Best & Worst Cars You've Personally Driven

[SearchMaster]

Best: Audi R8 V-10

Honorable Mention: 1990 Porsche 944 Turbo S - I just loved the way that car felt

Worst: I bought an '85 Jeep Cherokee sight unseen on the advice of my father. That thing was junk - fortunately I was able to dump it for a bit more than I paid a few months later.

 

[Childs]

I had an 88. I feel your pain. My "favorite" part was having to unzip the damn window and lay it on my lap to pay tolls.

I had a pull-out stereo in it because of the theft problem. Stopped for a soda at a convenience store, and somebody stole the pull-out stereo. I couldn't win! (This was before the detachable faceplate ones were a thing.)

Yeah, I had a pullout in mine as well, along with lock/speaker combo boxes bolted above the wheel wells. I had detachable face stereos in a 91 Civic, and believe it or not twice someone stole the stereo without the face plate. I still have the faces in a box somewhere.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Worst is easy

81 plymouth horizan(dodge Omni)
I got this car for free when it broke down in my parent's driveway. I put 4 new tires on it, new front brakes, and rebuilt the carb and used it as a beater for a year while in college. It had as in used to have power steering. The rack leaked fluid out as fast as you could pour it in so I just cut the belt. It had the vw engine 1.7l? and a 3 speed auto. I think it had 70hp brand new 200k or so miles before I got it and only manged around 20mpg. It actually didn't look too bad on the outside but the inside was a different story. It had no carpet in the front, everything that used screws was missing half of them. It did it's job though and the only thing I had to do was replace the master cylinder during the year I had it.

Best is a lot harder. Can't really think of anything that would actually impress anybody. I guess my 95 miata

 

[DrMrLordX]

Probably a google search hit on something someone posted in this thread and n00blar454rlife decided now was the time to join and comment.

Seems plausible.

 

[jdoggg12]

Best:

1998 Dodge Viper - Mom's friend let me drive his brand new Viper for my 18th Bday. It will live forever as my favorite driving moment... lighting up the tires at 50mph put a 24hr grin on my face

2007 E55 AMG Stage 3 - My dad's late mid-life crisis car. That thing was insane. 575 rwhp. I'd never been in something faster than my 600cc racebike. That car man-handled it in ridiculously comfortable fashion. I never forgave him when he sold it in 2013 with 13,000 miles on it for just $30k

Worst:

1987 RX-7 - My first car. Got it for $800 in 1996. I thought it was going to be as epic as the RX7 reputation had grown by '96... nope... she's built like a steakhouse but she handles like a bistro. Terrible gas mileage and, when an oil injector failed and she caught on fire... cost $1600 to fix b/c no mechanic wanted to touch a rotary engine. Was very happy to replace it with an Integra when I left for college

1968 Camaro - I wanted to love it SO much. But touching the gas resulted in the 3 speed breaking one of the tires loose at almost every intersection. Prone to obscene oversteer. That said, she was also the most beautiful car I've ever driven so this was hard to write, haha

 

[Spydermag68]

Best: '55 Thunderbird - it was my grandfather's and I was able to take it to pick up my girl friend in it for the prom. We were at a light and another kid in '50s early era Corvette pulled along side. I revved the engine and he revved back. At the green light we both punched it. I stop excelerating at the speed limit of 40, he kept going and got busted by a cop.

Worst: a station wagon. This thing was as big as a battleship and drove like one too.

 

[ultimatebob]

The worst? A 1982 Plymouth Reliant station wagon. Gutless wonder, with tons of mechanical problems.

The best? 2007 Audi A8 Quattro. That car is plush!

 

[JulesMaximus]

The best car I have drove is my current vehicle it's a 2008 Chevy Corvette with the Lsx454r option from Chevy. The block puts out 800hp so I bought one from Chevy and built it! Instead of the original pistons Had to get forged pistons so that it could hold boost! I also added an Jackson Racing 75mm custom turbo which I purchased from Jackson Racing! It took me about 4 months every weekend working on the setup I was building, overall when I finally built the block from scratch the motor with the turbo was pushing 1200hp that was without the bottle. With the 150 shot nitrous express bottle it was pushing around 1300bhp and put 1200 to the wheels! I love that car it handles amazingly at the track it runs a high 6 second in a quarter mile. Surprisingly it is still street legal! Now the worst car I have ever drove was the 2014 dodge dart rallye it was soooo slow and the manual transmission gears were tooo close an it was just bad overall! The ride of it was very rough like it had rocks as springs and dampers never buy one!!

I'm going to call bullshit on this.

