MinisterofDOOM wrote:I look for:
--Fun to drive factor (which is vague and encompasses some of the other criteria I consider, which are also important on their own).
--A good chassis. Something neutral, without too much protective tuned-in understeer. Something that pivots around the middle. With an obedient back end that knows the difference between following through a turn and putting on a show (the latter is fun, but the former is USEFUL). Something that responds to steering inputs under heaving braking by STEERING. Something that talks back to the driver.
--A good powerplant. Preferably with 8 cylinders or more. Something that combines low-end torque with strong high-rev power. Something that's smooth from idle to redline. Something that's responsive. Something that sounds nice. I don't want to drive a car that sounds like marbles in a blender, or a weed whacker, or nothing at all.
--A good drivetrain. Most likely RWD, though there are plenty of well-designed FWD cars I'd happily drive. I do not like AWD, and will avoid it. The drivetrain needs to ENABLE the engine and the chassis, not hold them back.
--Attractive looks. Nothing overstyled. Subtle aggression is what I like. Something with good proportions, clean details, with a combination of handsome and sporty. I'm not going to drive a car I can't bear to look at unless it does something VERY special. And I'm not going to drive a car that screams for attention (late-model Celica, for instance) at all. I buy cars for ME, not for everyone else. I don't want attention, I want to have fun.
--A decent transmission. I'd prefer a manual but it's hard to get one in the kind of car I prefer. If I have to get an auto, it needs a VERY GOOD manumatic mode, needs to be RELIABLE, and it needs to be geared right.
--Size. I can't drive small cars. They feel wrong. And I often don't fit. A car has to have a good legroom-headroom-reach ratio...some cars have good legroom but the steering wheel is too far away. Some have good reach (to the steering wheel) but there's no legroom. Some cars have ceilings where my shoulders go.
--FOUR DOORS. Unless I'm specifically buying a 2-seater, I require 4 doors. There are a few exceptions (I'd buy a Ferrari 2+2, for instance, if I had the funds). I am not interested in folding seats forward, climbing over things, or otherwise contorting myself or passengers into the rear seats. Rear seats need rear doors. And, on the flipside, rear doors need usable rear seats (I'm looking at you, Lexus IS). If there's no legroom back there, there's no point having doors to get into the rear seats...so there's no reason to have seats in the back at all.
That's the main stuff.
On paper I'm strongly in favor of all of the above, but in reality my Saab has a narrow interior, goofy styling, a chassis made of gelatin, an ancient 3-speed auto (21mpg at best), and a whopping 160hp on tap with 0-60 times in the 8-second range.
Yet, somehow, I've never been happier. I've gone off the deep end and love it. My next oddball/hobby car could be a hideously ugly, terribly unreliable early 80s bustleback Seville.
Or maybe something quirky and Japanese like an old Celica or Z31 with a digital dash.
