Best/Worst car you have ever driven?

[Grayfox]

Several years back, I had a combination best and worst car. It was an old 1987 Honda Civic. It was bought as a winter beater, $100.00. This car had well over 350k on the odometer, every fluid known to man that this car had in it was leaking,the body looked like it was fresh from a Demo Derby. The hood latch was broken, in place were 2 hood pins to secure it down,the passenger side power window did not work,the windshield had a crack going all the way across it, the interior was torn, the dash cracked.It was pretty bad, but this thing ran like it was nobody's business. It got close to 30 mpg and was reliable as all get out, even on the coldest of N.E. Ohio's winter mornings, it fired right up. It never made so much as 1 tick or any type of noise from the engine, it just sat there and purred like a kitten, as smooth as silk.So why was it a best car I ever had ? I never had a car that got 30mpg, this was way to cool. I'm a truck guy, I'm used to low to mid teens as mileage, so this was kind of cool, a high mpg car that had extremely high miles on it and ran the way it did.

Thumbs up to Honda.

That is what they were like back before 2000.

Sadly you do not get this no more.

 

[SpartanG]

That is what they were like back before 2000.

Sadly you do not get this no more.

👍 back in the "old days" cars were over-engineered like nobody's business. nowadays everything is designed to meet a specific line of profit and nothing else. The engineers don't get to have fun anymore because corporate is always holding them back.

Best: my dads 2010 BMW 335d (dat torque, you could drive this car up a wall and it wouldn't even kick down a gear)
worst: 05 corolla base. The definition of appliance car. but for people who aren't into cars, it works great as transportation.

 

[motortrend]

Haven't driven many cars but the only one I haven't liked is a 1991 sentra, it used to be my mom's and it was used, the last owner smoked in it and didn't take care of it so it wasn't in a very good condition, plus I only drive it on my mom's lap using the wheel but even then I did not like that car. The best car I've driven is by far my dad's E92 M3, I just like everything about that car, just that the tranny/clutch takes a bit getting used to but since I have nothing to compare it to tranny wise it is easily the best car I've driven in each and every aspect

 

[niky]

Last time I drove a B13, it tramlined on the highway like an eel, the brakes were weaksauce and the steering had enough slop to make a Sloppy Joe look neat. There's not enough legroom to fill a suitcase, and every time I drive one, I'm conscious of the fact that if the truck driver next to me sneezes, I'm paste on the freeway, because this car has the structural rigidity of day old spaghetti.

I love them. Great little cars. Not their fault if their owners can't keep them in decent condition.

 

[Danny]

Best car I've ever driven: Daewoo Matiz
Now hear me out. On B-roads, it was the most fun I have ever had in a car. It clings onto the corners like an aggressive cat clings to your legs. It's lighter than air and felt like I was doing 10000mph all the time when it was considerably less. And it used up so little fuel doing it. Plus, the 3-cylinder engine sounds beautiful. I do miss my Kermit, although...

Worst car I've ever driven: Daewoo Matiz
On anything vaguely motorway-ish. The low weight becomes a major hinderance, and the fact it's powered by a blender makes overtaking a really optimistic idea. On particularly long journeys, your ears are subject to intense bleeding. And the seats really aren't very comfortable once you start noticing it.

Most disappointing car I've ever driven: Audi TT Semi-Quattro 225hp
It still looks incredible (1st Gen, aging much more gracefully than it's second-gen counterpart) but driving it just isn't very engaging. The low driving position is pretty fun, but there's no feel to the steering. Don't get me wrong, it's competent, but I've never had particular enjoyment from it. The Focus I own is more fun in the twisty bits and more comfortable. Luckily the TT is my mum's and she really doesn't give two hoots about the wheels only being vaguely connected to the steering wheel. The Golf platform really makes itself known. In black, with the large-option alloys on it, the looks almost make up for it. Almost.

 

[badpoet]

Best car: 63 Corvette Stingray. I've also driven several Maseratis, but they were TCs (the Chrysler LeBaron with a Maserati nametag).