 

[natto fire]

I'm really surprised this thread wasn't locked by the necro police. I guess the dwindling visits might have shaken a few trees at the forums.

That said, I think the premise of this whole thread is funny. The best car I have ever driven overall, is a Tesla P85D. I have driven several other cars that felt more "sure-footed" through superior tires/lower curb weight, but the Tesla had the advantage of no silly gear changes, turbo spools, or other nonsense. You decided how much acceleration you wanted, pressed the pedal, and the car delivered.

I am a firm believer in tires being the magic in any automotive setup.

That is all I am going to say, because I'm sure this thread will be locked any moment now, as discussing a topic with a certain post date, regardless of current relevance, is STRICTLY verboten on Anandtech forums.

Hell of a necro. What process brought this thread back from its 2+ year-old grave?

Hey, maybe try commenting on the material instead of hurr-der repost, and shit won't get locked down by the gestapo?

 

[jlee]

I'm going to call bullshit on this.

49-state legal.

 

[HeXen]

Worst: 2002, 2007, 2015 Dodge Ram trucks.
Best: RX7, leather seats, moonroof...girls loved that car.
Honda Civic and Fit...never an issue.

 

[yh125d]

49-state legal.

I think he was (if he wasn't, I am) calling BS on the high 6 second part. If this ~ 1500hp vette can't crack 8 seconds, I doubt his 1200whp corvette is under 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBfVWloum10

High sixes would require more around 2000hp, and be nowhere near streetable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW87rRsgkMI

 

[Imported]

Best: 200x Porsche 911 Turbo (Don't remember the year.. I want to say 2003)
Its a Porsche and it felt fantastic. Mashing the pedal put a huge grin on my face. Only drawback was the pretty stiff clutch, but even that wasn't a huge issue.

Worst: 2010 Toyota Corolla
Anemic, horrible floaty handling feel, piss-poor ergonomics. I felt uncomfortable taking this car above 70 on the freeway.

I guess I could update this..

Best: 2012 911 Carrera S Cabriolet
Worst: Still the 2010 Toyota Corolla

 

[natto fire]

Oh, and the worst vehicle I have ever driven from a driving feel standpoint is a '92 Ford Aerostar minivan. Neat that is was rear-wheel drive, but the rest of it was absolute garbage. I also drove a Dodge Neon that felt like a POS clatterbox, but it was light enough to toss in the corners. The interior rattled like hell, similar to the Intrepid my parents had before that. I also had a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a similar rattlebox interior. I applaud people that are fans of Chrysler vehicles, because I have been appalled at their build quality for a long time.

 

[Z15CAM]

Worst car for me was a brand new 1965 Canadian Pontiac 283 Custom with a 2 Spd Turbo-Flight tranny bought by my Father without power steering.

Over the years for the Best Cars I`ve driven , I would pick the 1968 Volvo B123S - She lasted 20 years with over 500 miles on the odometer and I never had the change the Rotors or the Calipers - Plus she was FAST - A B2000 mill with Dual SU`s 2Dr Coupe.

Eventually rusted out but the drive train was just like new and I drove her like I hated her in Rally's with 4 wheels off the ground - Loved that Ride.

The Volvo 1968 B123S is rather hard to info on as she had the 140 Body and very few where made before Volvo went to the 240 shell and then the Mechanical FI B2000 1974 140GL 2Dr Coupe appeared - What a ride and could demolish anything BMW came up with.

Over all the rides I've owned over the years for the best ride, I would pick the 1984 Volvo GL ME 2.3 - I still use her for a daily driver and is capable of cursing at over 100Mph getting around 38Mpg with over 400,000 miles on the odometer - One of the last 240's and easy to work on.

 

[leper84]

Best-
Some newer Bentley with the turbo w12. Dunno the name but that thing was like driving a really fast cloud.
W221 s63 + s550 were pretty nuts.
997 Turbo was the best rounded car I've ever been in or worked on.
Any 330 or 335 with a standard makes giddy to drive

Worst-
PT Cruiser. The absolute frustration of driving a car that seemingly exists to suck at everything a car should do. They all smell like cheap hotels. Every single part of driving one is f***ed.

Jeep Compass- Like a PT Cruiser, but bigger with more body roll.

 

[evident]

Best-
Some newer Bentley with the turbo w12. Dunno the name but that thing was like driving a really fast cloud.
W221 s63 + s550 were pretty nuts.
997 Turbo was the best rounded car I've ever been in or worked on.
Any 330 or 335 with a standard makes giddy to drive

Worst-
PT Cruiser. The absolute frustration of driving a car that seemingly exists to suck at everything a car should do. They all smell like cheap hotels. Every single part of driving one is f***ed.

