What do you look for when buying a sports car?
 

I'm still brand new to the cars in general. When choosing for a sports car what do you look for? I drive a Celica GT-S and its a FF.. but I want to know why people hate FWD so much.

Torque steer
Limited Power Potential
Lack of "Balance"
Lack of power-steering abilities
Poor launches
Tendency to Understeer

I'm not a hater here, and I think everyone is not either. I personally consider RWD and AWD over FWD because I think they are more fun to drive.

***** magnet is number 1

1.Fun factor
2.oversteer>understeer
3.FR car are easyer to balance than FF

Interesting answers everybody. If only I had this knowledge before I got my first car, it would make my driving experience better. Now I know what to look for. Thank for all the responses!

Don't forget, it depends on where you live too. If you live in where it snow like crazy in the winter, don't buy FR unless you have 1. beater car for winter or 2. have enough $ to buy good winter tires and expect several spin out. I wanted to buy FR car, but I couldn't do option 1 or 2 (cuz I'm college student), so I went w option AWD.

FF car can be awesome... for an example
VTEC Club vol 6 part 6 (skip through it 2:19)

fun: self explanatory. get something you ENJOY driving.
comfort: buy something you're comfortable in. seats, steering wheel position, shifter, pedals, mirrors, etc... it is very important to be comfortable in the car if you're going to drive it well
reliability: doesn't matter how fun and comfy it is if it's broken.

the "fun" part takes care of a lot of the FF/FR/MR/AWD decision. some people have fun driving different styles of car, get what suits you. i have driven some really fun FF cars, and some horrid FR cars.

-Mike

I'd rather oversteer a little in the snow than understeer a little in the snow. understeer = oncoming traffic.
:iono:

ah... I never said "when you're turning the corner" & sound like you never driven a fr in the snow. I hope you can say the same thing when you're driving in 10 inches plus of snow on the ground.

I'm pretty good at saying things, regardless of the situation I'm in. Like.. if anyone can say it when driving in 10 inches plus of snow on the ground, it's me.
:iono:

Someone who own FR car, enlighten him...

Sure is fun, the hard parts getting traction kkkk

First of all you need to define "Sportscar":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_car

Once you have read that you will realize that your choices are rather limited:
Miata
S2000
Z3/Z4
Boxster
etc...

No FWD car is or will ever be considered a sports car.

sports cars are not necessarily roadsters. i would argue that the better ones actually have hard tops.

-Mike

Using wikipedia to define the idea of a sports car doesnt really work for me. I feel that there are many species of sports cars; exotic (nearly any Ferrari), Roadster (Miata), Coupe (Corvette) ect. Although a sports car does not necessarily need to fall under a species, it can in itself just be a sports car.

I would like to hear others opinions on this as I am not very knowledgeable about the RX8 except that I think it looks cool and rotary cars are usually pretty quick. The porsche is a great car. Have you considered a rotary though. 1st or 2nd gen RX7 can be as enjoyable as the Porsche and as I gather they can be affordable to repair in case you´d have to.

looks, handling, acceleration and flare.

:bellyroll:

Immaculate win.

[/thread]

But in the snow, oversteer = sideways or backwards into oncoming traffic.

lexicon clearly never drove in snow. understeer is better for joe blow cus 99% of people do not know how to drive, and corecting understeer is easier than oversteer when ur facing a tree on gravel (ie ran off the road) FF can be a sports car, but FR is better cus squat means more traction rather than less :) also better to have ur driving wheels not do steering cus of force circles (max grip available from tire)
in a sports car i look for
#1 is functional looks (if it has a body kit that is aesthetically pleasing yet hinders flow and weighs heaps, then its a fail)
#2 kw/tonne
#3 weight
#4 handling and weight distribution
#5 comfort (its a sports car.. creature comforts usually hinder progress here)

Should have built in safety,
should be economical and fuel efficient.
Availability of spares across the country at a optimum price,
Widely spread expert service providers.
Most important easily convertible to other Fuel in future.

........










:laughabove: :laughabove: :laughabove:

I think he just described the Yaris?

We're talking about sports cars here.

Should have built in safety,
should be economical and fuel efficient.
Availability of spares across the country at a optimum price,
Widely spread expert service providers.
Most important easily convertible to other Fuel in future.

It's like spam but it's not selling anything...