Most fun cars I've owned: 1985 Dodge Shelby Charger 2.2 Turbo with performance power and logic module (which I'm not sure did much) or 1977 Firebird or 2011 Subaru Impreza. Had the Shelby Charger as my third car. While it wouldn't eat Mustangs for lunch, it could beat the automatic 5.0s in a race to 100 or so (speedometer pegged at 85 so who knows how fast it was). Firebird had a 350 in it, 4 speed on the floor. Had some rust, and someone had put the engine, tranny in, so I'm nor sure what it started it (could have been an auto on the floor for all I know). The Subaru is my current car, great in winter, corners pretty well. Could use more power but didn't want to pay the insurance for a WRX.

Worst: 1981 Buick Skylark (my first car). This had a front motor mount on the engine, which I replaced and gerry rigged numerous times. The flex from breaking it numerous times ended up damaging the front exhaust pipe, which I used JB Weld to fix like 3 times. On the upside, it lasted a year and cost me $150 plus 2 or 3 used motormounts and some washers and bolts.

Best car I've been in: 1993 (or 94) Dodge Viper, driven by the kid of an auto dealership owner.

 

[squirlybmx]

Best - My friend's F430 Scuderia. I'm waiting for his 458 to have some fun with that.

Worst - My uncles Toyota Avalon that barely had any rear suspension left, and the knock sensor was (is still) broken so whenever you'd put your foot down, the throttle cut out completely. Trying to pull around someone and pass was hilarious because you change lanes, then end up getting passed yourself.

 

[Dennisch]

Worst? Citroen 2cv. Piece of automotive crap.

Best? Mercedes S65. No words can describe it.

 

[Pgani]

The best: Peugeot 908 HDi FAP

The worst: Lotus elise sport 1998. It keeps "drifting". That car it is just pure lame.

 

[Doog]

Great news! Since my old post in this thread, I've driven two cars.

Best - Mini Cooper S '06 - Great little car to drive; everything's so tight and direct. You can be so precise with the steering, and the throttle is just right. Of course, it handles pretty good too, it's been flat through every single corner I've been through in it. The braking isn't bad either; it's very easy to come to a smooth stop. Plus, it's little, like me, so it's actually a good fit for me. So yeah, great car to drive! 👍

Worst - Toyota Highlander '06 - Simply awful to drive. You didn't really steer it, you just make suggestions, and if you're lucky, the car will go in the general direction of the input. The brakes were just awful, you had to have them nearly to the floor before any actual braking occurred. The throttle was, well, lazy. After all, this is a mid sized SUV with a little 4 cylinder, so not much acceleration. Like the brakes, the throttle was very touchy; it's either off or on. It doesn't help that the entire thing was handicapped by an ancient 4-speed automatic, which meant that it was always in the wrong gear. Revving around 4,000 rpm doing 30 on a residential street, doing 1,500 in top gear when you need to accelerate. It's also a bit stubborn when it comes to changing gears; lazy little thing. So yeah, if you want a driving experience from hell, go find someone's Highlander.

 

[Christian_C]

Worst: Ford Fiesta 2009(?) It was the car I learnt to drive in and it's just a vile thing, there's no feel at all and it might as well not have an engine as there seems to be no power what so ever across the whole rev range. Only thing redeeming is that the WRC car looks nice

Best: My CA18DET Engined AE86 It's just an amazing amount of fun and despite it being on awful tyres at the moment it still handles very well. I love this car, I don't think I've been in it and not had a smile on my face I'd like to meet whoever put the engine and gearbox in the car as they're a total genius in my eyes, it makes the thing just rocket along and the acceleration is tremendous. Sure it has its faults like it being totally battered and some very questionable wiring and attachment of certain things but I've never been in something that's been so fun, the mx-5 comes close but it's just not the same.

