Have you ever driven a sports car?

[Jack Sprat]

I'm referring to either 2 or 4 seaters on a sports suspension chasis, tight quick steering, and low center of gravity so it hugs the road on highway turns.

I had a 90 Toyoto Celica that was a load of fun but didn't keep it long. It was used and a cheap buy. I've looked for another used one recently but the prices are steep even for used ones.

If you have owned one and driven one previously, what was your favorite model? I'm talking low-end priced ones for buying, not a Maserati or Porshe. More like Mazda Miata, Honda 2000, Pontiac Soltice, Nissan 350Z.
But if you have owned a high-end priced one, I'd still like to know your favorite no matter the cost. Some of the manufacturers stopped making them because the market was confining I suppose. That may contribute to the available used ones costing as much as they do.

[tinymontgomery]

1. My brother had an Opel GT

loved driving that car. Like you said, tight quick steering and hugged the road great. I remember it used to be called the poor man's vet.

[liberal N proud]

7. My wife had one

Drove it until we couldn't find parts. I could rebuild that gearbox with my eyes closed.

I had a 1974 MG Midget. Spoke/spanner wheels. Drove it across the county once.

[Scuba]

26. I had a 71 Opel GT. Awesome car, fun to drive, felt like it was on rails. Very fast.

Not much room for luggage though.

[rrneck]

2. Does this count?

1993 240sx coupe. (Sorta like this one) Not a hot rod, but fun to drive.

[Jack Sprat]

3. I think so. You would have to tell me, cuz

I haven't ridden in one nor driven one.

[rrneck]

9. It was pretty tight.

Gave me plenty of encouragement in the curves, and I used to drag the pegs on my motorcycle with fair regularity. Only had 155hp as I recall, but it revved well and sat nice and solid at 100+. Maybe a bit heavy to hang with the others though.

[Aristus]

4. Does a 1982 Datsun 280ZX count?

(Not my actual car...)

I called it "The Silver Tyrant".

[GoCubsGo]

5. My sister has a Nissan 350Z

I drove it. I wasn't impressed. A large part of that had to do with the fact that it had automatic transmission. Automatic transmission in a sports car is a sacrilege, IMHO. It also has all sorts of bells and whistles on it that are expensive to repair. In the case of this vehicle, the used ones are expensive, because they were expensive new.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. Just south of the Kentucky-Tennessee border, I used to take my friend's Datsun 280-Z...

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... for fairly regular runs along "The Trace".
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Down south, a Trace is a road that pretty closely follows the course of a small meandering river/stream.
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Lots of hairpin curves... a GREAT "track" if you like handling over raw power/speed.
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I wasn't very impressed with the car (a low-end sports car to be sure).
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I think my favorite car ever was my 1979 Honda Civic with 13-inch tires and a 1200 cc engine. They
discontinued that model in favor of one with a 1500cc engine (that one wasn't underpowered and got
better gas mileage).
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That Honda felt and handled like a low-center-of-gravity road-hugging go-kart. I LOVED it (and could
actually get better speed on The Trace). I never could crack 100 MPH with it, though. I had a LONG
commute to my job and on the way home was about a mile-long fairly steep downhill straightaway
with no place for the police to hide and catch speeders. I used to shoot for 100 on that hill EVERY day.
One day, with a very strong tailwind, I hit 99, but DESPITE my rocking back-and-forth at the wheel
and shouting encouragement to my car -- it stayed at 99.
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SO damn close!!!
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[Jack Sprat]

13. I wonder if it would compare

to the newer Honda CRXs or CRZs? Can't remember but it seems this model which is a hybrid replaced the sports Civic. I haven't seen many of them on the road, but they really have the sports car look.

[MiddleFingerMom]

14. This was in no WAY a "sports car" -- it was pretty boxy and utilitarian.

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Nowhere NEAR as boxy as (I believe) the 1969 Honda Civic. I bought my '79 in 1980 (like I said
before -- when it had just been discontinued) and had thought it was the last car in America under
$4000 (somebody showed me two other cars that had cost less at the time).
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Ironically, my older brother bought the last new car under $2000 in America 1969 -- and it was
that year's Honda Civic (although my research says it wasn't marketed in the U.S., so I'm not
sure how he got it.
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They both had 1300cc engines, not 1200. Both were underpowered and soon had their engines
upgraded to 1500cc.
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[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. Two Ferraris, seven Porshces a couple if Triumphs and a handfull of mercedes including a 190 SL.

