Awesome Cars That Leave You Cold.

I was at a PCA track day last Saturday and there were a slew of awesome cars there but regardless of price there were several I have know deisre to ever own.

C8s are probably top of the list. These are phenomenal cars; my friends who are instructors at the Corvette school at Spring Mtn Motorsports say they are one of the easiest cars to drive fast they've ever driven. 

There were some BMW M5s pitted near me; another great car & on track they maneuvered like no 4000lb car has a right to........not interested in those either.

End of the day I'd be more jazzed about driving a Formula Ford or 80s 911.

So are there some amazing cars out there that just leave you cold?

Vipers. I like the fact that they are fast and crude, no traction control, etc. But the looks have never done much for me, and they sound like a UPS truck.

Focus RS. Drove one and it turned me off, completely. I did 8 autocross runs in it, never really felt comfortable with it or had any idea what the car was doing and what it wanted me to do, then I hopped in a Focus ST and was immediately 1.5 seconds faster on the first run.

Pretty much anything Porsche. I just have zero interest in that brand. I look at their cars and really feel nothing towards them.

Anything new enough to have EFI. That's roughly when character and emotion took a back seat to wind tunnels and performance statistics.

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

Anything new enough to have EFI. That's roughly when character and emotion took a back seat to wind tunnels and performance statistics.

That's funny, it's literally my exact opposite.. I think old carbed cars are neat, and I'm glad people maintain them, but after working on my tractors and such I have no desire to own one.

NickD said:

Focus RS. Drove one and it turned me off, completely. I did 8 autocross runs in it, never really felt comfortable with it or had any idea what the car was doing and what it wanted me to do, then I hopped in a Focus ST and was immediately 1.5 seconds faster on the first run.

Pretty much anything Porsche. I just have zero interest in that brand. I look at their cars and really feel nothing towards them.

Hard disagree on the second one.   I was driving a GT3 RS Weissach package this past weekend on track, I'd choose that any day over the V10 Lambos, and probably even over the Ferrari 488 GTB...

In the spirit of the thread, though, the new GTRs just haven't ever done it for me. I've been in a few on track and although they're technologically great, they're kinda numb. 

4th gen supras fall into that category. I know, I know, "2JZ yo!"but they're heavy understeery pigs that are great in a straight line from a roll. 

Almost all supercars made in the modern era. Also almost anything with a high beltline (Talking to you, Camaro). My favorite cars have large greenhouses. If I had to pick one above all it would be the Nissan GT-R. Completely unimaginative styling and too much chunky mass. 

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

I drove a GT3-RS a few years ago and it was nothing short of phenomenal. I'd likely buy a single seat sports racer like an SCCA P1 car instead (heck of a lot cheaper).

I once got to drive both a Mercedes SL55 AMG and a C55 AMG on an autocross course. The C55 was perfect. The SL55? It accelerated like a rocket and had lateral grip to match. But the first thing that came to mind was the saying "You can't make a race horse out of a pig, but if you try hard, you can make a very fast pig." And AMG had delivered a fast pig. The driving dynamics would have been awesome in some other cars in the SL55's weight class, like a '90s era Chevy Caprice. But this was a two seat convertible.  Fast two seat convertibles should be race horses. This was a two ton roadster, and AMG's magic couldn't hide that.

R35 GTR, if there was a superhero who was an accountant as their day job, it's what they would drive. 

Newer Ferraris and Lamborghinis and such cars.  They have an "ohhh"  and "awww" factor, but other than that Meh.

Audi D3 and D4 A8s come to mind as being very bland "riders cars." No joy or fun from the drivers' seat, although lovely and comfy in the back.

BMW E46 M3 is hailed by many as the best M3. Yuck. Let's fill all the controls with gum. Connect the throttle to the engine with a walkie talkie. Give it a steering wheel like a baseball bat.

NickD said:

Focus RS. Drove one and it turned me off, completely. I did 8 autocross runs in it, never really felt comfortable with it or had any idea what the car was doing and what it wanted me to do, then I hopped in a Focus ST and was immediately 1.5 seconds faster on the first run.

I've only driven each ~5 miles on the street. I first drove the ST. Loved the solid mid range torque. A little torque steer and push to remind me it's FWD. Felt light, fast and scary. Then that friend sold the ST for an RS. Felt numb and heavy and soft like a Grand Tourer.

Maybe it's the fact that they are just so far outside of what my budget could ever dream to be, but Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mclarens, Paganis, Bugattis, and all those types of cars just don't excite me.  They're neat and all, but I just can't drag myself into being at all interested in them.

Honda S2000's. Our shop used to build them when SCCA T3 was a thriving class. I do like the F20C and F22C engine, the 6-speed transmission was like butter to shift and I like the look of the car. But, when you put all of the pieces and parts together, I always thought it made for a terrible diving experience on the street. No interior room, absolutely no interior storage space, a droning exhaust note when at steady rpm and annoying yet wonderful VTEC. It's great on track but sucks on the street. I shouldn't complain as we built and sold a dozen of these T3 cars over the years and maintained several for customers, so they were good for business, but I'd take an NA or NB Miata any day as a DD. Just my opinion.

wae said:

Maybe it's the fact that they are just so far outside of what my budget could ever dream to be, but Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mclarens, Paganis, Bugattis, and all those types of cars just don't excite me.  They're neat and all, but I just can't drag myself into being at all interested in them.

Same for me. Had someone once ask me if I was a "car guy". When I said yes, he proceeded to go on an on and on (very excitedly) about someone he knew who had those kind of supercars. He seemed confused when my only response to his 5 minute monologue was "hey, good for him!"

All muscle cars - which also covers anything American made without much muscle.

Big barges where handling (and on some, braking) was secondary to making lots of noise and smoke.

I owned one (inherited it) a very rare (30 made) Pontic 455 HO convertible which made lots of noise, burned lots of rubber but wouldn't brake or handle its way around a race track to save itself (and I tried it around our local road course just to give it a fair chance).

I second the mention of Vipers and early Corvettes, but admire the late Corvettes that are very competent cars (though I doubt that I'd own one).

911. All years. It does nothing for me. They are obviously great cars, and people gush about them, but I feel nothing stirring. If I don't feel that twinge of cool,  I'm not interested.

In reply to wae :

I'm the same - no interest from me but show me a 3-cylinder car that has 100hp/cylinder and I'm jacked up.  

$45,000 Corolla?  Shoot - that's the paint upgrade on that Lamborghini. 

Been around some really cool stuff a lot of it sucks

The F40 is a Italian made kit car and is horrible to drive anywhere on the street. 

Vipers sound like a UPS truck getting sucked off by a tuba and again don't belong on the street in most peoples hands. I say that having owned several. 

The 911/959 is actually pretty boring in person. 

The STI is quite possibly the worst Subaru made today and the WRX is the better car by far, especially the last generation. 

Miata's.  There, I said it.  I don't fit in them, they're slow and I don't find them charming at all.  Much rather have a Boxster S.

Any of the super cars, I'm just not a fan of the Lambo's, McLaren's, etc.    Any BMW newer than the E46/E39 generation.  They're numb to drive and constantly broken with big, expensive problems.

Ban the Doc. 

Minor thread-jack: is there a way to make a Viper sound good? Besides LS swap, I mean.

Viper for me too. Just not interested.

Mustangs of any flavour. They all feel cheap and clunky. I restored a GT500KR and it was just meh. The Duster 340 we did felt way faster.

Vintage 911. Can't get past floor hung pedals. Feel like a tarted up VW.

ShawnG said:

Feel like a tarted up VW.

Shhh... cause it is.