An extra: Original Mini I drove my friends original mini a few weeks ago and it's something everyone should do at some point, it's possibly the best fun you can have in a fwd car for the money, it handles well, it doesn't have a lot of power but as it weighs barely anything it accelerates well and it's just fun, I'd recommend driving one if you get the chance.

 

[homeforsummer]

Feel I need to alter my choices from my original post a bit, because I've driven... erm, quite a few more cars since I posted that.

Best:
Was - Audi TT-S/Mazda MX5
Now - Still the MX5 subjectively, but objectively a Jaguar XJ SuperSport. Hugely fast, supremely quiet and comfortable, and looks brilliant. You'll find a review here. Honourable mentions go to the Renault Twizy, which is great fun; the Volkswagen up!, which is hugely talented, and the Peugeot RCZ, which is as good as an Audi TT but hugely less cockish.

Worst:
Was - A knackered Citroen ZX and a knackered Toyota Prado
Now - Thanks to being reminded by Jondot earlier, I now have to give the gong to the 2010 Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 I hired a few years back. Purely as a means of transport it's okay, but to anyone who likes cars it's supremely depressing in so many areas. The steering is lousy, the gearbox has all the tactility of shaking hands with a dead guy, and the engine is gutless. I drove the new Kia Rio the other week and it hugely outclasses the Corsa in every objective measure you can come up with.

The best: Peugeot 908 HDi FAP

The worst: Lotus elise sport 1998. It keeps "drifting". That car it is just pure lame.

...We're talking about real life, rather than GT5...

 

[aadil717]

Worst: Ford Fiesta 2009(?) It was the car I learnt to drive in and it's just a vile thing, there's no feel at all and it might as well not have an engine as there seems to be no power what so ever across the whole rev range. Only thing redeeming is that the WRC car looks nice

What one did you drive? I drove my friends 1.2 Petrol and all I can say is WTF?!
Totally agree; dual carriageway, 50 MPH 4th gear, put the foot down and there is nothing - Nothing happens. I don't know who on earth made that engine match up with that gearbox but it's just ridiculous how unresponsive that car is.

 

[Christian_C]

What one did you drive? I drove my friends 1.2 Petrol and all I can say is WTF?!
Totally agree; dual carriageway, 50 MPH 4th gear, put the foot down and there is nothing - Nothing happens. I don't know who on earth made that engine match up with that gearbox but it's just ridiculous how unresponsive that car is.

I don't know exactly as I never really got to ask/look as to which one it was

All I know is that it seemed to have no power at all and gear ratios that were massively too long, the little green shift up light (that seemed to come on at 3k rpm) on the dash used to annoy me as I was never allowed to rev beyond that unless I was going up a hill or coming onto a dual carriageway. I presume it was the petrol I drove and I wasn't impressed, the focus I was given for my first few lessons was a much better car.

The steering feel was what put me off most, it was far too light and just made me feel disconnected from the road.

 

[Famine]

I don't know exactly as I never really got to ask/look as to which one it was

All I know is that it seemed to have no power at all and gear ratios that were massively too long, the little green shift up light (that seemed to come on at 3k rpm) on the dash used to annoy me as I was never allowed to rev beyond that unless I was going up a hill or coming onto a dual carriageway. I presume it was the petrol I drove and I wasn't impressed, the focus I was given for my first few lessons was a much better car.

The steering feel was what put me off most, it was far too light and just made me feel disconnected from the road.

I can help narrow it down for you.

the little green shift up light (that seemed to come on at 3k rpm)

That'll be the Fiesta ECOnetic.

 

[Pupik]

I'm not going to overthink this thread, because there's a lot of cars out there I've driven, some magic stuff for just a few miles (or less), and lot of things that are probably really awful, but I'd grown to enjoy (but the purists probably think is crap).

Worst: Chevy Impala 1999-current.

