The fun small cars thread

[54-46]

I guess this makes me a fanboi, but there's been a bmw in my stable for much of the time. Starting with a '76 2002 , most all of the 3ers have passed through.
Each iteration has been a little bigger, faster, more capable, and a little heavier.
The current whip (do we still say that?) is a 2018 440xi with most all of the m//sport and m//performance bits, and a 6 speed manual.
It's easily the fastest of any of them, the most comfortable, secure at speed, killer sound ( both exhaust and music) and gets 28 mpg. And with snows , it is unshakable in the slick, unless you turn off the electronannies, and then it is really fun.
It's also the least involving. Devoid of steering feel, it goes where you point it, and it will corner pretty well but without any sense of how it's going.
The whole car , except the engine, which is remarkable, is too digital. The automatic headlights and wipers etc. are cool. But it beeps at you when you park, it decides when the inside rear tire is spinning too much on switchbacks and when you nail the handbrake to pivot into the driveway in the snow (mrs. jummo likes this one) it politely chimes and flashes lights on the dash.
C'mon I meant to do that!
Anyway seeing all these pictures of the good ole days, made me nostalgic, but I don't mind the reliability and the heated steering wheel is nice.

jummo

Attachment 390835

^^^ This why I turned in my F30 wagon (330i xdrive) and bought an e46 wagon. Not as capable, more fun. Better steering feel and turn in. A little more care needed with oil checks and I need to install a better stereo, but more fun to drive. If I grab a manual 330i and do a swap, it could be pretty killer. Or, I could have the 325xi for the mountains and the 330i RWD manual for around town.

[BmillsSkier]

I'd like to add to the thread the fact that the 1994 Subaru Justy, in base trim (was there any other?), with a manual, owned by a high-school buddy with a sincere interest in testing the limits of its engineering, is one of the most fun cars you could ever have the pleasure of driving.

Pedal to the floor reverse donut burnouts, e-brake every. single. turn., what redline?, snow-bank hip-checks, and it's crowning achievement, 3 consecutive 4-wheels off the ground train-crossing jumps, before large, important parts of it were left on the pavement below.



You have never smiled so big, or laughed so hard, than the times you got to spend in a Subaru Justy.

[Art Shirk]

I'd like to add to the thread the fact that the 1994 Subaru Justy, in base trim (was there any other?), with a manual, owned by a high-school buddy with a sincere interest in testing the limits of its engineering, is one of the most fun cars you could ever have the pleasure of driving.

Pedal to the floor reverse donut burnouts, e-brake every. single. turn., what redline?, snow-bank hip-checks, and it's crowning achievement, 3 consecutive 4-wheels off the ground train-crossing jumps, before large, important parts of it were left on the pavement below.



You have never smiled so big, or laughed so hard, than the times you got to spend in a Subaru Justy.

We share a common Justy bond. Many good memories in my buddy's. Couldnt kill the thing.

Another great little car was the suzuki sx4. Four doors, hatch, 4wheel, manual. If I found a decent Justy or SX4 I would snatch it up just to drive around dirt roads in the area,

[Buster Highmen]

Another great little car was the suzuki sx4. Four doors, hatch, 4wheel, manual. If I found a decent SX4 I would snatch it up just to drive around dirt roads in the area,

this^

[tgapp]

We share a common Justy bond. Many good memories in my buddy's. Couldnt kill the thing.

Damn! That makes three of us now. Serious question - were any of your Justy-owning friends named Rick in Hailey, Idaho?

Some of my most fun (and consequently, most stupid) memories from highschool were rallying his Justy; very much the same stories. Endless donuts, neighborhood rally courses, and an irrigation ditch-turned-jump. After replacing the hood on it with a mismatched hood from the junkyard, Rick commissioned another friend of ours to paint the solar system on it in spray paint. It turned out about exactly as good as it sounds.

That Justy taught me just how much you can fix on a car with bailing wire.

[Ted Striker]

Change the car from Justy to 4th gen Dodge Colt (aka Mitsubishi Mirage) and same stories with my group of idiot friends.

[Art Shirk]

Damn! That makes three of us now. Serious question - were any of your Justy-owning friends named Rick in Hailey, Idaho?

Travis, Bonney Lake, WA. It was our HS ski rig. Doubled as a hotbox, which was apt considering its shape.

Anyone in NC? NCSkier perhaps. Found a lone AWD manual:

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...Type=spotlight

[bodywhomper]

I posted this picture in September when I first saw the car. California foothills. Had a crawler/bull bar in the front.

[muted reborn]

I was the only one here with a RS 2.5? Had it for 10 years - and had a lifetime of fun with it.

[Pinned]

I was the only one here with a RS 2.5? Had it for 10 years - and had a lifetime of fun with it.

I had a 2.5RS with an STi swap (6sp, EJ257 with decked 2L heads, twinscroll, etc) and a ton of suspension work done to it for about 5 years. The STi block was the third motor in that car. It was a total pain in the ass but so ridiculously fun. I'll build another one some day when I have a garage again.

