Worst and Best Car you have ever Driven

[Spoonwacker]

On my list of cars I want to drive.

 

Had a poster of one on my wall growing up

 

I love the whale tail

 

Yes! This one has no whale tail, though. Does have black Fuchs with polished rims, though, so it looks a lot like this one:

 

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/attachments/911-forum/726555d1368053000-new-to-me-1987-carrera-cdca5169b0e72ed94a2b68526e32cade.jpg

 

I want to nab it for a photoshoot in the mountains sometime this fall.

[BAC5.2]

Worst: 2013 Ford Escape.

 

Best: Too many to count. I enjoyed the NASCAR I drove a few years back, and that was probably one of the fastest cars I've driven (hit 178mph), but I can't say it was the BEST car I've driven.

[f1anatic]

Worst European:

1982 Trabant 601 - the little cardboard 2 stroke engine that could not reach 100 kph (60 mph) unless traveling downhill. I drove this in 2007 when I went back home. But back in the day, cars like Skoda, Wartburg, Lada, Warsawa, were all awful little cars of the Eastern Block.

 

Best European:

2010 AUDI S4

 

Worst American:

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd. - it's UCONNECT navigation system has severe electronic gremlins, with settings disappearing or functions being greyed out or GPS inaccuracies, usually due to Over-The-Air updates

 

Best American:

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd. - a very nimble, potent, muscular, go-anywhere, fuel-efficient cave on wheels.

 

I own the Jeep.

 

Worst Asian:

A version of Chevrolet Malibu sold in Asia, Model Year 2004, driven in 2010 in Singapore.

 

Best Asian:

My wife. I mean having tricked out my Subaru, the honor goes to the Legacy.

[ShrinerMonkey]

Worst: 2013 Ford Escape.

 

Best: Too many to count. I enjoyed the NASCAR I drove a few years back, and that was probably one of the fastest cars I've driven (hit 178mph), but I can't say it was the BEST car I've driven.

"Worst: 2013 Ford Escape."

 

Seriously? You must not have driven many cars then. I can name half a dozen off the top of my head that I have driven that are waaaay worse than an Escape. Chevette, 87' K-car Lebaron, Pontiac Lemons, 2004 Impala, 94' Explorer, etc...

[ehsnils]

Throw in any Opel economy car... Or the first generation Nissan Micra.

[RuskiTrombone]

Worst: Zaparozhets. If you know what it is, you'll understand why it is the worst.

 

Best: LGT

 

I've owned over 20 vehicles and have driven a ton more. The stuff made in Soviet Russia was just horrible. The only car I can think of that I owned in the US that was just as bad was a early model Dodge Durango.

[BAC5.2]

"Worst: 2013 Ford Escape."

 

Seriously? You must not have driven many cars then. I can name half a dozen off the top of my head that I have driven that are waaaay worse than an Escape. Chevette, 87' K-car Lebaron, Pontiac Lemons, 2004 Impala, 94' Explorer, etc...

 

I'd take any one of those over the 2013 Ford Escape.

 

Those cars are fantastic in their shittiness. The Ford Escape, on the other hand, is an amalgam of shit on and more shit. A Trabant is quaint, and unique, and hilarious in it's awfulness.

 

Nothing in the car works like it should. Ford sourced the suspension design team from the crack engineers who designed the connestoga wagon. And the powertrain group didn't see fit to consult with anyone, including themselves, when they put that engine and trans combo in that car. Oh, and one of the two that I've rented over the past 12 months nearly caught on fire.

 

It holds the record for the shittiest shitbox I've ever driven.

[Penguin]

"Worst: 2013 Ford Escape."

 

Seriously? You must not have driven many cars then. I can name half a dozen off the top of my head that I have driven that are waaaay worse than an Escape. Chevette, 87' K-car Lebaron, Pontiac Lemons, 2004 Impala, 94' Explorer, etc...

 

Old shit boxes don't count in my book. Old shit boxes are fun. Lots of fun. See my experiences with my shared 1994 Ford Ass-Pyre.

[BAC5.2]

Even new shitboxes can be lots of fun.

 

But not the Ford Escape.

[Penguin]

True the last Ford Escape I drove was ******* awful. Really really really bad. Just not quite as bad as a HMMV.

 

It was more like a 2010 or 2011 model though in fairness.

[BAC5.2]

I have had an absolute blast in every HMMWV I've ever been in. But I was just in a sand pit. You were in them in a real sand box so I'll defer to your experience on that vehicle.

[Penguin]

They are mechanically unreliable, and are not suitable for use as a tactical vehicle. The power train, and suspension are completely inadequate dealing with heavy loads of armor, ammo, weapons, gear, and troops.

[KartRacerBoy]

Well they were originally designed just as heavier jeeps. Adding the armor and weapons was pretty much of a short-term hack design job that exceeded the original design specs. One of the big HMMV production plants is about 5 miles from me. We used to get all the dirt on the local news about them since they are a pretty big local employer.

