Most fun on 4 wheels?

bhuff30

Founding Member
Dec 11, 2001
6,037
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Olathe KS
What's the most fun street car you have been in or can imagine owning? I'm talking about cars that are just TONS of fun to drive and leave you with a **** faced grin everytime you drive it.

It can be anything, such as a classic NA 4cyl that makes all the right noises and has a manual transmission for banging gears. Even though it isn't fast, it's still fun to drive and wring it out to redline. It could also be XXX blown mustang, but I think there are much more interesting cars that can go faster and still handle nicely. Or how about an AC cobra replica with a light weight all aluminum small block and lopey cam?

In college, I was on the formula SAE team and we built a small open wheel formula style racer to compete with. It was a carbon fiber monocock, with a 600cc honda F4i mounted in the back, and a dual wishbone suspension all around. At just under 500lbs, this thing was an ABSOLUTE BLAST to drive. The steering was fast and easy and the acceleration between corners as you wound it to 12k was mind-numbing. With an incredibly low final drive ratio, it sounded amazing banging through the gears fast as you could to the top speed of 100mph. It had slicks and just beat you up around the track, but was SOOO much fun to drive. If there was a street legal equivalent, it would have to a super 7 with the hayabusa engine.

I think a super 7 would be about the most fun street legal car for me to drive.

So what is your idea of the most fun street car, that you'd enjoy taking to the auto-X and or drag strip?
 
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For the twisties probably a Caterham of some sort... I've never driven one but I imagine they handle like gocarts. And they are properly quick to boot(due to extremely light weight.)

There are so many cars I love..... I'm kinda stumped haha.:)
 
I'm currently on the Formula car team here at south dakota state university....i went to cali for the competition last year, it was a blast......now i'm on the design team this year, doing the differential mounts and such......i haven't driven the car much but when i did it was amazing on the road course.....
 
I love my current car....nothing like a big stroker in a lowered drop top with all the toys. But really i love LINCOLNS....ive owned 3 Lincoln mark vii's. The Mark 7 is a fox body chassis but the quality is so much better. If only they made drop top lincoln mark 7's.
 
Nice call on the old school mini. I bet those really were fun. :nice:

Here's a similar video using a Caterham: YouTube - Slalom Caterham
Makes me want one even more. Think the 2.3 in my 88 would fit in a caterham? :rlaugh:

^^^ That's sooo awesome... Must be soo fun to toss it around like that.

Since these cars usually use a Focus Zetec motor or some other Ford 4 banger, I'm sure you could figure out a way to throw a turbo 2.3 in there!:nice:
 
I love my current car....nothing like a big stroker in a lowered drop top with all the toys. But really i love LINCOLNS....ive owned 3 Lincoln mark vii's. The Mark 7 is a fox body chassis but the quality is so much better. If only they made drop top lincoln mark 7's.
I love my Mark! The Cobra based engine really screams! :nice:

But I have owned allot of fancy fun cars and have driven allot more. The car that is the most fun to drive is my Cobra. I get excited when I start it up, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when she screams past 5000 RPM. The adrenalin rush from going WOT through the first three gears is intoxicating. The butt clenching moments when the rear steps out while cornering or passing somebody..... The car is pure excitement when I drive the thing. Then the looks and compliments it gets... Every time I get out of it I am smiling! :nice:
 
^Damn Laser you can really hear the love/enthusiasam in that post. I too feel that way although mine is justa GT. I've driven a 500awhp GSX and that was NUTS but nothing like a Stang. Damn i need to drive more cars i guess. Also that slalom caterman vid can drive his freaking dace off:omg:
 
There must be something wrong with me. I am not absolutely nuts about blown mustangs. :shrug:

I got a ride in a very nice 97ish cobra with a vortech, pushing 10psi. It pulled like crazy, but it was missing something. I also test drove an 04 cobra with some mods once too (I saw at least a CAI, no cats and aftermarket mufflers, not sure what pulleys or such), it pulled very hard and was quite fun, but just missing something. The missing piece is the real fun factor for me.

A really fun car to drive will bite your head off if you push it just a bit too far. Mustangs, including those with a blower have a very flat and predictable torque curve and you can really use that power to drift neatly around a corner or keep it just at the limit of traction while accelerating hard. I guess I'm saying I'd prefer a 911 turbo type of car... push it just a little too hard in a corner and the back end will very quickly be heading to the front, with the whole mass of the rear mounted engine swinging you around like a top.

I think I like my 2.3 turbo for this reason. The power band and the way the power comes on is a bit insane. When you push the gas hard, it pauses for a moment before gaining speed and then hurdling you forward. It's not the acceleration that is fun, but the way it makes it happen. If you are lucky, it will bite the tires, if not, it is very difficult modulate the throttle to get traction and you are in for a ride.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a supercharged mustang, but I guess to me the real fun is not knowing what is going to happen when you push it just a little too far. I wouldn't want to drive this kind of crazy car daily, but as a toy or track car that you swing between the auto-X cones, it is just perfect. :nice:

So in conclusion, a mustang with a blower is great fun and perfect for driving on the street and as a daily driver. However, your fun weekend toy and track car should be able to bite your head off at any moment and scare you to death when you are in it.

Am I making any sense or am I just completely crazy? :eek:
 
I'm currently on the Formula car team here at south dakota state university....i went to cali for the competition last year, it was a blast......now i'm on the design team this year, doing the differential mounts and such......i haven't driven the car much but when i did it was amazing on the road course.....

I am also currently working with the FSAE team at Bradley. I got to drive last years car in the fall and that thing was a blast, just wish it had a manual with paddle shifters instead of a CVT. We set up a mini I hope to be on the design team next year. This year i'm just helping switch engines out of the cars. We set up a slalom and skid pad test. One of the drivers had it on two wheels at one point around the skip pad, the tires were smoking when he came to a stop and that was in 45 degree weather.