[Closed] Best and worst cars you've driven?

worst: would be this, like driving a bus (I would imagine), scarey to drive fast especially with it's drum brakes, but it was great fun to tinker with. It nearly caused an accident on the A1 (rubber necker I mean, not my driving)
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Best: was a Subaru Impreza Turbo Hatchback, not mine, belonged to a friend 10 years ago, but I drove it to Glencoe (400miles) and it flew (with 5 blokes and a weeks worth of kit and climbing gear).

Best - I love my little 172cup - for all its little faults it just makes me smile whenever I drive it. However best is definitely the Megane R26.R i had the pleasure of playing in a few months ago, epic epic car.

Worst - City Rover! Was given to me as a hire car for 3 days. Words simply cannot describe how awful it was.

Best Hillman Imp

Worse and il get slatted for this Mini

Imp had more room, handled better and more high tech.

Best: Jaguar XFR (Genuinely, and by a mile ... but I do feel it necessary to state a vested interest 😉 )

Worst? So many and so many criteria by which to judge....
Absolute: Some sh*te 198o-something Cavalier I had as a [i]courtesy[/i] car once.
Relative: (ie Disappointing, given the expectations) Close-run between Bentley Arnage and a 1999 Porsche 911

Best:
Integra DC2. Loved it so much and the only car I really miss.

Worst:
Ford Fusion. Just rubbish. Handles like a boat and the clutch doesn't seem to work properly.

Quite fond of the Mondeo ST TDCi estate we have now in a 'do it all' kind of way.

[i]Quite fond of the Mondeo ST TDCi estate we have now in a 'do it all' kind of way. [/i]

Yeah, the definition of best is a vague one isn;t it? If the question were, 'which car have you driven would you want to live with?' then I'd forget about cool, fast cars i've driven and go straight for my current Honda Accord CDTI which is the comfiest car I've ever been in, gets 50mpg+, looks alright and can fit in and drive with, 5 adults really comfortably because it's huge and has a million torques.

The car I loved most was my 1.7 Zetec Puma. Loved the looks, it fitted me perfectly and was supremely comfortable on long runs, and it handled superbly, like a Kart 'round corners. Miss it like mad, just couldn't afford to own it any longer.
Worst car? There are two I drove on a regular basis for a while, and I thank the deity of your choice I never owned either.
First was a Yugo, which was a company car! No part of that car's controls had any connection with the real world. They may have been bolted into one body shell but there was no consensus between pedals, steering and gearshift and the parts they were supposed to control. The second was a base-model Vectra 1.8L. Truly, truly awful car. Clarkson was totally right about how bad those cars were. Accelleration measured with an eggtimer, and seats that had me squirming in discomfort within 1/4 mile of starting off, with three or four hours of driving to look forward to. A lighted rag in the filler would have been appropriate.

Best: Lotus Elise S2 111R

Worst: Metro 1.4 Diesel

Best (as passenger): Lotus Elise S1 with 225bhp VAG lump 'round the Nurburgring

Best car i owned was my Vauxhall Aastra estate 1.3 merit, had loads of fun in that car it went everywere and was 100% reliable

Worst was a 2ltr vectra n reg it was terrible

best car i have ever driven is a 1969 Lotus F2 car, flipping insane on the road

Ford Fiesta Pop 950cc 17yr old with xr2 wheels and tyres. Great fun. Engine bulit proof but the body work rusts and more rusts!

Renault 19 1. GTX-electric sunroof but that was it -wind up windows. Why?
Ok at everything-bit boring though. Comfy.

Ford Escort RS Turbo with all extras-quick and still could shop and put 4 ppl in it. Handled on smooth roads, cheapish. Attracts a boy racer image that made me sell it.

Mondeo-sports version-LTD edition, big, fast, handles, solid and took 2 bikes in the back. Wolf in sheeps clothing doesn't attract bad image or boy racer/angry driver abuse etc.

BMW E39 525 SE-al extras, 18 inch BMW alloys, full leather-solid-beauty to drive. Drank loads though.

Best RS4

Worst the new Astra

Best for me was the Ferrari 360 I drove on sunday at an 'experience' although only got 4 laps so didn't have much chance to get any sort of feel for it. The Power and braking is awesome!

Worst - has to be Nissan Almera Hire car, horrible thing to drive.

Best was an ex-works lhd 6speed 205Gti rally car bloody fast and precise for a fwd car, worst was an F355 Ferrari pile of steaming poo it was like all the controls were connected by string/elastic!

