10 Cars That Completely Changed Your Way Of Thinking

Sometimes a car comes along that's more than just any old A-B driver. It's a car that shakes up what's gone before it, and changes everything you thought you knew

Darren Cassey

15 Feb 2016

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

Wrong on kia. New is still junk; and the dealers, (at least locally,) will flat out lie to you.

If you think Korean cars are junk in 2016, you need to check yourself again. Your misconception of the 90’s need to be fixed. Yeah, they may not be that fun to drive for us enthusiasts, but they’re full of value, reliability, and premium materials all wrapped in a decent to good looking package.

Hmmm, none of these really changed my way of thinking about much at all.

Im scrolling through agreeing with all of the choices .and then come across the Kia. At first I was shocked but I agree! My mom has one and I must say its a decent car for her when she decided it was time to tone it down.

I thought air cooled porsches were the way to go, but the 996 is just amazing

For me rhe first muscle to tear the track was 2009 Shelby Cobra gt500. It is a friend of mine who owns it and I drove it in several occasions on some brand new Falkens and oh boy was it a great car (6spd manual too)
Peugeot 205 gti turbo, because all your crx, civics. And such can suck it. This car was a beast and I used to own it as my first car. But it is thirsty as hell too.
Bmw M3 is and iconic car but not a fast one. Try looking at something else as there is plenty of other fast BMW’s out there which predate 90’s. E28 M5/M535i, or if you really like them e30’s consider Alpina lineup like B6 3.5s and then talk about a killer car.
Hybrids can suck it because straightpipe.
Audi made plenty better cars than S3. Try let’s say RS2, C4S6, or the mk1 A3 with sport suspension and 225hp 1.8t engine out of tts

Renault Mégane RS ? French cars are underrated as usual.

The megane maybe, but here in france the clio RS is totally overrated, i have only a bmw 120d, see the clio push a bit and decide to follow him, he notices it, drops a gear and speeds up. I was allready in 4th gear, just pushed the pedal down and he wasn’t able to distance me. It makes just a bit noise, but no power

You really wanted to push the e46 m3 into that article, didn’t you? 😂

“Much like Jeremy, I can’t see it as anything other than a glorified Toyota Prius.”
Wait, hold on hold on, Clarkson never said it’s a glorified Prius, he said it is the specs that makes it seem like it is one. He did give it a lot of praise in the Top Gear test, and chose it over the M3

and few seconds later in studio regreted that….

So, no car that re-wrote how economy cars are built, then went on to win the Monte Carlo Rally 3 times, and ultimately has been the go-to grassroots motorsport since? Is it not eligible because it was in production for 41 years, as opposed to their decade?

Seriously. No Mini? hehhee