What is a "Sports Car"?

"Groagun" (groagun) 09/15/2014 at 15:50 • Filed to: None

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! wrote and article a few days a go in which I responded and have had several back and fourth's with may Jalops and OPPO's with. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Some of the conversations have centered around very specific cars that I stuck out in my list that some have questioned. As usual I have also had some rather stupid responses but all boil down to one question that I'm not sure can be answered.

What is a sports car?

Is it a strict definition? Two door, two seat only, engineered to take corners and be fast with an optional roof? Or can a four door four to five seat 'sedan' be a sports car. ie the BMW M3? Does the inclusion of two extra seats in a two door disqualify it from the definition?

Let us know and ZachR you son of a bitch, you better thank me for putting your post over 50K. Good for you.

Vimto > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 15:52

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Sport is defined as 'an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.'

So I see a sports car being any vehicle that provides you with visceral enjoyment.

For Sweden > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 15:52

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Brian Silvestro > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 15:52

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A car built with performance in mind.

That's it.

duurtlang > Brian Silvestro 09/15/2014 at 15:54

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What kind of performance? Some cars perform great as a rolling couch.

Brian Silvestro > duurtlang 09/15/2014 at 15:55

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YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

CRider > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 15:57

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Sports car

Sport sedan

Not a sports car

Pony car, sports car sub species

Muscle car, large sports sedan on cocaine

EL_ULY > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 15:58

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Are sports cars what you feed Hellcats?

lol j/k :]

I see sports cars as:

2 doors ONLY.

Can have a back seat. (even tiny ones like Aston, Lotus, Lexus)

Coupes or verts

Engine can be located anywhere

Size and weight ARE a factor, i'm just not sure what the max. and min. are

They are preferred but NOT required to be fun or bring the driver excitement.

Motorsport history and potential is also preferred but not required.

Milky > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 16:04

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IMO its has to be built ground up as a sports car, i.e. Miata, Corvette, etc. Not converted from standard passenger vehicles, i.e. 3-series - M4.

duurtlang > Vimto 09/15/2014 at 16:05

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You can interpret it in multiple ways. Is it a car that's meant to win races or a car that's meant to challenge the driver? Nowadays there's a huge difference between cars that cater to one of those interpretations. A Nissan GTR is incredibly fast but not very involving (or so I'm told), a Subaru BRZ not very fast but quite involving. Are they both sports cars?

In my opinion a sports car is a car that invites the driver to seek the edges of the limits of both the car and the driver himself, limits that are relatively close to each other. Limits that can be expanded with proper exercise. That's where the fun is at, and that's where a true sports car is aimed at, in my opinion.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 16:07

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I think it can include 4 seat cars that are designed for the track,

the Nissan GT-R as an example

Arch Duke doesn't think so, but 17 people agree with me.

I also think AWD is okay, as long as performance is in mind.

That in a way makes the STi/Impreza/WRX count; but those are more for rally than anything else, the GT-R was built for racing around a circuit.

(link to comment)

djmt1 > For Sweden 09/15/2014 at 16:11

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I have this sudden urge to laugh about a fall from grace but I just don't know why. Maybe it's the colour.

Money Hustard > duurtlang 09/15/2014 at 16:21

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Anything that accelerates to 60 in under 3 seconds is involving. GT-R hate is a combination of groupthink and auto journos having little else to write about the thing. It's buttoned-up perfection if you ask me. (I'm basing this on very little time behind the wheel, but still, was a life-altering experience.)

Textured Soy Protein > For Sweden 09/15/2014 at 16:21

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Really? We need to have this pointless conversation yet another time?

DoctorNine > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 16:26

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The 911 has a back seat.

Milky > DoctorNine 09/15/2014 at 16:31

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"back seat"

GhostZ > For Sweden 09/15/2014 at 16:34

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Sedan platform, bitch. No more of a sports car than a 4-door M3.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > DoctorNine 09/15/2014 at 16:34

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I think of the 911 as a sports car no matter what, even if it does have a rear seat.

GhostZ > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 16:35

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That's not fog behind him.

DoctorNine > Milky 09/15/2014 at 16:37

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Back seat:

For Sweden > GhostZ 09/15/2014 at 16:38

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Look at the hood. Sports. Checkmate.

DoctorNine > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 16:38

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Exactly.

RallyWrench > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 16:51

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I keed, I keed. I think limiting it to 2 seats excludes some very sports-oriented cars, like the 911, which for all intents & purposes is a 2 seat car with a couple of afterthoughts in back to change the insurance classification. But it could be argued that the 911 has always been a GT car, and the Boxster/Cayman make a pretty good case in that regard. See? This is hard!

Otherwise there are a whole lot of 2's involved. I do think we can safely draw a line at 2 doors, and the back seats, if any, must be unfit for normal adult use. Anything more is a sports coupe or sedan, by any bullshit marketing departments' definition. To me, 2wd is a prerequisite as well, but that's a difficult fight to pick, because there are so many 2 & 4wd versions of the same car now.

I don't think the folding top argument necessarily applies any more, because the world has since learned that hardtops are stiffer. Also, if it can carry more than a weekend's luggage for 2 in the trunk, it's not a sports car. It then becomes a "GT" car.

Finally, if it weighs near or more than 2 tons, it's not a sports car.

But who cares, because the automotive landscape is so oversaturated that just about everything defies categorization somehow.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Milky 09/15/2014 at 16:54

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That child is creepy. VERY creepy. Like mass-murderer creepy.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > RallyWrench 09/15/2014 at 16:56

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I remember when Maximas first started sporting that sticker. You think BMW drivers are bad today? I can't remember seeing one of those for about a 2 year span that WASN'T driven by an ass-clown!

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 17:02

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My definition: 2 door, RWD, can have a backseat, can have a hatch, relatively low center of gravity, good power to weight ratio.

The platform it's built on is a tough consideration in this day & age with all the platform sharing that occurs.

Milky > DoctorNine 09/15/2014 at 18:45

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that is such a nice leather wrapped luggage shelf.

DoctorNine > Milky 09/15/2014 at 18:53

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Now, now. Although you can pick your kids up by their onsies, they aren't really luggage.

bhardoin > Groagun 09/15/2014 at 21:51

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A "sports car" is a car built for "sport."

What is "sport?"

Sport could be either (from the dictionary) referring to competition - as in performance cars geared for racing - or to recreation - as in cars that are just fun to drive. So you have two defining options for a sports car:

1) A car designed and intended for competitive driving.

2) A car designed to be driven recreationally. I would take this further to say that a car designed to be fun to drive is not compromised by necessity for practicality.

I would prefer to stick with the second definition, so in this definition a sports car would be either AWD or RWD (FWD is only arguable as a packaging compromise) and driving focused - no added weight compromising handling for such niggles as luxury or civility. In other words, a sports car is a car designed for driving, not getting places.