I hate to break it to you, but your favorite car kind of sucks! So many cars have way too much hype, and they always fall short of expectations. Or maybe they’re just plain boring. I want to clear up the confusion, and tell you the truth about some of these overhyped letdowns.
Let’s take a real look at some cars you may love, but I think are way overrated. Please don’t get too mad at me.
Subaru BRZ / Toyota 86 – Snail Speed
The first car that came to my head when I made this list was the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86. I feel like every enthusiast under 30 has owned one of these! And I can’t blame them! Look at it! It’s a modern manual rear-wheel drive sports coupe with stunning good looks. What more could you ask for?
Well, some horsepower would be nice. That’s right, these modern revivals of the AE86 are straight up underpowered, and super overrated. Sure, people walking by on the street will think it’s fast, with its shapely curves and aggressive headlights. But I promise you, it’s not.
With that naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter 4-cylinder that puts out an unexciting 200 horsepower, the modern AE86 is so slow that it’ll consistently get smoked by boring cars. Man, you want to get smoked by a Prius?
People hype these modern Hachi-rokus as fantastic cars. And while that may be true once you get it up to speed, having a car look this fast and go that slow, that’s just an embarrassment. And for that reason, the BRZ and 86 are just not worth their hype.
Now, I’m sure that pissed a few of you off. And now, I’m about to piss off the rest of you. That’s right, get ready to blow a huge vape cloud in disgust, because I think the WRX is way overhyped!
Subaru WRX – Worst Ride eXperimental
Living in the Pacific Northwest, we see wannabe rally cars everywhere. And, I mean, I understand the appeal. Four doors, rain-slaying all-wheel drive, and a boosted engine. Sounds like a sweet deal. But, in my opinion, when you peel back the hype, the Subaru WRX, especially the newer generations, are boring.
They’re pretty unreliable, they’re cheaply made, and the new generations are downright ugly. That 200+ horsepower turbocharged 4 cylinder is sort of exciting, and makes a great exhaust note, but it comes at the cost of reliability. And WRX’s are thirsty as hell.
Sure, you can get the STI, which are like twice the price of the WRX for a few extra horsepower and a wing, making them much less of a deal. And you can modify them. You’re going to modify it. Of course you are. Get the canards, the loud blow-off valve, the sticker-bombed windows, hellaflush fitment. Congrats! You look like the other 200 WRX’s at your local car meet!
And don’t even get me started on the community, the vape cloud joke is no exaggeration. Stanced-out WRX owners are all desperate for attention! Loud exhausts, trunk-rattling stereos, and, of course, smoke blowing out the windows, and usually the exhaust.
I think, for the money, if you want to modify a car and stand out from the crowd, the WRX is just about the most overhyped choice by far.
Well, maybe just a little less than this next car. That’s right, get ready, because your favorite car, your dream car, is an overblown, overhyped and overpriced snoozefest. The Mark IV Supra is maybe the most overrated car of all time.
Toyota Supra – Supra Overrated
But wait, it shoots flames! It’s got twin turbos! It eats supercars for breakfast! And it has the 2JZ, baby! Those are the things most enthusiasts say. But, if you ask me? Boring. Ugly. Overpriced.
Take a look at a stock Supra. Looks pretty normal right? Sure! But, I bet you didn’t know that it has an asking price of nearly $100,000! That’s right! The Supra hype is too real.
It all started in The Fast and The Furious when the late Paul Walker drove one. In fact, we made a video about his Supra that sold for an amount you won’t believe! Spoiler alert: they’re insanely expensive!
Stock, Supras made 320 horsepower out of the infamous twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-6, which is respectable, but not $100,000 respectable. The Supra is famous only for its potential. Out of the box, it’s kind of tame, and don’t even get me started on how it looks. In the back, you’ve got two awkwardly-shaped taillights smashed into a flat surface, a big goofy wing. And up front, big dumb sleepy eyes, a gaping mouth, and big boring Toyota curves with no edge.
I don’t care what you say, this is downright ugly at some angles. It’s just classic Toyota bland styling and it certainly doesn’t make me want to drop six figures. Don’t get me wrong, The Supra is a great car, but at this point, its hype has far surpassed its value, making it the sports car that costs as much as a supercar.
Now, the supercar that now costs as much as a sports car? We’re definitely talking about the Nissan GT-R!
Nissan GT-R – Aging Dinosaur
I’m specifically talking about the R35. With a handcrafted twin-turbo V6 that makes upwards of 565 horsepower paired to a track-oriented all-wheel drive system, I’ll have to hand it to Nissan, the GT-R is quick! Especially with a 2.9 second 0 to 60 time.
