Different philosophy in different parts of the world.
Also, Our helpful gov't made sure to prevent Japan and Europe from selling their most interesting vehicles in America.
BMW looks boring. It mostly is. There is a saying that driving a slow car fast can be much more fun then driving a fast car slow. BMW's design mantra is that the power of the car can NEVER exceed the capability of the rest of the car. Meaning, if the brakes, chassis, suspension can only perform at optimal up to 250HP, they will not put more then 250HP into the car. Hence all the I6 cars from the 90's and early 2000's. Some people super enjoy a car that feels like you can't crash it even when you are careless. but that's the thing, you sort of can;t, because they designed it inherently to be controlled even when the driver is trying not to. I DESPISE this design choice. Ford always did this too, they would rather detune a 5.0 to not bust up their old T5 manual as an example then boost the HP. Likewise, no 5.8 in a Mustang.
All of that stuff is a European design choice. Hence, I have never found anything besides exotics or extreme outliers from Europe interesting. Some people love it. So you see BMW and Audi. Stereotype: they are bad drivers and enjoy a car that lets them get away with it. Sometimes their "skill" shows.....
Japan has a different design style. Their development was controlled in a few different ways. First, the gov't over there has pretty strict emissions, BUT, not in the style the EPA does here. It had more to do with maint. then it did with meeting a particular emissions goal. So you can find used JDM engines all over with low miles because the car would not meet factory specification anymore with the original engine.
Second, japan is freegin small. And crowded. And so they focus on handling, they focus on compact power. Tradition is also a part, WW2 tradition was fuel efficient small engines made to a high standard of performance for thier size. Turbo 4's and 6's everywhere.
Lastly, especially in the 90's, the gov't set a hard limit of 275HP on the japanese manufacturers for domestic sales. This of course was adhered to... kind of
Japan did recognize in order to compete in western markets with their smaller cars they were going to need an edge in reliability and economy. By the late 80's they had pulled that off.
In turn, the US gov't made policy to keep the best cars out of our country, and make the rest of them cost more then the local stuff. 1990's JDM cars were some amazing cars given the design restrictions and how the end results came out. Some examples of interesting cars that did not make it here:
-The "red top" Vtech Honda Prelude that only went to Japan, Europe, and some to Australia. This engine also found its way into Accords. None for the USA.
-Celica GT-Four from the 90s. Picture the boring 90's Toyota Celica, but now with 4 wheel drive and steering and a 250HP turbo engine. Legit F'ing fast.
-Picture a Toyota Camry sedan, but with a twin turbo engine out of a turbo Supra. The Toyota Arista. They made a Crown also with the non-turbo version.
-Skylines are an easy point. We got Nissan Z's but not the Skyline for whatever reason.
-You could get a 240HP turbo Nissan 240SX in Japan called the Silvia. Not here.
-Honda made a few other "Type R" cars not available in the US
-edit: forgot one, the Mistsubishi Lancer Evo's. Turbo(275HP) awd cars that weighed like 2600lbs with a full tank of gas.
As a gear head, I can respect basically any vehicle based on it's characteristic and design choice, along with it's potential. I don;t like Euro cars, they cost like they should already be top of their class and then you have to spend big $$ to actually make them that way on top. I hate they limit their engines based on their chassis choices. I love JDM cars. The potency achieved out of their small engines under a watchful eye of their own gov;t amazes me. They understood the classic sports car theme of "light weight" that America understood in the 1930's racing world but seemed to forget about in the design world outside of a few models, and the JDM cars from the 90's were very well built, at least the ones i would consider excellent.
Don't get me wrong, I love my V8 and that's why it's essentiall all I have ever owned outside of two GM W body cars and a rebadged Mazda(Mercury) 323 wagon with a Miata engine. But I like everything with an engine, tractors, whatever, so I look at this mostly objectively.
So, to the OP, given a limited budget, as proven in my life, I buy American cars with snarly V8's and trucks with the same. If i won the mega lottery, i would build a private road course race track and have a building stuffed full of cars from all around the world, but mostly American and Japanese cars, each for their own merits.
Sorry, lots of reading but this is a big topic I think.