Worst I've ever driven was probably a Citroen AX with a gearbox like flopping a stick around in a tub of porridge, as much power as a small blender, handling like a matress and windows that didn't open. Worst I owned was a 1.0l yellow Metro that was mainly made of rust and could manage three cylinders on a good day.

Best I've ever driven is easy - a Porsche 911 Turbo around Donnington Park. Best I've ever owned is probably the 1.8T Passat I have now, fast enough, comfortable and surprisingly economical. And you can fit shedloads in it. Although my old MKII Golf is a close second, even though it was a 1.6 Driver (and never worked properly after driving through the Hull floods) mainly held together with gaffer tape and tie wraps it was still brilliant fun on twisty roads.

I agree with solamanda worst vehicle is my current works Mitsubishi L200 completely gutless even after a new turbo fitted, heavy on diesel, utter crap turning circle and eats through front tyres.

Most fun car to drive was my Mercedes A-class It was fun to drive nippy and with the back seats out like a van and ideal for biking great semi-automatic gear box and engine just a shame about the rest.

Best = my mates Nissan 350Z. After a couple of hours "hustling" it along country lanes, I really didn't want to give it back.

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Worst = Hyundai Accent. My god it was shite.

Best: My mates Maseratti 3200 GT which he leant me for 4 days for my honeymoon. Brilliant car, comfy, super fast, a proper headturner

Worst: I had a mark 2 sierra that used to fill up with smoke when you drove it over thirty miles an hour. Motorway journeys had to be done with the windows open to combat the onset of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Hmm, the best car I've driven isn't based on the driving experience (as I've only driven it all of perhaps 40ft since I've owned it) but is based on the fact its a classic, its mine and one day it'll be on the road again. A '67 Shelby Mustang GT350.

If I'm going to be honest though and rate cars I've properly driven then my friend David's Audi RS6 Avant that we used to get down to the French Alps last year takes some beating, if only due to that fantastic noise it makes in those alpine tunnels. Seats are a little hard though.

The worst car (or perhaps most disappointing would be a better description) would be my brothers old Dodge Viper GT2. The heaviest clutch in the world, hot as hell, noisy, extremely poor external views and some of the cheapest looking plastics are used for the dash etc. In a straight line off the lights though a complete hoot, until you have to change gear.

Best - Mitsi Evo 8 on a track, otherwise a Ford Focus (I ahve relatively humble cars at my disposal).

Worst - Mini Metro

Best - my Audi TT (which I have now) or my Ford Puma 1.7VVTI.

Although the Lotus Exige (supercharged) around Silverstone was quite amazing too - but I try to blank the memory out to stop me constantly considering selling a kidney to get one...

Most hateful - a Citroen ZX 'Furio' although quite why it was branded a Furio I still cannot understand.

Best;
Mk1 MX-5 1.6 - Brilliant fun, simple but amazingly well engineered.
A close second would be a Mk2 VW Golf GTI 8V for similar reasons.

Worst;
Pick one from many - Merc A Klasse hire car - must have been designed by someone who had never driven.

you can get 5 bikes (inc tyres, and some riding gear) in the *boot* of my mk2 mondeo estate, so as a tool to get people riding without strapping stuff to the extremities, i guess thats pretty good 🙂

its also dull as ditchwater. Worst car I ever owned\drive was a mk2 polo. terrible thing. only owned it for 3 days - bought it to get home when my other car broke down 🙂

My mums Passat 1.8T was a very good car and quick enough for me when I was 18 🙂 Best thing was I could have it almost whenever I wanted.

Most fun (but a bit chav looking) was my cousins Corsa I borrowed for 3 days. 1.4L 82BHP, but fully adjustable Koni suspension front and back, meant I could go as quick on the straights as in the corners. Handled like a go cart, fun, fun, fun, pretty light as it was a 3dr so 82bhp was good enough.

Also my mates dad Integra Type R, revs to 9000RPM, what a noise, shame I was only a passanger. Now waiting till he gets his dads 911 Carrera S on the road and will see how that goes.

To get to use my mums Passat whenever I wanted I had to drive this for about 6 months first [img] [/img]
FSO Polonez,we were the same age when I had it, handled as a boat, and with it's 1.5L (75bhp when it was new in 1987, so around 40bhp in 2004 :-)) engine, anything was quicker than me. I think that my mums approach was better and meant she loves me rather than giving me her car right after passing the test so that I could drive into a tree 😉 Still could get me to places quicker than on foot, so that's a plus.

