Which car offers the benchmark as a driving experience?

[danjnixon]

I have a fairly limited history of cars driven and was wondering from all of you experts what car offers the ultimate driving experience without any frills. I have been karting several times and that seems to offer some kind of baseline and I owned a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting for several years.

What is everyones thoughts?

[daemonoid]

Ultimate driving with no thrills...

Caterham, Lotus Elise, Atom etc.

[300bhp/ton]

danjnixon said:

I have a fairly limited history of cars driven and was wondering from all of you experts what car offers the ultimate driving experience without any frills. I have been karting several times and that seems to offer some kind of baseline and I owned a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting for several years.

What is everyones thoughts?

What exactly do you mean by "ultimate driving experience without any frills."?

Also what are you asking, are you asking about experience days or actual cars you'd like to go drive/buy?

[swifthobo]

Dare I say the renaultsport 172/182

[300bhp/ton]

swifthobo said:

Dare I say the renaultsport 172/182

But not much of a bench mark if you want to experience power, power oversteer and rwd.

[Temple]

300bhp/ton said:

But not much of a bench mark if you want to experience power, power oversteer and rwd.

But quite a benchmark if you want to experience power, lift off over steer and fwd..

[300bhp/ton]

Temple said:

300bhp/ton said:

But not much of a bench mark if you want to experience power, power oversteer and rwd.

But quite a benchmark if you want to experience power, lift off over steer and fwd..

Power! no no no

Lift off over steer - well ok if you are brave enough or stupid enough on the open road. Either that or you need to go somewhere away from the public roads.

FWD - well isn't that about 95% of all cars anyhow?


The Clio is a great little hatch, but that's about it.

[Fleckers]

got be rear wheel drive what ever it is

[BrewsterBear]

My 911SC comes pretty close. No power steering, no ABS, mechanical injection providing pretty crisp throttle response (at the expense of fuel economy) and of course that rear-engined chassis which requires respect but is so rewarding when you get it right.

They aren't easy to drive quickly and aren't forgiving if you get it wrong, but that's part of the charm. Put in the effort to learn the dynamics and one day you'll hook up a set of corners perfectly and suddenly the car is doing all of the work for you (that's the car, not any electronics). You'll come out of the other side with a massive smile.

The figures aren't impressive these days with most modern hot hatches able to show it a clean pair of heels, but I guarantee I'm having more fun than any revo-knuckled, electronically piloted, FWD shopping car.

[Life Saab Itch]

Go and hire a Caterham for a day.



That should reset your ideas of speed and handling.

[kambites]

I'd say the BAC Mono seems a pretty good bet, from what I've read of it.

At the more affordable end of the market, I think you'd struggle to beat a Caterham.

[McSam]

A Caterham actually is as good as everybody says, but if you want to imagine how a go-kart can be made into a car, really you need an Atom 300. Astonishing machine, and after two laps you can hang its arse out wherever and whenever you want, far more forgiving than you might think but it's the first car that really felt like an extension of my thoughts.

[300bhp/ton]

doogz said:

So power oversteer in a big RWD car is cool, lift off oversteer, which can occur at 30mph on a roundabout is stupid?

Power? Rofl? Don't you drive a smart car?

:cough: :cough:

This all goes back to what the OP is asking though. Which I asked them to clarify in my first reply. What exactly are they wanting to know. Cars are diverse and offer a huge variety of experiences and there is no single 'benchmark' car that can offer all of them.

BTW - you can power over steer in a small RWD car too. And to use your often cited argument - who said anything about anything being cool?

Power oversteer can be dangerous, although depending on the vehicle possible from a standing start and at speeds of 10-15mph. Lift off oversteer in a fwd car is likely going to be more dramatic (dependent on how much oversteer). And need far higher speeds to attain.

[fizz47]

I benchmark into different catergories partly becasue I have been lucky to drive a wide variety of cars...

For the purist driving expereince - Caterham

For handling - Mitsubishi Evo IX FQ-360

For sound - Maserati Granturismo Sport

For luxury - Bentley Mulsanne


A car that gets close to all of the above - Bentley Continental Supersports
(vastly different from a standard GTC)

[kambites]

fizz47 said:

For handling - Mitsubishi Evo IX FQ-360

I think you probably mean grip - I'd argue that the Caterham is leagues ahead of an Evo (or indeed any saloon car) when it comes to handling. "Handling" is difficult to define, though.

[wackojacko]

MX5 .....

[petrolsniffer]

300bhp/ton said:

:cough: :cough:
Power oversteer can be dangerous, although depending on the vehicle possible from a standing start and at speeds of 10-15mph. Lift off oversteer in a fwd car is likely going to be more dramatic (dependent on how much oversteer). And need far higher speeds to attain.

I wouldn't say high speeds are needed for lift off oversteer.

I grin just as much as a rwd driver when it rains

[kambites]

petrolsniffer said:

300bhp/ton said:

:cough: :cough:
Power oversteer can be dangerous, although depending on the vehicle possible from a standing start and at speeds of 10-15mph. Lift off oversteer in a fwd car is likely going to be more dramatic (dependent on how much oversteer). And need far higher speeds to attain.

I wouldn't say high speeds are needed for lift off oversteer.

I grin just as much as a rwd driver when it rains

You have impressively bad rear tyres if you can generate sustained lift-off over-steer at 10-15mph.

[Toltec]

Life Saab Itch said:

Go and hire a Caterham for a day.



That should reset your ideas of speed and handling.

I did that several years ago. It is like driving with thought control, you do not decide to turn the wheel or press a pedal, you just want to go around a corner and it happens.

[Temple]

kambites said:

petrolsniffer said:

300bhp/ton said:

:cough: :cough:
Power oversteer can be dangerous, although depending on the vehicle possible from a standing start and at speeds of 10-15mph. Lift off oversteer in a fwd car is likely going to be more dramatic (dependent on how much oversteer). And need far higher speeds to attain.

I wouldn't say high speeds are needed for lift off oversteer.

I grin just as much as a rwd driver when it rains

You have impressively bad rear tyres if you can generate sustained lift-off over-steer at 10-15mph.

you can provoke the rear of any car to step out if you try hard enough just the same as you would need to in a lower powered mx5.. *at low speed