Vehicles you owned or drove that pleasantly surprised you...

[VenomVeins]

After Sid's epic "Vehicle disappointment" thread, I figured it'd be cool to see everyone post about their experience with a vehicle that surprised them in a great way.


I'll go first:

My old C5 Z06. The car came with some hype, but drive wise it completely lived up to it and then some. Very light body and that LS6 was a complete blast to drive and track. I enjoyed it so much I turned it into my daily driver for almost 2 years.

Yeah, the shit OEM Harmonic Balancer, TQ Tube bushings, and valve springs were all weak points and needed to be replaced (**** you GM), as well as the interior being laughably horrid-but I still haven't found a car that gave me that much joy to drive.

Just a Totally Raw, precise connected feeling to the road-and when i went H/C/I, it felt like I was tearing a hole through space when I shifted. Such a fun beast.


So lets hear it, what vehicle(s) surprised you in a great way?

 

[HillbillyHotRod]

Yugo?

 

[Mpoitrast87]

06 Ford Focus zx4 ST. Nothing special but was a manual and had nice seats. Used it to make runs to different places when I worked at ford. Thing was so fun I never wanted to get out of it.

 

[Double"O"]

My 04 Volvo s60 T5...loved that thing...
Awesome seats, 260hp, rode well, handled well...overall fun car
sucked in the snow bad though lol

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

I get to drive 75% of the newest vehicles because of the work we do for Enterprise. Most of them are run of the mill but I also get a lot of the nicer and higher trim vehicles to drive while they are in our shop. Ones that really surprised me the most as being the most fun have probably the Charger and Challengers with just the Hemi motors. I have always had Mustangs so I am partial but driving the Hemis is just a lot of fun. Chryslers still suck as a whole but those two cars make good power, sound good, and the experience is just fun.

The last gen Navigator. Long in the tooth then, but the ride was so pleasant and plush that I really wouldn't mind one. Hard to justify it now with the new one out though and the great reviews it has gotten, on top of being ridiculously nice.

Infiniti Q50 with the 3.0t. Stupid fast for being just a basic luxury sedan. Not a lot of appreciation for the car but if you can pick one up for cheap it makes for a good luxury daily driver.

2018 F150s with the 3.5TT/5.0 w 10 speed. By far the fastest basic truck on the market. The drivetrain combinations for those is just perfect.

 

[BrunotheBoxer]

1998 Buick pahk Avenue.

I loved that car. I could sleep with girls in the back seat no problem and the air suspension felt like I was floating down the highway.
Best part was driving around Brockton and getting in accidents with all the illegals. Good times brah.

But I snapped the #2 connecting rod and refused to pull over. I drove all the way from the north end to Brockton like that and that was all she wrote.

I want to get another Brockton beatah so I can start playin bumpah cahs again. I miss those days. I’ll take any big American boat.

 

[Recon]

My 427R. Drove it for the first time and instantly fell in love with it.
My Slantnose. Haven’t been in a car yet that scares me like that car does.
08 BMW M6. I’m a sucker for a V10, and that car really appealed to me after driving it. Maintenance costs killed it though.
My Buddy’s 04 GT. Basic bolt ons, nothing too extreme, but the sound that car made alone made me want the car, to this day.
90 ZR1. That thing has incredible performance for 1990, and it really impressed me when I got in it.
94 Viper. Again V10. Loved the no assistance just you and the car.
69 Z/28 RS. Had a built 383 and man it was a wicked car. The torque that car made was unreal for the size of an N/A engine.
There’s more that I’m forgetting but I can’t think of them right now.


Pick your poison.

 

[ON D BIT]

89 Taurus SHO faster than the 89 Mustang GT
14-18 Fiesta ST, all the reviews are true and more!

 

[Revvv]

When my wife and I gave up our Trans Am WS6, due to our upcoming daughter, we purchased a 1999 Grand Prix GTX. That car was a blast.


Sent from my [device_name] using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[96 cobra]

NB/NC miatas (modded for autox).
Saw them for years at the events, finally co-drove a fairly basic C-street prepared NB and wow!

