E120 Toyota Corolla
I drove two at my driving school and fell in love with them.
The steering is so communicative, much more than anything else I've driven since, it really feels as if the road
wants to talk to you, tell you how it feels. The throttle and brake petals were positively eager, delighted to give you a reaction in exchange for just the tiniest input.
Going in too quickly to a corner around town, I discovered the front tucks in -just like Enthusia- with a gentle touch of the brakes. And, when I made a fool of myself and stomped the throttle while going round a turn, the 'rolla got Pissed Off. It stood, it felt, on its right rear wheel, the front pointing skyward, madly angled. This is a lightweight car, in the order of 1200 kilos, with soft suspension. That means this: this is not a dull car, this is a car to make normal driving interesting.
But that's not to say it's a hardcore sportscar;
that it will never be. That amazing steering is still a magnifying glass to the tarmac, but it's also amazingly light. The awesome weight transfer is totally avoidable if you drive as if you actually knew how. It's still a reliable, compact, four-door saloon with a low insurance payment (I assume) and low fuel consumption. There's nothing, really, to deter a buyer, excluding the boring stigma and the annoyance ("Is that my car?") of having a truly common car.
Since I made a reference to driving school, I might as well explain my automotive experience: Honda Accord (steering felt hydraulic), Saturn Vue (great pedals, rubbish steering, odd posture), Saturn Outlook (precise yet numb steering, otherwise unspeakably bad), and my Altima (slightly vague controls, slightly delayed reactions, suprising balanced cornering). It's not exactly Ferrari-esque, but I do have a good general sense of what's happening with a car, and the Corollas were just amazing, so much better than every other car I've driven in every way. It helps that it's a Toyota, so there would be some trade-in convenience after your Camry. And the compactness means plenty of breathing room on a freeway onramp or a canyon road, so you can more confidently drive like a lunatic, with that soft suspension probably giving true lunatics some oversteer out of a too-fast entry. Not to mention, it is both modern and lightweight, but this doesn't really involve any sacrifices. It is still safe and refined, but it only weighs 1200 kilos!
All that said, you may be looking for something completely different. You didn't actually say very much about what sort of car you want, so I showed you a wonderful driving car with no detriments whatsoever. If you don't really care about impressing people, this is definitely a car worth looking at.
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