Top 5 most fun cars you've driven / owned
Discussion
I've had and driven quite a wide range of cars in different price ranges and from different eras. I do not cover huge distances and mainly use a car for a short commute so fuel economy and practically are rarely that important (although don't garage my daily driver so a roof is handy!) Always curious about what to try next!
Here are my top 5:
1) My Caterham 7 Supersprint - had it nearly 9 years and there is no substitute but clearly not a daily.
2) Porsche Cayman 2.7 - so much balance and feel and a fabulous engine that you can take to the limits on a public road.
3) Porsche 968 Sport - 18 years old but still such a feelsome, balanced and surprisingly civilized car.
4) Audi RS4 Cab - Only used to give test drives but that engine alone is an absolute riot if too fast for the road. Couldn't stop giggling even with customers!
5) 1989 Honda CRX 1.6i-16 - Fabulous vocal engine, so light, aggile and with a very mobile rear for a FWD!
Didn't make the cut (just never found the substance behind the legend):
BMW 328i Sport Coupe, mk2 VW Golf GTI 16v, mk5 Golf GTI, mk2 Audi TT, mk2 Audi S3.
What left the most lasting impression on you?
Here are my top 5:
1) My Caterham 7 Supersprint - had it nearly 9 years and there is no substitute but clearly not a daily.
2) Porsche Cayman 2.7 - so much balance and feel and a fabulous engine that you can take to the limits on a public road.
3) Porsche 968 Sport - 18 years old but still such a feelsome, balanced and surprisingly civilized car.
4) Audi RS4 Cab - Only used to give test drives but that engine alone is an absolute riot if too fast for the road. Couldn't stop giggling even with customers!
5) 1989 Honda CRX 1.6i-16 - Fabulous vocal engine, so light, aggile and with a very mobile rear for a FWD!
Didn't make the cut (just never found the substance behind the legend):
BMW 328i Sport Coupe, mk2 VW Golf GTI 16v, mk5 Golf GTI, mk2 Audi TT, mk2 Audi S3.
What left the most lasting impression on you?
1. Classic Impreza Turbo 2000 - owned for 4 years back in the late 90's
2. Clio 172 Cup - current car, used for hillclimbing & daily driver duties, lightly modified
3. Porsche 996 C2 Coupe - cuurent car
4. Peugot 306 TD Estate - great fun car, lift off oversteer & slid around every roundabout!
5. Has to be my 1st car, a Mini 1000 with a 1275 engine fitted on to the 1000cc gearbox - happy memories
2. Clio 172 Cup - current car, used for hillclimbing & daily driver duties, lightly modified
3. Porsche 996 C2 Coupe - cuurent car
4. Peugot 306 TD Estate - great fun car, lift off oversteer & slid around every roundabout!
5. Has to be my 1st car, a Mini 1000 with a 1275 engine fitted on to the 1000cc gearbox - happy memories
1. Nissan 350Z Roadster (current car) - Just a great all round car, rounds up everything I liked about previous cars into one package. Wonderful noise.
2. Honda Integra Type-R DC2 - Fantastic handling for what it was, and so reliable and very reasonable to run. Comfortable too. Engine was a fire-cracker.
3. Toyota MR2 Turbo - Excellent driving position, good performance, nice noise for a 4-pot, and I liked the mid-engined handling, nowhere near as bad as led to believe.
4. Eunos RS-Limited - Not particularly fast, but such a hoot to drive and great fun with the roof down, brilliant handling.
5. Clio 172 Phase 1 - A pretty flawed car, but when it worked it was a good laugh, surprisingly fast, good brakes, compliant suspension, woeful reliability and expensive to run which means it finishes lower than it might have.
2. Honda Integra Type-R DC2 - Fantastic handling for what it was, and so reliable and very reasonable to run. Comfortable too. Engine was a fire-cracker.
3. Toyota MR2 Turbo - Excellent driving position, good performance, nice noise for a 4-pot, and I liked the mid-engined handling, nowhere near as bad as led to believe.
4. Eunos RS-Limited - Not particularly fast, but such a hoot to drive and great fun with the roof down, brilliant handling.
5. Clio 172 Phase 1 - A pretty flawed car, but when it worked it was a good laugh, surprisingly fast, good brakes, compliant suspension, woeful reliability and expensive to run which means it finishes lower than it might have.
