These Are The Worst ‘90s Performance Cars According To You

“This is a topic that will result in many hurt feelings and endless debate – mostly because many of us lived through this era and the criteria is somewhat nebulous. This also was an era that also led to many vehicles receiving unwanted plastic surgery, in the form of wing implants; bodykit facelifts; and exhausts that mimic’d bodily functions.

“Needless to say, I propose the following as contenders:

“1. SOHC, ultra-base DSM (Talons, Eclipses, Lasers): the AWD and turbocharged models from this family were beasts with questionable build quality (I had one). The base models had questionable performance credentials with questionable build quality. For the ultimate in show without go, accept no substitute.

“2. The Hyundai Scoupe and early Tiburon: a 2-door ‘performance’ Excel and its offspring after having the ugly tree fall on it. Today’s Hyundai offerings are pretty solid vehicles; early 90s Hyundai products were not. Consult your local scrapyard for details.

“3. The Ferrari 348, Ferrari 355, and Mondial T. Hear me out. Ferraris? On this list? Unfortunately, these were flawed vehicles and were outclassed by the Acura NSX and updated Porsche 911 (even with the reliability goofs the 996 had) in terms of practicality and ownership experience. The 348 was just simply outclassed. The 355 was a beautiful vehicle; it had a sexy voice; it was fast in the right ways; and it would lead to a a painfully expensive divorce when it needed a new belt. The Mondial T was their cousin that failed gym class.

“DQ’d from Running:

“1. The S4 2.7T and A6 2.7T from Audi – reliable much? Some commenter probably has one and will lecture me about how easy it is to keep it running. (DQ’d due to me botching the model year)

“Honorable mentions:

“2. Elan M100 from Lotus – wrong badge and Miata. Could’ve been a ‘funtastic’ car if sold by GM as a whatever. As a Lotus, with a legendary name? Not so much.

“3. Honda del Sol – from the makers of the Integra GS-R and Type R, Prelude, Accord Coupe 2.2, NSX, VTEC Civics, my excellent lawnmower, etc. comes automotive Crystal Pepsi. Everyone has an off day.

“Special award: The Skyline GT-R R32 - simply because we didn’t get the damn thing in the US until 25 years later! Same for all the fun GM and Ford models sold in Aus: I had a 2006 GTO; we were missing out on a lot. Big V8 and simple fun.”

Well, that’s a pretty comprehensive list, I guess we can all go home.

Suggested by: Nick Tierno (Facebook)

“First gen Hyundai Tiburon

“Tiburon was first offered in 1997 with base models using the Elantra’s 1.8L 130 hp engine while the upscale ‘FX’ received a 2.0L four-cylinder engine. The 2.0L was rated at 140 hp at the crankshaft.

“At this point, they couldn’t make a reliable eco box, so I don’t know what possessed them to try to make a sports car.”

As the old saying goes, you’ve got to break a few sports cars if you want to make an eco box. Or something.

Suggested by: Knyte

“I rented a few Sunfires when I traveled. Like the same era Cavalier (and my sister’s ‘95 Saturn SL1 5-speed) it wasn’t the performance that made me hate them but the ‘Spanish Inquisition’ front seats. Worst front seats of any rental car before ‘merger of equals’ Daimler penny pinchers took the seat adjusters out of Dodge Intrepids for 2001.

“As far as performance cars my vote goes for ‘94-’97 SN95 Mustang GTs with the automatic. Ford thankfully woke up from their snooze in ‘98 and started adding horsepower but the last thing you wanted to see pull up next to you in a two pedal ‘94-’97 GT was a new V8 F-Body because whether it was an automatic or six-speed you were getting smoked.”

Everyone’s got a least favorite Mustang and while some will defend the SN95 to their graves, there are others who agree with this poster.

Suggested by: Scott Sanford (Facebook)

“To quote Captain Slow, ‘As you would imagine, I’ve done this properly.’

“The Dodge Shadow.

“By the time it got to the 90s, the sorta-performance Shelby CSX was gone, leaving us with the top of the line Shadow ES and it’s badge-engineered twin, the Plymouth Duster. Basically appearance packages, what they lacked in performance compared to the CSX, they matched the CSX in lacking durability and reliability. When is the last time you saw one in the wild.”

