Ever Drive a "Meh" Car and Love It?

In response to Tom1200's recent thread, have you ever been surprised by how unexpectedly good a car was to drive? One of my experiences:

2004 Lancer Ralliart. NOT the Evo VIII (which we all know is amazing), but the regular FWD version. Great ergonomics: seat, shifter, pedal placement, and visibility all excellent. Good steering feel. Decent power. Reasonably lively rear-end. Felt very much like a Mazda3, which (again) we all know and love.

Easy: Base Ford Fiesta. I used our B-Spec Ford Fiesta as a daily for a few weeks before we modified it, and loved every minute. Not sure why, but it was just a ton of fun. 

4th Generation Prelude S - A friend picked it up from an elderly family member with 17000 miles on it back in 2015. All the controls felt connected, the seating position is lovely, the road manners are perfect for an around town car. Then my friend got his 2G DSM fixed and the AC went out on the Lude so sadly it left.

I drove Suzukis for 20 years, and I'm thus far very happy with my Forte Koup

An 88 Jaguar XJ40 XJ6.  It's slow, it's big, it's heavy, it's soft.  It always felt a little bit large and unweildy in a sense, but the steering was quick (just over 2.5 turns lock to lock), so the giant wheel didn't feel annoying.  The brakes were easy to modulate, but if you leaned on them, they had plenty of power.  It rode like a cloud, but without being even slightly loose or floaty and handled far better than it had any right to.  And even when pushed a bit, body roll just wasn't really a thing.  It was just all around pleasant to drive and that feeling never seemed to fade.  And it had the only digital dash I've ever liked.  Plus, the indicator lights for high beams, etc. actually dim with the rest of the dash lights!

As a point of comparison, my E38 is almost the same size, ~200 lbs heavier, has far more grip, far more power, and far bigger brakes, but it doesn't have the same charm.  With the sport springs, in comparison it rides like a logging truck and while you can hustle it down a windy road faster than the Jag, the handling of the E38 makes you think and work at it a bit to get the most out of it, while the Jag would feel big and like you were trying to turn a bus at times, but if you said turn, it always did.  The steering was much more crisp feeling than the E38 as well.  The E38 a good car, but it's never felt as special as that Jag. 

Second gen hyundai accent hatch. I dont know why I loved it, I got in thinking I would hate it. But it was thoroughly enjoyable. I think part of it was as a mechanic I appreciate a very simple, basic car. Mix that with how light it was and the slow car fast thing, and it was really good.

Around here we know that a b13 Sentra se-r is great, but I had no idea at the time. It was probably my favorite car I've ever driven. 

I've hated being in pretty much every mustang since the mustang II, so I was shocked at how good the ergonomics were in the S197. Seating position, steering and shifter, visibility, it was all just so good.

First gen neon. Just a bucket of fun!

1988 BMW e28. My 5 Series was an "undesirable" automatic eta, so it was neither fast nor sporty; diving-board bumpers completed the list of things that "needed" modification. But it had wide, comfy leather seats in a surprisingly huge interior given the overall size of it, with a competent enough suspension. Trunk would've accommodated several gangster bodies. It was the ultimate just-turn-the-key-and-drive car that still had a classic vibe. I freaking loved that thing. Owned it for a decade, drove it everywhere, even managed to get the a/c working reasonably well. Miss it every day still.

Margie

Every cheap 80s Euro hatch I rented or borrowed when I was over there in the 90s - Fiats, Citroens, Renaults, maybe a VW or two. Mostly 1.0L five speeds that you just drove at 10/10ths all the time because they were so underpowered you really didn't have a choice (and everyone else was driving the same way, so you had to just to keep up with traffic). Steering was usually pretty good with lots of feel, bodies rolled like crazy but otherwise handled well enough, brakes were as good as they needed to be most of the time - the whole package just tended to work really well, and they were always fun to drive because you had to be an active participant at all times.

I mean.... I keep buying Hyundais and Kias because I like them. I live the "meh car" love.

My girlfriend's 2015 Nissan Sentra. 
it's a floaty, low power, CVT mess but man it is a little go kart! 

An older, well kept Suzuki Aerio (with digital tach!). Driving it in anger was way more fun than it had any right to be.