Jeep Compass- Like a PT Cruiser, but bigger with more body roll.

New Chryslers are not crap.

^ haha that was from 2012.

worst cars i've driven RECENTLY have been a jeep compass and chrysler 200 w/ the base engine. the 200's throttle response was so awful, it's hard to explain. you press down on the gas, there's a microsecond "lag" before the car does anything. it's not like a turbo lag though, when you let go of the gas, it still throttles for a microsecond before responding to your movements.

the compass felt so old and terrible in every way, maybe it's the spiritual successor to the PT Cruiser?

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Recently had a ford focus rental car. I feel like it was the worst car I've ever driven. Throttle response was very similar to the post above me, just didn't respond to my input at all. Also, the brake pedal was way higher than the gas pedal. I'm not sure why that was...I asked my buddy about it and he said it might be made that way as a rental car? I dunno.

Best car was a convertible 2014 911 in that iconic gray porsche color. I drove this as a rental car that was free to use while staying at a very posh hotel in San Diego.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I think he was (if he wasn't, I am) calling BS on the high 6 second part. If this ~ 1500hp vette can't crack 8 seconds, I doubt his 1200whp corvette is under 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBfVWloum10

High sixes would require more around 2000hp, and be nowhere near streetable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW87rRsgkMI

:thumbsup: Exactly this.

 

[Topweasel]

Best: Either my current 2015 Focus ST or my 2003 Neon R/T. The Focus is pretty much everything I want in a car in it's class. The heavier steering keeps it from feeling loose and wooblely. It's just the right size for me. Is comfortable enough for long journeys but fun enough even at sub 30mph speeds. The Neon R/T for the same reasons, down on power but uber fun to drive and came from a time that the entire time I drove it I didn't feel like I was missing out on features. It may have rattled like a bitch but it took every beating I gave it till I moved on. That car had loads of character.

Worst: Three come to mind. My first car a Oldsmobile Acheiva, lots of history in why I hated it and not all of it the cars fault (I didn't want it, my dad talked me into it, said he could get it running, took 2.5 years) and I only got a couple of good months out of it. Geo Tracker, I got it for $300 with 180k already on the clock. I blame it for never really getting to drive my Camaro before I sold it. But it was a panicky decision based on the Achieva dying and I had only gotten the Camaro at the end of fall with the dream of Driving in the spring. But by Spring I knew I needed a real car and both had to go. But I am going to go with my Dodge Nitro. It probably next to my Fusion and Focus leases, the least problematic car I owned. But its a car I really liked the styling but the car as a whole never lived up to it. It had BT built in but without paying for UC I couldn't use it. It was a 4x4 SUV but felt as loose as a car and the rear end was really twitchy even in 4x4 mode (and eventually cost it, its life). It had the 3.7 V6 magnum in it and that thing was worse than my Neon's I4. It's also the car that taught me that I really wanted to be lower to the ground and in a tighter car. Which is why I went Fusion and from the Fusion I wanted tighter and so to the Focus. The Nitro is like the reverse Neon. The Neon you expect so little from and that R/T gave so much more back to me. The Nitro was the first car I got where it was a car I actually wanted and that one was just placid and weak in every point I cared about.

 

[jdoggg12]

:thumbsup: Exactly this.

Agreed x3... If Red Victor 2 couldn't do it (a true 2k HP STREET LEGAL dragster) then his Vette doesn't have a chance at it either

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Victor_2#Figures_and_Records

Red Victor 3 broke into the 6 sec territory.... at THREE THOUSAND HP!

EDIT: This was a fun toy http://www.ajdesigner.com/fl_horsepower_elapsed_time/horsepower_elapsed_time.php

 

[SSSnail]

Worst car driven - Nissan Cube, although the PT Cruiser came in close 2nd, hmm... maybe a tie.

Best car driven (when factoring in everything) - My 1991 Honda Prelude 2.0Si AWS. This was a car that I have just "acquired" after HS (class of '94!), and to me it was a Ferrari. I used to take it into the canyons, and though it didn't have the power, but its steering and handling was sublime, especially downhill . I kinda miss it, I have a lot of fond memories with and in it.

 

[tweakmonkey]

I loved those Preludes!

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

Best: Fiesta ST
Worst: Buick Excelle 1.5L - that might be partly due to the fact I was driving it at around 14,000ft elevation with 4 people in the car.

 

[krose]

Worst: 1974 Chevy Vega wagon - no explanation needed
Best: 2015 Porsche Cayman - again, no explanation needed