From Top Trumps to General Gassing, comparing cars by their price and performance stats is the foundation of blokey car chat. But an increasingly blunt way of measuring a car's worth, especially as the differences between fast cars narrow and a tenth here or a tenth there doesn't ultimately tell you a whole lot about whether driving it will make you beam or just shrug your shoulders and say 'so what'.
So to PHer LimaDelta's thought provoking thread asking is there another way we can measure how much fun a car delivers behind the wheel? Bit deep and meaningful for a Monday possibly but it's a topic that seems to have caught the imagination of those who've replied.
The more subjective elements of ride quality come up a couple of times, Ozzie Osmond (we're not sure if it's *that* one but he's certainly a prolific poster) attempting a technical answer to the question. "There are various parameters which can be measured and will objectively define a car's 'handling' - weight, weight distribution, wheelbase, polar moment of inertia, etc," he says. "But you would also have to get a handle on its 'ride', because whilst it's quite easy to make a car handle well it's much more difficult to combine good handling with good ride."
Billzeebub has a rather more succinct suggestion. "My attitude to driving enjoyment can be summarised as the following: I currently drive a Boxster as a daily but am looking to swap it for an Elise." Indeed, when it comes to heart over head Porsches seem to be taking a bit of a hammering on the thread, Andy665 saying the Alfa GTV V6 he ran at the same time as a Boxster S did a much better job of putting a smile on his face. "Every time I walked away from the Alfa I couldn't help but turn and look whereas I never did with the Porsche."
Masters of the stats, when it comes to the more subjective stuff it seems the Germans are on the back foot. And if you want a car to make you smile don't buy a Boxster! There, that's a grenade lobbed into the conversation for you! Join it here...