8 Enthusiast Cars That Are Absurdly Overrated (And Why People Still Love Them)

Enthusiast cars split people pretty hard. Gearheads have specific tastes, which means certain cars get cult followings while others get torn apart for not living up to expectations or lacking the exact engine some tiny subset of people wanted.

Then there's enthusiast car royalty. Cars that never leave the spotlight and enthusiasts can't get enough of. Same way gearheads have strong negative opinions about some cars, they've got equally strong positive opinions about others.

Some of these cars deserve the hype and live up to what people say about them. But sometimes it goes way beyond being a fan and crosses into absurdly overrated territory.

Lamborghini Urus

The Urus is technically an enthusiast car, a more practical SUV from a brand known for supercars. Not Lambo's first production SUV but the first one that isn't a nightmare to own.

It's impressive in a lot of ways. Original version had 641 horsepower from a turbo V8. Latest Urus SE plug-in hybrid pushes over 800 horses. Hits 60 mph in under four seconds, drives pretty well for what it is, tops out at 190 mph. Not many SUVs can say that.

But in the few years it's been around, it's become a total hype car. All over social media constantly, lost in this thick fog of hype even though it was always just meant to be the Lamborghini of SUVs. Also not the best looking. Hideously overstyled and kind of ungainly actually.

Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)

Few cars are as overrated as the R34 Skyline GT-R. Final generation to use the Skyline nameplate, sold only in Japan through the late '90s and early 2000s.

The GT-R is genuinely impressive. RB26DETT engine is fantastic stock and gets better with more power. Combined with AWD and incredible chassis tuning, the R34 was tough to beat back then.

Then "2 Fast 2 Furious" happened. Despite barely being in that movie, the Skyline GT-R became king of the Japanese car community. Combined with Paul Walker's passing, who owned several in real life, people are now justifying spending $300,000 on what's basically a late '90s Nissan. For that money you could buy six used R35 GT-Rs in good shape. The R35 is faster, more powerful, handles better, and was officially sold in North America so it's way easier to find.

Toyota Supra (A80)

In Japanese car fandom, if you're not team R34, you're team Mk4 Supra. Launched in the early '90s, the A80 was the final generation of Toyota's flagship grand tourer until the excellent GR Supra showed up a few years back.

The A80 had the iconic 2JZ six-cylinder, either naturally aspirated or turbocharged. Engine's known for taking a beating when tuned and being ultra-reliable. Nobody's saying the 2JZ wasn't great.

But the Supra was a grand tourer at its core. Heavy, approaching the weight of a modern Camry. Good to drive but never all that special. Its appearance in various movies means a pristine Mk4 now costs six figures. Meanwhile you can grab any other '90s Toyota with 200,000 miles off Craigslist for whatever cash is in your wallet.

Mazda Miata

A decade ago the Miata deserved the hype, including the original NA. These days it's out of control. Nobody's disputing the Miata's contribution to sports cars because it's massive.

Took inspiration from British roadsters of the '60s and '70s, became a modern interpretation with limited power, RWD, manual transmission, removable roof. Absolute smash hit. Still the best-selling small sports car ever.

The Miata's great in basically every way but the hype is crazy. Can't scroll social media for five minutes without seeing an NA flexing its pop-up headlights or some bizarre mod like mounting a tongue and teeth to the grille to make it look like it has a face. Good car? Yes. Completely overhyped now? Also yes.

Dodge Challenger Hellcat

When Dodge refreshed the Challenger in 2015, they went big and created the most powerful muscle car ever. The Hellcat came with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 making 707 horsepower.

From 2015 till now that engine got pushed past 1,000 horsepower, letting the Challenger obliterate production car records for 0-60 and quarter mile times. Obscene power combined with old-school muscle car vibes make the Hellcat special.

With the death of the Hellcat powertrain and LX platform, the Challenger Hellcat's gotten quite a reputation. In reality, its competitors will run circles around it on a track. Facts are the Hellcat's a bit of a one-trick pony. Just one that always has yellow front splitter guards. Not really a precision tool.

Tesla Model S Plaid

The Model S is over a decade old now and there's no denying its influence on the automotive industry. Might be the most influential car of the past decade because of how it pushed the shift toward electrification.

Couple years ago Tesla refreshed the Model S with revised styling and completely overhauled interior. Top-of-the-line Plaid model got introduced with 1,020 horsepower tri-motor setup, claimed 0-60 under two seconds, 200 mph top speed. Has some other cool features too.

Sure, the Plaid's acceleration is very impressive. Even jaded drivers and passengers get shocked. But at the end of the day it's a decade-old car with quality control issues, really high price, and it doesn't even have a proper steering wheel. Like all Teslas, not that good in the long run. Better off spending money on a Lucid Air Sapphire, and if electric isn't required, plenty of other options exist.

Nissan GT-R (R35)

Just because you can buy multiple R35 GT-Rs for the price of one R34 doesn't mean the R35 isn't overrated too. When it arrived in the late 2000s, it was the first Nissan with a GT-R badge sold globally and initially very impressive.

Despite "only" having a twin-turbo V6, the GT-R could easily keep up with and beat a lot of the best supercars and sports cars at the time. As years went on, competition caught up and the GT-R became an ancient veteran that didn't perform as well in comparison.

Nissan stubbornly kept making it, finally ending the absurdly long production run after 2024. The GT-R might have been the supercar killer once, but by the mid-2010s it lost the magic when it became the must-have car for YouTube daily vloggers.

Bugatti Veyron

Nobody believed Volkswagen could pull it off, but after buying Bugatti in the early 2000s, they promised to build the fastest production car in the world. The original Veyron 16.4 launched in the mid-2000s and became exactly that, hitting 253 mph.

Later Veyrons went even faster. Bugatti became the first to break 300 mph with a modified Chiron. The Veyron was special but over the past few years the magic's been lost.

For one, you can get more power and better acceleration from an electric sedan now. Veyrons are incredibly expensive and difficult to own. No fun owning a car you're too scared to drive. While the Veyron's speed record was and still is impressive, the McLaren F1 is more special. It's the fastest naturally aspirated production car ever and not a single car has dethroned it since.