Ever Drive a Phenominal Car and Not Like It?

I was instructing at a PCA event this past weekend and I drove a few laps in their bone stock BMW M4.  It's a phenomenal car, gobs of torque, nicely balanced and supremely comfortable...............yet I didn't like it.

Part of the problem I suspect is me; I don't like heavily boosted brakes and I found the steering a bit lacking in feel. I only did three laps but I had the front wash on me a couple of times. Driving it did give me a better appreciation for the driver (we were working on trail braking & throttle steering)

Mostly it's down to it being a big car by my standards. Again it is a phenomenal car, consider they driver the car 300 mile to the event, ran it round and then drove home again. Also unlike a track rat I'm sure they weren't friend when the got home.

I should like the car (comfy car you can track) but I just don't.................

Maybe this is not phenomenal or a track car but since I couldn't fit into my rental Camaro Hertz had two years ago I took the Jaguar XF for 2 days.  

I had high expectations for a car pushing $50k.  Give me a 6 or 8 cylinder for this price rather than a 2.0 liter turbo engine.   Inside not better than an Impala.  It was a nice ride but I didn't feel set apart driving a Jaguar.   

I was left unmmoved by my drives of both a first-gen NSX and an FD RX7. And a first-gen Boxster. And when I think about it, an S2000.

They all had the same problem. They needed room to play. You couldn't do anything interesting or memorable with them on the street and they didn't have enough other notable characteristics to make up for it. The E39 M5 needs room to really play but when it's not being a complete nutter it's a great GT that cossets you and you can feel the potential lurking underneath. So it is not disappointing.

I drove a GTR recently, it felt slow. And I know that's crazy, considering how much power it has, but honestly it felt slow. I'm wondering if it was the long gearing?

Yes I’ve definitely had that experience, with a Cayman S. I left feeling meh.

I think it’s the things Keith mentioned, as well as expectations. Sometimes low expectations help. 

I had an opportunity to drive a Mercedes SL55 AMG on an autocross-like test course at one of the Mitties. The phrase "You can't make a race horse out of a pig, but you can make a very fast pig" pretty much summed it up. That would have been completely expected and forgivable in a two ton, four door sedan. But if I were in the market for a two seat sports car, I want the race horse. AMG's magic could not hide that this weighed as much as a Chevy Caprice, and quite frankly, I'd prefer seeing a Caprice built to that level. Mostly because nobody would expect it.

I had a Pete - like moment in a C5. After having driven it for 4 years. 

Awesome car, but it turns out I really just prefer smaller, lighter 4 cylinder powered everyday cars

This will depend on your definition of what makes a car phenomenal, because the Prius by most any definition is a phenomenal car - it does exactly what it is supposed to with aplomb, it is the most important and defining vehicle of the last 20 years and continues to be that. I do not like them. 

Others, more in line with what you're probably thinking: 

• The Frisbee twins have left me disappointed each and every time I've driven one. 
• I have not liked any VW or Audi product that I have driven, with the single exception of an Audi 90. And this includes various generations of GTI, a Passat, A4, S4, A6 etc. They just don't feel right to me.
• The automatic First-Gen TSX is a tremendous car, with a really, really good automatic. I grew so bored with it so quickly. I kept with it for a while just out of knowledge of the fact that it was a really, really good car. I just didn't like it.

Ditto on "room to play". One day I had the good fortune of driving both a 350 HP air-cooled Porsche 911 and a late model GT3 version. I got to absolutely flog both cars on ideal twisty roads, but the GT3 was overly wide and.....uninterested, whereas the older Porsche was as excited as I to be driving that road.

I'd imagine that a Lambo would be the epitome of the "uninterested car" until it got to the track. Around town it would suck.

Crappy shift feel has killed a LOT of cars I was otherwise excited about: E46 M3, C5 vette, Vipers, the older Mustang Cobra...on and on. I just can't get onboard with a car that feels like I'm stirring porridge every time I shift 

E-type.

Never meet your heroes.

The Austin Healey 3000 is a far better car in my opinion.

I bought and drove an 01 986s, after about a year and a half I sold it and went back to a mki rabbit. At this later stage I think I'd be ok with it but I wanted something more visceral and my rabbit was that.

I've driven a few E36 M3's, and was not super impressed.  Same goes for C5 Corvettes.

I drove one of the first Vipers that came out.

Meh...I felt that the car was trying too hard to be something over the top. 

I drove a friends R34 GT-R with Nismo N1 turbos and a few other nice mods.  It was pretty meh, and I wouldn't not want one after driving it.  Very Nice car though.

A few years ago a dude brought a new i8 to an autocross school and I took it for a couple of runs.   Just terrible, even with all the M settings dialed up to 11 it was sluggish and dull.  (And two seconds slower than an ES Miata).

