What Happened to Sports Cars?....

they cost enough,put some alloy,carbon fibre into them.

 

a lot of it is safety and emissions regulations. throw in desire for comfort, gadgets, etc, then they need to put in bigger engines to carry that extra weight, and its a downward (upward?) spiral.

 

my 2007 Z06 has carbon front bumpers and an aluminum frame from the factory

she weighs right around 3000# w 505hp

Somebody remembers what a sportscar is

 

Hardly a sports car in the traditional sense... take a Lotus 211 for a spin or an Ariel Atom....now they are real good old fashioned sportscars by the old school definition...light, perfectly balanced and nimble and thrilling to drive....far more fun than anything else being built today.

Beev

 

May not have the name but is worthy of honourable mention is the 3rd generation MR2 @2300 lbs. Like you say, light and nimble performance...

 

It's called a Miata, Elise, etc. You all are forgetting what a real sports car is.

 

+1!!

 

The Lotus 7 is more popular now than ever. I think for real sports cars Lotus, Miata and Vette are true sports cars. You have to look at kit cars and home built like the Atom, Lotus7 and Lotus 11 outside of the manufactures. I think there is not a real market for sports cars as most folks want cruisers. ( Not Me)

 

EDIT: I meant 2nd generation MR2...

 

2813 as seen, plus fuel & trunk junk. It's placarded against more than 400 pounds combined people and cargo. I need another 115-pound girlfriend.

Of course, when they found out people really liked it, Honda announced the end of production.
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kit cars, and track day only cars... those have NEVER been sportscars. I agree with William.

 

my 1965 lotus super seven cosworth had 100+ real hp and weighed 1011 lbs with all the street stuff....that was the prototypical "sports car"....i now drive a S2000CR.

 

I remember all the little british cars I had in the 70's, not one of them was faster 0-60 than my range rover, but they were a blast to drive, even though they were were not exactly reliable, and now they are all out of business.

 

WOW - Hello the Ferraris are made with space age frames and aluminum bodies. Air bags to save lives - and four seats
12 cylinder 540 hp mid engine with the tranny in the rear for balance. Anytime you care to play sports cars weigh less let me know as I wave to you in my rear view mirror coming out of the S curves.

 

To be a real sports car, the car has to be light enough so that it can handle and drive like it is part of you, an extension of your thoughts if you will, much like a motorcycle is.... This is just my personal opinion, and qualified as such, but if it needs power steering then it isn't going to do that. Once you start assisting the steering then you have crossed the dividing line between sports cars and GT cars... And really there aren't many sports cars around today, save the Elise...

To my mind the real dividing line on a sports car is at an even lower weight than 3000 pounds. The heaviest car I had that didn't have power steering was a 2,500 pound first gen RX7, and that was a borderline GT car. If you have less than 1200 pounds on the front axle, then you don't need power steering, and the car can handle like it is an extension of your mind... More than that and you start needing power steering and everything dumbs down... Note that the Elise weighs in at around 1900 pounds and has 60% of it's weight on the rear axle or about 800 lbs on the front axle, which gets it done well. My C5 Z06 is great fun to drive, but at 3,020 pounds it really is too heavy to be called a sports car...

Todays cars are heavier due to the government mandated safety requirements and unfortunately they have pretty much made great driving cars a thing of the past... Even a small car like a Miata is right on the line and needs power steering, so the while smaller and better driving than an SUV, it still doesn't deliver the driving experience that makes it a great sports car. If you look at the growth of kit and "track" cars market you can see that the market for a fun car has moved to get around the government mandated weight and to a car that is fun to drive without literally weighing two tons... A Superformance GT40 fits that description to a "T", 2400 pounds and 60% on the rear axle, no power steering... All it takes now is money.........

 

Everyone wants high performance sedans.

 

My 2005 Crossfire coupe weighs 3000 lbs, has a hand-built AMG supercharged V-6 (rated at a conservative 330 hp) and huge Brembo brakes. At $46,000 it didn't sell, which is why I was able to buy it two years later (still new with 19 miles) for $26k.

As a bonus, it gets close to 30 mpg on the highway

 

I'd like to play .

As said, to ME, a real sports car is a light weight, it doesn't need gobs of power, it doesn't have to be brutally fast. A sports car keeps the driver a driver, allows momentum, and real driver feel. I would take a slower more fun car to drive then a faster "electronic" car.

 

I know some of you claim that only dedicated track cars or kit cars are real sports cars. But I think there are some street cars that are good.

I know some people will disagree, but I think the Boxster S/Cayman S (especially the new 09's) are terrific cars. Under 3000 lbs, 310 or 320 hp, fixed roof or topless, mid-engine, RWD, and named by several sources as one of the best handling cars made. Plus it has enough creature comforts to keep you in modern times, but the car is still light. It's more fun to drive on the STREET than any other cars in porsche's lineup. Now when u get to the track, a GT3 might make sense.

S2000, Miata, and Z06 are on the list too.

I also feel the same way about the weight of cars. It's getting crazy now. 3700lb M3?! wtf. I think regular RWD 911 Coupes are ok weight wise. But the awd and turbo models r heavy.

 

The original BMW MRoadster was a hell of a sports car. I had more fun in that car than any Ferrari Ive ever driven. I might pick one up next week as a daily !

 

I have a 235 hp Austin Healey 3000 - trust me I know what its takes to drive a sports car. That being said I also have a Bourget with 185 hp and alum frame with oil running thru it. But playing does not get any better than the Scag with the HGTC package.

 

Lotus 7 = yes Miata = yes

However, I do not see a Vette as a sports car....maybe a "muscle sports touring car" but not in any traditional sportscar sense....poor road feel, heavy, over horsepowered, a handful.

The 211 and the Atom can be fully licensed as street use cars in the UK, the Lotus 7 and 11 of yesteryear were also sportscars in my definition.

I agree....that 65 Super 7 is the classic sportscar in my eyes....no need for crazy hp...just spirited, superb handling, connected-to-the-road fun....now i must check the classifieds....i would love a vintage 7.

I still enjoy my '75 MG Midget (with a few mods) as a real "feels fast" 70s sports car....well balanced, tossable, excellent turn-in, and fun.



beev

 

Doubtful. I would bet a decent Caterham would smoke that 12 cylinder through the S curves.
The Elise has good numbers but is a little refined for my taste.
Ariel Atom is probably the most pure sports car available today. A good HP/WT ratio is nice but you need a small nimble car to feel the freedom that a true sports car offers.

BT