Cars Where The Reality Failed To Live Up To The Expectation

[Warren t claim]

Dunno whether we've had a thread like this yet so I'll invoke staff privileges and start one.

Let's list the cars we always wanted to drive but failed to live up to expectations when we got the chance to give them a go. I'll start with these.

Air cooled 911. I mentioned this 1979 Targa in my repo man thread. Horrible pedals, no heater, not that fast and strange steering.

Land Rover Defender 110 V8. I've owned and driven plenty of Range Rovers so I thought I'd love the V8 Landy but in reality, it felt underpowered.

All V6 powered, mid sized, family saloons. I'll admit that the Mk3 Cav V6 was "interesting" to drive in auto guise but the Mk1 Mondeo, Vectra B and Peugeot 406 in six cylinder versions just didn't seem any quicker or much smoother than their four pot sisters.

Mk4 Escort RS Turbo. I'm a FWD Fast Escort fan but booting a chipped up to maybe 210BHP RS Turbo scared the shit out of me. Nothing I did with the steering wheel had any effect on direction.

[AutoshiteBoy]

911.

[mercrocker]

I do wonder sometimes if I am or have ever actually been an actual Car Enthusiast.....

The time I was given a 911 to play with and told to "just floor" it round a fast dual-carriageway roundabout at the dead of night I was underwhelmed. Admittedly, it was sticking like shit to a blanket - obviously way above my own limits. However, the pleasure I gained from keeping a twin-cam Mirafiori on-song with a less-than-likeable 5 speed was far greater to me, at least.

Boss had an M535i E28 which I had to drop some guys off at the airport and then go and fetch him from a dinner - good couple of hours round trip, motorway and A road. Didn't do a lot for me - it went OK but I much preferred the 2.8 Injection Spoecial Granada my previous gaffer had - that just wanted to play. Perhaps the BMW was too composed, too refined and too mature, who knows?

Mk3 Cortinas that I'd been led to believe were "excellent to drive" have without exception been fucking godawful. Likewise Sierras - my Focus is more enjoyable than the boggo ones I've been given to drive.

I'd rather be pleasantly surprised by a crap car than shell out on a disappointment, at least I've been let down free of charge.

[Warren t claim]

I do wonder sometimes if I am or have ever actually been an actual Car Enthusiast.....

The time I was given a 911 to play with and told to "just floor" it round a fast dual-carriageway roundabout at the dead of night I was underwhelmed. Admittedly, it was sticking like shit to a blanket - obviously way above my own limits. However, the pleasure I gained from keeping a twin-cam Mirafiori on-song with a less-than-likeable 5 speed was far greater to me, at least.

Boss had an M535i E28 which I had to drop some guys off at the airport and then go and fetch him from a dinner - good couple of hours round trip, motorway and A road. Didn't do a lot for me - it went OK but I much preferred the 2.8 Injection Spoecial Granada my previous gaffer had - that just wanted to play. Perhaps the BMW was too composed, too refined and too mature, who knows?

Mk3 Cortinas that I'd been led to believe were "excellent to drive" have without exception been fucking godawful. Likewise Sierras - my Focus is more enjoyable than the boggo ones I've been given to drive.

I'd rather be pleasantly surprised by a crap car than shell out on a disappointment, at least I've been let down free of charge.

I'm no Porsche hater, I'd love a 924 and had the pleasure of an early Boxter for a while while it's owner was "away" but I really hated the 1979 Targa.

[Bazfr69]

Being enthusiastic about cars isn’t the preserve of sports car fans.
My old fella hated sporty cars but he loved everything from his A35 through several Volvos, a Humber Super Snipe, a Talbot Tagora and many others.
He hated most of my hot hatches but he loved that I loved them.

[Jazoli]

Mazda MX5, it was small, soft slow and very underwhelming, I think I was spoilt by my 200SX prior to it.

Mk 2 Escort, it just felt dated and old, nice gear change though.

E Type Jag, very meh, didn't like the way it was vague or the way it looked

[SiC]

BMW E28 520i obviously.

But that could have been my expectations being misplaced on what it actually was as a car. I fully expected it to be a sporty saloon for the demanding city slicker types. Instead it was a wafty comfy machine.

[Hooli]

Pugrot 205 Gti.

Everyone raves about handling & power. It was shit slow, didn't handle, felt like it was going to fall apart & worse in every way than the 205D I'd driven previously.

[paulplom]

My xj8. Not especially fast or comfortable and drank like George Best. It used to crash and jarr over potholes and shitty road surfaces although that could be down to the big alloys on it.
The S70 in I chopped in for it was better in every way.

[SubPar]

All V6 powered, mid sized, family saloons. I'll admit that the Mk3 Cav V6 was "interesting" to drive in auto guise but the Mk1 Mondeo, Vectra B and Peugeot 406 in six cylinder versions just didn't seem any quicker or much smoother than their four pot sisters.

Yep.

I had a Mk3 Mondeo 2.5 V6 Ghia X for 8 months. It was a manual too.

Sounded nice but drank like a fish while not making much forward progress. It also had that godawful MASSIVE steering wheel Ford put in all their mid-2000s cars, and the hugely thick gearstick you can barely get your hand around coupled to the most rubbery gear selector I've ever experienced.