That same thing happened to me. When I first had Stunts back in 1993, my friends and I would take turns to play our tracks and we would always use the Porsche March Indy. Sometimes, just for a change, we would pick either the Porsche 962 or the Jaguar, because they were fast enough too. It's true that they lacked power gear, but at that time, it didn't matter much to us because power gear was something we used for experiments. We didn't actually use it for achieving better laps. Although we didn't have rules like OWOOT, we did try to more or less follow the line of the track. Detours and shortcuts were seen by the guys and I as cheating, yet running off road for a moment, was perfectly OK. Anyway, all other cars were too slow to be fun driving those days.
Even when I joined the community, first I was only participating in World Stunts Championship, which was OWOOT and only used the Porsche March Indy, but then when I began trying in ZakStunts, I had to use other cars or else I would be at a great disadvantage. I was kind of annoyed when I had to use a slow car to be competitive, but with time, I learnt to know the different cars and appreciate their possibilities and nowadays, I too think it's amazing how different it feels when you switch from a car to another, like it were a different game. The original engine, however primitive, is exquisitely diverse and powerful!