[schuss]

My og fun small car was my neon R/T - close ratio box, light as hell, was super fun in the twisties.

[refried]

My first small fun car was a '74 Rabbit in '79 that I bought for a winter car, it needed an exhaust and a good buffing but after piecing together an exhaust (with a Thrush muffler) and a wet sanding it looked and sounded pretty good. With a set of Vredestein snows it was much faster and handled much better in the snow than the RWD cars my friends and I were used to driving. A few years later I picked up a diesel Rabbit and it was not nearly as much fun.
Another fun (but not so fast) car I had was a '74 Celica GT, I bought it because I wanted something with good gas mileage for trips and put a ton of miles on it without any problems.
In '87 my GF had to have a red CRX Si because the '88's had already come out finding one was almost impossible and we ended up paying too much for it but it was a great car. When I sold it it had well over 200,000 miles and still ran like new but it was getting rusty, it still looked good but when I'd jack it up it wasn't as solid as it looked.
I had a few MGB's that were fun after a little work, you could drive them flat out having a blast on small north shore roads (on Long Island) and still be driving at reasonable speeds. A friend of mine also had one and our GF's liked to go to the beach on Sunday mornings, We'd take both cars and hang out till 12 (when blue laws allowed beer sales) and take one car to Point Lookout and pick up beer and sandwiches. When we returned all the spots would be filled but we'd move one car over in it's spot and fit the second car in next to it within the lines.

[wicked_sick]

Has the Fiesta ST come up in this thread? It seems like it's worth a mention

I have one, it's definitely way too much fun to drive, even without exceeding the speed limit. I'd seen the praise online and in car magazines, and couldn't resist a test drive when I saw one in the used section of the local dealership.

30 minutes behind the wheel and I had to own it.

[Bushwacka]

I have one, it's definitely way too much fun to drive, even without exceeding the speed limit. I'd seen the praise online and in car magazines, and couldn't resist a test drive when I saw one in the used section of the local dealership.

30 minutes behind the wheel and I had to own it.

such a great car. Its shame that the Fiesta ST, Focus ST and Focus RS are now no longer sold in the USA. I wish Ford would do what VW did and only bring the fun small cars over, like how the GTI and R are the only 2022 Golfs you can buy now.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

A few years ago I was working on a remote construction job and one of the subs had to drive in with the company shitbox Fiesta. All the truck driving bros, me included, were giving him all kinds of shit, but after a few weeks of watching him rally that thing through deep mud and snow without getting stuck once, we were all pretty impressed.

[alpinevibes]

And my buddy's small car rocket. Took him almost 18 years to get his back on the road also

That thing looks great. 323 GTX were very overlooked as a Group B wannabee (and only 1243 imported) but relatively cheap to get up to 180-200hp at 2700lbs.

[BmillsSkier]

That thing looks great. 323 GTX were very overlooked as a Group B wannabee (and only 1243 imported) but relatively cheap to get up to 180-200hp at 2700lbs.

That thing looks like a hoot to drive.

Also, Refried, kudos on the CRX. As a kid that always looked like a sweet sportscar that you could take skiing/rallying. Safety regs all but killed it by the time I was old enough to drive.

[Jong Lafitte]

Lancia Integrale mentioned?

I drove an Integrale through a bunch of twisties in the Dolomites and it was AWESOME!

— no, you didn’t.

Well not me but a guy I know, him and this Integrale tore it up!!

— no they didn’t.

Well, no. But you can imagine what it would be like.

Edit: lol I didn’t see this car was getting proper respect in the car porn thread while (just before) I was posting this.

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[MarcusBrody]

This MR2 popped up on my local Craigslist.


But are you really going to trust someone who described this as a custom TIGER wrap to do an engine swap?

[Bushwacka]

This MR2 popped up on my local Craigslist.


But are you really going to trust someone who described this as a custom TIGER wrap to do an engine swap?

Thats seem way over priced.....

Not to mention you have remove the wrap.

[jono]

This MR2 popped up on my local Craigslist.


But are you really going to trust someone who described this as a custom TIGER wrap to do an engine swap?

...and who doesn't track down a 6-speed trans and proper redline engine from a Celica GTS before starting said swap? No.

[Bushwacka]

...and who doesn't track down a 6-speed trans and proper redline engine from a Celica GTS before starting said swap? No.

yep or a K-series.

With that said this is the best Mr2 made IMO. Does nt have the spooky handling of the 1st or 2nd Gen.

[riser4]

yep or a K-series.

With that said this is the best Mr2 made IMO. Does nt have the spooky handling of the 1st or 2nd Gen.

First gen cornered like they were on rails! They were like driving a motorcycle.

[riser4]

In French-speaking markets, the vehicle was renamed Toyota MR because the abbreviation "MR2" sounds like a profanity when spoken in that language.

[Buster Highmen]

MR2 de glace?