Ever been excited to drive a car... and it exceeded expecations

2 recently:

NB Miata - I'd owned, and loved, my NA for about 7 years when a low priced, low mile, one owner NB2 fell into my lap.  I have to say, it pretty much addressed all of the "little things" that kept the NA from being "perfect".  Better interior, slightly more power, WAAAAAY better brakes (Sport Brake package is a huge upgrade), a significantly stiffer chassis and, as a result, significantly fewer shakes and rattles.  Also, as a long term proposition, wider, 16 inch wheels opens up a lot of tire options for ES autocross that weren't there for the NA.  I do miss being able to do the "headlight wave", though.

FiST - If I ever need to consolidate the Miata and the daily driver into a single vehicle, this will be it.  

In reply to frenchyd :

Thank you!

I don’t have the words for how you stated the E type experience.

After my time in a beautiful BRG with a warmed over 4.2 I think, the owner told me I should have driven it harder.   Then I showed him the picture that my passenger took, with a fish eye lens.  The smile on my face and the well into three figures speed said it all.

This car is at this point an older restoration that gets driven a few thousand miles per year.  I have driven more valuable cars but I was so nervous driving this due to its sheer beauty.

I think the most i was ever surprised by something that i already knew was good was just driving an 85 4Runner on the street. It was in awesome shape and looked good, and i knew i would like it, but... It was GREAT fun. You had to floor it everywhere and lean forward in the seat to reach 5th gear (manual) and it was just tons of fun feeling like i was racing everywhere. Later i bought my 87 Montero to similar effect. 

My NSX.  When I bought it I was looking at 997 turbo cabs and DB9 volantes.  The NSX is the slowest of the three, but the driving experience was just so engaging, so that what I ended up with. 

After owning it for a while now, it continues to be wonderful.  Some people bag on them for being too “normal”, and they are right, but that’s what makes them special.  They were top tier performance for their time, but also completely tame when you have to or want it to just be a normal car.  Ferraris are all fist fights and blow jobs, and that’s fine on occasion, but the NSX gives you the blowjobs without the fistfights.   

Joe Gearin said:

 

Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody----  My love for the Hellcat Widebody is no surprise to anyone on this board, and I'm not ashamed to say it.  I was able to fling this beast around the IMS infield course, and down the front straight repeatedly.  I have to admit, running fast at INDY was a bucket list item for me, but what surprised me the most was how docile the car was on the street.  It's versatility and bodaciousness make it the ultimate muscle car for me.  

 

 

While I have not driven the Hellcat Widebody, I did get to drive the Demon.  Wow, it could handle!?!?! Also did regular car with no drama.  What a nice piece of engineering.

My tubeframed MG particularly at trackdays.  Being that it was completely fabricated with a combination of legit engineering (most chassis and shock gemetry) and good enough eyeballing (conversion to Miata uprights and steering arm Ackerman) it had every reason to wind up in the letdown thread.  On the big track the lower  HP and 80" wheelbase should make it borderline terrifying, But it just works.  It's nuetral, well balanced, handles bumps well, has pretty good driveability and can chase down cars that it has no buisiness catching.  It's been reliable and fun and I love it.   

nocones said:

My tubeframed MG particularly at trackdays.  Being that it was completely fabricated with a combination of legit engineering (most chassis and shock gemetry) and good enough eyeballing (conversion to Miata uprights and steering arm Ackerman) it had every reason to wind up in the letdown thread.  On the big track the lower  HP and 80" wheelbase should make it borderline terrifying, But it just works.  It's nuetral, well balanced, handles bumps well, has pretty good driveability and can chase down cars that it has no buisiness catching.  It's been reliable and fun and I love it.   

Salute!!!

94 Miata - Bought it without a test drive. I lived in CA at the time and drove it up PCH immediately after. I absolutely fell in love  

Evo IX - the car just makes you look like a track hero regardless of your skill level

IS-F - This was one of those cars that I really liked on paper, but in the back of my mind I was always convinced that Toyota would find a way to engineer the fun out. Until this car, I had shunned anything made this millennium. 8 speeds, 4 doors, and 415hp made me a believer in modern technology. True, it isn't as crisp as the M3, but I've owned three IS-Fs, with the only issue being a $100 water pump.