Large, lethargic, feels like you're stepping on a rock when you accelerate. Mushy brakes, numb steering, doesn't handle any body motion reactions performed even under local speed limits, let alone over them. Looks dull, acts dull, feels dull and completely uninspiring to my emotions. This car has no interesting nor bizarre feature that makes you curious about it. It's passionless, which makes it perfect as a hearse for deceased exponents of public transportation and those who despise anything automotive. In return, it's compassionless, it seems to have a aura of not giving any care to whether you like to use an Impala for lawn decorations, permanently holding parking spaces, or if you needed a large paperweight. The shifted gate refuses to tell you what gear range you're in, and the lever has a selector switch in the middle, for some mutant race of humans where a thumb might be grafted if your middle finger was suddenly divinely detached due to petulant overzealous usage. Everything slides around in the trunk, and everyone slides around in their seats, no matter how you drive. Engine does a lousy aural impersonation of Corvette, accelerates as a Chevette. Visually boring to the point of ugly, and they mechanically fall apart internally at about 100k miles. I even deserve be pulled over by law enforcement officers who are forced to drive them for work, because it's unfair that tax money is squandered on these rolling penalty boxes, and that they're forced to spend 40 hours a week driving them. It's the definition of surplus; it even unset my alarm clock and stole my keys when I was running late one morning. Rental fleets love them, and I sadly have to drive one roughly once every four months.

 

[homeforsummer]

I was never allowed to rev beyond that unless I was going up a hill or coming onto a dual carriageway.

You do realise you're allowed to rev beyond what the shift light advises?

There aren't many cars these days without some sort of shift indicator. If you heed their advice they're usually pretty good for improving economy, but you are free to ignore them...

 

[Christian_C]

You do realise you're allowed to rev beyond what the shift light advises?

There aren't many cars these days without some sort of shift indicator. If you heed their advice they're usually pretty good for improving economy, but you are free to ignore them...

I'm well aware I can rev past that point (I regularly redline my cars), the problem was, it was my instructors car and as such I had to drive it as he told me to drive, by shifting up at the point the green light came on.

Oh and thanks Famine

 

[Kylehnat]

Worst: Chevy Impala 1999-current.
...
[It SUCKS]
...

That's the #2 worst car that I've driven (a 2007 model, I think). It only avoided being my #1 because the PT Cruiser is a lot uglier. Rental cars are Hell, aren't they?

 

[homeforsummer]

That's the #2 worst car that I've driven (a 2007 model, I think). It only avoided being my #1 because the PT Cruiser is a lot uglier. Rental cars are Hell, aren't they?

Rental cars are only ever limited by how fast you can drive them I did the PCH in a PT. The briskly-driven Audi S4 cabrio I was following eventually gave up and let me past when he couldn't lose me... and I had a passenger and a holiday's worth of luggage in the back.

I didn't really find the PT too bad, hopeless engine/trans combo aside (seriously, if that thing has 140hp I'd love to know what about 70 of those horses are actually doing). Certainly driven a lot worse. Like the aforementioned Corsa.

 

[hawkeye122]

Worst car ever? Mid 90's ford Explorer. For a V8, it was remarkably slow, felt unstable in the snow (More so than say... a Jeep, or a 4Runner), took forever to make up its mind what gear to be in, leaned way to far on the corners, had terrible seats... It was bad.

Best car I've driven? My mates Mustang. I think its an '06, but it's the California Special. Has racing exhaust, Racing suspension, and road legal Track tires. That was fun. And it makes a lovely noise.

 

[niky]

Little chance the Impala is worse than the Aveo. Horrid handling, worse ride, even worse performance and monumentally bad fuel eocnomy? It's got it all!

 

[Pupik]

Little chance the Impala is worse than the Aveo. Horrid handling, worse ride, even worse performance and monumentally bad fuel eocnomy? It's got it all!

The Aveo wasn't terribly impressive, but it did have a few charms:

1) V-rated tires and defeatable stability control. That's a start; it wasn't exactly a diamond in the rough, but it was more nimble than I thought it would be.

2) The rental I had was optioned-out. It had a sunroof.