Porsche, there is no substitute.

Currently driving a Ford 150 XLT but as soon as I settle in I will buy another Porsche Boxter though there is not really much use for one in Arizona.

Ferrari is an Italian word. Means in the shop but what a kick in the ass to drive if you don't mind < 8 miles per gallon and the fact that they spend more time in the shop than on the street. It's a rich folks toy. Case in point. At some point, Fiat bought Ferrari. A Ferrari oil filter cost $80.00 in 1980. The exact same oil filter except with Fiat instead of Ferrari on the label cost $6.00

I would take a Porsche across country without a second thought and have.

Triumphs break down every time you turn them off. Took a trip from S.F. to Charlotte N.C. in a TR250. Took me six days to get to Albequerki N.M. Traded it in on a Porsche 914 when I got to Charlotte and never looked back. 911s are a true joy but hard to justify in this day and age.

If you live in hill country and learn to really drive your car, A sports car is a kick. If you live in a state like Arizona where all the roads are straight for as far as the eye can see, buy a Corvette.

Miatas look interesting and Fiat has a new Abarth that might be worth looking at.
Guess it depends on what you're trying to achieve.

[Jack Sprat]

11. I started missing that little Celica

It has popup headlights and a lot of pep in an engine that really purred on the highway. You could be sitting on 80mph and it didn't seem you were driving 50. So much fun in the winding roads and handled so well. The 90 Celica wasn't expensive and looked far sportier than the models in the early 2000s that began looking boxier.

[MiddleFingerMom]

16. You want FUN/curvy, just go up Mt Lemmon to Summerhaven (it was my favorite local motorcycle ride).

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Be careful and considerate and stay IN your lane, though -- don't cross over or even hug
the other lane -- too much inattentive traffic.
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Better yet, heading north out of Tucson -- take Campbell Ave north from River Rd all the
way up to Sunrise (and go to AJ's while you're up there -- check out their wine-tinged
sorbets). THAT road is the closest thing to a Trace that I've seen since leaving The South.
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I used to sit and wait JUST north of River until no car had gone by for 5 minutes or more
and then SLAMMED that road -- leave too soon and you'll have to slow for the traffic in
front of you... there's NO opportunity to safely pass.
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[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. another OpalGT here. boy, was it a kick in the butt to drive. FUN!!

[HarveyDarkey]

12. Does a Shelby Cobra count?

It was in the early 70's, scared the shit out of me. Shifted from 3rd to 4th at 110mph & left rubber. Felt like my ass was 6" over the pavement.

Not the one I drove:

[Jack Sprat]

15. Yeah, I'd say that counts for sure.

Gosh, would I ever like to have that car. That one counts.

[Nye Bevan]

17. No, but I rode in a Porsche as a passenger once, and found it very claustrophobic (nt)

[Brother Buzz]

18. 53 MG

It was a beater that was eighteen years old when I bought it. It needed constant adjustments to keep running (maybe one hour of driving for every two hours work on a good day). It came with a ton of boxes of spare parts to last a lifetime, all for $150. Times have been better.

[Populist_Prole]

19. Got to drive a 1964 Jaguar E Type coupe

Owned by a fellow gearhead and fellow co-worker who restored it. He really let me wring it out no hold barred, though the fact it was not my car and its rarity did hold me back a bit. Bright red. A work of art on wheels, an icon. The big 6 was strong ( and a beautiful sight to behold with the hood lifted ) the interior classy but quite uncomfortable by today's standards, and the handling while good, must have been nothing short of phenomenal by early 60's standards.

You see so few of them now, and so I felt privileged to actually drive one.

