The Fun Cars I Drove In 2018

"Poor_Sh" (ar4x) 12/20/2018 at 19:30 • Filed to: None

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Last year I was getting a bit annoyed with how much of a car enthusiast I am compared to how few fun cars I’ve driven. Most rentals not included. So, I wrote a list of ways I could figure to drive more cars without breaking the bank or changing my life too significantly. Here’s what I got:

This is cheating, but wait! I cheat more later... cheating in that it’s a car I owned and daily drove. I’ll count it. 2014 Mustang GT (Premium) which was a great car. Awesome power, perfect exhaust (after I bought the right axleback), and a ton of value in many aspects. I got rid of it in April, and maybe shouldn’t have financially, but that will come up later as well.

My first Turo experience! This was 2LT Z51 Corvette, with a manual, in my favorite red. Not favorite wheels though. Bleh. Anyway, drove this for 3-4 days around Florida in a mini road trip with a friend for fun, and as a long-term test drive. I was very serious about getting one. This thing is pretty incredible, I talked about value already but that’s really what these things are. Supercar for less. Powerful, nimble, sexy, way more comfortable and practical than it has any right to be. Just, not what I ended up wanting to daily in RI.

Once I wrote the Vette off my future car choices, I turned to the Cayman. I was set on a 981 , and wanted to compare the base to the S. I test drove the black base and the silver S back to back, fell in love, and now I have a 2014 Cayman S! Really fun test-drives, but really short. I only really fell in love and noticed how great this car is once I got back in the Mustang to drive home. Also that red interior is awful. I was getting way more comfortable with dealerships and test drives now so this was seeming like a more viable way to get into cool cars for cheap!

While I was searching for my next car, my friend bought a 2018 Taco TRD with a manual. I was with him when he picked it up, and after a quick drive he let me drive it! Trucks aren’t something I’m interested in but it was a unique experience, and driving a new manual anything is fun in my book.

Like I said, I bought the Cayman. The 2014 Cayman S, manual, with Sport Chrono, and stuff. It’s gorgeous, it’s fun (SO FUN), and I LOVE IT... mostly. UGH. UGHHHH. But I digress, this is cheating again because of course it breaks the bank. It breaks it, digs a hole, and dumps it in. Financially, this is real dumb. But I can technically afford it, and I needed something to change my life. I like this solution.

Why do I only mostly love my Cayman? Well it has bad luck it turns out. Tire punctured, 2 warranty fixes needed, dealer damage fixed after a warranty job, big scratches damage down the side (no idea how), smaller scratches damage under the front corner (my fault, but kinda also not), a cracked windshield, and a few small gremlins that pop up for a second then disappear. Luckily Porsche still gives me courtesy cars, so far a Macan, a Macan S (pictured), and an Armada. 3 SUVs which are boring to me, but the Macan S pictured as legitimate fun, good enough power, played with paddle shifters for the first time really, and practical! Not for me, but I’d suggest one to my future wife if she wanted something like it and could afford it.

At one time, or maybe a few, I got really down about my Cayman for multiple reasons and on top of a lot of personal stress. I test drove this BRZ Limited which karma rewarded me with one of the bad luck events. Yay. Either way, this was a great car though I had a few complaints. I could definitely be happy in this car as a daily. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to wrest the Cayman from my grasp. Still I got a good time driving a cool car for free. Count it!

Finally, I drove another red sportscar, in Florida, from Turo. I like this tradition! 2017 Miata Club with a manual. I’m gonna write a lot more about this later so for now I’ll just say it was a blast! It wasn’t quite the epiphany I was hoping with this car, but there’s lots of possible reasons for that especially considering that where I was had almost no fun roads. Topless fun is always fun though! Can’t wait to see what 2019 has in my future.