spectacle

Fast cars have their place on the road, but they limit your fun factor. My S is 400whp+ and I can't enjoy it on the street the same way I did when it was stock because there's not enough room. Short shifting everywhere makes you feel like you're doing yourself a disservice for all the money you invested, but at the same time being a stoplight warrior just begs for trouble with Johnny Law. Its a push either way you look at it, but having the best of both worlds is probably the way to go.

The Gasman

Fun to drive. I know a guy with a 1000 hp gallardo. It's cool and really really fast, but really how much of 1000 hp can you use on the streets?

vader1

Would I rather drive a Miata or a Jeep SRT8?

The Jeep performs better but I'd rather have a Miata. I don't care about winning races all the time. I like having some power to get away from an annoying person once in a while, but since my car is a commuter, I just want to enjoy driving it.

There will always be somebody faster, so why not enjoy the time in traffic?

I don't have anywhere near the power of Spectacle, but even I can't use what I have most of the time. There is always traffic, and a couple short bursts and the car is doing above 90. No reason do do that with others around.

A highway I drive to events on Friday and Saturday nights goes passed a strip where the ricers hang out on the weekends. It is not uncommon in fairly heavy traffic to see a group of WRX's coming up racing each other at 100 plus weaving in and out of traffic. They are going to kill somebody who is just minding their own business. I could see them coming up real fast one day and told my wife to hold on when one made a lane change at probably double my speed and almost clipped my bumper. Scared the crap out of my wife, and I would guess the driver too.


I think if I had a track car it would stil be the fun variety. Elise or Caterham instead of the big block variety. But its all individual opinion.

suvh8r

Who cares about winning races?

If you buy a car to "win races", and your "races" take place along side moms driving kids to day care ect, then you are a social malcontent and deserve to have your license revoked when you do get caught "racing" that 18 year old kid with a fart pipe on his civic.

If your races consist of local auto-crosses then you are probably driving something like a miata or something similar with light weight and controllable power.

If your races consist of track days then chances are your "performance" is limited by your driving skill rather than how high you can bang your speedometer down the back straight.

If your races consist of something that earns you a paycheck then chances are your car is trailered to the event and you'll probably want to drive home in comfort after being beat up for a few hours on the track.

I prefer to drive a car that is "fun to drive" and could care less if another car beats it in the 1/4 mile by .01 second (or more). If the car ceases to be fun to drive, then I'll look at alternatives.

Chris S

Well said, you beat me to it!

I have more fun overall in my Miata than in my M3..but I'm installing a Cosworth supercharger in the Miata, and hope that makes it even more fun.

Penforhire

You could just as easily say that if you need to drive a S2K on a city commute you're already a social malcontent, lol. What, not driving a Fit?

So far, my cars have to fill multiple roles. I haven't had the luxury of a dedicated winter rat, family hauler, fuel sipper, track weapon, etcetera. I'm sure my tradeoffs are not exactly the same as someone else's but I look for a blend of actual performance for the dollar and fun-to-drive.

I don't get some of the vette hate because my C5 Z06 was more fun than a barrel of monkeys to drive hard. And when I commuted it was pleasant and sedate, softer than my '01 S2K. I guess my need for a rifle-bolt shift feel isn't as high as yours. My need for G-forces, in every direction, is greater. Is a modern 911 more fun? Say it is. Is it worth 2x to 3x the price? Not to me. Was there another new car sold at $46K or less in 2003 I'd rather drive? Heck no!

i_heart_my_DB8

Fun to drive > *

I don't have anything to prove to the guy/gal in the car next to me, when I'm behind the wheel it's for my own enjoyment and I couldn't care less about 1/4 mile times or skidpad g's or track times.

Buy the car that'll put the biggest smile on your face, I say. If performance numbers do it for you, buy that. But we all know it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

ace123

Performance is often used to measure one particular element that corresponds well to fun. That's why saying 500hp / 2500 lbs gets some of us salivating. The performance communicated by those metrics sounds like fun. If that's on wood leaf springs, it would still be garbage. But IMO it doesn't sound like the OP's question is about performance vs fun, but rather, what is fun to you.

I love canyon carving, so having a car without a ton of power is ok if it has low weight, sticky tires, a good suspension, low rotational inertia etc. etc. (Hmm... what does that sound like?) I call that lot of metrics "performance" just like I call the power to weight ratio "performance." But my goals aren't as easy to achieve with one key metric, although average overall g's on a tight racetrack might be a good start. And of course we don't have good metrics for everything we like, ie steering feel.

Some people think drag racing is the most fun you can have, so fun = getting the most power to the ground, and for those of us unfamiliar with the sport, it appears raw power is the most important thing, though in reality it just plays a larger role. That seems to be what the OP is calling performance.

A die-hard drag racer with a $30k budget that needs a brand new car might have motor output dominating other metrics simply because at that price, it's the dominating metric ensuring he/she will have fun. That doesn't make him/her less objective; it's just an expression of different goals.

I think everyone that buys new sports cars for pleasure values "fun to drive" more or they would have a hard time being passionate about it. I also think "fun to drive" might mean the best power to weight ratio for my $30k to many.

Saki GT

If its not fun to drive, why drive it, no matter how fast or slow it is?

A Jeep or Land Cruiser are slow POSs in terms of performance but they are a blast to drive with the doors and roof off.

Maybe fun for some people is a quarter miles drag race.

LEE72

Road cars vs. Race cars. This is an inane argument that take place all too often.