CarThrottle Asks: What's The Best Commuter Car?

I love the automotive enthusiast sphere. It's really a truly amazing group of people.  In fact, I have trouble thinking of another group of enthusiasts that are so focussed, determined, single-minded, and willing to accept compromises in exchange for minute performance improvements.  I'd say the only group that comes close (at least in the US) is the NRA, and frankly that's because they've got so much damn money.

But really, it's fairly unrealistic. Car guys are always on about things like cam profiles, tunes for race gas, getting that bigger turbo, exactly what alignment specs will give you the best turn-in response, proper roll-bar dimensions, what bushings are the best, what nitrous ports to use, what stand-alone management system works the best with the Holset turbo you're bolting to your single-cam Honda engine, and on and on ad nauseum.

Not pictured: a good turbo for daily driving.

But here's the thing: pull out a pad of paper, and leave it your car.  Record how much of your driving time you spend slogging through traffic to get to work/doctor's appointments/the movie store/your kid's school/the strip club, and record how much time you spend clipping apexes, heel-and-toe downshifting, upshifting just before the fuel cut kicks in, or picking that perfect launch rpm.  Chances are, it's probably about 99 to 1.  Life is boring. We spend a lot of time commuting: that is, driving to get somewhere - not driving to drive.

Now, surely car guys spend a lot more time driving for the sake of driving.  We love driving.  Hell, I love driving even if it's in my stock Honda Accord.  The interaction of man and machine never grows weary on me.  But even as a car nut, I still probably spend 95 percent of my time getting in the car with the intent of getting out somewhere else, and the car is just simply a means to an end.  Sure, my destinations might be more exciting: a race track to cover an event, a car show, a tuning shop, the parts store, blah blah - but still, that's a lot of commuting.

Contrary to popular belief, "Because Race Car" isn't the answer to every question.

And all the cars that we hold so dear as enthusiasts - Evo's, Miatas, STI's, S2000's, GT-R's - well, they make absolutely terrible commuter devices.  Awful on a magnificent level.  If you live in or around Los Angeles, I'm sure you've got a delicate balance in your head.  As a car guy, you want a stick shift.  As a resident of Los Angeles who has places to go, you like having a left foot that's not numb constantly.  It sucks.  The Evo is a tool designed to dissect a track inch by inch, with telepathic steering, razor-sharp throttle response, seats that hold your torso like a vice grip, enough boost to reinflate Lindsay Lohan's career, tires sticky enough to pick up stray cigarette butts, oh my god it's awesome. By the same token, I'd rather chew my own foot off than commute in an Evo.  They get absolutely dismal mileage around town, they're loud and resonate in the interior, every expansion joint on the highway is a new level of hell when you've got a migraine, it's got a tiny gas tank so you have to fill up constantly if you're in boost (which you are, don't lie), and the interior looks like it was made from recycled McDonalds Happy Meal toys.  So, great track car - awful commuter car.

What, then, is the ideal commuter vehicle?  This is a question that will have a different answer for everyone, because everyone puts different priorities on what constitutes a great commuter.  My personal preferences for a commuter vehicle go like this: great gas mileage (because you should be spending gas money on your premium-slurping single-turbo Supra weekend toy!), big gas tank (because filling up sucks), automated dual-clutch manual transmission (because I hate how regular automatics feel, and frankly even though I'm big into stick shifts, they are terrible in heavy traffic), decent low-end torque (makes the stop-start part less painful), quiet (obviously), and lots of cargo room.

Yesss!

Those are just the mechanical attributes; there are a few things I'd want in the interior of my commuter cubicle to make the stay more pleasant.  Heated leather seats are first.  If there's one trivial luxury I assign a disproportionate amount of importance to, it's those damn seat heaters.  I've had four cars, and only the first one had working seat heaters - and dammit, I miss them all them time.  They get warm much quicker than the actual heater core of a car in traffic, plus they relax your back muscles on a cold day so you're not shivering so bad.  Leather because it's comfy, but mostly because these days you can't get cloth heated seats any more.  Other things I consider nice for commuting?  Steering wheel hand controls for stereo and cruise (I'm lazy!), Bluetooth integration, a USB and an auxiliary port (although if you're using your smart phone as your media player this is less important), a bangin' stereo (subwoofer is a must), and obvious things like cruise, A/C, power windows and locks, etc.  But of utmost importance: low cost of maintenance and insurance.

The right tool for the job.  Which is commuting.

So there are a few cars that strike me as perfect commuter vehicles.  Tip-top super number one on my list is the Hyundai Sonata 2.0T, with all the goodies.  It's the same car mechanically as the Kia Optima Turbo, but the suspension is tuned softer and (personal opinion) the interior is nicer.  The 2.0L direct-injected gas engine uses a twin-scroll turbocharger to crank out a healthy 274bhp@6,000rpm, and 269lb-ft@1750-4500rpm.  This is a great commuter engine: plenty of low-end torque thanks to the high compression/GDI and the twin scroll turbo, and lots of power high up for merging onto onramps, jumping out of a lane that's ending, etc.  The transmission is Hyundai's proprietary 6-speed automatic with paddle shifters, so at least you've got some manual control.  0-60 is practically sports car quick; somewhere in the low 6-second range.  The magic trick, though is that the Hyundai 2.0T (unlike every other direct-injected gas turbo 2.0L out there, all of which make less power and torque!) runs happily on 87 octane.  It also returns impressive EPA numbers - 22/33 with the 2.0T/6A combination, which is the same in the city and only 2 worse on the highway than the Sonata's base 2.4L GDI non-turbo motor.  Considering my 166bhp Accord gets 34 highway, I'd be happy to lose one MPG for 108 more horsepower.

A really comfy space ship.

There are a lot of other factors, too.  Totally loaded to the gills, the Sonata 2.0T Limited with Navigation (which adds a 6" touch screen, Infinity Premium Sound, rear-view camera, etc) and rubber floor mats stickers at an entirely reasonable $30,210.  It's good-looking, fast, good on gas, has a 100,000 mile warranty, it's reasonably priced, and it would make commuting suck less.  Save that big-turbo 9000 Aero for weekends and the drag strip.

Close mentions for me would be a loaded new Focus Titanium, a loaded Hyundai Elantra, or if I was feeling particularly brave, a Jetta Sportwagen Diesel with DSG and all the goodies.  And if you're feeling like a dork driving around in a commuter box, you can always make yourself feel better by pulling up next to a Neon SRT-4 and rolling your back windows up and down!  What do you find important in a commuter?  And what would be your commuter appliance choice?