Daewoo Matiz might be worse or equally bad. Nothing I liked about that car.

Grande Punto hire car, wasn't really bad,somewhere above Polonez, but way under the VW, just uncomfortable and slow with it's 1.2 engine.

Best: Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6. The 1.6 is very well balanced compared to the 1.9 - the brakes and suspension are capable of getting you out of the trouble the engine puts you into, which several 1.9 owners found out didn't happen with the bigger engine. I regretted selling that car (to a friend) almost as much as I regretted not buying it back off him a year later in thoroughly restored condition for the same money. Doh. I'd only sold it because the 4,000 - odd miles a year I drive is mostly on motorways. Ironically, I don't need to do that any more. Should have kept it.

Worst car? My girlfriend's A Class. Perfectly good car, but very, very boring.

Best = Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale

Worst = Rover Metro

A mate & I used to "Test drive" a few cars, just for fun.
Best: 406 Coupe, V6 manual in gunmetal with red leather. Went like stink, & pulled up sharp with Brembos. lovely car, but way out of my pice range.
Worst: BMW 316 compact. Dull, dull, dull for a "prestige" brand.
Honorable mention: New Golf GTI with DSG. Nippy & fun in sport mode. Polo GTI, nippy, but I could only afford a Fiesta. Handles just as well but a bit slower.
Dishonorable mention: Daithatsu Sirion loaner.

best was probably a bmw 528i - I don't get to drived many cars. and the worst must be the worst of all vehicles ever to be on the road...

a 1990 ex BT Austin Maestro van. 1275 engine and it was the most gutless wonder I've ever had the pleasure of driving... and I had to drive it to Hamburg and back !

Kev

Best - Legnum VR-4. I adore them and they do everything well. Plus, they're stealthy but can beat virtually anything on the road. Closely followed by my £700 214k miler Honda Accord 2.2 VTEC. Looks terrible but does 40 mpg but flies and it's bombproof.

Worst - Fiat Punto. Was new as well but I thought we were going to die. Very scary.

Worst the new Astra

Best: VW Corrado VR6, Clarkson called it 'the closest thing to a £20,000 Ferrari'. Ace noise, good handling, stealth fast. Or my tweaked Mk2 Golf GTi which was just a hoot.

Worst: all sorts of dull as dishwater modern cars. Hard to pick a 'worst' though, all blobby and vague and antiseptic.

Uber Best: Honda RC30 on the Isle of Man, or maybe Phase One's World Endurance Racing Championships RC30 race bike. Bikes really do walk all over cars, even fast ones, when it comes to proper visceral speed and involvement 🙂

Yeah, I've ridden an RC30, that is a beautifully handling bike and the length of that first gear!!

Best - very close between MX5 and Lotus Elise
Worst - Volvo 440 by a country mile

Owned all of them, and I AM counting total cost of ownership as well as pure fun. That Volvo caused me heart ache and injury far beyond any servicing bill. Plus the Lotus was in fact the most reliable car I've ever owned (well, the mazda didn't cause me any problem, but a dustcart removed it's front wing so it just dips below)

Best: Mk 1 1.8 Golf GTI, you chuck it into anything and you would still come out the otherside with a big grin on your face.

Worst: Hyuandai Getz. Words cannot describe how unbelievably crap they are.

Best - Legnum VR-4. I adore them and they do everything well. Plus, they're stealthy but can beat virtually anything on the road

Everyone is different I guess, but I owned a Legum VR4 and it was the worst car I ever bought. Maybe my fault for buying a high mileage car though.
I found it rather boring to drive. A bit too much like playing a playstation... you just turned the wheel and the electronics did the rest. Quick, but dull.

Best: Choice between a new generation Cooper S or my beloved '89 Saab 900 8V Turbo (in white, with the black rubber spoiler on the back...my mates called it the "pimpmobile")

Worst: Some Hyundai rental car I had once, a Pontiac GrandAm that I had as a rental for 3 months in the US. Never has a 3 litre V6 felt so crap. Also, another american one I believe it was called a Mercury Sable - just awful in every way.

And my current almost brand new van ain't no great shakes either...but it is a van.

