Being disapointed by your childhood dream car
Discussion
Ever since I first saw an Mitsubishi Evo I have always wanted one and for this reason since an early age they have been like a dream car to me! I had never been in one but that didn't matter.
Finally at the weekend at the age of 24 I managed to get taken out in a 370bhp one. I was gutted. It was no doubt very quick, but I expected it to feel like warp speed and it all just felt so clinical and well not very exciting.
Maybe it was because I have owned circa 300bhp cars for the last 5 years but I just expected more. Now I need another realistic dream car!
Anyone else had this happen before with a car they have always dreamed of owning?
Finally at the weekend at the age of 24 I managed to get taken out in a 370bhp one. I was gutted. It was no doubt very quick, but I expected it to feel like warp speed and it all just felt so clinical and well not very exciting.
Maybe it was because I have owned circa 300bhp cars for the last 5 years but I just expected more. Now I need another realistic dream car!
Anyone else had this happen before with a car they have always dreamed of owning?
Yup. Not quite childhood "dream" car, but since before I could drive, I could always see myself in an Audi S3 (8P). Thought they looks amazing, Passengered in one, Felt very quick, loved the inside, Etc,etc etc.
Took one for a test drive around a year ago.
Hated it. No feel at all, Just a very big, very shiney, very blunt hammer.
Took one for a test drive around a year ago.
Hated it. No feel at all, Just a very big, very shiney, very blunt hammer.
Ok, I dont think it really counts as a passenger and also, I think it takes a good while to understand and bond with a car.
With an Evo there is more to it than straight line speed, you have to be pretty committed and grab them by the scruff but they can be pretty rewarding, wet roundabouts are a specialty, get it sideways and let the AYC do its thing and they can achieve some amazing feats.
With an Evo there is more to it than straight line speed, you have to be pretty committed and grab them by the scruff but they can be pretty rewarding, wet roundabouts are a specialty, get it sideways and let the AYC do its thing and they can achieve some amazing feats.
J4CKO said:
Ok, I dont think it really counts as a passenger and also, I think it takes a good while to understand and bond with a car.
With an Evo there is more to it than straight line speed, you have to be pretty committed and grab them by the scruff but they can be pretty rewarding, wet roundabouts are a specialty, get it sideways and let the AYC do its thing and they can achieve some amazing feats.
Maybe that's what it is, maybe I just need to drive oneWith an Evo there is more to it than straight line speed, you have to be pretty committed and grab them by the scruff but they can be pretty rewarding, wet roundabouts are a specialty, get it sideways and let the AYC do its thing and they can achieve some amazing feats.
Dream cars tend to be "old" cars by the time you buy them. You dream at 10 and buy at 25, 35, 45, 55 etc. Old cars rarely feel as good-quality or as fast as new cars. It takes a change in mindset to like your dream car if the design is more than 5 years' old. You need to cut them some slack.
Not 'dream', but there were two cars I'd always liked - Pumas and DC2s.
Both were candidate for my wife's next car, so one day, we found a really tidy Puma 1.7 for sale. Had practically bought it before even getting there. Then I drove it. it was SO disappointing - the rest of the car may have been great, I can't even tell you how the chassis was, because the one thing that stood out was the horrible driving position that made me feel like I was about 12ft in the air, and bolt upright. I know it's based on a Fiesta, but it's not what I was expecting. I still want a Racing Puma, but I don't want to go near one as I know that the driving position will kill it for me.
Also went to try a DC2 - drove a fair distance, and took it out for a spin. It felt benign, uninspiring and just not what I'd imagined at all for something with such a reputation. Came away feeling utterly, utterly dejected. About 2 months later, a mate gave me a spin in his well sorted one at a track day at Curborough. It was some of the most fun I'd ever had in a car - utterly sublime. 3 weeks later ther ewas one on our driveway. I think the problem was twofold - firstly that the market is polarised between good ones and ones that just aren't 'right' (bushes and alignment being key), and secondly, they are a car that you really need to drive at maximum attack to 'get'.
