What is your idea of a driver's car?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Beeblebrox237
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There's no one answer to this. Maybe it's an intuitive car that gives you the confidence to push it harder (Fiesta ST). For others, it may be the challenge in learning to master its capabilities, improving your skills to do the car justice (Viper). It may be a supremely high performance car that causes time dilation on any open stretch of road (GT-R). It may be a drop top that turns even a lazy grocery run into an event (MX-5 Miata). It may be a car that feels faster than it really is and makes all the right noises (500 Abarth).

Maybe this sums it up best: A driver's car makes the act of driving its own reward and it wants the driver involved. And when you're not driving it, you're thinking about driving it.
 
In this day and age a drivers car has become harder to find but easier to define. This is because most modern cars compromise in almost every way to try and be all things to all people. It used to be that a car was designed for a specific purpose. You weren't supposed to buy a performance car and then go and complain that your ride quality was awful, you didn't have enough space, and you're fuel economy was terrible, but people did, & it led to cars trying to become all things to all people. A true drivers car will ignore this trend, and be designed to increase driver involvement and enjoyment at the expense of other areas. To that end my car, a WRX, is a great drivers car, but a Z28 Camaro is obviously better because there are less creature comforts and practicality incorporated into it. And therefore more performance.
 
A driver's car must have a steering wheel.

Everything else is optional.
 
I think a driver's car should be a car that's able to perform well, give the driver confidence in the car, and also keep the driver engaged.
 
If it goes like stink, has a badass exhaust note and rattles the hell out of your neighbors windows, I'm game.
 
Something lightweight and RWD with a small engine sputtering out decent numbers naturally, a somewhat clunky 4- or 5-speed with gearing capable of highway speeds and light, unassisted steering--beyond that, I'm not terribly specific. Attractive styling is appreciated, but not absolutely necessary for driving pleasure.
 

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