We spend so much time in cars, it’s easy to forget about its existence due to whatever is occupying our minds at the moment but it is a noble companion that helps with getting you to a different place. Take a closer look at the machine and you will appreciate that a lot of thought and hours were spent engineering ergonomics to a specific standard. People spent hours worrying if the dashboard will hold up, while on the consumer side, you just care about the cupholders.

What we prioritize in cars differs, and that’s what makes cars so great. Problematic as well because as someone who is enthused by cars, I’m always caught in two minds or just can’t decide to want to stick to one car. Your needs and tastes tend to evolve over time, and the beauty of it is what you had before, someone is frothing at the mouth to experience.

What do I look for in a car? I’ll admit: I can get snobbish about this but the main aspect is that of a egotistic nature. How it makes me feel. Most important. It’s the decider of whether I would buy a car or not. This is determined by seating position, steering feel, weight, engine eagerness, control weighting. I love a mechanical experience. Free revving engines with playful personalities are also very welcome in my corner of the world. Gearbox rattles just make it more theatrical.

While I have an affliction for the carbon exotic stuff that’s expensive, sometimes, I find the most rewarding experiences are in 90s Japanese compacts and 00s euro superminis. With the Japanese compacts, You don’t need to push much and the layout and weighting of the controls are just bang on. Blips are mastered and steering is accurate with great feedback. Unintimidating, confidence inspiring driving experience. Honda just know how to do manual gearboxes. The pedals are where you need them to be, the throw of the gear lever isn’t too short, but it’s slick and precise. Takes a proper shove to get the satisfying shift but you can also be gentle. The clutch pedal is soft enough that it inspires confidence.

The euro superminis and hatchbacks offer a very direct darty behavior. The front wheels have to cope with managing power and steering. What you end up with is having to recalibrate your driving style to accommodate the nose heavy weight transfers. You end up with a more chuckable ‘slalom around the car park’ driving experience. And for city driving, that is just spot on.

While I bang on and continue to wax old school mechanical, I also have an appreciation for the modern car. There are some great electric steering units out there. I have a dislike towards the BMW electric steering, especially in comfort mode. But I am a great fan of the VW electric steering as I feel it provides more feedback, particularly in my old Polo GTI. I also love a good DCT. I enjoy when the car rows down the gears as we come to a halt. The crisp blips on the downshift are also marvelous.

What I look for is to feel free at the wheel. Speed and numbers don’t really matter because those happen under controlled scenarios and you’d be going so fast, it takes the fun out of it if you’re worrying about breaking the law. If the car is alive, and communicative, I’ll be happy.