Why Some Modern Fast Cars Are Just Too 'Try Hard' For My Liking

If you’ve spent any time looking at this website, you’ll have gathered that performance cars are our kind of thing. And - despite all the downsizing and stringent emissions regulations - it’s a good time to be a fast car-loving petrolhead, as manufacturers seem to be recognising the desires of this very select group of people. Only last week we found out - after so many complained that the latest 911 GT3 was dual clutch auto only - that the Porsche Cayman GT4 would only have a manual gearbox option.

Similarly, Jaguar announced it’d start offering the F-Type with a stick shifter, stating that ‘there will always be a select group of enthusiasts who want the satisfaction which comes from changing gear manually’ - which is probably the greatest collection of words to ever feature in an automotive press release.

It’s not just gearboxes, either. The choice of performance cars is better than it has been in a while. Just recently, Mazda started making noises about bringing back the MPS range, while the long-dead NSX name is at last back at Honda. Furthermore, many performance cars are better in their current iterations than they have been in years; just look at the Ford Fiesta ST.

So, it’s a performance car celebration all round, then? Not quite.

While it’s great that manufacturers are paying more attention to this once neglected area of car building, some of them are trying a little too hard. Let me start with the soon-to-be manual F-Type. Specifically, with its exhaust. Sure, it sounds amazing at full chat, and we should be pleased that manufacturers are paying such close attention when it comes to our beloved exhaust note. But while we love all the pops and bangs the F lets out, it’s bordering on excessive. Live with one for a while, and I’d wager that you’d find it tiresome. After all, you might want the tauter dynamics of its sport mode without waking up everyone within a half-mile radius.

The issue of sound continues in the cabin of some cars. Many manufacturers now see fit to artificially pipe extra noise inside, which usually sounds horribly fake. As with the shouty active exhausts, artificial noise is usually something you have to put up with if you ever want to use the sportiest mode the car has to offer.

Probably one of the worst examples is the new Peugeot 308 GT, which sounds like a cross between a spaceship and a keyboard from the 1980s when its sound additive is activated. And this isn’t even supposed to be a proper performance car.

Some cars feel the need of announcing the activation of their sports mode with an awfully cringeworthy fanfare. Just take a look at some versions of the Mini. If you stick it in sport mode, you get the message ‘Maximum go-kart feel’ appear on the dash. Oh, and with a cartoon rocket and go kart. It’s all very forced.

On some occasions, it can feel like a whole car is trying too hard. That’s the case with the new BMW M3. It has that artificial sound additive I so detest - which it really doesn’t need - but the whole driving experience seems deliberately angry. It’s snappy and boisterous, with a fat wad of torque at low revs which frequently overwhelms the rear-end in an unpleasant fashion.

Worst of all is the gearbox. Dual-clutch transmissions are supposed to give a quick and near-seamless shift, but the M3’s ‘box feels like a punch in the back on every shift. If you’re using any decent amount of throttle in the wet, it actually kicks the back end out on every change-up. It’s pointlessly aggressive, and deliberately engineered. It’s like the designers were compensating for the fact that it lost a couple of cylinders over the previous model, and it arguably spoils the whole car.

Despite my misgivings, it’s a very good thing indeed that car manufacturers are thinking of enthusiasts when it comes to designing faster cars. I just hope getting carried away doesn’t become a thing.