Best I've driven is probably Merc E-Class with the big diesel and sports set-up, effortlessly fast, solid, comfortable, would be interesting to remove the limiter

Worst is probably the S1/S2 discovery, they fell apart as we drove along, were gutless tow vehicles, wallowed scary bad, had crap brakes and were really nose heavy when jumping bridges

actually, by the grin it always creates, my best drive could be an old Ford 3000 tractor that we have

Best car I've ever been in was a Metro 6r4 Reg PDP 694X, cost me 50quid for charity about 10yrs ago to go in it but well worth every penny!

best.

Triumph Spitfire, it wasn't fast, the body and chassis would crumble in front of your eyes, they leaked, and the roof was a joke, but it was stupid shit eating grin fun. Some of my best memories involve Spitfires of some description. Alternatively a Westie I helped build with a 2.0l Vauxall lump in it. First time we drove it, we spent the entire time laughing our heads off.

Worst: 1.6 Astra, awful awful uncomfy bland, woefulness

Best - 1962 Series IIA SWB Land Rover - oxidized paint - three engine swaps - every journey an expedition into the unknown. I only once overtook another vehicle. A bus that was stopping to drop off a passenger.

Renault 4 with guessomatic umbrella gearstick. Steering that was like dating - will she? - wont she?

Worst may have been a Citroen Saxo with the pedals in completely the wrong place, causing terrible back pain; or the car I learned to drive in which was a MkII Fiesta 950cc. Actually scratch that, it was a MkIII Fiesta 1.1 Automatic. My wife said to me one day that she thought there was something wrong with it since she braked sharply coming up to a roundabout and the wheels locked. I took it to the same spot and realised that was just how it was made. Normally those cars had terrible understeer, but this one had 50 odd kilos of extra weight forward of the front axle in the form of the transmission. Shockingly bad.

[b]Worst[/b]

Ignoring cheap worn out rubbish that my brothers bought as first cars, it would have to be the Vauxhall Belmont owned by a former girlfriend.

I was confused how a car manufacturer could release a car that couldn't handle or slow down without the brakes locking.

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[b]Best[/b]

Best that I've owned would be a Renault 19 16v. Great handling. Obviously poor French build quality.

Havent driven much but i liked a mrk 2 lotus elise (120bhp?) i had a wee shot of years ago.went out down the Kincraig road from Aviemore in it with the owner and drove it back.lovely feel to it but two up it felt gutless.sounds good with whats behind you but if you blip a car into a lower gear and nothing much happens with all those sporty looks etc.. its a bit of a shocker isnt it?!

moving on.. same again but a 2007? RS4.bike in the back, 2 up and other stuff in the hearse-like boot and it just powers on like the extra weight makes no diffrence. amazing grip. (Aviemore to the heather centre)driven by the owner, a very scarey experience when the owner has the idea in their head that "its near impossible to crash it" due to what all it can take care of ( but he didnt, and did a great job of it!).in the right hands,those cars could go around some other cars twice over.

my car.. pug 106 gti.

nowhere near the power of the Rs4 and not as planted as the elise but driving home after the RS4 experience the drive of it put a grin on my face.Not because it had better grip,went faster or handled better.. it just... you know,put a smile on my face ;O).

so when a car costing 3k compared to a car costing 58k+ give you a better feeling, you know yer onto a winner.

worst: my fathers H reg mercedes 190E 1.8 ::walks off shaking head:::

Best: Alfa 156, I know it's not performance or anything but drove so well and looked great.

Honorable mentions to my (now) wife's 1.4 Nova SR - like an overpowered rollerskate; and to my Mum's 2Ltr MG Maestro which sounds really shit but was the first proper car I was allowed to drive after I passed my test and which nearly killed me several times due to 'overenthusiasm'

Worst: It should be my first own car which was a Fiat 126 which was utterly shit but got me places so probably disqualifies it from this list. So honestly, would probably also be the 156 which went wrong about as often as it went anywhere. I still loved it though (probably because warranty and the company paid the bills!!)

worst was a Nissan pulsar EXA-on loan from a friend for 3 months but he most gutles pos imaginable, apparently the turbo'd model went like stink but this was a 1.6 bobbinsmobile.
best Mk1 lotus elan driven once from Auckland to Rotorua by as many back roads as possible. never took it above about 65 mph but was still thrilled to fits of smiling.

The best was my mates new Audi S8 last week, it was brutal but amazing.

The worst a Chevy sabrine I hired in the US a few years ago...........a dog