1. Clio 16v. Just such a sorted car with the right amount of power right out of the box.
2. Impreza WRX. After 5 years I have not even explored 60% of its capability (because I am an average non-MD
type of driver)
3. Mk2 Golf GTi 16V. Handled so well, just a joy to drive.
4. Seat Leon Cupra....5. Audi 80. These are the only two other cars I have owned so they have to go on the list. Late intro to driving at 27!
2. Impreza WRX. After 5 years I have not even explored 60% of its capability (because I am an average non-MD
type of driver)
3. Mk2 Golf GTi 16V. Handled so well, just a joy to drive.
4. Seat Leon Cupra....5. Audi 80. These are the only two other cars I have owned so they have to go on the list. Late intro to driving at 27!
1. Nova GTE - it was my 3rd car and first 'fast' car. Just over 100bhp in a car that weighed the same as a crisp packet. Loved it.
2. RS2000 mk2 - first RWD car I ever owned. Java green, super oscars and 176bhp with 4 gears! We would do rally stages round the villages surrounding Harrogate with my mate doing the pace notes, in a West Country accent - either 'ease orf a bet' or 'arse et'.
3. Golf G60 Rallye - first 4wd car and stuck to the road like s**t to a blanket.
4. Cortina 1600e - (2012) - it gets so much attention and looks so good, who cares if you can walk faster and driving it is more like a workout.
5. E30 M3 - not the fastest car I've ever had but to drive it is just awesome.
2. RS2000 mk2 - first RWD car I ever owned. Java green, super oscars and 176bhp with 4 gears! We would do rally stages round the villages surrounding Harrogate with my mate doing the pace notes, in a West Country accent - either 'ease orf a bet' or 'arse et'.
3. Golf G60 Rallye - first 4wd car and stuck to the road like s**t to a blanket.
4. Cortina 1600e - (2012) - it gets so much attention and looks so good, who cares if you can walk faster and driving it is more like a workout.
5. E30 M3 - not the fastest car I've ever had but to drive it is just awesome.
My driving experience is somewhat short and haven't had much experience driving other cars on the road, but a couple stabs out.
Westfield SEIW - Belongs to a very good friend/ member of a morgue club I'm in. Have driven it several times round the airfield where we Autotest, excellent fun chucking the back end out and catching it
Porsche 944 Cabriolet (S2) - Dads old car, finally got to drive it about a year ago or so at Goodwood for the first time. Absolutely thrilled to bits with it, handled well enough and got a very good turn of speed!
Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder - Again a track session, this time at Thruxton, the instructor was excellent and really encouraged me to use the loud pedal (I was t exactly going slow either
). Ended up nudging 130mph - not bad at 18!
Westfield SEIW - Belongs to a very good friend/ member of a morgue club I'm in. Have driven it several times round the airfield where we Autotest, excellent fun chucking the back end out and catching it
Porsche 944 Cabriolet (S2) - Dads old car, finally got to drive it about a year ago or so at Goodwood for the first time. Absolutely thrilled to bits with it, handled well enough and got a very good turn of speed!
Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder - Again a track session, this time at Thruxton, the instructor was excellent and really encouraged me to use the loud pedal (I was t exactly going slow either
). Ended up nudging 130mph - not bad at 18! 1) S1 Elise
2) mk1 MX5 Turbo (with no diff)
3) S12 Nissan Silvia Turbo (stripped out single seater with no diff)
4) 1986 RX7 non-turbo with a stupid exhaust (slow and crap in many ways but somehow huge fun too)
5) £50 E30 320i
I've driven better cars than all of those, but for me "fun" is dependant on risk, and if I'm driving a car worth as much as my mortgage (F360) or one that will get get me in to trouble if I break it (borrowed Evora) I'm less likely to find it fun. That said I can't even sit in any version of an Elise without smiling.
2) mk1 MX5 Turbo (with no diff)
3) S12 Nissan Silvia Turbo (stripped out single seater with no diff)
4) 1986 RX7 non-turbo with a stupid exhaust (slow and crap in many ways but somehow huge fun too)
5) £50 E30 320i
I've driven better cars than all of those, but for me "fun" is dependant on risk, and if I'm driving a car worth as much as my mortgage (F360) or one that will get get me in to trouble if I break it (borrowed Evora) I'm less likely to find it fun. That said I can't even sit in any version of an Elise without smiling.
1 - My current car, DC5 Integra. VTEC, and LSD and a stiff chassis make it handle well and great fun to chuck around.
2 - Fiesta 1.25 - It was my 1st car, that's the only reason it was so much fun
3 - Nissan GTR, just a huge amount of power, grip and stopping power. Addictive and I want more.