3) Meh fuel economy, but I usually hammer my rentals (except where there's snowfall). I got only 28 mph out of a Fiat 500, and I only turned on the A/C for a few miles, although I also found the Sport button helpful when merging into traffic.

4) Didn't seem to complain like many rental cars pushed about. Mitsubishi Galant, anyone?

Drawbacks were that it acted like a $10,000 car (no big surprise there), it's muddled looking, and people wonder why the heck you chose an Aveo. I defended it for a week (after all, I said no to the Impala that week, and that was rest of the small-town fleet...I'd already pseudo-rally-crossed what was probably same white Impala the week before [can't always trust Google Maps, what appeared to be a weathered pavement road surface was actually gray-colored gravel]). Interior looked like that of a 20-year-old econobox.

It's not to be confused with any of the Mazda 3's I've been asking for lately, that's for certain.

 

[Anna+Reece]

So I drove a Nissan Juke.

It's high on my list of best cars. The one I drove was an AWD Auto, which was still fun. I had it in sequential mode the whole time. It had a surprising amount of torque, sounded decent, and cornered surprisingly well.

 

[Joey D]

Really? I thought the Juke was one of the worse vehicles I've ever driven. It's hideously under-powered and the CVT leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Pupik]

I think Nissan probably does the best job with the CVT...but unfortunately, it's still a CVT. You can mimic some ratios with some of their gear rang selectors, which sort of helps out. And the throttle response for more power isn't the paperwork-induced delay like a Toyota's CVT nor the limited feeling I've felt driving the Audi Multitronic CVTs (Help me...I'm installed in the wrong type of car!), for comparison's sake.

Some of the Altimas I've driven with it aren't really that bad, the brakes just feel vague and devoid of pressure feedback when coupled with a continuously variable transmission.

If I see a Juke in the rental lots, I'll give it a twirl, but I imagine it's a little too odd-looking to wind up in most rental fleets, and I haven't worked at a Nissan dealer in ages.

 

[savage388]

I think Nissan probably does the best job with the CVT...but unfortunately, it's still a CVT. You can mimic some ratios with some of their gear rang selectors, which sort of helps out. And the throttle response for more power isn't the paperwork-induced delay like a Toyota's CVT nor the limited feeling I've felt driving the Audi Multitronic CVTs (Help me...I'm installed in the wrong type of car!), for comparison's sake.

Some of the Altimas I've driven with it aren't really that bad, the brakes just feel vague and devoid of pressure feedback when coupled with a continuously variable transmission.

If I see a Juke in the rental lots, I'll give it a twirl, but I imagine it's a little too odd-looking to wind up in most rental fleets, and I haven't worked at a Nissan dealer in ages.

Do you just rent cars for fun or do you travel a lot? You talk about it plenty an it sounds pretty interesting to run around in different cars all the time.

 

[Pupik]

Do you just rent cars for fun or do you travel a lot? You talk about it plenty an it sounds pretty interesting to run around in different cars all the time.

I travel a lot for work, and rent cars about 40 weeks a year.

It's half Gran Turismo 3 prize-car mystery, other half leftover blah cars. On occasion, I'll scan the lot and ask for something different for a change; if I'm running a hour late from some flight issue, then you just take what you get...I also can't go over a certain limit, so I can't suddenly run up a $500 weekly rental bill when everyone else has something that cost half of that. And the smaller the town/airport, the more restrictive your choices are (although it usually doesn't cost as much).

I do get a little geeked at guessing what I'm going to drive!

 

[Blackbird.]

Best: 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo: Gobs of ridiculous power. Accelerates like crazy and is loads of fun to take corners aggressively. Oh, and it scares the **** out of me.

Worst: 1999 Honda Odyssey ... kind of self explanatory. -_-

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Best: Ponty GTO '68 4 Speed Coupe.(still driving it) a lot of poooowweeerrr(Clarkson reference) and A LOT OF NOISE.

Worst: Dad's Mercury Cougar XR-7 '68. NO WHERE NEAR AS EXCITING AS MY PONTY.. still a great car.