Most entertaining street car?

I guess "fun" is relative. If taking a highway on-ramp in the rain at 80mph is fun, or doing hilly backroads in the snow is fun, then the WRX is fun. It isn't, however, a car that is "always on the edge" like many older sportscars were, if that's what "fun" is to someone.

Fiat ABARTH

In reply to irish44j:

Good points all...

I think one of the big things is that the 2002 made me grin even when I was just burbling along, nowhere near any kind of edge.

Fun's not just relative, but comes in many flavors to boot...

The WRX's effortless thrust is fun, and the ability to hit an onramp with the throttle buried in the wet and it just goes where you point it... that's fun, too.

When I get the 2002 back together, that will probably remind me how much fun it was to have a seriously quick car whose defrost worked very well...

So far, the most "entertaining" street car I've owned/driven has been my '64 Mini. It's quick enough to keep up with regular traffic (although some more off-line oomph would be nice), handles pretty well (still getting used to it) and RHD adds another level of fun. I had a good time with it doing parade laps at WGI during the vintage festival, but I don't know how good of a track car it'd be without a good bit more power and taller gearing.

The Mini would be a wearing DD, tho.... if that is part of the equation... and any sort of modern amenities are basically non-existent. A/C? Ha! The car doesn't even really have heat! At least the GT6 has a rear window defroster.

My '03 TDI wagon is still fun on the street in a "slow-car-fast" kinda way... Since I'm getting ready to take it apart for some long overdue service, it might get some power and suspension upgrades...

Personally, I don't find my E30 very entertaining at all... hence why I never drive it (even when it wasn't broken... which is perpetually...).

I've been pondering a replacement for the E30 for awhile now since I need something to drive while the TDI is down. Unfortunately, the ITR I was thinking about sold while I was procrastinating... so that's out. Been debating another E36 M3... It's a car I know how to work on... and they seem to be reasonably cheap. Cheap enough that I'd consider rallycrossing one... (I'm looking at you irish! ) I like MINI's and I know them really well, but any version I'd want to buy (late R53 factory JCW) would be about 2x the price of the M3...

ransom wrote: In reply to irish44j: Good points all... I think one of the big things is that the 2002 made me grin even when I was just burbling along, nowhere near any kind of edge. Fun's not just relative, but comes in many flavors to boot... The WRX's effortless thrust *is* fun, and the ability to hit an onramp with the throttle buried in the wet and it just goes where you point it... that's fun, too. When I get the 2002 back together, that will probably remind me how much fun it was to have a seriously quick car whose defrost worked very well...

While the e30 is fun, it's a bit too planted to be truly exciting. The e21 (with M42 swap) that I'm building now should solve that problem :)

Ian F wrote: I've been pondering a replacement for the E30 for awhile now

I can't ever remember you NOT pondering a replacement for the e30, haha...

irish44j wrote:

Ian F wrote: I've been pondering a replacement for the E30 for awhile now

I can't ever remember you NOT pondering a replacement for the e30, haha...

I've been pondering it since the day I bought it... actually before I bought it when the g/f said, "you're not going to RACE this car, are you??" ...but that's a too-well-worn story...

Skinny tires, enough power to make it interesting and very predictable is fun to me.

My first E21 was a blast. With the lsd it was almost telepathic. I had huge fun in a '76 Cutlass, built Olds 350, very loud and obnoxious, no steering feel and wallowed around like a drunk but it put a huge grin on my face when roaring through the back roads of south eastern Ohio.

hmmm... doesn't everyone in here kinda think their car is the most entertaining street car???

It is part of why we continue to "develop" our cars... isn't it???

<--- The most entertaining street car I have ever had, but it took 5 years to get it that way.

I had a friends miata on C71's for a week and it was fun, but for my money nothing makes you smile like an S197

I should have never sold mine... ever.. I and I got a 964..

irish44j wrote: Other cars are more entertaining on dry roads, but when it snows your Miata/S2k/RX7/etc will all be sitting at home (or, if you do go out in the snow, you will be going very slow and boring).

Speaking from first hand experience, at least in regards to the Miata, you could not be more wrong. Daily driving one in Green Bay WI was every bit as fun in the winter as it was in the summer!...It was just a different type of driving fun for every season. Well balanced RWD cars actually tend to do quite well in winter driving, provided they are equipped with the correct tires.

I think its important to differentiate between "thrilling" and "entertaining and fun". Case and point, two miatas I had in the stable simultaneously:

One was turbo - 220~240whp, 20XXlb, full aero, custom valved, 2 way lsd...etc.

One was bone stock, JDM & RHD.

Between reliability issues and fun factor, I actually ended up driving and enjoying the stock car much more. Sure the boost was thrilling, addicting and scary. Eventually you get used to it though and personally I enjoy driving a car near the limit CONSISTENTLY which was frustrating and too difficult in the turbo because I'm too worried about the car sending me into opposite traffic.

