, I’d be tempted to make the Audi a local/weekend driver and have some foot-to-the-carpet track fun in the Mazda; otherwise, the Mazda fills in for the Yaris and the Audi goes rallying. A daily driver that wouldn’t let me bring two passengers along is a dealbreaker, and I trust the Mazda more than the Ford anyway.
Track the Audi – Because i want to get where I want to go on a daily basis, and this won’t do that
Daily the Mazda – Because while I’ve seen 2’s be prepped shockingly well for cheap track duty, I need a good daily
Burn the Ford – Because it’s a heavily used Ford product that I’m shocked has survived as many miles as it has, if I don’t burn it, it’ll burn me either financially or possibly literally.
Daily: Audi
Track: Transit – to carry the motorcycle inside of it.
Burn: Mazda.
Transit would be a nice track vehicle, you could fit a motorcycle, a couple spare parts, and maybe a tent. It keeps it safe from prying eyes, dry if it rains on the drive, or safer from being nicked in the parkinglot.
Not a bad take at all!
Track: Audi, but be a daredevil and not destroy the interior to fit a cage.
Daily: Green bean Mazda.
Burn: Ford. Well is it really burning if I fill it with tannerite?
Let’s be honest. I’m a computer nerd, history nerd, and a nature nerd. The Audi would do best offroad, so it would get lifted and larger tires fitted. The Mazda can be my “I have to go to the store and leave my house” car, and the Ford…well, I would probably do a shoddy job converting it to a van life camper, and end up burning it in an electrical fire.
Daily: Transit
Track: Audi
Burn: Mazda
I’d much rather have a small van than hatchback, and unless I’m mistaken, the 2.5/6speed combo was used in a plentiful number of Fords, so parts shouldn’t be that hard or expensive to find when it’ll need them, which probably will be often but eh.
The Audi is a 5-cylinder stick, so while I’ll likely break it because I’m virtually incompetent at driving stick, it’s a combo I would rather have.
Everything I voted for won this week, even though the Mazda won on the technicality of the dealership selling the Camaro being a bunch of slimy lying fuckweasels.
Daily- Audi
Track- Mazda
Burn- Ford
The Mazda being a new-ish car can probably handle the flogging of track time. When the Audi breaks down I have a perfect excuse to not show up at work. I have nothing against the Ford, but somebody has to burn and I can pack it with enough wood to make a pretty good bonfire.
I’ll second this. The Audi is both too nice and too worn out to put on a track, so Daily it is.
The Mazda would be more fun to flog than the van, so Track for that one. (Gambler or Lemons – fun either way.)
As for the Transit, sorry dude – I didn’t make the rules. Throw an old mattress in the back to make it a “camper”, then use it to toast marshmallows.
I think this is the audi listing https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/cto/d/minneapolis-1985-audi-4000s-quattro/7852422242.html
Track- pair of Pumas
Daily- Public Transport
Burn- all 3.
Name checks out. 🙂
Track – Audi
Daily – Mazda
Burn – Ford
The obvious choice. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Daily the Transit (she’s begging for a 2.0 Focus ST Swap)
Race the Mazda
Burn the Audi
Track – Audi
Daily – Transit
Burn – Mazda
Here are a couple of good Top Gear videos for a Friday. In part 1, Richard Hammond describes the history of the Ford Transit and brings up a challenge between Clarkson and Sabine Schmitz, the top Nurburgring driver (who has since sadly passed away).
In part two, Sabine flings a Transit round the ‘Ring – twice.
Part 1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQJKQjXpGQA
Part 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KiC03_wVjc
Drive the Mazda
Rally the Audi
Burn the Ford (Or just let someone live in it)
Daily the Audi, race the Transit, plus use it for parts hauling, burn the Mazda, because my teenagers won’t fit in it.
Daily the Mazda. It’s green and will save green.
Track the Audi. The gas money saved from the Mazda will sound awesome from that 5 cylinder.
Burn the Ford. Rules is rules.
Race the Audi with one of the back woods rally groups near the cottage.
Daily the Ford. Sure, I don’t need another car that can’t hold my family but it would be more useful than another small car.
Sadly burn the Mazda because it is what is left and those are the rules.
Daily the Audi. Slow car fast with some all-weather chops and dirt road capability will make every day better.
Track the Ford. As in: parts chaser and gear hauler. But you can chuck in some Focus bits as Mark says and make it fun to drive.
Burn the Mazda. A fun-adjacent penalty box is still a clapped-out penalty box.
Track the Audi, its the only manual.
Burn what’s leftover?
Nothing nice enough to drive every day.
Daily the Transit
Track the Audi
Burn the Mazda
Daily the Audi
Track the Mazda
Burn the Ford
Reasoning for my choices is that the Audi is manual while having good road-handling so it’d be a shame to limit enjoying it to the weekends only whereas the Mazda is automatic but has good road-handling so it’d be fun to track on the weekends while limiting the time spent driving an automatic. As for burning the Ford, well, it’s a Ford, need I say more?
Definitely burn the Mazda. But I’m torn over the Audi. I think I’d have to daily that and track the Transit!
Track the Mazda.
Daily the van.
Burn the Audi.
Because I’m a contrarian.
Daily the Mazda. It’s cheap on gas and who cares about parking lot dings when the doors are already damaged.
Track the Audi. Definitely track the Audi.
Burn the Transit, and it just happens to contain “all of my expensive tools, my vintage collectable Hot Wheels, and my Van Gogh painting, and Guttenberg Bible. All very expensive, most definitely in there and completely destroyed when the oxy-acetylene tank cooked off. And the four propane tanks. And the sack of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.”
It’s really unfortunate that you didn’t unload the things you were moving before picking up enough propane tanks for the housewarming party, fertilizer for the lawn, and the oxy-acetalyne to work on the Audi.
Oh, $200,000 you say?! No reason to be sad at all!
Audo 4000 G!
Track the Audi.
Daily the Transit.
Burn the Mazda.
If the Mazda was manual the Transit would be going up in flames.
My thoughts (almost) exactly; but like Mark I couldn’t bring myself to rip apart that Audi for rallycross duty. I would however TSD rally the shirt out of it. I’m already doing electrical, might as well wire in a rally computer and wheel sensors while I’m at it.
TSD rally is a something I hadn’t heard of – thanks for sending me on an hourlong internet tangent and giving me one more thing to add to my bucket list!
Happy to spread the good TSD word. It’s lots of fun, and way more challenging than you might expect for both driver and navigator. It’s probably the cheapest form of motorsport.
The goal is to be perfectly on time (not too fast or slow) by maintaining the given average speeds while following a set route. They usually run on interesting public roads and target speeds are always below the speed limit. If you have a car you trust to get to work, a clipboard, and maybe a cheap phone app, you’re set.
There’s almost always a club nearby that runs beginner level events.
Daily the Transit for its flexibility and ease.
Track the Audi, preferably rallycross.
Burn the Mazda. A manny tranny might have swayed me a bit.
Also, Bentley manuals are pretty great, but they also have a bad habit of not explaining important steps that Chilton or Haynes might cover. OTOH, they do have a lot of obscure detail, especially electrical systems.