The best parallel I can offer is while I acknowledge that various super models are stunningly beautiful I don't find them attractive; sure I will sleep with them because I'm a whore. So along that train of thought, I may not have warmed up to the M8 but if you offered it up for the weekend I'd happily drive it even though I'd much rather spend the day the girl next store Miata / Datsun.

Tom1200 said:

I was instructing at a PCA event this past weekend and I drove a few laps in their bone stock BMW M4.  It's a phenomenal car, gobs of torque, nicely balanced and supremely comfortable...............yet I didn't like it.

Part of the problem I suspect is me; I don't like heavily boosted brakes and I found the steering a bit lacking in feel. 

I think it is more than a bit lacking. BMW used to be very good about this sort of thing. When they built the Z4M, they created a totally new hydraulic power steering system in place of the regular Z4 which was electric and lacked feel and feedback. 

On the M4 they just didn't bother and your comment has been repeated by other owners that are familiar with more responsive models, the M4 feels relatively dead in the steering department.

For example https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1243347

For me it was the Focus RS. Joel was talking about them and the local Ford dealer happened to not only have one but had a salesman I personally knee so driving it was a possibility.  Everyone who drives them loves them. I didn't appreciate it. Fast? Yep. Twitchy and uncomfortable? Double yep. I wasn't their target customer and they nailed it. This coming from a guy who was driving a Cruze 1.4T but was seriously car shopping and ended up in a Wrangler Unlimited. Wife liked the looks and size of the Focus and we bought a SE. Worst car ever. But I only blame the transmission part on Ford, the rest was buying an economy car and asking it to handle country roads, teenagers and hard driving. All cars tend to fail those tests. 

On the flip side I also drove the Focus ST WITHOUT the fancy seats and it was a dream compared to it's older sibling. Not back to back, but my kidneys and pucker hole still remembered the RS. 

S2000.  Didn't do anything for me.  I'd rather have a Miata.  It felt rather dull and unresponsive.   C5 Corvette.  The Z06 is fast, but to me it's like driving a car full of hatred and self loathing.  The interior is a terrible place to spend time.  

To the M4 comment, BMW has lost the plot in terms of steering feel.  I'd give up a few horses and mpgs to get a good rack with feel.  Of course I think electric power steering has killed it for most brands.  

Tom1200 said:

BMW M4 ... I didn't like it.

I was invited to the launch event for the M2 at Lime Rock in 2015 or so. They brought along the M3 and M4 (and also some jacked up SUV that I didn't care about and don't remember).

Anyway, driving the three cars back-to-back I was struck by how epically awful the M4 was. The M4 had zero steering/braking feel and wooden suspension. You put it into a corner and it's understeer --> snap oversteer. Impossible to find the limit.

Weirdly, the M4 was substantially worse than the M3, which should be (theoretically) the exact same car in 4-door format. The M3 was still dull and lacking in feel, but at least you could kind of tell what the rear was doing.

The M2 was a revelation in comparison. Still had grabby brakes and binary throttle (like most modern cars), but there was reasonable steering feel. And the rear of the car could be pushed around without much drama. The damping felt pretty good as well, especially compared to the bouncy Conestoga wagon suspension on the M4.

Anyway, the contrast between the M2 and the others was very stark. But the M4 was a real outlier: utter trash to drive. Amazing how BMW's M division managed to get it so wrong.

Well, this will date me, but...

Porsche 944S. I was driving a '86 Audi GT coupe at the time and a co-worker picked up the Porsche and tossed me the keys. I was expecting some handling marvel that made great sounds. It did not impress. At. All. I wouldn't have traded my Audi for it.

The 3.7 Mustang I drove was certainly faster than my 4.0 with the additional 90 hp but it felt very vanilla.

I too drove a Viper and thought, "Meh".  More of an attention getting statement than a great car.

Pretty much most American V-8 so-called 'sports cars' like the Camaro and Corvettes leave me feeling like I'm spending far more effort managing weight than having fun.

But...the Porsche 911...in a 2.7, Weber carb version...I totally get 911s now. The newer pasteurized ones don't do it for me though.

+1 on the Viper.

Drove an early Viper at Mosport maybe 20 years ago. Felt gigantic with lots of grip, but floppy. Very hard to feel what was going on.

Then again, it was a student's car and I was driving at 7/10ths. Maybe they come to life when pushed harder? I know lots of people track them (and they did have a successful racing program) so they can't be that bad, can they?

In reply to ddavidv :

Comparing Audi to Porsche is like dating  dizygotic twins and somehow thinking they will be different. It is all VAG in the end. 

An Audi RS7 was probably my biggest disappointment.  It's fast, it handles decently (from the short time I had to play with it) and it's got plenty of grip.  But it's like driving a video game more than a car.  The steering has good weight, but it's numb.  The brakes are annoyingly grabby at anything under 80.  And honestly, if you're not being irresponsible with the throttle in a high speed sweeper or coming up to a BMW on the highway, putting your foot down and blowing past at 100+, it's downright boring.