Next car will most likely be a Clio Sport 182, but I'm a little cautious about driving one for the above reasons. Chiefly their reputation for driving ergonomics...
Both were candidate for my wife's next car, so one day, we found a really tidy Puma 1.7 for sale. Had practically bought it before even getting there. Then I drove it. it was SO disappointing - the rest of the car may have been great, I can't even tell you how the chassis was, because the one thing that stood out was the horrible driving position that made me feel like I was about 12ft in the air, and bolt upright. I know it's based on a Fiesta, but it's not what I was expecting. I still want a Racing Puma, but I don't want to go near one as I know that the driving position will kill it for me.
Also went to try a DC2 - drove a fair distance, and took it out for a spin. It felt benign, uninspiring and just not what I'd imagined at all for something with such a reputation. Came away feeling utterly, utterly dejected. About 2 months later, a mate gave me a spin in his well sorted one at a track day at Curborough. It was some of the most fun I'd ever had in a car - utterly sublime. 3 weeks later ther ewas one on our driveway. I think the problem was twofold - firstly that the market is polarised between good ones and ones that just aren't 'right' (bushes and alignment being key), and secondly, they are a car that you really need to drive at maximum attack to 'get'.
Next car will most likely be a Clio Sport 182, but I'm a little cautious about driving one for the above reasons. Chiefly their reputation for driving ergonomics...
Since I was 10 or 11 I had wanted a TVR Chimaera. At the age of 24 I was lucky enough to be able to buy one and I hated it! I couldn't find a comfy driving position and the whole thing just felt quite disappointing! I sold it after about 4 months ownership and bought a VX220 which was much more fun 
FD3Si said:
Next car will most likely be a Clio Sport 182, but I'm a little cautious about driving one for the above reasons. Chiefly their reputation for driving ergonomics...
Just approach the test drive thinking you're going to drive a small van (as far as the driving position goes).I'd never given much thought to how my dream cars drove - they were purely wall art to me. I ended up owning a DeLorean (very much a dream when I was young) and it drove okay. Nothing like new cars, but I didn't care. Still don't. Same goes for the old(er) 911s. They were events in themselves.
I don't have much in the way of dream cars now.
I don't have much in the way of dream cars now.
Glad to say it was the opposite for me too. After a factory tour in the JPS days as a kid I had a fondness fot Lotus. Then I still recall my first sight of a red Elise near Bell & Colvill shortly after they were launched.
Now I have one, and am not the least disappointed. Perhaps I'm just easily pleased!
Now I have one, and am not the least disappointed. Perhaps I'm just easily pleased!
Mine was everything I'd hoped it would be (and more), the TVR Cerbera. I'd been dreaming since its launch when I was 6, and bought my first one at 21. I defected to a Tuscan but it just wasn't the same as the mighty Cerbera, what a car. There will never be another car that will have the same impact on me. 
I've liked all of mine.
I've been unimpressed by other cars that the press claimed were better than everything else - e.g. Ford Puma and Audi S3.
I was also surprised at how 'normal' a modern Ferrari drove, in that it was easy and the Cerb felt faster although it wasn't. I wasn't disappointed in it though, I just decided there and then that I'd prefer the Ferrari for a drive from Scotland to southern France and I'd prefer my own car for a Sunday blast and to not try to compare them.
Even E-Types. Old and a bit naff, but thoroughly enjoyable for what it is.
I've been unimpressed by other cars that the press claimed were better than everything else - e.g. Ford Puma and Audi S3.
I was also surprised at how 'normal' a modern Ferrari drove, in that it was easy and the Cerb felt faster although it wasn't. I wasn't disappointed in it though, I just decided there and then that I'd prefer the Ferrari for a drive from Scotland to southern France and I'd prefer my own car for a Sunday blast and to not try to compare them.
Even E-Types. Old and a bit naff, but thoroughly enjoyable for what it is.
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