Let's put it in terms of national event times, both pro-level drivers:
- 'super street' class, 2014 Porsche GT3: 114.2 seconds (1st place in superstreet)
- 'csp' class, 1999 miata : 106.3 seconds (1st place in csp)

 

[biminiLX]

89 Taurus SHO faster than the 89 Mustang GT
14-18 Fiesta ST, all the reviews are true and more!

Crazy, I was going to also post ‘89 SHO. Was my college beater for 2yrs and was a blast. Some to a friend for a ‘94 SHO and he enjoyed for 4 more years. That Yamaha motor was a gem.
‘04 E55 AMG
‘14 GT500 after gears tune DR only
‘16 Hellcat Charger
-J

 

[Blown 89]

The ATS-V with a manual surprised me. I was fighting the urge to trade my V2 in for it. The shifter and transmission were very good....a massive step up comoared to the V2. The car was nible, responsive, and surprisingly communicative. The interior had plenty of room and was very luxurious and the looks of the blue 4 door with black wheels and carbon fiber package was breathtaking. That car blew me away.

The MP4-12c surprised me in the sense that the reviews didn't match the actual experience. Its plenty exciting with the engine nose and turbo sounds (in the spider) serving plenty of passion the reviews said it didn't have. Our neighbor's 488 sounds better than my dad's 12c but it's not like the Mac is void of personality. I was also shocked at how smooth the ride was and quiet the transmission of sound through the chassis is. It's a smoother ride than my V imo. After driving a lot of these higher end rides I've realized just how biased and flat it wrong auto journalists are.

Nothing beats the surprise me factor that shifter Karts give. I'm not talking about the skip barber or Bondurant school rentals but rather top of the line, well tuned, with $7k blueprinted engine running on the ragged edge. They're angry pieces of ripsnort that every car guy needs to experience at least once.

 

[Sirraf]

Nismo 370Z. Not the fastest thing in the world, but it kind of reminded me of a more modern C5 corvette. Very raw and fun car!

 

[FJohnny]

When we got married the wife and I rewarded ourselves with an early 70's convertible red Vette. Big block, aluminum heads, most fun ever while fully clothed.

Along came kid number 1. Needed car seat space. Had to get rid of baby or Vette. Got outvoted and car gone. Sad day.

Replaced with 911 Turbo with kid-seatable back seat. Woo hoo. New most fun ever while.......well, you get it. Those were good old days.

Now here I am, old and decrepit, almost always fully clothed. Nothing to look forward to every day but hopping into my supercharged mustang and heading out to the golf course. Isn't life great?

 

[98 Cobra Vert]

When I was allot younger, I had a 67 Vet convertible, 327sb 325 hp,it was a blast. That's when you could go to Sunoco and get sunoco 260 premium gas, you could smell the gas going thru the carb. Many days of great fun driving. My saddest day was the day after I sold it for more than what I bought it for.

Sent from my SM-T580 using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[lOOKnGO]

Drove a new Loaded Chevy Tahoe as a rental for a long trip, and was impressed with both mountain driving and fuel mileage. I wish Ford had a comprable with everything that ride offered.

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[Silverstrike]

The one that I will always remember is taking a Porsche 959 for a 30 minute romp, spirited back road drive about 10 years ago that car for 1989 was beyond surreal as it truly was beyond what most car companies had out on the road at the time.


AWD, twin turbo charging, selectable traction. Mud, Wet, Sand settings. Height adjustable shocks where the car got lower and lower the faster you went went 115 MPH on a stretch and it went about 15 mm travel so as to keep the center of gravity the same. All the aero and duct work so as to make the most of the wind that rtraveled over and through the body to create downforce.

 

[CobraBob]

I have to admit that my '12 Mini Cooper S coupe was a pleasant surprise (as in, a lot of fun to drive) for the first 2 years or so, but then my interest just dropped and I got rid of it. I really didn't think I'd like it as much as I did. Quality was excellent. Ride was excellent. Performance (with a tune) was very good.

 

[_Snake_]

2011 Audi S4

I was looking for a DD after taking a job 40 miles from my house and quickly figuring out a Procharged Boss 302 wasn’t the ideal choice. I thought it’d be a fun commuter, but I ended up liking it far more than I thought I would. It ruined American sedans for me, and I ended up selling the Boss and traded the S4 for a S6. Couldn’t be happier with my choice, and it was the used S4 that got the ball rolling.

 

[SID297]

My 2015 Fiesta ST. Best performance value going.