Some would say this car was a shadow of Dodge’s performance cars of old.

Suggested by: jimal

“The Honda Del Sol. An attempt to cash in on Miata trending that lacked its power, grip, fun, or fully convertible top.”

As a successor to the excellent CRX, the Del Sol always had some pretty big boots to fill.

Suggested by: Steven Taylor (Facebook)

“Subaru SVX. Unique JDM styling and relatively powerful motor let down by one of the worst transmissions of the era. Add to this the lack of a manual option and insane reliability problems and you’ve got one of the best automotive cases of ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.’ which is worse than being flat out terrible.”

Sold between 1991 and 1996, Subaru sold 14,257 SVXs in the U.S., which accounted for more than half its total sales.

Suggested by: koshapig

“The Impala SS is a better candidate than the Sunfire. Yes, it had a Corvette engine to go fast in a straight line, but they put it in a Caprice 9C1 with 16-inch wheels. Some roads have curves; between that, and it made a Crown Victoria look anorexic.

“The base models of the DSM coupes (Eclipse, Talon) are also good candidates. Once without turbos and AWD, they are sheep in wolf’s clothing. (Plymouth Laser doesn’t even try that hard).”

The seventh generation Impala came with a 5.7-liter small block V8 that produced just 260 hp.

Suggested by: Steve Crave (Facebook)

“The Beretta. All models. But especially the 1991 Beretta GTZ. You could get the 3.1L V6 but had to link it to the 3-speed auto. Road & Track gave it 0-60 times of around 9 seconds. For that they should have given the thing a calendar, not a speedometer.”

Its zero to 60 time was a sluggish 7.6 seconds to be precise, which definitely earns it a spot on this list.

Suggested by: elgordo47

“Define performance? I would say the Plymouth Laser deserves a spot in the top 5.”

Sold between 1990 and 1994, the Plymouth Laser was one of the first models produced under a new joint-venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi.

Suggested by: Alex Bassi (Facebook)

“The Ferrari Mondial, easy, was like a daily Ferrari.”

Ah! Another Ferrari! The final Mondial model was on sale until 1993, when it was said to “spearhead of a new generation of V8 Ferraris.”

Suggested by: Joaquin Carreño Gutierrez (Facebook)

“90's Chevy Monte Carlo. It’s just a two door Lumina. No idea if any of these had any legitimate power, but they just looked like something trying to be something it wasn’t, especially when loaded with NASCAR stickers.”

The most powerful Monte Carlo you could buy in the 1990s came with a 3.4-liter V6 motor that produced 210 hp and gave the car a zero to 60 time of just over eight seconds.

Suggested by: connors83

“Nope, Cadillac Allanté or Chrysler TC by Maserati according to every other article on the subject. The Sunfire is an economy car.”

Offered for just seven model years between 1987 and 1993, the Allanté featured bodywork built in Italy by coachbuilder Pininfarina.

Suggested by: Patrick Granholm (Facebook)

“This answer really depends on how you quantify ‘performance car.’ If I had a choice it would probably be one of the below.

“1. Mercury Capri, is this a performance car? Not really.

“2. Ford Probe/MX-6, the V6 versions were kind of cool, but not that great IMO

“3. Cadillac Catera, again is this a performance car? Caddy tried to market it as one, so I am including it.

“Bonus, Prowler. Again, not sure it was really a performance car, but it kind of was a bit?”

By its third generation in the 1990s, the Mercury Capri was getting long in the tooth. It only lasted until 1994, when the model was canned.

Suggested by: Big-Block-I-4

“Dodge Viper. 90’s build quality with murderous intent. Somebody at Chrysler was railing coke off a hooker’s ass when they thought dentists needed a 8.5:1 power/weight ratio with zero traction control.”

Launched in 1991, the Dodge Viper packed a V10 that was developed in partnership with Lamborghini and produced 400 hp. With this at its heart, the Viper could hit 60 in 4.2 seconds, which is about the same as a V8 Wrangler 392.

Suggested by: Dale Wendorff (Facebook)

“The Duryea.

“Oh, wait.... Did you mean the NINETEEN nineties?”

There’s always one.

Suggested by: earthbound-misfit-i