- Owning and convincing other people to own a sports car
or even just any scale of fun car,
is something I'm extremely passionate about.
Whenever anybody is searching for their next vehicle,
I'm completely flabbergasted by the amount of people
who end up settling for boring cars.
It's super weird.
So I always ask them,
why the hell are you choosing a slow car that simulates
that same feeling of standing in line at the freaking DMV
except when you're driving.
That sounds terrible.
And every single time it comes back to reliability.
You know what?
That's a pretty valid point.
It makes a lot of sense,
especially when you put dollars of ownership
of cars on paper.
But there's this crazy misconception out there
that says fun cars can't be reliable cars
and that is just not the truth.
So go grab yourself a favorite snack, sit back and relax
because today I'm gonna blow your mind holes wide open,
and I'm gonna show you guys my secret list
of reliable cars that are still fun to drive.
But before we get into the nitty gritty of all of that,
let me give you guys the real quick lowdown
on how to save some time and some money on wheels and tires.
Get over to fitmentindustries.com
and put together a wheel and tire package.
Not only are we gonna knock some doll hairs off that order
and save you guys some cash,
but we're also gonna mount, balance and ship
these bad boys to your door, literally for free.
No more hassling the guy at tire shop counter
to stretch your 215s on your freaking 11 wides.
No more paying a low profile tire fee
on tires that aren't even low profile.
And they're just gonna show up ready to go and bolt on.
So quit messing around and get your wheels and tires
packaged together.
There's a link in the description
or if you just want you know, a free set of wheels,
we're actually doing a giveaway with Kansei right now.
All you gotta do to get entered is pick up
one of our brand new pieces of giveaway apparel.
You've got this sick black t-shirt right here,
we got a white one, we've got a blue one,
they're a little bit different designs.
And we have this sick Kansei lanyard
with fish and wheels on it, it's pretty sweet.
And every $5 that you spend on this giveaway apparel
gets you entered to win and you help support
a great cause in the process
as we're giving a portion of the proceeds
to Feeding America, which is pretty dang cool.
Don't forget to subscribe so we can keep making fun content.
Follow me on Instagram @seanb.fi
and well, I think that's it so let's get into the video.
Wow, first off is a bit hit or miss for me personally.
On one hand, the Nissan 370Z made basically
the same exact car from 2009 until 2020
with no major revisions or power bumps
outside of random expensive special additions.
On the other hand, the formula works.
Recycling a bunch of parts that were already made
for other models is a play straight
from the domestic muscle car playbook.
And it keeps things reliable and cheap to maintain.
The 332 horsepower might sound kinda slow
by today's standards but I promise you it's plenty of power
to get this car to do just about anything
that you ask it to do.
And it will hold its own during,
well, let's call it,
acceleration comparison test on the street
with a lot of modern cars.
It is naturally aspirated,
so it is a little difficult to make real power
without adding boost but it's natural aspiration
that keeps it naturally reliable.
The Nissan 370Z is a really hard one to argue against
for a buyer who wants the two seater,
JDM sports car experience without having to own two cars
in case one of them breaks down.
And then making the jump all the way across the pond,
from Japan to good old Elizabeth South Australia,
the Pontiac Holden Vauxhall Menaro GTL thing was introduced
to the U.S. in 2003 for the 2004 model year.
Starting its first year in the U.S. with a 350 horsepower,
5.7L LS1 straight from the Corvette
in a well sized seater two-door car
that kind of replaced the then dead Camaro,
which we always wanted except this one was kind of ugly.
I personally think these cars look fantastic
but I suppose you could say I'm biased
because I like weird understated designs.
Anyway, even though these cars weren't quick as hell,
they handled really, really good compared to the competition
in its price bracket and it came with a manual transmission
if you wanted one.
The new GTO was a complete and utter flop.
I mean, come on GM, what were you thinking,
putting a Cinco exhaust on a car like this?
Needless to say the next model year, 2005,
got some pretty solid improvements in the looks department.
Not only was the car updated with these aggressive
double hood scoops but it actually got that dual exhaust
that everybody was looking for.
And even upped the displacement a little bit
with a 6.0L LS2 V8 that produced
a Z06 horsepower level of 400.
This was a ton of horsepower for the time
and unlike the G8 that came after it,
the GTO had a true LS engine.
That means no DOD issues, no lift or ticks,
just raw LS performance with that classic GM reliability.
Because the looks are a bit understated,
ugliness on people, the prices of these things
are actually extremely reasonable.
How about instead of trading fun for reliability,
you trade looks for performance by buying
a nice and comfortable modern muscle car like the GTO.
Moving again in almost a complete opposite direction,
Mercedes Benz, a company also for their expensive prices
and unreliable gremlins.
Surely one of those won't make the list, will they?
Well, as a matter of fact, they freaking do make the list.
I'd like to introduce you to the R129 SL Class,
more specifically the 500 trim with the 5.0L M113 V8
because it's the absolute sweet spot
between the slow six cylinder and the bonkers 6.0L V12.
The M113 5.0L is well, it's kind of a part's bin special
of the Mercedes brand at the time.
The M113 5.0 was in everything
and when I say everything, I mean it.
These things were in sedans, coupes, SUVs,
freaking G Wagons,
and even their flagship sports car, the SL.
Needless to say the engineers had a really nice budget
to work with to develop one of the best engines
to come out of the brand from this era.
Now they did make these things it's from '89
to freaking 2001 and the one you really want
is kind of that late model year
like we're talking '99 to '01.