[Initech]

20. Closest I've ever come was test driving a Hyundai Genesis turbo.

[Fumesucker]

21. 62 Lotus Elite, 65 Sunbeam Tiger (Maxwell Smart's car), 94 Infiniti J30, 93 Suzuki Swift GTI,

92 Infiniti G20, 93 Infiniti Q45

The Lotus handled like a dream but it was nearly a full on race car and was pretty fragile and hard to keep running.. The Tiger was fast in a straight line (289 Ford engine) but handled poorly (289 Ford engine), the J30 handled very well was luxurious and pretty fast but it got poor gas mileage, the Swift handled quite well and was faster than you might expect (only a 1.3 engine) but got terrific gas mileage, the G20 was pretty quick, handled pretty well, luxurious and got surprisingly good fuel mileage.. The Q45 was like a state patrol car with a leather interior but got crappy mileage and had to use premium fuel.

All in all if I was going to choose from the ones I listed I'd probably go for the Infiniti G20, one with a stick is fun to drive while still being a four door car you can get five passengers and a considerable amount of luggage into (largish trunk) and get better than 30 mpg on the highway.. A Nissan Sentra SE-R is basically the same engine/transmission/suspension with a different shaped two door body on it...

[mnhtnbb]

22. My son bought a Honda S2000 that he drives in autocross

Here's a view of one of his last competitions

&feature=youtu.be



My husband drives a Miata--which he loves. There are lots of Miatas
owned by guys in the autocross club.

[HopeHoops]

23. A Pontiac Fiero (rental). It was impossible to flip and would do some awesome spin slides.

Didn't have any power (4 cylinder), but it was a hell of a lot of fun to drive. I'm glad I wasn't traveling with anyone that trip because the "trunk" behind the engine was just large enough to squeeze my suitcase into and there was no room at all behind the seats so my briefcase rode shotgun. The entire front end of the car was steering and the spare tire.

On the plus side, that was the week that my girlfriend and one of her best friends came to visit (stayed in the hotel room) so I got to take them each out for some tight-cornering and sliding fun.

[pipi_k]

24. Does a 1977

Triumph TR7 count?

Mr Pipi had one some years ago but sold it before we moved out here.

Well, this past Saturday he got another one

Here it is, at its former home in NY, just before he picked it up...

[hifiguy]

25. I have - a Ferrari 550 Maranello.

It is one of three Ferraris owned by a friend of mine who is a builder of High End home audio speakers. I realized after going no more than a block that I would have to do something so monmuentally and deliberately stupid to get in trouble that I relaxed. It felt like the hand of Jupiter himself was pressing that Fazzaz down on the road. My friend egged me up to 90+ mph. That was an experience I won't forget if I live to be 200 years old.

Another friend has a Porsche Boxster Spyder but I haven't driven it yet, though he promises I will get a crack at it.

I've also driven a couple of Porsche 911s. In law school, some twenty-plus years ago, a good buddy had a 911 Targa and we decided to drive from Boston to Toronto for his wedding. He asked me "What's the first rule of driving a Porsche?" My response: "Brake only before entering a corner, accelerate through, and never, EVER hit the brakes in the middle of a corner." He flipped me the keys.

Older Porsches had tricky rear suspensions. Remember, these are rear engined cars. Hit the brakes in the middle of a corner, particularly at speed, and the rear end steps out, acting like a pendulum, because the primary mass is at the rear. You will leave the road backwards at a high rate of speed if you punch the brakes in the middle of a corner in most Porsches built before the 1990s.

[madmom]

27. I had one of these back in the early 80's, was really fun to drive

Looked exactly like the one in the picture.
Had a head on collision with a motorcycle. We fared pretty good but they had to total the car because it would have taken so long to get parts to fix it, it was cheaper for the insurance company to total it instead of pay for a rental while waiting.



also had one of these in early 70's. The first car I bought myself. A 1970 Mercury Cougar, LOVED that car!!!!

[kurtzapril4]

28. Sport Sedan is as close as I can come.

I have a 1999 Taurus SHO. It's in the shop being tweaked at the moment, but when it's done, it will have about 300 brake horse power. It's a heavy car with a low center of gravity, so yeah, it corners nicely. Even sideways, sometimes.

[KamaAina]

29. Believe it or not, yes

Dad let me drive his MG in a parking lot when I was 6 or 7.

[NightWatcher]

30. Does a Deputy US Marshal's Interceptor Crown Vic count?

That was the most fun I've ever had in a car. I interned with the USMS in college and we were late in getting a witness to court so the deputies rode together in one car with the witness and I had to follow in the brand new one they had just picked up. We were doing at times as high as 115 on I-95.