4 - Evo 5 Group N rally car. Rapid and responsive acceleration, super quick handling and first really quick car I ever drove.
5 - EP3 Civic Type R, another car I owned previously, lowered suspension, geometry setup and a decat, full exhaust. Noisy, stiff and huge fun
2 - Fiesta 1.25 - It was my 1st car, that's the only reason it was so much fun
3 - Nissan GTR, just a huge amount of power, grip and stopping power. Addictive and I want more.
4 - Evo 5 Group N rally car. Rapid and responsive acceleration, super quick handling and first really quick car I ever drove.
5 - EP3 Civic Type R, another car I owned previously, lowered suspension, geometry setup and a decat, full exhaust. Noisy, stiff and huge fun
Tricky one, this.
1) Palmer Jaguar JP-LM - I've got a thing about sports prototypes and this was quick enough and challenging enough to feel authentic without being too intimidating
2) Ariel Atom 2 - first encountered these as a student doing a project with Ariel; lively but controllable
3) Caterham Roadsport A - owned an ex-race Roadsport A with a few additional mods for 18 months. Hugely exciting on a B-road and felt like a single seater with mudguards
4) Audi R8 V10 - pushes all the right supercar buttons, but remarkably easy to get used to
5) Porsche 997 GT3 - felt like a GT racer on the road
Admittedly, I've only owned one of those (the Caterham). Other stuff I'd consider adding includes: Ex-Montoya IndyCar (with a heavily detuned engine behind a pace car, so not quite as exciting as it sounds!), Chevron GR8, Mercedes AMG C63, Honda Civic Type R Mugen and my old TVR S3.
1) Palmer Jaguar JP-LM - I've got a thing about sports prototypes and this was quick enough and challenging enough to feel authentic without being too intimidating
2) Ariel Atom 2 - first encountered these as a student doing a project with Ariel; lively but controllable
3) Caterham Roadsport A - owned an ex-race Roadsport A with a few additional mods for 18 months. Hugely exciting on a B-road and felt like a single seater with mudguards
4) Audi R8 V10 - pushes all the right supercar buttons, but remarkably easy to get used to
5) Porsche 997 GT3 - felt like a GT racer on the road
Admittedly, I've only owned one of those (the Caterham). Other stuff I'd consider adding includes: Ex-Montoya IndyCar (with a heavily detuned engine behind a pace car, so not quite as exciting as it sounds!), Chevron GR8, Mercedes AMG C63, Honda Civic Type R Mugen and my old TVR S3.
Edited by MrFrodo on Wednesday 31st October 10:29
1) Golf Mk2 16v (campaign edition) - with a breathed upon engine that flew!
2) Mini Cooper S (supercharged) - sports exhaust and I am sure it had been modified too, but couldn't prove it
3) BMW 325i touring (E30) - with LSD, crap tyres and lairy handling, bloody hoot!
4) Rover 420GSi - yeah, ok, crap car but that twin cam engine flew and I had happy memories, handling crap though
5) Golf Mk2 - early big bumper and my first proper fast car after a string of VW's with 1.3 or 1.6 engines
Spot a theme there? Had far to many Golf GTi's and they were great. Thrash them all day and they come back for more. Not really found a car that does the same since. Oh, and on my bottom 5 there would be an Audi A4 2.4 V6 (dull), Lexus RX300 (great car just REALLY DULL to drive) and a Corsa 1.4 (hitorq model - wifes and utterly s
te).
2) Mini Cooper S (supercharged) - sports exhaust and I am sure it had been modified too, but couldn't prove it
3) BMW 325i touring (E30) - with LSD, crap tyres and lairy handling, bloody hoot!
4) Rover 420GSi - yeah, ok, crap car but that twin cam engine flew and I had happy memories, handling crap though
5) Golf Mk2 - early big bumper and my first proper fast car after a string of VW's with 1.3 or 1.6 engines
Spot a theme there? Had far to many Golf GTi's and they were great. Thrash them all day and they come back for more. Not really found a car that does the same since. Oh, and on my bottom 5 there would be an Audi A4 2.4 V6 (dull), Lexus RX300 (great car just REALLY DULL to drive) and a Corsa 1.4 (hitorq model - wifes and utterly s
te).Hmmmmm, tough one and I don't have 5 tbh, good thread though!
1) 306 GTi-6 - Doesn't grip as well as modern cars, isn't as fast as modern cars but I've still yet to drive anything as involving or as fun, combination of a superb close ratio gearbox, handling that feels like your actually driving the car and so much lift off oversteer, especially with passive rear wheel steer, made it so so so much fun.
