That is a great story.
My point is that its condescending to suggest that if you consider MPG then you shouldn't be driving a GTI / whatever. Once you know that and you've bought the car then indeed fill drive enjoy repeat - but you'd be foolish to not consider the cost of ownership when making the purchase decision. If you knew you would only get say (extreme) 1 mpg from a family hatchback / estate or whatever then you would maybe think twice.
I certainly researched the ownership costs of my GTI, the S3 that followed it and the S4 that followed that but I've never driven any of them with MPG as a thought - clearly they are not cars built to be the most efficient available in terms of fuel usage - but I wanted to make sure I wasn't buying a millstone round my neck first. I like having nice cars, but I certainly wouldn't sacrifice any aspect of my lifestyle to 'support' them. I guess others see things differently and accept Col's point though - different strokes for different folks.
