These days, modern safety systems and highly advanced engineering mean that almost anybody with a driving licence can safely drive a powerful vehicle. That being said, over the years and even now there have been a few key cars that simply demand a lot more skill from the driver. Let’s get started.

Renault Clio V6 Mk1

What happens when you shove a V6 engine in the middle of a small French hatchback? Well, madness happens actually… With its notoriously huge turning circle, the Clio V6 is pretty much impossible to save in an oversteer situation. The short wheelbase combined with a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive setup means that the Clio simply wants to rotate, even if you don’t want it to! Gone are the rear seats, and in their place is a 227bhp V6 engine from the Laguna. The track has been widened to supposedly make it more stable in corners, although this doesn’t seem to have worked. Bizarrely, the Clio V6 isn’t even much faster than its standard Clio 172 counterpart, reaching 60 in 6.2 seconds and 6.7 seconds respectively. In the hands of a noob driver, the 172 would probably win on a twisty track. Professional drivers can gain a lot from the balanced mid-engine setup, but the average driver on the road is likely to be facing the wrong way up in a ditch before long!

Dodge Viper ACR

There cant be many people who step out of a standard Dodge Viper and think “hmm, too boring. Too Safe”. Naturally, someone at Dodge must have done just that, leading to the creation of the wild and damn scary Viper ACR. Driving the ACR is a rough and brutal experience, with only the best drivers making full use of the performance. With a massive, 645bhp V10 at the front and of course rear-wheel drive, the ACR has a tendency to swap ends if you’re not being careful. The clutch and gear change require a lot of force and rev matching the viper needs some serious skill. Not ideal after training legs at the gym, ill say that. Dodge has made a lot of effort to reduce the weight of the ACR, ditching a lot of the interior options, but luckily for you, you still get 3 speakers and a stereo! If you are anything less than a race driver, stick with a Corvette for daily driving and save the Viper ACR for the track!

Classic Porsche 911

The classic Porche 911 is a lovely thing to look at, and if you’ve got the skills, drive it as well. Don’t however be fooled by its moderate looks. Porsches rear engine design somehow works amazingly well in their modern cars, however back in the 80s, it was, shall we say, a work in progress. Traction control didn’t feature on these cars and twin-scroll turbos still hadn’t been invented. The result of this meant that the original Porsches, especially the “930” Porsche 911 Turbo variety were quite a handful, with many disastrous crashes, earning it the nickname “The Widowmaker.” Having a heavy engine over the rear wheels and a turbo that kicked in violently and suddenly meant that the 911 turbo of this generation had a pendulum like effect. One minute you’re a drifting god, the next minute you’re in the hedge. Everyone loves a classic 911, but if you get the chance to drive one, go easy on the gas peddle, especially if it’s a Turbo.

Toyota MR2

This fun yet affordable mid-engined sports car was first released in 1984, offering the drama and layout of a supercar for the price of an ordinary vehicle. The MR2 was made in three iterations between 1984 and 2007, all offering a transverse mounted, four-cylinder, mid engine, rear-wheel drive setup. The MR2 has a notoriously short wheelbase that makes its tail especially susceptible to sliding out without notice – Snap Oversteer. In the wet or with violent steering input, this problem only gets worse. The MR2s user friendly design and affordable entry price has led to some spectacular fails occurring, often with noobs failing to understand the shortcomings of a mid engine setup. The MR2 is very balanced and precise, up to the limit, which lulls many inexperienced drivers into a false sense of security. The moment you push the car that little bit more, the back breaks away rapidly, rather than progressively leading to a spin that will be very hard to recover from!

Chevy Blazer

You may be thinking, why is the Blazer on this list? It’s not especially fast and they are tough, right? Not quite. In the 80s and 90s, mid size pickup truck sales were through the roof with more luxury, technology and weight than ever before. The first and second generation Blazers were both extremely unsafe, despite being sold as big and tough vehicles. Whilst they were decent offroaders and well built, the Blazer had an awful crash test rating. The Blazer has one of the highest driver death rates in single-vehicle rollover crashes ever, with the 2 door, 2 wheel drive model taking the cake. The Blazer was involved in 251 deaths per million, almost 5 times worse than the national average of vehicles of the midsize class. Single vehicle rollover accidents were the primary cause of these accidents, although the IIHS gave the Blazer a P for poor in the frontal offset crash test.

Whilst many cars are pretty bad in crash tests, the Blazer behaved appallingly in the rollover test, a gruelling test that pushes vehicle handling to the max. Without stability control, traction control or advanced suspension, the top heavy Blazer had a tendency to flip over during sharp evasive manoeuvres, unfortunately leading to some tragic accidents. Fortunately, these days, standards from Chevy have improved and mid-size SUVs are now perfectly safe to drive.