For clarification, I’m not talking about cars that you knew were great or terrible before you drove them. I’m referring more to cars that you anticipated would be great but turned out to be disappointing, or cars that you initially had low expectations of but genuinely surprised you.
As an example, I was quite let down when I test-drove the Acura TLX Type S. I was cross-shopping it with the Kia Stinger GT2 at the time. On paper, it looked great, but when I got behind the wheel, the motor felt weaker than its claimed 350hp, and the transmission seemed confused.
On the flip side, I had the opportunity to drive a friend’s Challenger RT. Despite everything I had heard about them being underpowered, outdated, slow, and heavy, the experience was different. The low-end torque provided a ton of fun, the sound was amazing, and the interior was spacious and comfy. While it wasn’t going to win any drag races or excel on backroads, it turned out to be a comfortable cruiser with a fun motor that wasn’t dangerous to drive and could easily be a daily driver.
Not like I’m THAT surprised, but the 2019 Corolla is the worst car I have ever driven. For being so popular and so widely owned I would expect them to be slightly better. Everything felt terrible and the handling was horrible. It felt like a boat and I had zero control.
The most surprisingly enjoyable car I’ve driven is a 2008 3.0L Outback. They don’t have an incredible amount of torque but they make decent power and are really sporty if you push them hard enough. Mpg is terrible but the smiles per gallon is pretty high.
The M340i was extremely disappointing to me. It put down all the numbers everyone raved about but it was completely sterile feeling with zero feedback or road feel. It’s what I imagined driving a Tesla would be like. It was a very nice car. Just not the bargain M3 that so many reviews claim it is.
Most fun was probably my buddings hemi cummings when I was in the Army. Felt like a total douchebag driving it and it was awesome
Not exactly surprising, but I drove a rental Prius for about 10 hours and it was the biggest snooze fest I ever experienced. Taking the bus would have been more exciting.
My wife had a Fiat 500 for a few years. Yes, it was a gutless unreliable shit box, but it was surprisingly fun to drive. Having a manual certainly helped.
Totally agree on the Acura. The outside is larger than the accord but the inside is smaller than the civic. How?!?
Funny, I was going to say stinger surprised me ‘on track’.
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera sucked.
Jeep Renegade is a dogshit of a car. Even more disappointing than I would have imagined
Kia stinger was awful. Its definitely a kia ill tell you that much
Surprisingly fun is all the small hyundai sedans. Im not sure if its the elantra or sonata or whatever but they feel really zippy the steering is quick
Most disappointing was a Hyundai Elantra rental I had on a business trip. That thing was horribly underpowered and darty, it was exhausting to drive.
Most surprisingly fun was a 2007 Honda Fit Sport. It had pretty pathetic power, but was super light and agile, Manual transmission was light and fun. It wasn’t fast, but it was a fun car.
Worst - new camaro. The interior was falling off the panels like the whole car had been disassembled by the dealer and a poor attempt at reassembly.
Best - CT4V Blackwing. All the reviews said it was good. But wow… WOW… it is beyond any expectation.
My dad owned a 2017 Tacoma TRD Off-road. That thing rode like a pogo stick and felt anemic despite it being a V6. It felt more like a 4-cylinder. The interior space was cramped and the seats were hard with terrible seating position. It felt solid, but drove like it came straight out of the 80’s. I know it’s an off road oriented truck, but I expected it to be a bit better in the execution of the design
My brother has a 2022 Maverick EcoBoost that my father and I drove cross country to deliver to him. It’s a cheap car so I didn’t have very high expectations. But it rides and drives surprisingly solid. The seats were comfortable. And while the interior doesn’t have any soft touch plastics, it felt very well put together for what it is. No squeaks when I pushed on any of the interior trim. The backseat felt too upright, and I have no faith in the long term reliability of the EcoBoost, but I think a hybrid Maverick would be the ideal starter car for a teen or college student
Context is everything: what you’ve driven before will always affect your judgement.