See now to me that would be a roadster.

I hear what you're saying though....

Sports car: Corvette, Porsche 911, RX-7, XK-E
Sports coupe: Mustang, Camaro,
Sports sedan: BMW 3 series
Sports compact: WRX, etc...

 

Just curious, how are the Evo's selling. The local dealership has sold 2 total, and can't sell 1 more at all. These are good cars, however i think slightly overrated (they arent designed drag cars. and poor autocross cars (as i witnessed myself), and poor off road ability according to car and driver. They are nice cars, but they're pushing $30,000, and that's pretty pricey compared to the original WRX. The people who really want them have trouble affording them in my experiance, and people who can would opt for a SVT Cobra or something else. I believe cars like the SRT-4, which stay believe $20,000, or the base WRX are much better targeted cars and will be more successful.

 

The thing is, they aren't "pushing" 30k they are OVER 30k and that really doesn't make them afordable in my eyes and I suspect many others see it the same way. They are still just really souped-up, entry level, 4-doors with performance that is not really outstanding at all in the whole scope of things. Sure they are good for 4 bangers but they are very similar in performance to a 10 year old F-body that, even with inflation, did cost much less. You can say that they have awd, but is it realy worth it? Basically, I want some real performance for my dollar and that means a new f-body....................now they just need to build the damn thing already.

 

Those are not sports cars...

These are sports cars...

www.imsaracing.net

 

Mazda Miata - sports car
Toyota MR-2 - sports car
Pontiac Fiero - sports car
Chevrolet Corvette - not a sports car
Chevrolet Camaro - not a sports car

Corvette is a grand tourer (in good company with Aston Martins and Ferraris), and a Camaro is definitely a coupe with a lot of power.

 

These cars all very quick, and it is good to see more affordable performance on the market, but... I would not say that this is direction that affordable performance cars are going in.

That is like saying the Same thing about the Syclone in '91.

Back in the 60's every car was RWD and you could drop a badass engine in just about any car and have a factory built hot rod.

Today, most (if not all) of the cheap cars are wimpy FWD. thankfully though you can put in a light weight rear end in and make them AWD which has the trade off of extra weight vs. extra traction.

since the engine bays are smaller it is only natural that they have to use forced induction over more displacement.

I don't care for the looks of any of those cars, they aren't very sporty looking to me , but the drivetrains are right on the money!!

I'd love to see the Evo drivetrain in the new Eclipes and can't wait to see the AWD G6 on the street.

 

Really... let's see you do this on an Impala in anything under ten times what it would take to drop a big motor in an old Impala.

Thing is... until traction on take-off becomes an issue, a FWD Impala with a big/rebuilt/supercharged/whatever engine will wipe the floor with the older models. Just because it was RWD does not mean that the chassis was of any worth on the track or that it was light by any means.

 

Your right about the new Impala SS vs. old RWD Impalas are far as 1/4mi. times go. The point is RWD is better for performance than FWD. At 240HP the difference isn't as big but try putting a 550HP 427 LS1 into a FWD Impala and another into a CTS and tell me which one you would rather drive.

 

"Grand tourer"???

 

Or "GT". That's how the Europeans would have it anyway, and they've got way more sports cars than we do--surely they know something about the issue.

 

The Corvette is not a "GT" Its a world class performance car. The miata and mr2 are not sports cars.They are peppey little fun to drive cars that look like sports cars.

 

No, the Miata and MR-2 are sports cars, just as MGs are/were, and just as Austin Healeys were, and etc. The Corvette is generally roomier, more luxurious, and more refined for everyday use than a sports car, and is above the definition of a sports car--hence, a GT.

 

Ok, by official sources:

Perhaps this thread should really be referencing a new class of muscle cars, for by definition:

More automotive-minded classifications are listed on this site. Note: Camaro is a pony car, not sports car by their logic (which is widely assumed by most). And by the classifications on that site, the sport-compacts in question are in fact also pony cars.

Dictionary.com

 

Well if you use the logic that the Corvette is not a sports car becasue of the space and comfort then it would seem to reason that you can say that the MR2 and Miata are not sports cars because they are not even close to fast and hence, are not sports cars.

 

Not even close? I'd say they are quicker than the average car (and I've actually driven both). And you're missing the point: sports cars about more than just being fast.

The Miata and MR2 are certainly sports cars. In fact, the Miata is the best selling sports car of all time.