Driving fast is an art. An art that requires the correct amount of skill and the correct precision instrument. Here are 10 cars where you damn sure better have both.
10.) Jeep Wrangler
Even without aftermarket 34-inch tires or a lift kit, the Jeep Wrangler is not fun to maneuver at high speeds. Actually, it’s plain awful. Mostly this is thanks to its elevated center of gravity, solid axle setup, extremely soft/mushy sidewall tires, and awful road noise.
Great for off-roading. Not great for performance driving, or even fast paced road tripping.
Suggested By: Shoopdawoop993, Photo Credit: Abdullah AlBargan via Flickr
9.) Fiat 850 Spider
For the owners who had a death wish, the Fiat 850 Spider was said to be capable of 90 MPH. This reader can the details that explain why those speeds would be pure insanity in this little roadster.
-135 cross-section tires
-75% rear weight distribution
-Swing axle rear suspension
-1500lbs*
-If you open both doors it will probably fold in two
-The fuel pump is nested in the exhaust and frequently leaks
Basically Corvair + 911 + Miura with bicycle tires.
Suggested By: tylinol, Photo Credit: Spurzem via Wikipedia
8.) Porsche 911 Turbo (930)
Commonly referred to as the “widow maker”, the Porsche 930 is no joke. When that heavy rear end comes swinging around on you at speed, good luck saving it. This reader can explain what might cause all hell to break loose when driving the 930 near its limits.
Short wheelbase, significant rear-weight bias, turbo lag. Trying to drive one with intent is an exercise in managing way too many forces acting all over - and not always predictably.
Porsche racing master Hurley Haywood once said that a Turbo is best driven with three feet.
Suggested By: Patrick Frawley, Photo Credit: Porsche via Jalopnik
7.) Any Heavily Stanced Car
Driving a heavily lowered and cambered-out car above 30 MPH can be a true pain. Not only will you probably feel every little thing on the road, but your fenders and other body panels will probably show for that as well. Stance can be appreciated, but sometimes, it just doesn’t seem to make any sense.
Suggested By: MonkeyPuzzle, Photo Credit: Antrell Williams via Flickr
6.) Ford Aspire
If you think speeding along in a modern economy compact car is scary, you should try doing so in one of these ancient shitboxes. Sure, at low speeds they may be tossable, but at speeds of 70+? That’s straight up cringeworthy.
The body construction barely looks like it can survive a 20 MPH crash, don’t want to even think about highway speeds.
Suggested By: Ash, Photo Credit: Eric via Flickr
5.) Renault 5 Turbo
Take the Porsche 930 and think maybe like two or three times more hectic. Add an extremely short wheel base, engine right between the rear wheels, powering only the rear wheels. This equates to an almost unreasonably light, twitchy, and nimble steering setup.
These little French devils would deliver oversteer that only true car control masters could conquer. Talk about throttle modulation.
Suggested By: Juan, Photo Credit: Alf van Beem via Wikipedia
4.) Fiat S76 Beast Of Turin
The 28.5-liter 290+ horsepower missile that is the Beast Of Turin is by all means properly insane, as were its pilots. If you were following our coverage of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, you’ve probably seen our video of it running up the hill at the festival, at a rather quick pace for an irreplaceable record car that hadn’t been driven in 104 years and had just spent 10 years being completely restored. Some balls these guys have.
You know what kind of safety equipment cars from 1910 have? “Not much” would be the correct answer.
Suggested By: Reptar
3.) Dodge Viper, First Gen
The first generation Dodge Viper is known to be one of the most brutal and full-on sports cars ever built. Weighing in at 3,284 lbs, the Viper was relatively light, but that was complimented by a ton of unrestricted, unadulterated, and un-computer assisted 8.0 liter-V10 power.
In an effort to reduce weight, the first Viper was not equipped with windows or a roof, so in addition to having to manhandle all of that ‘Merican power, you also get the challenge of having to deal with a bombardment of wind.
Suggested By: Error: No Display Name Available, Photo Credit: Myke2020 via Wikipedia
2.) Ford RS200
The Ford RS200 was a purpose built rally car. It was 2,315 lbs of kickass composed of lightweight fiberglass with a mid-mounted 1.8-liter turbocharged inline-four motor, powering all four wheels. Sounds like fun, but only for the skilled. Even Jezza himself couldn’t handle all that rally car, on asphalt!
Suggested By: fordboy357, Photo Credit: Richard Wiseman via Flickr
1.) TVR Speed 12
If you thought the Viper was batshit, think about 1000lbs lighter, and more than double the horsepower. That’s what the TVR Speed 12 offered.
Built with the intention of overshadowing the McLaren F1, this 2,425 lb, 1000 HP monstrosity was just too much car. It was said to have been capable of a 0-60 time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 240 MPH, but if either of those numbers were actually ever successfully recorded, I would be blown off my feet.
Suggested By: AMGFTW, Photo Credit: Ashley Buttle via Flickr
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day’s Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It’s by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
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