It kind of reminds me of two examples from autocross:

1. Slick vs Street Tire. The slick is much faster and more thrilling, but because the peak grip slip angle range is that much smaller and drops off that much quicker the tire is less approachable and punishes you more. So in a sense on the race tire some of the "fun" is lost in the pursuit of speed. The car requires more focus, more attention versus the same car on street tires.

2. Had a chance to drive a prepped and nearly stock s2000 the same day. Prepped car was much faster no doubt, but between the front sway bar and shocks it also lost some of the stock, soft, playful nature. I ended up enjoying the stock s2k much more.

That brings me to a point. On the street, the body roll, approachable limits and having your foot to the floor is where the fun is: its like a rollercoaster. Whereas the seriously quick and prepped car is like a survival bootcamp. I don't mind being in survival bootcamp when I'm in competition and put myself there... BUT everyday? Hell no.

I recently acquired a stock FRS and love the hell outta the thing. Would I rather DD a 458? Not really. I would take it as a weekend car, but not everyday. An everyday Ferrari to me is a 308 as recently featured ;). Because you can be going sideways through your favorite deserted backroad and know you are in control and not tossing a coin.

irish44j wrote:

ransom wrote: In reply to irish44j: Good points all... I think one of the big things is that the 2002 made me grin even when I was just burbling along, nowhere near any kind of edge. Fun's not just relative, but comes in many flavors to boot... The WRX's effortless thrust *is* fun, and the ability to hit an onramp with the throttle buried in the wet and it just goes where you point it... that's fun, too. When I get the 2002 back together, that will probably remind me how much fun it was to have a seriously quick car whose defrost worked very well...

While the e30 is fun, it's a bit too planted to be truly exciting. The e21 (with M42 swap) that I'm building now should solve that problem :)

Give an E30 405 whp and that whole "planted" problem goes away. You do need to line your shiny happy person with something though because E36 M3ting bricks will destroy the tissue otherwise.

One of the most fun cars I have driven on the street was a V6 powered Spitfire. It was hot, loud, most certainly dangerous and you were constantly getting hit in the face with road grim.

350/4 spd. Cast crank, hyper pistons, spraying about 220hp on 87 octane gas. Drive it anywhere, gets a little over 20mpg

The '13 GT Mustang I had was an AWESOME. It rode great (if a bit soft for REALLY spirited driving, but the limit was still plenty high), was comfy..........and was just brutally fast.

Could light the tires up at will, the Torsen that came in the Track Pack option was great at trying to get the power down on the skinny Pirelli's the car came with.

I ditched it because it was sucking too much money away from the track rat.

"It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

The cars you can drive hardest without going to jail.

Take my Yugo for example, something like 60 hp, at the crank. 145R13 commercial tires that slide all over the place, 4 speed, monster tach w/ shift light, manual steering, tiny stock brakes, stock US/combloc europe spec ride height means its kinda top heavy and has a lot of body roll. You can row through all 4 of the gears, shifting at redline, on a long on ramp, and hit traffic doing maybe 65-70mph(which is more or less max cruise anyhow). In town, you don't even really look at the speed, you just drive 8-9/10ths to keep up. You drive down the old empty 2 lane highways through the big sweepers in 4th and bury the loud pedal, wind it up, then realize you don't have another gear to pull on, and the engine wouldn't have enough power to go any faster.

An old beetle, mini, LBC, etc would provide the same result.

FD RX7

The most entertaining street car, IMO, is a Lotus Exige S. I WILL own one in the future. Nothing better than an attractive rocket, with a Toyota motor, that can get damn near 30mpg! Has to be Aspen White, Black track pack wheels.

I DD a S197 w/ a few mods... CAI, tune, Hurst shifter, strut tower brace, nothin' crazy, works for me. Suspension mods next spring. Now that I'm hooked, may be a Coyote in the future.

Good car outta the box and a huge aftermarket to go where ever ya want.

I kind of expected Keith to stop by and tell us that this is the most entertaining street car. I've only had about 10 minutes drive time in one. It was a blast.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: The most entertaining street car, IMO, is a Lotus Exige S. I WILL own one in the future. Nothing better than an attractive rocket, with a Toyota motor, that can get damn near 30mpg! Has to be Aspen White, Black track pack wheels.

We are in 100% agreement on everything except color.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: The cars you can drive hardest without going to jail. An old beetle, mini, LBC, etc would provide the same result.

hmmmm Starlet (rwd... of course)

The most entertaining I've ever owned...would be a toss up between NA Miata, MK1 MR2 and FFR Cobra

Most entertaining I'd like to own...Elise/Exige