Cars made for dating: Liven up your Valentine's Day drive with these rides

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. And we assume that you're reading this because you have an affinity for cars too. And for you, driving with your date is an experience worth cherishing.

So setting up the perfect date with your significant other or potential person of affection, wheels included, ranks high on your priority list.

It isn't easy to arrive on time for a rendezvous – and thus impress your selected would-be partner if you don’t have an automobile to bring you and your bae to tryst sites. 

One also shouldn’t forget that your chariot of choice should have room for two. After all, love (and perhaps knockin’ boots, too) should be natural and fun, and love is good when it’s one-on-one. 

This poster and AutoFun PH present arguably the best vehicles to spend time in for you and your co-intimate. We put a  3-million peso cap on this list; however, since inflation is rampant, essential goods are expensive, and as such, one need not spend so much on a two-seater.

This means most luxury and premium brands (along with their respective models) didn’t make it, along with most of the muscle car crowd and Nissan’s GT-R supercar. 

Let’s see what made the list…

Audi A3 1.8 TFSI Hatchback - ₱2,350,000

One of two European vehicles on the list, the Audi A3 is great for tooling around town with your flame or fling riding shotgun.

The 182 PS straight four has some help from a turbocharged fuel stratified injection (TFSI) setup that should aid the hatchback in going up expressway ramps and vertical-oriented mall parking pathways if you need to bring them home via the North Luzon Expressway or the South Luzon Expressway or go to the mall. 

Increasing the chances of you both huddling together in the front cabin is a touch panel climate control system with pretty cold blasts and four large air vents within the dashboard (two right above the glovebox, one at the two o’clock side of the gauge cluster, and one at the ten o’clock side of the gauge cluster). Adding chances of you and your beau holding hands are a nearly flat transmission tunnel with a stump of a slushbox stick, which doesn’t obstruct your reach to either side of the cabin.

Ford Mustang EcoBoost Premium SelectShift AT Fastback - ₱2,948,000 

This particular Pony Express is the runt of the Mustang roster, with a 314 PS/475 NM turbocharged 2.3-liter straight four that can go anywhere quickly from the pick-up point to your stopover of choice. And the powerplant for this specific ‘Stang isn’t even a V8.

Looking for places to eat – or even the nearest drive-in hotel – can be done via the Microsoft Sync3-installed in-car infotainment and an eight-inch touchscreen.

If you need to heighten the mood via listening help, a 12-speaker Bang and Olufsen system should help deliver that much-needed Marvin Gaye, Barry White, or R Kelly audio atmosphere.

Mazda MX-5  ₱2,020,000 to ₱2,790,000 

The MX-5 range is perfect as a date car for all the right reasons. There is seating for just two, and the car's design for just two occupants makes the cabin as cozy as you can hope for.

Need to go stargazing or driving with the wind through your scalp? Just pop off the roof with one step and one hand right from the driver’s seat, and you can enjoy what’s going on right above the car’s roofline. Get the Retractable Fastback and do that automatically in 13 seconds. 

Just a little caveat: that transmission stick, the sportscar’s parking brake, and the in-car infotainment’s central knob can be obstacles to holding hands or hugging. However, the proximity of the seats allows for an arm from the driver’s side to drape unto the shotgun seat’s backrest.

MINI Cooper 3-door ₱2,650,000 

The only MINI Cooper variant on this list is the base model, which qualifies due to its price of admission. It’s as potent as its higher-priced stablemates, as the 135 PS turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder is more than enough for urban travel and for highways.

A round 8.8-inch touchscreen for the infotainment is standard. Combined with the circular items in the cockpit (airconditioning vents, airconditioning readouts, tablet-like gauge cluster, steering wheel, steering wheel infotainment controls) and the retro look of the exterior, make for conversation pieces with your significant other.

The only drawback with the base model MINI is the road damping, which can border on hard/harsh non-tarmac and substandard asphalt/cement paths. That irritant might be a deal breaker for the fellow riding beside the driver, depending on how bad their sensitivity to rough roads is.

Nissan 370 Z Premium - ₱2,779,000 to ₱2,879,000

The 370Z is the GT (grand tourer) of the Nissan lineup. It puts out 327 hp/363 NM from a naturally aspirated 3.8-liter straight four linked to either a six-speed stick shift or a seven-speed automatic gearbox, plus rear-wheel drive.

Should the driver attempt to display their drifting skills to impress a date, doing so can easily be attained with this sportscar.

However, there are some issues a couple might have with the Nissan 370Z.

For starters, the aforementioned transmission stick could obstruct impromptu intimacy. Second, suppose the one riding shotgun insists on playing music from their Android smartphone into the seven-inch touchscreen head unit as a mood enhancer. In that case, that particular occupant will be disappointed. That’s because the in-car entertainment solely reads Apple CarPlay-backed smartphones. Third, storage for small items around the cockpit is limited, so your date will have to hold on to their purse or makeup kit while sharing light moments in the cockpit.

Valentine's Day is just some notches away, and if money isn't a problem, having wheels to ferry your date/s around is far better than taking public transport. With a gamut of choices, one need not spend so much on a four-wheeler to enjoy that Festivus of love.

But at the end of the day, what really counts is the quality of time spent with your loved one, right?

Do you have other ideas for cars that live up to the month of love? Let us know!