Cars you thought were not 'great ... until you drove them
Discussion
Inspired from the "'Great cars' which you don't think are, erm.... great..." thread.
My personal experiences
Drove a Bentley GT, phwoar that thing has amazing power, noise and handling for a 2 tonne leviathan, doesn't look as ugly after that test drive for some reason.
Porsche 993, just a basic c2, loved it was a totally organic experience (old Porsches, new Ferrari's, I get it now)
Porsche Boxster, Tiff Needelll was right
Mercedes SLK 55 AMG, Clarkson was also right
Porsche 911 Turbo, power corrupts
BMW Z4M, oversteer on command
Lamborghini Murcialago, had a lime green one for a couple of days, in manual, on the Pacific Coast Highway, crazy car
My personal experiences
Drove a Bentley GT, phwoar that thing has amazing power, noise and handling for a 2 tonne leviathan, doesn't look as ugly after that test drive for some reason.
Porsche 993, just a basic c2, loved it was a totally organic experience (old Porsches, new Ferrari's, I get it now)
Porsche Boxster, Tiff Needelll was right
Mercedes SLK 55 AMG, Clarkson was also right
Porsche 911 Turbo, power corrupts
BMW Z4M, oversteer on command
Lamborghini Murcialago, had a lime green one for a couple of days, in manual, on the Pacific Coast Highway, crazy car
Jaguar X-Type, nothing like a Mondeo to drive - in a completely different league, lovely!
Honda Civic CRX - the two-seater one. Great noise (for a four-pot), great steering, gearchange etc., the looks had always out me off but I really enjoyed driving one.
Mazda RX7 Twin Turbo - After driving a friend's, I bought one within months, utterly fantastic! (Apart from the fuel consumption).
Honda Civic CRX - the two-seater one. Great noise (for a four-pot), great steering, gearchange etc., the looks had always out me off but I really enjoyed driving one.
Mazda RX7 Twin Turbo - After driving a friend's, I bought one within months, utterly fantastic! (Apart from the fuel consumption).
E36 M3.
Thought they were too heavy, too soft, crap steering, bit chav. Basically a let down from the E30.
Rubbish. I liked it so very much, much better than the E30 in my opinion, yes its more GT ish and more comfortable but a good one handles very well and hides its weight well. The straight 6 is far more BMWish as well.
VX220.
The cheap chav version of the Elise.
God a VX220 2.2 with a supercharger got me addicted after one hit. I need one pure adrenalin. Even a standard 2.2 it may be heavier than an elise but its still very very very good.
Supra TT.
Was always one of my favourite cars but I thought it was a one trick straight line pony.
Actually they handle really well, they are a lot better in the bends than you would think.
Thought they were too heavy, too soft, crap steering, bit chav. Basically a let down from the E30.
Rubbish. I liked it so very much, much better than the E30 in my opinion, yes its more GT ish and more comfortable but a good one handles very well and hides its weight well. The straight 6 is far more BMWish as well.
VX220.
The cheap chav version of the Elise.
God a VX220 2.2 with a supercharger got me addicted after one hit. I need one pure adrenalin. Even a standard 2.2 it may be heavier than an elise but its still very very very good.
Supra TT.
Was always one of my favourite cars but I thought it was a one trick straight line pony.
Actually they handle really well, they are a lot better in the bends than you would think.
These threads are getting very odd. Cars widely regarded as very good or class leading - Boxster/996T/VX220/RX7 for example - are quoted with expressions of surprise how good they actually are 
For my part I drove a MINI One auto the other day. It was surprisingly fun to chuck into roundabouts and generally game for a little hoon. I thought it would be dire.
Actually l'll retract that. It was far from great!
For my part I drove a MINI One auto the other day. It was surprisingly fun to chuck into roundabouts and generally game for a little hoon. I thought it would be dire.
Actually l'll retract that. It was far from great!
The Nissan Safari/Patrol in a way - always knew they were bulletproof and up with the very best off-road, but was expecting a clumsy barge on the road.
Truth be told the control feel, balance etc are actually pretty good - sure you're still aware that its a big heavy tank on mud tyres, but they can be surprisingly enjoyable to hustle along.
Edited by GravelBen on Monday 29th August 12:27
Beeby said:
MX-5
When I test rode a couple of these I thought 'meh'.Then I had a go of a MR2 mk3 (since they seem to be in the same class as MX-5). The 1.8 felt at least as strong as the 2.0 MX-5 mk3 and much stronger than the mk2's 1.8. No rust (even a 2006 MX-5 mk3 had bubbling on the boot lid). Much sharper handling and response (although not as tail happy
).In response to John D's post - I know the MR2 mk3 is highly regarded (especially by the likes of EVO), it was just that how much better it was than an MX-5 mk2 IMO
The MX-5 mk3 is closer but then is newer, more expensive etc.- Runs away to avoid lynching*
Edited by MarkRSi on Monday 29th August 12:39
A 3-cylinder Polo. At first I thought "what on earth am I going to do with this?" but then after driving it I quite liked it - engine was peppy and sounded quite nice, and if you let it sing to the redline through first and second, you were only doing about 45mph by the end of it, so widely chuckable
The 1-series is a car that's divided opinion on here somewhat, I wasn't sure when they first came out if I liked them or not, but after having a play in my ex's 116d I quite liked it, nice relaxing drive but also fun to kick the arse out on a twisty road.
The 1-series is a car that's divided opinion on here somewhat, I wasn't sure when they first came out if I liked them or not, but after having a play in my ex's 116d I quite liked it, nice relaxing drive but also fun to kick the arse out on a twisty road.
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