The fun small cars thread

[dan_pdx]

When I lived in Seattle in the early oughts, I had a Japanese friend who bought an S2000 to drive while he was in grad school. He liked to haul ass and at one point got pulled over by a helicopter. Apparently they spotlighted him and used an external speaker to order him to pull over, then a cop car showed up and wrote him a fat ticket. He was delighted about the whole thing, said he could never experience that in Japan and it was well worth the cost of the ticket. He went back to Japan, I wonder how he's doing now.

[::: :::]

i cant seem to find it right now, but i recently saw an article online that id'ed the vehicles most likely to be ticketed with moving violations (don't hold me to that specifically...reckless driving?)

number 1 vehicle?

miata

[BmillsSkier]

I do think that the revvy-ness of small cars is something that I like. It just makes driving subjectively more fun. It's why I don't want a car with too much power as I want to be able to run up the revs and shift a few times at reasonable speeds.

I think it’s been scientifically proven that 300hp / 300torques is the sweet spot. You can use all of it, it’s still fast/quick, and you will enjoy the shit out of it.

[mud]

It would have to be a kit but I always wanted one, Had a chance to drive the Superformance version and almost blew out my eardrums over the engine noise. I'm not one to blow cash on cars, maybe when I'm older and don't care anymore I'll pick one up.

[liv2ski]

I don't know what it is but it says Shelby and that works for any boy racer.

[mud]

Shelby Daytona. It was the red headed middle kid between the Cobra and the GT40.

[JayPowHound]

my first car was a manual '93 Celica GT-S. So much fun, I still miss it.

[Benny Profane]

Pfffft. Caterham. 1000 pounds. Nuff said.

[grabtindy]

The GTI is another one I've thought about and would make a lot of sense. How do you feel the handling is with the FWD? I've had small hatchbacks before (a Honda Fit which did love), but they weren't performance oriented so I don't really have a sense of how FWD cars set up for performance handle.

There's no getting around that it's FWD. The electric diff up front does an admirable job controlling understeer and helping it pull out of corners. It's a well balanced car and I can eke some oversteer out of it if I get creative, but it will never have the traction off the line or throttle steering that a rwd or even awd car has. Braking and turn-in are top notch.

[scmartin69]

I've been lusting after a Cayman for months, someday. It's not Miata small, but I love my GTI. Turn in is great and it's still utilitarian.
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Buddy has an R32 that he let me drive a few times, fucking rocket ship!

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[tgapp]

I'll play.

We had this as our beach car for many years, a 1994 Mazda Miata M edition in "Merlot" that my Dad bought for my mom one day as a surprise. 5 speed manual and a total hoot to drive. The BBS wheels were a grippy addition out of the factory.

Sold it in 2007 when another car took its place to some guy out of Maine with only 10k miles on it who was apparently a bit of a collector of M-Miatas; he was ecstatic.

Damn, Bmills! I'm a long time Miata owner ('96 Laguna blue) that also had to sell a few years back. I miss my mx-5 every day. Dogs and a wife and living in the mountains make it less than practical, but they're fantastic cars. Love that '94 Merlot!!

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[adrenalated]

Mini Cooper S deserves to be in here. My brother had a first gen (supercharged) one and it was a blast to drive. Too bad they had BMW (lack of) reliability.

[Buster Highmen]

This was pretty fun to drive for the past 3 years. Recently sold it though.

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Porsche makes a Pio Speciale

[Benny Profane]

Mini Cooper S deserves to be in here. My brother had a first gen (supercharged) one and it was a blast to drive. Too bad they had BMW (lack of) reliability.

I had one. Excellent fun car that you could also drive in winter and held a lot of stuff. I miss it

[Buster Highmen]

1971 BMW 2002


1969 Datsun 2000


1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT with a rebuilt 1750

[jmedslc]

I got a couple. Ups holiday driver showed up in this, decked out with snow tires - delivers!

[jmedslc]

The 2008 Subaru Forester XT sports 5mt turbo cannot be denied as an extremely fun canyon car. Shreds pow taboot!

[Buzzworthy]

Mini Cooper S deserves to be in here. My brother had a first gen (supercharged) one and it was a blast to drive. Too bad they had BMW (lack of) reliability.

Got one for my daughter this summer. 2005 Mini Cooper S. Thing is an absolute blast to drive. Kiddo thinks so too!



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[chicken feathers]

1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT with a rebuilt 1750

Oh yeah, saw a similar one this summer.

A few months ago there was some sort of classic euro car rally that passed through for a few days. The commute home from work was fun trying to keep up with classic Ferraris and Porsches.

[MarcusBrody]

I was in a Mini Cooper over the summer. I liked the seating position as a tall person and it had good shift feel.

[riser4]

A buddy's mom had an MR-2. That thing should have been illegal. Holy shit. He beat the piss out of it. I don't think I've ever driven anything quite like it. Cornered better than a lot of motorcycles. And you could wind that thing up all crazy on the tach. Last I heard of it his stepfather didn't know why the clutch was burnt out. Again.

[riser4]

When I lived in Seattle in the early oughts, I had a Japanese friend who bought an S2000 to drive while he was in grad school. He liked to haul ass and at one point got pulled over by a helicopter. Apparently they spotlighted him and used an external speaker to order him to pull over, then a cop car showed up and wrote him a fat ticket. He was delighted about the whole thing, said he could never experience that in Japan and it was well worth the cost of the ticket. He went back to Japan, I wonder how he's doing now.

LOL

[riser4]

I drove a few mid 80s VW GTIs that belonged to other people and those were fun.

[Bushwacka]

The GTI is another one I've thought about and would make a lot of sense. How do you feel the handling is with the FWD? I've had small hatchbacks before (a Honda Fit which did love), but they weren't performance oriented so I don't really have a sense of how FWD cars set up for performance handle.

A well set up FWD car with a limited slip can handle very well. The real issue with the exception of 88-00 Civics and 90-01 Intgera is lack of double wishbone suspension which leads to excessive Camber loss in corners. GTI feels really good till you compare them to a "Golden" Era Honda.



I am going to pick up my old car next spring. I finally bought it back^

[chicken feathers]

Alpine A110

Lancia Stratos


Of course I've never owned any of the cars I've posted