What makes a car fun to drive?

Ok so I'm totally confused.  I volunteer for a local charity that gives away cars to needing families so I get to drive lots of cars.   Mainly boring yet reliable sedans that are good for the point a to point b daily needs.  
 

We received this Scion XA on donation and I'm having fun driving it.  I don't get it.  It's not sporty in any way. It sits tall.  It's not fast.  The shifter is easy, but not sporty.   It looks cute, but goofy.  Yet, yesterday I took it on my stress relieving back road that I normally take my turbo Miata on and I was having a good time.  
 

Is it the manual and lightweight that I'm drawn to?  I just don't get it and I am thoroughly confused - so what makes a car fun to drive?

I've always found that an adventurous, good-looking woman in the passenger seat can make even the most mundane E36 M3box an absolute delight to drive.

I worked at a Ford dealership for a brief period of time. The most fun car we had on the lot was a teal green Aspire with the roof spoiler. Why? Because you had to drive the lug nuts off the thing just to keep up with traffic. Conserve momentum on all corners, predict openings, it was great fun. Driving the Mustangs was dull because you could never let them off the leash, they were basically just Camrys.

Meanwhile, the 400 hp MG is a riot to drive because it can open a local rip in the space-time continuum at any moment and make a big noise when doing it. It also wants you dead, which is exciting.

So...I got nothin' other than more power than grip is more fun than more grip than power ;)

For me, as a Miata and MINI owner, it's the small light weight "feel". I can't explain it, but when I drive larger, heavier cars that can run circles around mine, they're not nearly as much fun. It started decades ago for me. A friend and I went to Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant for the Trans-Am races. There were all the Mustangs and Camaros we had lusted after in high school, and then there were the Datsun 510s and Alfas and I fell in love with small cars. Over the years I've had a bunch of different larger vehicles, but there has been a small car in the household continuously for 45 years now. Don't question why the xA is fun, just enjoy it. You've learned something today.

Lightweight...............because you can do all sorts of wrong things with them.

Revvy motor..............even if the car only goes 78 mph, if the motor revs freely it adds to the hooligan feel.

Skinny tires................because it makes it child paly to find the limit and just hang the car there all day long.

User Friendly...........if the car bites back that sucks the fun right out of it (see my note below)

Over the years I been fortunate enough to drive things like 911 GT3-RS to 700HP Vipers, as well as some very rapid single seat race cars. These cars are may be a huge adrenalin rush and I may enjoy driving them but they are not what I'd call fun. You need to take them seriously or they will hurt you. 

In reply to Caprigrip :

See if it has tokico blues and a rear sway bar on. That chassis is fun, lightweight and if it's a manual has short gearing that keeps it engaging until about 50mph making it begging to be engaged. The rear suspension is a twist beam, but with a little strut valving, adjustment in spring rate and slight stiffening, they wake up. 

In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

Short gearing - yes that must be a big part of it.  I drove it in town today and felt like I was passing everyone (while going 30mph) ;)

Steering response and to a lessor degree: Brake response..

Das all I got..

Rog

Tom1200 said:

Lightweight...............because you can do all sorts of wrong things with them.

Revvy motor..............even if the car only goes 78 mph, if the motor revs freely it adds to the hooligan feel.

Skinny tires................because it makes it child paly to find the limit and just hang the car there all day long.

User Friendly...........if the car bites back that sucks the fun right out of it (see my note below)

Over the years I been fortunate enough to drive things like 911 GT3-RS to 700HP Vipers, as well as some very rapid single seat race cars. These cars are may be a huge adrenalin rush and I may enjoy driving them but they are not what I'd call fun. You need to take them seriously or they will hurt you. 

 

All this.

My favorite Miata is the early 1.6 models for all these reasons.  I've experienced turbo Miatas and LS Miatas and were it my money and my name on the title, I'd want a stock '90.

My old Datsun 510 was fun. My poor taken-from-me 300 hp awd Mazda Protégé was fun. This ridiculous 2 ton E55 is an absolute laugh riot. So is Moby the Road Condo. Fun to drive is the common thread, but for vastly different reasons.  All I got for you is, that Scion musta been on your frequency and it talked to you. Ya just never know.

I find that if a car needs your involvement to get the best out out its performance, it is more fun to drive. 

A 90's Buick Lesabre is the least fun car ever built, but when we caged one and turned it into a Lemons car it was a riot to drive on the track. Trying to put down respectable laps in that thing involved testing limits of driver and car that I didn't know existed. 