[Penguin]

They are merely adequate in stock form, but the engine and transmission let them down still.

[alegend90]

I haven't really driven a ton of cars overall.

 

best: 2010 LGT

 

worst: 200x scion xA (pretty sure it was the xA, the one that could work as a wedge door stop. slow, MPH indicator in the middle of the dash, no room for anyone bigger than a child in the drivers seat.

[05GT Guru]

Well they were originally designed just as heavier jeeps. Adding the armor and weapons was pretty much of a short-term hack design job that exceeded the original design specs. One of the big HMMV production plants is about 5 miles from me. We used to get all the dirt on the local news about them since they are a pretty big local employer.

 

 

We had a huge Hummer dealer outside of Milwaukee, Had its own test course that potential buyers could try out. It is now a fiat dealer. Where a line of H1s through H3s used to be are all fiat 500s. Talk about a 180

[ehsnils]

We had a huge Hummer dealer outside of Milwaukee, Had its own test course that potential buyers could try out. It is now a fiat dealer. Where a line of H1s through H3s used to be are all fiat 500s. Talk about a 180

 

Quite a surreal experience.

 

It would be interesting to try out one of these:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Tatra_813_KOLOS_1.jpg/800px-Tatra_813_KOLOS_1.jpg

[BAC5.2]

Quite a surreal experience.

 

It would be interesting to try out one of these:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Tatra_813_KOLOS_1.jpg/800px-Tatra_813_KOLOS_1.jpg

 

Do want.

[JJBerk]

Best: almost tie btwn '06 LGT and '12 LGT, '12 edges ahead because clutch (and room and other upgrades)

Worst: '86 Yugo. 3 blown head gaskets in 22,000; a coleman cooler holding up the front seat; and the high school football team moving it across the parking lot so I had to search for it.

[KartRacerBoy]

Quite a surreal experience.

 

It would be interesting to try out one of these:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Tatra_813_KOLOS_1.jpg/800px-Tatra_813_KOLOS_1.jpg

 

Too much positive camber. Roadracing one of these would be a bitch unless you started on pole with 10 well armed troopers that leapt out of the truck to lay suppression fire on opponents before the green flag. Then, much victory so much fun. IMHO.

[bdisco]

Worst: 1989 Dodge Shadow- Rental crap car but still fun because :

 

“There’s a lot of debate on this subject – about what kind of car handles best. Some say a front-engined car, some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car. Nothing handles better than a rented car. You can go faster, turn corners sharper, and put the transmission into reverse while going forward at a higher rate of speed in a rented car than in any other kind.” — P.J. O’Rourke

 

Best 1988 - 911 Carrera (Whale tail per request) spare DME relay in glove box.

[TooSlowToCare]

94 Jeep Cherokee

04 Grand Am GT

05' LegacyGT

 

Jeep was my 16th birthday present. Lots of joy down by the river. Sucked gas like no tomorrow though & was dangerous as hell in the winter (no abs).

 

Totaled my Grand Am. I loved that vehicle. Cheap as hell to maintain, GREAT gas mileage, but it rode pretty hard (low pro's)

 

Ah the Legacy. Sucks gas worse than my Jeep & rides 2x hard as my Grand Am, but at the same time makes about the same HP as my jeep & grand am combined lol

 

It was almost worth it

[Spoonwacker]

spare DME relay in glove box.

 

Same thing - I bought two when it crapped out on me!

[ehsnils]

Too much positive camber. Roadracing one of these would be a bitch unless you started on pole with 10 well armed troopers that leapt out of the truck to lay suppression fire on opponents before the green flag. Then, much victory so much fun. IMHO.

 

 

B.t.w. Pendulum axles (Or Swing axles as they are also called). That's why it looks that way. Put load on the axle and it shifts to negative camber. Works fine for an offroad vehicle, not so good on a road vehicle.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Swing_Axle_Diagram.svg/300px-Swing_Axle_Diagram.svg.png

 

It means that the axles are articulated only at the differential and not out at the wheels.

http://www.bedug.com/pics/03_naprava.png

 

When you run on a varying surface the effect will be like this:

http://www.bedug.com/pics/tatra.jpg

[HDTurbo]

Best - 73 Honda Civic. Light, tossable, you could drive by a cop feeling like you're going 100 mph (but you're only going 40) and they would never notice you. Great fun.

 

Worst - 73Chevy Vega. Underpowered, horrible transmission, gastly uncomfortable, fell apart beginning the day my mother brought it now brand new, from oil leaks to electrics.

HA! This! Loved my '75 Civic, used to take it over jumps out in the orchard, only 'damage' was that the beauty rings would come off! My buddy had the Vega and had to run 90 weight in the crankcase...still big smoke and nearly impossible to shift! good times

 

I had an '86 Turbo Regal (T-type) which rattled parts loose/off...but what a motor. Nothing better than my spec b, so far.