2) Clio Williams - While I didn't actually own one, driven a few and absolutely loved them, so much fun!
3) Clio V6 - Again, driven on a track day but not owned, anything with a big engine behind your ear is instantly fun, despite not being particularly quick or particularly involving handling imo.
Yes, I'm an old skool hot hatch fan. Nothing like 90's hatch backs, modern day ones have lost the sense of connection and fun imo, all about headline power figures, straight line speed and Nurburgring times, wheres the fun!
1) 306 GTi-6 - Doesn't grip as well as modern cars, isn't as fast as modern cars but I've still yet to drive anything as involving or as fun, combination of a superb close ratio gearbox, handling that feels like your actually driving the car and so much lift off oversteer, especially with passive rear wheel steer, made it so so so much fun.
2) Clio Williams - While I didn't actually own one, driven a few and absolutely loved them, so much fun!
3) Clio V6 - Again, driven on a track day but not owned, anything with a big engine behind your ear is instantly fun, despite not being particularly quick or particularly involving handling imo.
Yes, I'm an old skool hot hatch fan. Nothing like 90's hatch backs, modern day ones have lost the sense of connection and fun imo, all about headline power figures, straight line speed and Nurburgring times, wheres the fun!
Fairly easy out of the cars I have owned....
1. Vauxhall VX220 - fastest car I have owned with handling to match
2. Toyota mk1 MR2 Tbar - loved this car, learnt some interesting lessons about mid-engined cars (luckily without any damage!)
3. Smart Roadster - too much grip, but interesting learning how to drive quickly. Gearchange was awful, but was fun when you got it 'just' right...
4. R53 Mini Cooper S - best FWD I have driven, darty, pointy and inspired confidence.
5. Eunos 1.6 - a little numb about this one. It never really inspired me to take to the ragged edge (maybe I am getting older?). Engine was coarse, overdamped. Surprised me a little, but maybe it was the example I had?
Mike
1. Vauxhall VX220 - fastest car I have owned with handling to match
2. Toyota mk1 MR2 Tbar - loved this car, learnt some interesting lessons about mid-engined cars (luckily without any damage!)
3. Smart Roadster - too much grip, but interesting learning how to drive quickly. Gearchange was awful, but was fun when you got it 'just' right...
4. R53 Mini Cooper S - best FWD I have driven, darty, pointy and inspired confidence.
5. Eunos 1.6 - a little numb about this one. It never really inspired me to take to the ragged edge (maybe I am getting older?). Engine was coarse, overdamped. Surprised me a little, but maybe it was the example I had?
Mike
I think the most legal fun I've had in a car was my first one. Aged 17, cutting about in a "Dysentery Beige" Vauxhaull Chevette L. Rear-wheel drive, weighed about as much as a can of coke, brilliant.
After that:
MR2 Turbo - my first proper performance car
Mid 80s BMW M635CSi - My Dad's, and he never knew...
Early 90s BMW 318iS - My first proper car, so much better than the Corsas and Novas my mates were driving.
4.0L Jaguar XJS - nearly bought it, but never did. I felt like one of the Landed Gentry pottering about the Peak District in this. Marvellous car.
I hesitate to mention the RX7, because I think outright terror is a more appropriate description.
After that:
MR2 Turbo - my first proper performance car
Mid 80s BMW M635CSi - My Dad's, and he never knew...
Early 90s BMW 318iS - My first proper car, so much better than the Corsas and Novas my mates were driving.
4.0L Jaguar XJS - nearly bought it, but never did. I felt like one of the Landed Gentry pottering about the Peak District in this. Marvellous car.
I hesitate to mention the RX7, because I think outright terror is a more appropriate description.
1) Renault 5 GT Turbo - Lift off oversteer and straight line hilarity
2) VX220 300BHP - Daily driver for six years and still current explains why...
3) Citroen 2CV - flat out everywhere, just don't use the brakes
4) Peugeot 205 1.6GTI - lift off oversteer and nippy
5) MG Metro - fast and fun for a 17 year old
Didn't make the list: Golf GTI mk3 - nice is the best word I can think of, which is not very flattering
2) VX220 300BHP - Daily driver for six years and still current explains why...
3) Citroen 2CV - flat out everywhere, just don't use the brakes
4) Peugeot 205 1.6GTI - lift off oversteer and nippy
5) MG Metro - fast and fun for a 17 year old
Didn't make the list: Golf GTI mk3 - nice is the best word I can think of, which is not very flattering
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