While not a MEH car, I consider Suburbans too big and thirsty for a DD. They are soccer-mom mobiles, worse than minivans where I live. (NO ONE is pulling a horse trailer with one in Pittsburgh). I had to have one as a rental when my Kia was in the shop and fell in love. It was like driving a semi everywhere!  It had so much tech! 6-liter V8s are fun, even in a 9000 pound truck!

 

LanEvo said:

In response to Tom1200's recent thread, have you ever been surprised by how unexpectedly good a car was to drive? One of my experiences:

2004 Lancer Ralliart. NOT the Evo VIII (which we all know is amazing), but the regular FWD version. Great ergonomics: seat, shifter, pedal placement, and visibility all excellent. Good steering feel. Decent power. Reasonably lively rear-end. Felt very much like a Mazda3, which (again) we all know and love.

I read the title of this thread and thought, "every day."

My daily driver since 2009: a 2004 Lancer Ralliart wagon. I kept it and sold my dream car that I bought in April  which was intended to replace it (2004 WRX wagon).

 

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

First gen neon. Just a bucket of fun!

I don't really consider them "meh", but if they are, then I agree, tons of fun.  
 

Nissan Micra.  Had one as a rental car, perfect for slicing and dicing through Toronto rush hour traffic.

Chevy Sonic.  Multiple rentals.  Much more compliant suspension than most compacts, and generally more comfortable as a highway cruiser than anything else I've driven in its size class.  Would've considered buying one if it weren't for build quality concerns.

And finally, my 92 S10 with a 305 TBI swap.  Only rated at 10 more horsepower than the 4.3, but it sure feels faster.  It rides rough, it's loud, it doesn't have a radio,  and it's not very comfortable, but every time I drive it, I fall in love with it again, probably because of nostalgia  It's like a smaller version of the various 1970s GM cars I grew up driving.

I think, looking at my comments above, circumstances can make a "meh" car great, just as much as they can make a great car "meh".

I loved my 2000 Z24

I wouldn't call our Kia Sedona a "meh" car, but if you do, I love it. 

There is also something that I just love about most any econobox. They are what they are, but they're almost all small enough and nimble enough that you can wring some fun out of them. 

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

First gen neon. Just a bucket of fun!

Absolutely.  I had 2 of the little buggers.  Never had a car that enjoyed being driven as much as those Neons did.

My wife's 2006 Scion xB. There's nothing stellar about it aside from space efficiency and I love it.

A couple come to mind.  First was a '78 Ford Fiesta.  It was a pretty decent, fun car.  And I'm probably going to lose my GRM license, but a Miata.  I was an Alfa snob when they came out and wanted nothing to do with them.  Drove a new one in '91 and was blown away.  

And Margie, I think we all know someone here that could build you another BMW.  

Mazda5 - It handled well, had enough pep to be fun without ever breaking the law, and had an extremely useful form factor that many getting nearly anything home was easy. I loved every mile in both of mine.

Same answer as on the other thread, I daily'd rabbits for ten/fifteen years and loved it. Weirdest thing ever 

My Datsun 1200; I was in my snob phase (despite being broke) and would go on about "proper" cars. At the time I had no idea they were front running cars in SCCA C-sedan. I bought it simply because it ran and was only $270.

On the way home I decided to teach the useless little peoples car a lesson, so I drove the back way through the rail yard (tight curvy with some yumps).  By the second corner I discovered the car was hysterical fun to flog......................that was 1984 and we still have the car. 

While heavily modified it still has that hooligan charm and I would never have dreamed I'd own it for 37 years and counting. I just drove it at a track day this past Saturday and it was glorious 4 wheel drifty goodness. This year marks the 32nd season that I've been racing it.

For me it was a '95 Civic.  Plain Jane no frills 5 speed.  I'd taken my then nearly new '94 Formula Firebird in for a warranty repair and they couldn't get needed diagnosis ' parts in for a few days so the dealer gave me the Civic and apologized.  I was bummed.  For about 5 miles.  Then I realized that besides from making burbbly noises from 4 chromed exhaust tips and zero to sixty runs, the Civic did EVERYTHING better.  Gosh dang, you could even see out of the berking thing.  I really didn't want the F-body back.

06 xb manual. It never wasn't fun. Short gearing, great visibility, tons of utility. 

BG chassis. Chuck it until a corner until it pushes then lift off the throttle and be ready to catch the back end when it starts to come around.