Performance VS. Fun to Drive
 

As enthusiasts we make up a small minority of the car buying public but we seem to be the most vocal about what we want . However we have really divided opinions about what we want.
It seems we have two distinct classes that we fall under . The first is the performance group where acceleration and 1/4 mile performance is king. The second group is cars that are great but don't have monster v8 engines or big turbos but are still under what I call the "Fun to drive" category.
The first argument is with the WRX/STi vs the VW GTI. It seems the WRX and STI have the GTI covered because they are faster but when you drive the GTI it seems to have something more than you expect because I find the GTI to be MORE fun to drive than the faster cars from Suby. The GTI seems to have a more nimble feel and more feedback to the driver while the Subies have a more numb feel to them. Don't get me wrong I like the WRX/STI but the GTI just wins me over with More fun to drive feel than the better performance of the Subies.
Score 1 Fun to drive!
Second argument. Here is a biggie- 911 vs. Corvette . Ok some of you guys can talk for a 100 years on the performance bargain called the Vette but man this car does nothing for me . Sure the acceleration is great but the brute horsepower comes at a cost of a kind of numb steering, clunky shifter, and styling that is just average. We won't even get into build quality! This thing is a great track weapon but as far on the street forget it!
The 911 on the other hand with all that weight in the back is just a Feedback World Champion ! The steering , brakes,handling, and sound of that flat 6 just takes your breath away . The 911 reminds me of what Neil Young said about Jimi Hendrix . " He was not just on another level . He was in a whole other building" :D Fun to drive off the scale on this one! I know if you take this car to the track that rear weight bias is really going to slow you down but on the street its a fantastic car.
Score 2 to 0 - Fun to drive!
I was at the Charlotte Aston,Ferrari,and Maserati dealer and I was talking to a saleman at we just happened to get on the topic of Vettes and he said "Acceleration is awesome but as far as fun to drive It is crap!" That really summed up what I thought too.
There is another part of the performance camp that thinks that a car has to have at least 400 cubic inches or it is not worth a damn . I call this group the Big Block mentality.
To me performance is nice but in the end unless you are taking the car to the track or dragstrip I think that fun to drive wins every time for street cars.
Your thoughts?

Fun to drive doesn't win races. If you read any car forum, you will always find people comparing cars based on performance numbers. When the numbers aren't in their favor, they use the age old ricer tactic of saying their car has a better interior, more fuel efficient, latest technology ect. ect. ect.

Here's a 10pg post talking about basically the same argument of fun to drive versus performance when it comes to VW cars.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4830214

Am I being paid to drive? Then performance wins.
Am I driving for my own enjoyment? Then fun-to-drive wins.

This is why God created Porsche and Lotus;)

People only stress "fun to drive" as an excuse for lacking performance.

It comes up any time someone wants to slam Car A just because they don't like it. See the OP's post for examples.

It comes up whenever someone tries to defend their own car against criticisms that are valid.

"Fun to drive" is shorthand for "It's better 'cuz I say so!"

It's entirely subjective when you get down to using the words honestly. If you don't know how to drive a RWD car, you're not going to have much fun in one with a torquey engine. If you know how to drive a RWD car, you won't enjoy driving a FWD car unless you're abusing it incessantly.

Price comparison on a vette and 911? Cant compare. 911 is way mroe

Fun to drive usually means performance, yet the two miatas i have had beat out the two mustangs which would out perform each.

give me fun to drive any day, there is always a faster more powerful car, but you can only use so much of that on the street and there are only so many track opportunities.

my honda gets the nod on fun to drive and it has performance, so it is the best blend of both for me at this time.

a corvetter has bags more performance and is not as much fun to drive as my little 4 cyl, er...maybe as much fun sometimes under the right circumstances.

fun to drive as example is taking a car like my honda to the limit on an onramp, rowing through the gears, listening to vtec in the first three gears till i break the speed limit by 10 mph. feeling bumps and the car setup nicely ina turn. droping the top with the touch of a finger anytime. getting in and pushing the big red button with one hand and easing the shifter into gear with a rifle bolt feel to it.

we all know what more power can do, some of us have it, my other car has 270 hp, in my case fun to drive is more important than more power.

I think this is all very subjective, but hopefully something is fun to drive because you're putting some performance into it.

are you for real?

Fun to drive > everything

The whole performance thing is nice, but in a lot of instances, it's practically unattainable or theoretical. Sure, car A might generate .08 more lateral G than car B, wonderful. The majority of the people whining about these differences wind up relegating the car to a life of driving to the coffee shop, or short bursts of driving like an ass on public roads. Woohoo, look how fast I took that off-ramp! Way to go, champion.