I saw this post on R&T and now I am asking Oppo

"KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time" (kngt)
11/04/2018 at 16:58 • Filed to: Ask Oppo, manual transmission, Manual

Which Normal Car Will Turn Anyone Into an Enthusiast?

I’d say:

GTI/WRX/CivicSi

FRS/BRZ/GT86

Fiesta/Focus ST

Any base model V8 muscle car, even a Challenger/Charger

E46/E9x with or without the turbo, with a manual

And y ou may or may not consider these “Normal”, so post your choice.

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DISCUSSION (24)

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 16:58

Honda Fit

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 16:58

Kinja'd!!!

AestheticsInMotion > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 16:59

Manual Miata

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
11/04/2018 at 17:00

I’m sure this will make you an enthusiast...ic serial killer

Kinja'd!!!

wafflesnfalafel > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:05

I think the cart may be before the horse there. Lots of folks simply aren’t going to like driving those kind of cars - and that is perfectly fine. I think the enthusiast already exists and they gravitate to those kind of vehicles rather than the vehicle turning the non-enthusiast into an enthusiast. Just my two and a half cents..

WilliamsSW > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:08

I would add the Chevy SS to that list.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:10

I’m going to definitely say the GTI, and explain why since it wasn’t above. Unlike other cars on that list, it can be completely boring. It does absolutely everything a normal car should do, and it does it well. It roadtrips well, it dailies well, it hauls well, it traffics well, it goes to the shops well, and that’s not all it does well. It hot hatches well. It hugs the corners, and rips through them in a way that I would not even dream of attempting in my Fiesta ST(I tried with LimitedTimeOnly, it doesn’t work). It pulls like a freight train off the line, while it’s not super fast, it feels it.

After living with the Fiesta ST for 2.5 years, the horrid ride quality took some enthusiasm away.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:11

Look at that Buick Lucerne over on the left tho... a true enthusiast maker.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:13

The ISF has done a good job among my family. Loud and fast works. In general, the Focus ST and M3 would work.

bhtooefr > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:16

I’m gonna say it’s the Tesla Model S and Model 3.

The cars you’ve listed are mainstream enthusiast cars, but most of them aren’t going to be appealing to non-enthusiasts - harsh rides, loud, cramped interiors on some of them, and manual transmissions? Are you kidding me?

The BMWs have an appealing badge, but really, they’re gonna buy a base model to get a lower lease payment.

The Model S and 3 are appealing to the gadget buyer that saw cars as solely a burden, though, and then “oh shit, this is what fun to drive is?” Then you have an enthusiast. Sure, they start out a brand enthusiast, and they’ll probably never get into ICE cars , but how many of us got into the hobby through a brand (it was Volkswagen for me)?

XJDano > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:18

A Cherokee or ranger possibly.

promoted by the color red > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:28

Basically any Mazda in the last ten years. I know test driving a 2 helped my friend see the light.

Just Jeepin' > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:34

Duh.

Kinja'd!!!

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:41

I’m with road and track here. My wife loves her civic hatch a lot and is Moreno interested and engaged with driving since she got it. The civic can definitely turn someone who thinks car are appliances into someone who recognizes the fun factor of cars.

Land_Yacht_225 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:43

I think making an exhaustive list isn’t necessarily the right way to go at that question. I think it’s more a matter of certain qualities that shock people into a sense of coherence with our culture.

If your family had owned Camrys and Pilots your whole life, you would be numb to cars. I have seen this happen more than once among my own friends. One friend had only ever driven a Corolla and his mom’s Windstar. I let him drive my Park Avenue Ultra. He bought a normal Park Avenue shortly thereafter. Now when he buys cars, he has a skewed expectation of ride quality - he still doesn’t care what he drives in terms of make or model - but he does have an opinion and a desire for more than reliability. I think that is burgeoning enthusiasm. I had another friend who’s parents only have Odysseys and Accords (although I will asterisk the record, their first Odyssey was an Isuzu Oaisis) and his automotive knowlege consists of “Japanese cars are reliable. ” So I was helping him buy his first car to commute to his first real job - I made him go drive a Honda Prelude. Now, he didn’t fit in it - but he did say that it was not his father’s Accord. He used the word fun!

It can be any car that shocks someone’s system - alters expectations. Remember - non-car people think all cars are the same. That’s the root of all their questioning of why anybody would spend the money on a BMW or a Mercedes, why they think anything more than the oil changes they forget anyway is an unreasonable maintenance expectation, and why they see no value in old cars.

nermal > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 17:46

It’s a cart-before-the-horse scenario.

The only people that buy the cars mentioned know exactly what they’re getting beforehand.

Normies will just buy a RAV4 or CRV or a pickup.

diplodicus forgot his password > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 18:11

E30 with a manual

fhrblig > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 18:45

I had a Prizm LSi that wasn’t as boring as you’d think. It was a 1.8 with a stick and it wasn’t fast, but it felt peppy in traffic.

Also, I had a 4-cylinder Alero that also wasn’t a sports car, but it handled surprisingly well especially on twisty roads.

Most normal cars can be fun. They just have to have a little bit of juice off the line and not be too porky in the turns. Hell, I threw my Ranger too hard in the corners and it never failed to put a smile on my face.

There are a few regular new cars I’d like to drive to see if they have any potential. One is a manual Spark, another is a manual Corolla, and the other is a new Fiat 500 since they made the non-Abarth turbo the standard motor.

Stef Schrader > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 23:41

lemme tell y’alls about the gospel of parsh

on the 43659089084293469840[...]58439674904843264[...]584368439032754905483673409583434329t5902383th day, man created parsh

and the parsh was good

whosoever gazes upon the throttle pedal of maximum parsh is an enthusiast for life

Tohru > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/04/2018 at 23:50

A rental car with the insurance.

After all, it’s the fastest car in existence.

AdverseMartyr > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/05/2018 at 08:03

I’d say any classic car (what... those are normal cars... just older, normal cars). A 450SL ( that’s running) will make anyone an enthusiast.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/05/2018 at 09:49

Light makes right. Anything small, zippy and chuckable will do the job. With a manual, assuming the one in question can drive it. My ‘05 Mazda 3s hatch gave me lots of smiles per mile! (for 7 years and 90k miles)

VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/05/2018 at 11:34

My particular gateway was my friend Brian’s Terminator Mustang, so yeah

SlickMcRick > fhrblig
11/10/2018 at 01:35

1995 Saturn SL2 with the DOHC. The motor moved it out its way but man that handling was on par with contemporary Civics. I turned into corners with vigor that should have been set aside for cars 40× more than I paid yet it never disappointed.