This is where they sort of made their final revisions
and really cleaned up any issues for the cars developed
over the years.
With 300 horsepower and a curb weight topping two tons,
this car isn't gonna perform like a Corvette
but it's gonna get you pretty damn close
for the same amount of money and it's gonna have that much
more class and be that much more comfortable
on a daily basis without sacrificing reliability.
These are awesome cars and if you're looking
for that top-down sports car experience,
this one is gonna be really hard to beat.
It's a prestigious brand with a ton of history
and lots of money spent the development.
Plus this things are freaking 90s pop culture icon.
I mean, come on, tell me that you wouldn't vibe
in this thing with the top-down and blasting
Notorious B.I.G CDs?
Don't count these off because of the badge,
they're really great cars.
A really great option for the price conscious consumer,
looking for a fun car then also wants something newer,
the BRZ, FRS, GT86 cars are a great entry-level way
to experience fun through a lightweight chassis.
Reducing weight can be just as effective for fun having
as adding power without the added stress on the drive train.
I mean, it's the classic formula, right?
And you know, you got lightweight car, economy car engine,
just like the Miata, the Lotus Elise,
and all the way back to the AC Ace.
These cars are sub 2800 pounds with 200 horsepower.
You and I can make all the slow car jokes that you want
but at the end of the day, it's not about going fast,
it's about having a fun journey without having to be limited
to like the freaking Miata, you know?
So don't let some haters convince you not to get one
because they're slow because they're great, they're reliable
and affordable options to start
your sport oriented car journey.
And they're really good at a lot of motor sports stuff.
Now, it will be really, really hard for me to get through
this list without talking about it about the Ford Mustang.
Now I know, I get it, everyone and their mom
has a freaking Mustang and they have this weird stigma
for crashing into crowds and they can garner
some negative attention from them police
but these cars are popular for a reason,
especially the 2011 to present cars
with that 5.0L Coyote V8.
Coyote Mustang makes the minimum of 412 horsepower.
Has a very stout bottom end, variable valve timing
and a huge aftermarket support.
They can take it back to back to back beatings without
skipping well, a beat.
Because at the end of the day, the Coyote in the Mustang
is very similar to the one in the F-150.
You know, the best selling truck in America,
tows a bunch of heavy stuff, does a bunch of work
and hauls around vehicles with twice the Mustang's weight.
Half the weight equals half the stress, right?
Either way, Coyote Mustangs have proven
to be pretty damn stout and the 400 horsepower would deliver
smile after smile without compromising anything
that would leave you stranded or stuck
with expensive repairs.
Sticking with another domestic sports car,
the Chevrolet Corvette is, for lack of better analogy,
a big Miata with an aluminum truck engine.
Again with the classic formula reference
but there seems to be a trend here, right?
Big, reliable work engine plus stuff it into a small chassis
equals reliable fun car.
I mean, it's pretty much is that simple.
And with the C5 Corvette, you can get exactly that formula
for a really small amount of money.
Here again, the LS1, 350 horsepower in a 3200 pound car
is gonna be a hot famine riot,
relatively unstressed riot at that.
I mean, come on, these things literally get 28 MPG
on the highway.
It's an old school pushrod, simple timing chain
and single cam engine that has stood the test
of freaking time and will continue to hold
its title of probably the most reliable sports car
of all time because of this pushrod engine
that's still used to this day in the brand new
mid-engine C8 Corvette and you just can't beat it.
And lastly, probably one of the most famous,
reliable sports cars of the modern era,
soon being an absolute unobtainable classic
because there is nothing like it on the road today
with a 2800 pound curb weight,
240 horsepower from a 9000 RPM, four cylinder engine
from a company that is literally world renowned
for its ability to make engines of all sizes
that last to the moon and freaking back
and then back to the moon and across the solar system
and back again, crossing over a million miles
with the zero issues even though it was in three floods
and you haven't changed the oil in two years
and you don't check the oil level
until the oil pressure light comes on.
I'm of course, talking about the Honda S2000.
The Honda S2000 really does this just about perfectly.
They gave it just enough horsepower to make it extra fun
but without sacrificing what's still makes it a Honda
from a reliability standpoint.
It's just like the NSX, in a sense.
The power isn't crazy but it's gonna have just enough
to get you close to the other quick cars
that it competes with but it's gonna focus
on being able to do it over and over and over again
with zero issues and zero regrets
which is something we really take for granted these days.
These things were literally built to last forever,
getting the daily bully freaking beat down.
The S2000 is a kinda car you can almost blindly
take to any track day, beat up on some Miatas,
keep up with some cars much more expensive than itself,
and then just drive it home probably on the same tank of gas
and do it again tomorrow without breaking the bank.
Now, I'm sure there's a ton of other cars that I missed
that you guys are just pulling your hair out
waiting for me to bring up.
So please let me know in the comments what those are.
I'd love to learn what other cars are out there
that are both fun and reliable.
Make sure to subscribe to stay up to date
with all the crazy stuff going on over here
and don't forget to get entered into the giveaway guys.
We got a whole set of freaking Kansei wheels
with your name on them but you can not win
if you do not enter.
I'm Sean from Fitment Industries, seanb.fi on Instagram.
Thank you so much for watching, peace.
(Sean imitates car engine roaring)
- [Man] Okay.
- [Man] Hey-- - [Sean] That's my outro.
- [Man] Shut the fuck-- - [Sean] I can't help it.