Is weight no longer an issue in sports cars?

[JIM THEO]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

It doesn't make much sense to compare the Alpine A110 with the BRZ. The Alpine is a 2-seater. You can compare it with the MX-5 RF and in fact the Alpine is not much lighter with all its "premium" materials.

...at a 50% extra cost of course!

[Trust86]

I love this platform with boost. 300rwhp and 2600 lbs with a full tank is great.

[JIM THEO]

As we talk about weight let's see how BRZ/GT86 compares with Alpine A110 and Porsche Cayman in "moose test" (slalom at 80Km/h).
Bear in mind GT86 has the poor 17" Michelins while A110 18" Pilot Sport 4 and Porsche Cayman the much wider 235F-265R/45/18 Continental or PS, so who you believe wins here?

Porsche: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prpZzeespRc[/ame]

Alpine: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdsXUB0z-Pc&t=111s[/ame]

BRZ/GT86: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9dLIR-ayJY[/ame]

Clearly the GT86 is the winner and if you fit it a set of 225/45/17 stickier tires there is no comparison even with the Cayman.
Compare now their prices and we talk again about how good our cars are, people tend to underestimate what owns, is our nature!

[Dr. BRZ]

Originally Posted by Trust86

I love this platform with boost. 300rwhp and 2600 lbs with a full tank is great.

2700lbs......

[JR]

Weight is no longer an issue with "Sports Cars". Look at the GT350R, Camaro ZL1 1LE and Corvette ZR1. They all perform well and weigh above 3,500lbs. The list goes on too. We are living in a time where a car that is fairly "heavy", can still perform well on the road or track. With that being said, manufacturers are still finding ways to reduce weight. Take Ford for an example. They chose to go with Carbon Fiber Wheels for the GT350R to reduce unsprung weight and squeeze out that extra bit of performance. This is something that I doubt buyer's butt dynos would notice, and half of the owners probably don't even take their vehicles to the track, but Ford decided to do it anyway.

If you want a sports car that weighs less, drive around with a quarter tank of gas, go on a diet and take no passengers. Problem solved.

[JR]

Originally Posted by Trust86

I love this platform with boost. 300rwhp and 2600 lbs with a full tank is great.

In stock form, the throttle response of the 86/BRZ is great. How is it with boost?

[BlueWhelan]

Much of the reason for the continuous weight gain is new technologies like rear-wheel steer, active dampers, active aerodynamics, etc. They add weight, but the net gain in performance more than makes up for it. Play that game a few times over and over and you end up with a really fast car that still has quite a bit of weight to it.

Cars like the GT-R and new NSX actually wouldn't be as fast if they were lighter, given their systems have been set up to use the weight in an advantageous manner (increased tire load = grip).

[Trust86]

Originally Posted by Dr. BRZ

2700lbs......

Not a typo but thanks
And if talking stock form, they pretty much 2800 lbs

[Trust86]

Originally Posted by JR

In stock form, the throttle response of the 86/BRZ is great. How is it with boost?

It’s AMAZING. Honestly is. Majority of ppl will say it changed the car too much, it does, but not in a negative way. You just have to be more disciplined with throttle inputs.

[fatoni]

Do people really think the throttle response is great in the twins?

[JR]

Originally Posted by fatoni

Do people really think the throttle response is great in the twins?

Stock, yes. You don't have to get in the car and toggle ten different switches to get the right steering feel, throttle response, etc before taking off.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

Horsepower doesn't exist on it's own. It's a calculation. Torque is real regardless of what rpm its produced

Torque doesn't exist without RPM and load, at which point you have enough variables to derive power. Technically torque cannot exist without power, not the other way around. Power is work over time and work is change in energy. The fuel you burn develops work in the form of Piston speed change (over time), which the crankshaft's moment arm translates into torque. But there is only torque when there is an opposing force to resist it (grip)

How much Torque does your car make at 0RPM?

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by JR

Stock, yes. You don't have to get in the car and toggle ten different switches to get the right steering feel, throttle response, etc before taking off.

I do like the steering feel quite a bit but the throttle sucks in my opinion. Different strokes I guess.

[Trust86]

Originally Posted by JR

Weight is no longer an issue with "Sports Cars". Look at the GT350R, Camaro ZL1 1LE and Corvette ZR1. They all perform well and weigh above 3,500lbs.

GT350R has a p/w ratio of 7.14
Our platform with 300hp at the wheels equals roughly 350hp at the crank and with a little bit of weight reduction to get to 2600lbs we looking at 7.42
Not really a comparison but pretty interesting.