I don't get it...

i dont think its spam.. that guy is just a douchebag.. go wash a cavity out :p

Pretty sure he's just a troll

lots of ***gorty in this thread,

FWD cars can be sports cars by social standards, not described otherwise by enthusiasts. As the term sports cars is an umbrella term that can encompass many types of sporty vehicles.

In your world of sport compact cars, an ideal sports car should have Neutral steering. RWD cars on the spectrum tend to come closer to this idealism than FWD or AWD. However just because your either one of the drivetrains doesnt mean you belong in a specific spectrum of Understeer/Neutralsteer/oversteer.

In terms of performance, its best to judge the worth of the cars sportyness based on balance and power to weight ratio.

In terms of aesthetics, its anyones ball game based on the designer and company direction.

For example lets take a look at the new Mazda Shinari, some might say this is a sports car, but wait..is it? The clear answer is no, this is a Luxury Sedan with elagant styling cues from its designer. Its P:W ratio is not bad, however its balance is substantially offset by the sheer size and location of larger masses within its structure.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...bbc2902085.jpg

Lets take a look at a coupe version of the shinari. By shortening the wheel track and bringing the car closer together, we eliminate much of the balance issues from the larger 4 door. To favor a more centralized weight distribution. This should bump up the P:W even if the engines power output is the same.

http://i34.tinypic.com/2r40baf.jpg

Sport compacts, sports cars, super cars, hyper cars all have their own direction towards performance and place in the universe. Yet they are all sports cars in some fashion (not exuding FWD cars). Lets not muddy up the definitions based on feelings or driving experience.

interesting, but from what i am reading is that any car can be a sports car if it strikes certain design and performance cues, yet a 4 door saloon cannot have a true 50/50 distribution and therefore is not a sports car? so muscle cars cant be sports cars??
or did i misunderstand
cus..
http://www.justcar.org/wp-content/up.../01/BMW-M5.jpg
(m5)
http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/V...txwdlqD2gl.jpg
(holden V commodore supercar series)
http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/res...ts_eseries.jpg
(V series HSV GTS)

i can keep going but whats the point

I agree, im kinda at fault for not covering my ass with some more thoughts to share. but without spending time to make an elaborate post, i think 4 door saloons/sedans still have the ability to become sports cars. It really depends on the car and its designed purpose. Like a few BMWs and Mercs, they have sports versions of already existing 4 doors sedans that are not classified as sports sedans.

but ya your right.

yeah the design purpose was what i was getting at.
the HSV GTS for example is a ridiculusly overpowered, strengthened and lightened version of a normal commodore lol
where on earth did u get that sig pic from??? and when is that rx7 coming out? :D :D

:cool: It was a photoshop i did of a render by an artist by the name IC.

Heres another one I did
http://i36.tinypic.com/11ig5ew.jpg

You wont be hearing anything about the new RX-platform till late 2011.

i heard and read some stuff, but the pics i saw were NOWHERE as good as those ones
nice work man
im guessing you did the chop of the coupe shinari as well??
i wish mazda actually had some nice looking vehicles, their cars stoped being good looking in 02..
same goes for toyota and nissan

yeah i feel the same way, the japanese car market right now is at a standstill. But i dont believe it will be like that for too much longer. I believe in the next 5-7 years Toyota, nissan, mazda, and even mitsubishi and Subaru, will try to fight for the throne again like they did in the late 90s.

I did do the chop of the Shinari Coupe, I have some other chops under me as well.

http://i56.tinypic.com/293twzp.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2nrzn6g.jpg

man that is awsome

hmmm so its this or the ft.... hmmmmm got some decision making to do if this is actually coming out and what it will look like.

that blue is a beautiful colour! thats the colour i want for my ft

When the lights line up the grille it doesn't look like a silly smiling face. Sooooo much better!

yes but all mazdas have that little grin these days it wouldnt bother me one bit if i owned it, it'll just match the grin on my face lol

well you really wont be getting the grin anymore in future mazda models, now that Nagare Design (current mazda styling) is offically out and Kodo Design has stepped forward also bringing back mazda's fabled 5 point grill from the 70s.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...hinarilive.jpg

Mazda6 will be the first car to receive Kodo styling ques similar to the ones found in Mazdas new Shinari. Followed by the 3, and 2 by 2013.