At the other end of the spectrum, when I take my Cayman on the track it is almost erotic. The car is whispering naughty things in my ear the whole time and telling me I'm a fast sexy stallion, while making it easy to get near the limits without jumping up and biting me. Also a riot. 

In short, I have no idea what makes a car fun. But I think it has more to do with what I'm doing with it than what it is. 

Maybe it's a former rental car. Those are always the most fun. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

The first time I drive a Cayman I got half way around turn 2 looked over at the owner and said "wow this thing is beautifully balanced" Caymans are indeed fun.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Tom1200 said:

Lightweight...............because you can do all sorts of wrong things with them.

Revvy motor..............even if the car only goes 78 mph, if the motor revs freely it adds to the hooligan feel.

Skinny tires................because it makes it child paly to find the limit and just hang the car there all day long.

User Friendly...........if the car bites back that sucks the fun right out of it (see my note below)

Over the years I been fortunate enough to drive things like 911 GT3-RS to 700HP Vipers, as well as some very rapid single seat race cars. These cars are may be a huge adrenalin rush and I may enjoy driving them but they are not what I'd call fun. You need to take them seriously or they will hurt you. 

 

All this.

 

My favorite Miata is the early 1.6 models for all these reasons.  I've experienced turbo Miatas and LS Miatas and were it my money and my name on the title, I'd want a stock '90.

It's kinda fun having all three.

Yep, a good looking gal/wife and a manual transmission = a lot of fun behind the wheel.

Tom1200 said:

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

The first time I drive a Cayman I got half way around turn 2 looked over at the owner and said "wow this thing is beautifully balanced" Caymans are indeed fun.

Yeah they really got the driving dynamics right. It's funny to me that on the Cayman forums people are always trying to run wide sticky tires 200tw on their street cars.  I'm like "anyone know of a cheap all-season that will fit on these 20" wheels?"  If you're not able to slide the car around a little, you're not really experiencing what's great about the car.

In reply to Caprigrip :

I have a Yaris hatchback, similar chassis, with a 5-speed, Conti ECS tires and a TRD sway bar and its just a lot of fun to zip around in. I took it autocrossing last year and was probably losing time due to the fact that I was laughing hysterically by the final third of the run. I have Tokico Blues and TRD springs waiting in the wings to be installed.

Maybe this makes me crazy, but I think a good bit of body roll makes a car really fun to drive.

1 - I've had a ton of power with indifferent handling - will only satisfy long term if you are one of those that favour loud noises over driving technique.

2 - I've had modest power with good handling - great fun to run a winding road with cars with way more power trying to keep up or pass you.  Long straight make it less fun.

3 - I've had excellent handling with ample power.  I agree that is probably the best of all, although the satisfaction with #2 above isn't to be underestimated

It is also situational.  I had a friend that used to whip Porsche 911s and such in a dead stock NSU 1100 sedan and I used to whup American cars (especially a couple of AMXs) with my MGA, in solo competition. We both took a lot of satisfaction in that!

And modesty powered cars like a Lotus 7 with a BMC engine or a Bugeye Sprite (class 2 above) can offer a surprisingly satisfying drive under the right circumstances.

According to a lot of these requirements my Echo hatch is functionally the same car as a Swift or Metro.

Yet, they are fun to drive and the Echo is not

Lightweight, manual Trans and good looking wife riding shotgun all are key factors.

When I worked at a Nissan dealer, my favorite car to drive to/from store to backup storage lot was a base model 6 speed manual Sentra. 

I’ve owned Miata, E30, E36 M3, and this is just as much fun maybe more fun than all of them on a tight twisty road. 

I agree with all of these points.   For years, i owned MKIV Supras with my last one being 675 whp and other than the cool factor, I always had more fun with my Miata being my favorite.   

I learned to road race in an FB RX7 and loved it.  Then for two years, I raced a fox body in CMC and never jived with it.  

I have learned that small and nimble makes me happy and i don't need tons of power to have fun.   

Same opinion here, lightweight and manual just more engaging. I enjoyed driving my zx2 more then my old WRX. Half way through second gear in the Rex I was speeding, the zx2 wot everywhere just to get to 60

Having driven a couple of dozen cars in the last 50 years, the cars that I really enjoyed had willing to rev engines, manual transmissions, tossable chassis, decent brakes, and accurate steering.

Stand out cars?

4 cylinder Capris, Porsche 914s, Mustangs with " smaller " engines (60s inline 6 cylinder and/or 5 liter V8s).  Sometimes, even " small " pickup trucks are fun, full-sized extended and crew cabs don't fall into the fun category but a full sized " regular " cab can be fun.   Most small, British, cars.