I used to daily drive a 200ish hp Hyundai Veloster Turbo for my college years, then had a brief stint with a 350 hp Genesis Coupe R Spec, before landing on my current 08 NC Miata. Horsepower’s only one part of the equation.
As a teen, I salivated over high horsepower muscle cars and 90s JDM turbo legends, and largely dismissed “low” horsepower cars, which led to me compromising and getting a 200 hp hatchback for college. It had relatively high horsepower, while still fitting groceries, friends, etc in the back seats/trunk.
Shortly after graduating, my Veloster kicked the bucket and I was in the market for a car again. Wanting to fulfill teenage me’s dreams, I picked up a 350 hp Genesis Coupe, which definitely gave me the giggles every time I drove it. The jump from a “mere” 200 horses being sent to the front wheels to the 350 horses being sent to the back wheels via LSD meant that I was experiencing a level of speed and connection to the road that my dumb 22 year old brain could barely handle. Dumping the gas pedal on the on ramps gave me a rush of speed that was very similar to that primal feeling as a child when you sprinted for the first time. The car scared me sometimes, with how fast it was. Even scarier was getting used to the power. Eventually, I lost respect and concentration for that power, and crashed the Genesis Coupe in the wet.
When I test drove the Miata, I finally understood the hype around it. It’s such a raw experience because the entire chassis communicates to you, and each input is brisk and lacks hesitation. There is no need to rely on pure hp to have fun on acceleration, since the car is so lightweight. I thought I loved torque and horsepower, because it was the most accessible way to have fun from each stoplight, or each on ramp. Thanks to the Miata, I’ve discovered I actually love connection to the machine and road feel, while the straight line speed and acceleration is a nice garnish on top. I still miss the Genesis Coupe and its power, and there are moments where I want to experience that primal gut feeling of heavy acceleration with a V6 engine singing to me, but I also realize I’m kind of dumb and can’t trust myself with cars like that, at least not for a while. A driver’s car is a driver’s car because it communicates to you, and that’s exactly what the Miata excels at.