Automatic S2000
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 8,841
Likes: 1,702
From: Illnoise. WAY downtown, jerky.
Originally Posted by Fuggles,Apr 15 2008, 12:04 PM
I disagree that a sports car has to be RWD. To me, "sports car" implies a philosophy more than a specification. The vehicle must be designed from the ground up for performance and driving pleasure, and be as uncompromising as possible. Obviously any car that has started life as an economy car (such as the EVO or STI) does not qualify. I see no reason that an AWD car cannot be a sports car though (such as the R8), and technically speaking the new double clutch paddle shifted transmissions are faster than the human hand, so there can be an argument that they are not a compromise but an effort to wring out more performance.
"Built from the ground up for performance" is more of a context or a debateable saying than a definition. For example: Mazda claims that the Mazda 6 is built from the ground up for performance. But is it really? Automakers throw the word "performance" around even for minivans. This is attractive to men whose wives nag them into buying something boring. "Performance sedan" is easier to sell than "Boring ass grocery getter with cool gauges and a shift knob".
The Miata is through and through a sports car. So is the S2000, or an old MG, or a Solstice/Sky, etc. etc. There would be no cribs about calling those cars sports cars.
That being said, I have to disagree that the R8 is a sports car. Look up the defintion of sports car...MOST places will strongly agree that it means RWD and 2 seats to start with. I made that statement a long time ago, before reading any other people's definitons.
Call the R8 something else. There's plenty of other names to call it. It's not like I'm saying Sports cars are superior to all other cars. It's just a defintion. It's like defining "desk" vs. "work bench". One's not better than the other given a non descript situation, they're just DIFFERENT. Think about how different an R8 is from an S2000 (which, hopefully, we can all agree is a true sports car).....so I'm not putting down the R8, M3, EVO, STI, etc. To me, they're just not defined as sports cars.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 975
Likes: 0
There is only 1 way where I'd want an auto - and that's to use as part of my wedding photography business. I wouldn't mind renting it out for the day, but quite honestly, I wouldn't trust most people's stick shift skills to start, and the rest that can't drive stick - well they're out of luck.
I've flirted w/ the idea of getting a Boxster in auto for exactly that purpose, but then couldn't stomach the idea of actually owning one and having to drive it often - love the car, just hate the ownership and the stigma of having one.
I've flirted w/ the idea of getting a Boxster in auto for exactly that purpose, but then couldn't stomach the idea of actually owning one and having to drive it often - love the car, just hate the ownership and the stigma of having one.
