Having driven my sister's 2010 Subaru Forester (go ahead...cue the lesbian jokes) over 2,000 miles across the country, it reminded me how much I love the big V6 in my Santa Fe. This then gave me another idea. What are the most underpowered or gutless cars you've ever driven or owned? You don't need to be this specific; it's just how I am.

My list:

- '93 Toyota Previa All-Trac (2.4 liter I-4; 138 horsepower; curb weight: 3,955 pounds)
- '94 Land Rover Discovery (4.0 liter V8; 182 horsepower; curb weight: 4,397 lbs.)
- '98 Audi A6 2.8 Quattro (2.8 liter V6; 200 horsepower; curb weight: 3,704 pounds)
- '10 Subaru Forester (2.4-liter H4; 170 horsepower; curb weight: 3,340 pounds)

Now it may be the hundreds of pounds of junk packed in the back but the Forester is honestly the first car I've driven that reminds me vividly of the Previa. Unlike my old Santa Fe which fell on its face out of the gate but found its torque curve higher in the rev band, the Forester just makes more noise with a very minimal (if any) gain in momentum. Passing on a two-lane section of US-6 in central Utah was a hair-raising experience. The Audi was equally scary; trying to merge onto I-5 with that car made me wonder if the Germans actually designed that particular engine for Autobahn use. I'm going with no.

 

93 geo metro, but I used to rally it when I was stationed in NC and I could never get it stuck unless whatever I was going through was higher than the fender, it was extra fun in the snow, and when I burnt up the original 1.3 3 cyl engine I put a Honda ZC motor in it and it was retarded.

 

all of these were rentals i had while Acura was out of loaners. the worst had to be:

-2009 Cobalt
-2010 Elantra (wouldnt even light them up in the rain)
-2009 PT Cruiser

 

My mother just got a 2011 Ford Fiesta. I have driven it a few times and it's the slowest car I've ever driven. I can only imagine how bad it will be over 100k miles.

120/112 hp/tq, 2500 lbs.

 

Even my civic gets going quick with a 5 speed.

 

I had a 93 mitsubishi mirage coupe in college. I bought it at auction in 94 as a flood car for $2300. Had roll up windows and vinyl interior. Sold it 3 years and 50k later for $2300. 92 hp at 6000 rpm lol.

 

I don't think the Subaru Forester is slow. It probably was the cargo weight. I own a Subaru Forester XT (albeit with the turbo) but have driven numerous Subarus without the turbo and have found them adequate. They have good low-end torque and decent highway power.

Now for the most breathless car I have ever owned, it would have to be the 2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder. 138 hq/125 tq. However, at very high rpms. Most of the time, it felt like it had about a quarter that amount.

 

I once had a very early eighties Datsun Sunny (If you don't know what thais is, you're too young). It had about 90 hp, and I was in 4th gear at 40 km/h. That was pretty bad.

 

1991 civic dx 4 door

 

My 1988 Honda Accord with a whopping 98 horsepower and no fuel injection. It was gutless beyond 2500 rpms. However, it was a fun car, had amazing steering feedback (power steering didnt provide much assistance beyond 35 mph) was very comfortable and got 35 mpg going across the country several times.

I'd agree with the assessment of non-turbo Subarus. The AWD sucks whatever amount of 'bonus' power it would have had if instead driven by two wheels.

 

My sisters 2000 VW diesel Beetle. I think it has 99 horsepower if I remember correctly.

 

It probably had 90 horsepower when it was new, and maybe 80 when I had it...

You'd need to rev the hell out of it just to merge on a city street On the highway it was a joke, borderline unsafe...

However it was fun to drive, never gave me an issue in the year I had it, and started in the coldest weather I've ever seen.

 

mom's '98 Subaru outback. what a dog lol

my '94 accord wagon was pretty pathetic pre-H22 swap.

 

Fourth generation mustang v6 (even the manual ones)

Third generation eclipse 4 cyl

 

I learned to drive in a driving school's Datsun B210 (US version of the Sunny) "Honey Bee" cars with auto transmissions. I have yet to drive anything that slow or gutless, although I've heard the original VW Beetles were pretty horrendous.

 

By far my 1987 CRX DX when I was in college was the most gutless car I've ever owned.

HP: 76@5500, TQ: 84@3500

A mom in a Ford Taurus completely blew my doors off at a stop light one day. The next day I went car shopping.

 

I had a Chevette. Merging that car on the freeway often required a lot of planning and quite a bit of hope.

 

First car was a Chevy S10 pickup, 118hp. Hardly moved with the AC on.

