What is it, that makes certain cars special?

  • Thread starter Thread starter paskowitz
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Most of the cars the OP mentions are expensive, rather than special.

For me, "special" is really another way of saying balanced. And by balanced I mean just enough power, brakes, steering, handling and feedback to not overwhelm the car. A vintage BMW 2002 is a very balanced car. As is a Miata. S2000. 500E. E30 M3. etc

The proof of the pudding (IMO) is that when you start to increase the power in any of those cars, you have to increase the braking, which means bigger wheels and tires, and bigger swaybars and struts, harder springs and so on and eventually you end up with something that is just not as "pure" and communicative as the original.


As for the expensive cars mentioned, quite a few of them have an atrocious ride at normal speeds (what you're doing 99% of the time) on everyday roads. :yuck:
 
Special? Well, it's the connection between the car and the driver. How well can the car push the driver, make him do more, all while working in pure harmonic beauty that stops time. Any car can have it, but to me, only one manufacturer still builds their cars for driving fun: Mazda. The Mazda2 is possibly the sportiest subcompact on the market. The Mazdaspeed3 is an FF, turbo-rocket from hell, satanically snapping wrists with torque steer. The Mazda6 is the sport family sedan, Autocross with the kids in the back? Erm, no, but it's nice to know you can. And the RX-8? Last of its kind. I want one bad. Still, the CX-7 and CX-9 probably aren't that fun, just capable, boring softy-SUV's.

And the Miata MX-5 is enough said.
 
For me, what makes certain cars special is a personal involvement with them. I love Rover's because I grew up with them and they bring back good memories, as well as them being underdogs. People expect a Rover to be slow, but they're actually pretty quick from what I've experienced as a passenger. They also, to me, have more character than BMW/Merc/Audi/VW/Ford/Vauxhall's. They may not be the greatest cars in the world, or the fastest, but they are really special to me, they give me a special feeling that I just don't get from any other car brand.

What I'm saying is, a car is only special to me if I've had personal involvement with it, a car that brings back happy memories. That's why I wouldn't love a Lamborghini, but I would love a Rover. It may sound strange but it's true.
 
For me I only find cars I have driven are special and cars that are similar to those I have driven. I don't care a lot what anyone one else says about a car, I never read car magazines, because I'm not very interested in what someone else's opinion about a car is, I don't care if it's ever been racing or won any races because race cars have little to do with the road versions.
A car can only be special to me if, I have fun driving it and if I own it, it has to give little trouble even though I throw some serious abuse at it.
 
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GT_Prologue5
Still, the CX-7 and CX-9 probably aren't that fun, just capable, boring softy-SUV's.

And the Miata MX-5 is enough said.
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The CX9, strangely, is fun. Sort of like a less oversteery X5.

Well... fun for a seven seat crossover the size of the Titanic.

I've never quite gelled with the CX7. It drives nicely, but it weighs an awful lot for what it offers and there are actually five-seat crossovers that drive better.

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And to totally go against my Mazda-zen preaching... some of the cars I like are kind of piggish. I have a soft spot for the Mercedes 420SEL. A big plush beast of a car... one which I just happened to get married in.

Well, it was either that or the Jaguar XJ-R (which I also love, and which, sadly, my relations have sold :( ), but I wanted a bigger back seat. :lol:

It's special because it holds a sentimental attachment for me.

Much like the old B13 Sentra is special, because I learned to drive in one out of High School. It's a twitchy car with a plastic interior, an utter absence of suspension travel and a back seat the size of a torture rack, but it still holds a certain fascination for me.
 
Special... Being a gearhead I think special is what I can make of it. Will the car do what I want when I want? My E36 M3 is special in my eyes but not all E36's are (some are just ragged out and inadequate). I've built my car from the ground up tracked and tuned it to the point it is special. Even if it wasn't when I got it. So if your special is an old corolla so be it, if its a supercar you may never have a chance to own so be, just remember its only special to you in your way, and its special for others in other ways.
 
It's a difficult thing to describe... For example if I tried to explain my love for cars to someone who wasn't a car fan, they wouldn't have a clue what I'm talking about. I'll use the Carrera GT (my personal favourite) as an example.

Apart from the fact that the car looks amazing, it's the intent of the car that makes it so special for me. Porsche have only once made a car like the Carrera GT (in my lifetime anyway). The engine was designed for racing and the chassis, suspension and drivetrain are all designed to be as light and as high performance as possible.

What you end up with is a car that looks incredible, sounds incredible and is not only fast, but would be a hell of a lot of fun to drive. No 4WD or fancy paddle shift automated gearbox, just a manual shifter, one (only one?!) clutch and one of the sweetest sounding engines ever produced.

I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about, but I'm going to post a video for the hell of it :)

 

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