10 Cars That Completely Changed Your Way Of Thinking
1. Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
The reason this makes the list is because this was the first time I’d seen an American car that had unbelievable all-round performance. It was far from a straight line hero, this ‘Murican could do corners, too.
2. Shelby GT350
It truly out-laps the Z28 of course, but the main point is it turns the Mustang into something traditionally ‘Murican, [as well as a sophisticated] ‘Murican, with also a taste from the 1965 GT350. I always thought that Muscle is all about straight line, but the 5.2 flatplane crank with 8250rpm redline, and the magnetic suspension makes me rethink about it. Muscle can be a grand tourer, circuit car, and a drag car, too!
3. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
The Mercedes SLS AMG, I used to think Germans were sensible.
4. BMW E46 M3
For me, I always thought that the E46 M3 was a bit naff and limp-wristed . After having driven one, though, I was blown away by how amazing it was to drive in terms of get up and go and fun.
The opposite can be said for the E30 M3 - I thought that would be a hooligan, but it was slow, felt boring and didn’t excite me any more than my old 325i E30 coupe.
5. BMW i8
For me it’s the BMW i8. I wasn’t hyped as much as everyone else about the car. Much like Jeremy, I can’t see it as anything other than a glorified Toyota Prius.
Nevertheless, this car proved that hybrids can’t always be uninteresting. It will always be remembered as that next to the holy trinity.
6. Toyota Supra
The Supra is one of the cars that made me take notice of JDM, late last year was when I got into it. It completely changed my mind about what you could do to a car. It made me look at ordinary cars and think about what it could be, about what it could do with proper tuning and care; it made me look past the Paganis and Porsches, it taught me that a racecar can be built and not bought.
I’m always pleasantly surprised at seeing many FWD Hondas tearing up at circuits. Thinking back at that Integra at the ‘Ring and all the Spoon entries at various time attack events.
8. Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale
Ferrari 360CS…was the first car that ever really made me think about aero. The way it hunkers down and grips the road at triple-figures is something I’d never really experienced in years of driving high-bhp modified cars. There’s a lot to be said for a car that you feel you can throw into a corner at those speeds.
9. Audi S3
The Audi S3…was one that changed my thoughts on cars. Just for the fact there is a manual and the automatic gearbox and I thought the auto was cooler for some reason? As much as I’d like a manual it made me think that actually paddles are really cool.
10. Kia Sorento
The Koreans build (in the US) reliable cars for less money compared to the Europeans.
Check out all the answers on the original post!
Comments
The SLS? Ha, I knew Germans weren’t sensible since the E9 CSL Batmobile.
Germans are mostly sensible but every few years they just like to go mad ( ° ʖ °)
I knew they weren’t sensible since they took the engine out of a BMW 2002 and modified it to make 1500hp in F1
I knew the Germans weren’t sensible since this
I knew Germany wasn’t sensible since WW1 XD (not to be racist)
Tesla S?
Yeah, I mentioned that
The Civic Type R was the car that made me love FWD
Agreed!
It was my Golf GTI that did that job for me! Still love the Civic Type Rs though, particularly the new one which I think is just mental.
Mx5 miata changed my way of thinking too. -> THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS MIATA (or because racecar)
Kia Pro’Ceed GT
I used to hate Kia until I realized that the car (that I liked) that Alex drives in a few videos is a Kia
Hope you understand what I want to say… Not a native speaker…
I have a Pro_Cee’d GT! If you ever get the chance, go drive one. :D
Tesla model S and the newest vette do it for me
The Hyundai Genesis Coupé. It completely changes my mind about Hyundai
Ahhhh Camaro and Mustang in the list. Amazing machines… That out handle most cars out in the road.
What about Porsche? 959, carrera gt, 918?
The car that most changed my way of thinking is, without a doubt, my 2007 Microcar Lyra. I used to hate fwd and be a power guy, high hp meant fun for me. This 21hp fwd box of a car weighing in at only 350kg (770lbs) completelly changed that. The power is very little incentivating you to momentum drive, and you can have tons of fun, especially since the tires are so skinny. The fwd doesn’t bother me anymore, it’s good enough to grip on tight corners and once I got the hang of it I could hold some interesting slides by kicking the back end around in some scandi flicks.
I also used to think the only cars to get attention from the web were mainstream tuner vehicles, but this proved me wrong. On a facebook group with 4k members (Track Day, Bro!, go on, check it out) people seem to dig it, even if it’s just for how different it is! Even in the garage section of my profile I got a surprising number of thumbs up!
I got this car because for the first two years of license I’m restricted to it. I thought it was gonna be boring but oh boy I was wrong. I love it and have been having plenty of fun in it since the day I bought it. Canyon carving mudding, rallying, you name it, I’ve done it. Surelly a game-changer in terms of how I thought about cars.
The folks over at MCM and their respective fans played an important role on the second paragraph too!