 

1992 Chevrolet Cavalier.

110 horsepower, but it had a 3 speed automatic. Jesus fawking Christ. The hardest acceleration you would ever feel was the transmission banging into gear, and maybe the engine stalling if you felt like turning on the A/C while it was idling. Made for fun times during the winter. Nothing like brake torquing to turn on the defroster.

That car was forbidden from the highway.

 

my 1st gen Scion XB. 105hp 2500lbs. its the only car i've owned that i haven't gotten a ticket in

 

1965 Beetle.

Although my TJ would have challenged it if I had kept going with the mods. Jeeps need six cylinders at least.

 

3-cylinder Geo Metro. Had no power accessories whatsoever. I think if it did, it would stall at idle.

Mid-late 90s Dodge Stratus, 4-cyl. Had a "new" transmission put in it recently... Reality was that it flared on almost every shift.

Easily the most gutless was an 85 22RE 4Runner with 35 inch tires. Thing had like 280,000 miles on it. 110 hp 4-cyl in a 3800 lb truck. And it was an automatic. Surprisingly it was a pretty fun vehicle to drive.

Thank god I never owned any of them.

 

dodge caliber rental.

 

A rental Chevy HHR was probably the most gutless thing Ive ever driven. It made so much noise but didn't do anything with it.

 

0-60 in 22.5 seconds, 1/4 mile in 24.5 for the 1974 MY B210;
the 1976 MY was much quicker at 0-60 in 17.6 seconds, 1/4 mile in 20.4.
1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle 0-60 mph 18.2, 1/4 mile in 20.7; I think the 1965 Beetle was even slower.

 

LoL my Geo metro had AC but it would bog down to 500 rpm when it kicked on.....LOL

 

74 VW thing with original tired 26 year old 1600.
So, like a tired beetle but heavier and not in any way aerodynamic.

Every day I would get as much speed going as I could before this hill (at least 50mph!).
By the top of the hill I was in 2nd ringing it out ~ 30 mph. This wasn't a big hill or even a steep incline either. I remember how surprised I was when I put in a new 1835 and could not only accelerate up the hill but exceed the speed (well, not on the highway).

 

Absolute slowest vehicle I have ever driven: 1976 Ford Granada V6 with a 0-60 time of 14 seconds. That was one POS in its time and was my Grandmother's car which served her well.

 

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the Honey Bee- that was both gutless and ugly in its day. My cousine had one of those and it was very slow.

 

I've never driven it, but my friend somewhat recently got a 1989 Mustang Convertible, with that oh-so powerful 2.3L inline 4 that ConsumerGuide says makes 88hp max

 

My first car was a 1985 Volvo 740 GLE with over 200k miles. It's a 4000 lb car with 115 hp! Mine had some sort of intermittent problem where I would have to floor it and it would literally take 25-30 seconds to get through the intersection.

 

66 VW Bug 50HP. I had to drive it as fast as it would go in every gear to keep from being run over by traffic. Also to make warm air blow in from the engine to keep from freezing.

 

2006 Chevy Aveo
Passing on the freeway took some planning and No joking it can be dangerous if you really needed to pass someone.

 

I had a 89 LXi (with Fuel inj) and it wasnt much better (110hp I think) but youre right, it was really fun!

My 95 pathfinder was no speed demon...but the torque mixed with the 5spd made up for it.

My 2010 Prius...I like it, it can be kinda fun for an appliance....you arent going to win any pissing contests on the highway in it...

 

my 1989 hyundai excel was bad. It was only four years old when i had it and it was a snail.

 

my 1991 Land Cruiser was pretty slow. 155hp I-6, over 4500lbs, averaged ~10-12mpg.

In comparison, my xB is a speedster (but still struggle to get over most hills), and I get 30mpg.

 

Well my other car is a Fit.... It's not dogshit slow and actually feels a bit peppy once the revs are turned up, but the one that takes the cake of my recent memory had to be my cousin's '99 Corollacoaster.

I borrowed it from her when I went back east. It was downright scary on the Jersey Turnpike. I feel like the 1.5L in my Fit has more balls.

 

My dad's 1986 Nissan Sentra back in the 80's, it was the 1.6 litre version producing a whopping 69 hp, must've been even less torque. Here in NYC, they are fixing roads constantly, and if can't finish the work, they place a huge metal plate to cover up the mess. I remember that Sentra couldn't even "climb" up the plate (one or two inch thick) from dead stop, so dad had to back up a bit and dash for it. Maybe because I was a fat kid Good memory with that car.

 

A V8 in a 1983 Monte Carlo that could only produce 165 h.p.

 

Same here. An LX with the 1.5 liter, 92 horsepower, 4 speed autotragic.

Surprisingly, it wasn't all bad. The double wishbones made the handling pretty decent, and the features were pretty decent for an economy car of its time.