It’s almost like it has it all. With good looks, killer power, and the price of these getting more and more affordable, the R35 GT-R seems like a great deal. But, I have just one problem with it, the GT-R is ancient!
Since 2009 in the USA, it’s stayed almost exactly the same. With no major changes to the body or the engine, the GT-R is kind of starting to show its age. You have to wonder, could they just not make it any better? I think this is a trend with Nissan, though. They’re notorious for neglecting to update their performance cars.
Take the 350Z and the 370Z, for example, those are both cars that have stayed the same for years without any major changes. And back to GT-R, which has a $110,000 MSRP. Back in 2009, maybe that made sense, but today, these are just way too overpriced for what you’re getting. C8, anyone?
People always hype up the GT-R to shooting flames and breaking necks when it pulls up anywhere. And while the neck breaking is sometimes true, people who don’t know about cars won’t even bat an eye. Its styling is a bit forgettable.
At this point, you’d have to be crazy to buy a new GT-R. Now, a used one, that’s an ideal deal! Grab a cheap GT-R and head for the track! It’s exactly what the GT-R was made for!
But you know another car that barely gets used for what it was made for? The Jeep Wrangler.
Jeep Wrangler – Woeful Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is not built for being on the pavement! They’re built to go off-roading and tackle dirt and rock crawl all day! The Wrangler was made to live life off the beaten path, but the unfortunate thing is that most of them are never taken anywhere near rugged terrain. Never used and abused, the way they like it! Jeeps are kinda kinky, eh?
Jeeps today are a status symbol, a statement to the world that you’re down to get dirty, but sadly, you probably never do! With prices of the models you want, like the Rubicon, starting at over $40,000, it makes sense why you wouldn’t want to take it up a mountain and scratch that precious paint.
And for that big price tag, you’re getting a pretty cheap and cramped interior, and an engine that will struggle to keep you going. Driving a huge un-aerodynamic box down the highway, I just think the Wrangler is pretty terrible in the value department at this point.
A $30,000+ box that’s a terrible daily driver and less aerodynamic than a lobster. You’re making a ton of sacrifices in comfort, reliability, and daily drivability, just to impress other dorky Jeep bros, and make Tinder girls think you’re adventurous.
I think, for the money, if you want to hit the dusty trail, your money is best spent elsewhere. Like a Ford Raptor, right? Eh, you may be wrong.
Ford F-150 Raptor – Scared Dinosaur
The Raptor is Ford’s flagship truck with dinosaur DNA that’s built for dirt racing, flying over jumps, and driving over essentially anything without breaking a sweat. Powered by a twin-turbo V6 making 450 horsepower paired to a stout 4-wheel drive system and a 10-speed transmission putting the torque to the pavement, ihe Raptor is undeniably a beast.
And honestly, it’s kind of a dream car for me. But, at this point, would I actually spend the money to take this Jurassic ride home? With a starting price of $55,000 and a fully spec’d out Raptor inching much closer to $80,000, the Raptor is pretty much double the price of most trucks on the market today.
So, you would have to be crazy to go use a Ford Raptor the way they do in the commercials. There’s just no way any sensible person would want to use this thing the way it was meant to be used, meaning most Raptors are just going to end up being mall crawlers. For a truck whose main purpose is off-roading, that’s a cardinal sin!
Luckily, they are getting cheap on the used market, but that’s an article for another day. Another car getting affordable on the used market is a car my friends all dreamed of in high school, the S2000.
Honda S2000 – This Sucks 2000
People love to say the S2000 is a better Miata. But they are wrong. When it first came out in 1999, the S200 didn’t have traction control at all. Given this car is rear-wheel drive and light, if you aren’t experienced, you can end up in a wall. Seriously, driving this on a cold day is so sketchy, and sometimes just not fun at all because it’s so dangerous.
Honda started selling the S2000 with an optional traction control system in 2006, and made it standard in 2008. There are even more things that aren’t fun about this boring deathtrap. For example, with 240 horsepower coming from the naturally-aspirated VTEC-powered 4-cylinder, everyone thinks this car is fast. But, when you drive one of these, you realize that the 150 pound-feet of torque will only make it feel a little bit faster than the Miata.
And while the S2000 does look really good and has one of the coolest digital dashes I’ve ever seen, it’s just unsafe and isn’t that fast. And one more thing, these are overpriced as hell! You can find an NA Miata for like $5,000. But for an S2000? You’re not going to get anywhere near $5,000. Plus, the Miata is arguably a better performing and better sounding car.
So, trust me on this one, as cool as they are, S2000’s are way too hyped and overrated.
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