My wife and I are pretty avid car buffs and can usually have conversations about most Japanese cars. Our current baby is an 05 RX-8 that really needs a partner in the garage and about town. We've got a couple of daily drivers but really enjoy driving a stick shift and actually feeling connected to the cars we're driving (which really is the opposite of what most people want these days.)

We've been looking at various cars for several months now, and as one useful aspect of the current state of the economy, dealers are foaming at the bit for anyone that might buy a new vehicle. As such, we've been able to drive almost anything we've wanted and have significantly narrowed down the list. For pure fun, I thought I'd record some of my opinions here.

First, a bit about the requirements:

• Mainly a car for my wife, but something I would enjoy driving as well
• Unless absolutely amazing, it has to be a stick shift. Yes I know they make cars where the computer shifts faster than a human, blah blah blah. Yes, I know that they have "paddle shifters like a Ferarri." Yes, I know you can go into sequential shift mode on most automatics. Doesn't matter - we want a stick shift - which has made this task significantly more difficult.
• Rear wheel drive - possibly AWD but probably not.
• Handling - I grew up thinking horsepower & torque were the most important things - I was wrong. One of the best things about the RX-8 is even though it's about 230HP, it can turn on a dime and not feel like it's going to lose a wheel doing it.
• Reasonable power to weight ratio - Not just a pure hp number, but something that feels like it's moving.
• Proper mix of technology & reliability - We hate built in Nav, movie watching, etc. We like iPod / Aux connectivity, a measure of comfort, etc.
• Appealing look - This is obvious, but the standards change based on the car.

There are other aspects, but it all basically rolls down to a feel for the car and how much fun is it to drive. So, here's the list...(in no particular order - and these are all things we drove - there were others we considered)

• Infiniti G37S Coupe
• Infiniti G35 Coupe (Used)
• Mini Cooper S
• Pontiac Solstice
• Volkswagen GTI
• Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg
• Lexus IS 250
• Nissan 350z
• Mazda MX-5 Hardtop Convertible

Over the next couple posts, I'll provide a bit more review of each vehicle and what I think we'll end up choosing.