6 Cars People Hate To Admit Are Fast
There are three things you need to know to fully appreciate this article:
One: People have different definitions when it comes to fast cars. Those of us with daily drivers generally understand a 14-second quarter-mile time is pretty respectable and grin-inducing. Dedicated drag racers with purpose-built missiles find anything over 11 seconds to be rather boring. And then you have the bench racers that trash talk anyone not driving an 8-second Supra. For our purposes, let’s focus on that daily driver category.
Two: When it comes to classifying something as fast, context matters. These days it’s not tough to find fairly inexpensive, factory stock performance cars that can run a 13-second quarter-mile. Step back just a decade, however, and you’ll find such performance was a bit more exclusive.
Three: I don’t care how fast your car is. Unless you have an 8000bhp top fuel dragster, you will eventually match up with a car that’s faster. And because karma has such a wonderful sense of humour, your ego will probably be shattered by something you aren’t particularly fond of.
That brings me to this list of six cars that many people don’t like to admit are actually rather fast. I’m not talking about sleepers per se - I suspect enthusiasts are familiar with most of these cars. I’m talking about cars that, for varying reasons, just don’t get much respect despite having some legitimate performance cred.
1. Honda Civic
Mention Civic to virtually any muscle car guy and the requisite response usually involves laughing, a few choice expletives, and zero respect. Yes, there are plenty of wannabe Civics that reinforce the ricer stereotype, but Type R versions have been tearing up race tracks for years. Even the modest Si versions we’ve had in the States pack enough power to surprise the V8 crowd every now and then. But you’ll never hear them admit it - even when they get spanked by one.
2. Dodge Neon SRT-4
It didn’t take long for the Dodge Neon to become the epitome of American throw-away cars. In reality, the Neon was a properly good track car, and when Dodge bolted a turbo to its 2.4-litre engine in 2003, it became properly quick as well. Initially offered with 215bhp, power rose to 230bhp for 2004 and 2005 - enough to shuffle this throw away car to a 13.9 second quarter-mile time. For the record, that’s B6 Audi S4 territory, and enough to dog an E46 M3 well past 100mph.
The Cobalt has the distinction of inheriting the Chevy Cavalier’s stellar reputation for being a craptastic compact car. This was, after all, the period of sharp decline at General Motors that led to its bankruptcy. But while the money was haemorrhaging through every GM orifice, someone decided to endow the Cobalt with a supercharger that in 2008 became a turbo. It sent 260bhp to the front wheels, which sent droves of butthurt Mustang, Charger, and WRX drivers home to rethink their life choices. It may have been crap, but it was fast crap.
4. Chrysler PT Cruiser GT
Remember the Neon SRT-4? Yeah, that same engine and five-speed manual found its way into the loved-then-shunned PT Cruiser. The quirky hatchback became a pimple on Chrysler’s backside thanks to terrible quality control and dated styling, but for a few years those flashy chrome rims could deliver smoky burnouts and respectable thrust. The PT’s additional mass slowed it down compared to the SRT-4, but it was still among the quickest front-wheel drive performance cars of the early-mid 2000s.
5. Toyota Camry
Did you know a new V6-powered Toyota Camry can rip to 60 in about six seconds and clip a mid-14 second quarter mile? That’s about the same as a showroom-fresh Ford Focus ST, and unless you boot your new WRX from a standstill with a death-defying clutch drop, don’t expect to escape the Camry’s grasp.
I’m not suggesting the Camry is the world’s new sport sedan, and it’s certainly no drag racing hero. But it’s been the epitome of boring transportation for 20 odd years, not to mention a punching bag for auto journalists and enthusiasts around the world. Very few will admit to smiling behind the Camry’s wheel during a full-throttle run; fewer still will admit it’s respectably fast.
The Taurus started out strong but quickly gained a reputation for being a boring rental car queen. Many people didn’t know there was a performance edition called SHO, which is why I ultimately owned a dozen of these cars over the years. In the late 1990s I watched a colleague rip a 14.5 quarter-mile in a bone stock 1994 SHO with a five-speed manual, which was quick enough back then to hang with just about anything. Today’s twin-turbo SHOs dip into the 13s despite their size, but the level of disbelief among unsuspecting enthusiasts is as amusing as ever. A Taurus . . . I can’t believe I lost to a ** Taurus.*
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say that, well, I could buy another Taurus. Heck, I just might anyway.
Comments
my ownership pride make me say “Ford Mondeo” that V6 and ztec..sound and with nice tune… no wonder why it was beast at BTCC
In the Cobalt vs WRX video the Cobalt jumped the lights. Anyone else noticed this?
No country squire?
I remember when me and my bro were playing NFSMW, he chosed a Clio V6 and i chosed the Cobalt SS m8 he was so mad that he deleted the game…
Cobalts are no joke… Mine is an SS turbo sedan, and it is very quick, surprised some of my sport bike friends with it.. Now it has a rebuilt turbo, new intercooler and new exhaust manifold… Can’t wait for it to be out of the shop :)
The Cobalt is a DRAGSTER that turns in that game
Also worth noting are minivans these days, like the Sienna, Grand Caravan, Sedona, Odyssey, & Quest. All of which are around the low-7s range.
Dude I’ve seen a mini van pushin 120 goin down the highway! Tried to see what it was before it smacked a kia’s ass and sent them both rolling away
Back in 08 Dodge had a GC R/T concept and hinted at it being twin turbo but it never went to production.
Man, the newer Caravans can do some mean burnouts! :D
cobalt, yasssssssssssssss
One of us. One of us. One of us.
I remember buying a Cobalt SS in NFS: ProStreet back in the day excusively for drag racing. That thing was still able to beat the opposition halfway into the game against V8 GTOs and the like :D somehow makes me start to believe the real car’s surprising pace
I love the cobalt too!
VW Golf 2.0TDI is one of the cars people hate admitting is decently fast
The only problem I saw with naturally aspirated cars, if you live in a city like Mexico City (its very high like 2.4km over sea) you will need a turbo to get that performance back
sorry, but the official 0-60 rating for a WRX is 4.7 seconds. that completely smashes a Camry
That’s with a clutch drop. Nobody is going to do that everyday just to get a few seconds off a 0-60 time.
Civics really aren’t fast though. This brand new Type-R is decent (but overdone) and the only one to live up to the hype they deserve. Not a bad car at all but just over-hyped. Yes, you can mod them to be fast but that doesn’t make them a fast car. You can mod a Prius to be fast and take on anything but no one goes around saying a car is fast based on what you can do to it. By that standard any car out there is fast. It’s not all about what you can do to it.
Hell, the 300 some HP 2011 (+/- a year) Dodge Caravan RT my friend had runs quicker 1/4 mi times than Civics and is in the high 13s/low 14s bone stock.
Any car can beat any other car with mods. Compare stock to stock and modded to modded. Don’t be one of those guys that runs around saying a car like the Supra is faster than everything but will only compare super modified ones to other cars that are only stock.
I drive a Type R, and have to admit they ain’t fast on the straights. But Type Rs are meant to be driven on track.
You’re right, the stock older Type R’s such as the EP3 were not very fast in a straight line. But that’s not what they were designed to do. They were designed for mountain roads and windy tracks, not drag strips. And in their natural home they could dust a last gen Mustang that costs twice as much to buy used.