GT-R - I wasn't amazed by the first few stock examples I drove. Then I got to drive one that had a full HKS kit. It erased quite a bit of the numbness, and made the car stupid fast. This was the fastest thing I'd ever driven, until a week later when I got behind the wheel of a...

Tesla Model S -  this one was "only" a P90, but after driving many, many fast cars, this one obliterated my concept of fast. 

bmw88rider said:

In reply to LanEvo :

Hush...:) I've been doing all I can not to smuggle one in and enjoy it. I really think I'll import an Evo III here in a year or 2. Be fun to drive a real one and not a USDM conversion we built in a barn. 

What really blew me away about the Evo 6 TME is that I drove it essentially back-to-back with a Ferrari 355 Challenge car. Both owned by a (very wealthy, obviously!) friend of mine.

One night we went out in his 355. It was the first Ferrari I had ever been in, let alone drove. It felt insanely fast and responsive. Coming from a 140 hp 318is, it was like a spaceship.

The next morning, he came by in his Evo 6 TME. At that point, I had no idea what an Evo was. I thought it looked ridiculous; like a cheap tuner car. I was shocked to find it did everything the Ferrari did ... but even better. Stronger brakes, better balance, better steering feel, better ergonomics, and more thrilling acceleration. And, unlike the Ferrari, it was attainable.

Early front engined Lamborghini.  That V12 had the best sound of any car I have owned and the suspension was quite capable as well.

Early AC Cobra 289 - wht a brute. The word sophistication does not belong anywhere near a description of that car.

Lotus Europa Twin Cam - best combination of power, handling and light weight of any car I have driven, sadly now pretty much forgotten by modern car fans.  Even the stock 105 bhp moved a 1600 lb. car along pretty good and a modded Twin Cam was insane.

Many people who drove regular sports cars had a sudden reveleation when they drove an under powered Sprite - bug eye or otherwise.  The steering was so fast compared to normal larger cars that you'd see people madly over correcting the first time in those cars.  Still a heck of a handling experience. Put a full house 1275 in them and they killed mush larger engined opposition on the track.

For me it was a twin charged ford gt. It was tuned for a "conservative" 1500whp. I went into the test thinking "ok, this car is a roll racing car, its going to suck on a road course". The exact opposite was true, it was like a 1500 horse elise, delicate, feelsome, predictable, adjustable, and oh-my-god accelerative. It even put power down well. What a car. New dreamcar from then on.  

In reply to calteg :

I agree about the IS-F, I was really impressed with the one I drove briefly. It did everything right.

A family friend of mine owns a Ludicrous P100D Tesla that he allowed my sister and I to drive in.

That thing is not a car- its an experience of unmitigated fury.

In high school I briefly had a 1974 AMC Matador coupe with the AMC 390 in it. That car outwardly had nothing in particular going for it,  but when you tipped in the gas at 60 and it dropped to second gear and started to pull you were going triple digits before you thought to look down. The suspension was soft, but it ate road imperfections and always felt connected. 

i started out life driving an Iron Duke 2.5 (92hp) in a FWD 80's olds. I tried at every.single.stop to get some scratch by flooring it. Never happened.

The evening I got my 2nd gen Camaro with a 350 I was taking it to the mechanic to get the safety inspection. At a stoplight on a 4 lane road I realized my lane ended and I needed to get over, presumably by passing the guy in the other lane when the light turned green. In the Olds it would have been a hope and a prayer. This time it changed my life.

will a ford aerostar  sub fram fit under  a 53 ford car

Have to second or third or whatever the Challenger.  I’m a older guy on the bigger side of the spectrum.  I drove an Scat Pac 6.4l with the 6 speed and all I could say was wow!  I’ve owned bookends of the performance spectrum from 500hp Corvettes to 1.6l Miata and I just loved everything about how the Challenger worked.  It fit me perfect, plenty of room for legs AND rear seat passengers, huge trunk, tight handling, good brakes, great power, and great sound.  I’ve seen so many on the highway and now I get it.  For me it’s the perfect cross country car, which is what I’m about these days.  I wouldn’t Autocross it, but I have no interest in Autocross.  I could drag race it if I cared to.  I’d just drive it and enjoy it.