Quote:
Originally Posted by LSxJunkie
Yup. Downshifting two gears and getting 170whp to pass someone doing 70 is more than a split second difference against downshifting two gears and getting 360whp. Trust me. I'd always rather have more power. Especially around here.
Ever been stuck in the right lane on the Hutch or the Bronx River Parkway behind some idiot doing 45 who doesn't understand how to accelerate on the onramp, having just merged, but you can't jump out past them because traffic in the middle lane is kind of busy and going 70+? Happens to me on local parkways all the damned time. More power solves that problem.
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Well fine, given the example I can see your point. I typically just wait for an opening then go around jump into the next lane. The point I was making is that toyota/subaru tailored this car in a direction that would make it a great entry level RWD sports car with a dynamic feel to it. The car more than delivers on that as seen in many reviews the power can always be added later if need be.
Lets take this from a performance perspective. There aren't very many new RWD vehicles out there that offer drivers that might not be the best a chance to safely improve their skills without putting them at life threatening speeds. That was the whole reason behind putting prius tires on the car as well. Sure 100 more HP and sticky tires would have made the car a hell of a lot better but it would also raise the threshold the driver has to get to in order to make the car far/the threshold new racers would need to get to in order to start learning how to handle oversteer, heel toe brake, know what to do in an "oh shi-" situation (and IMO that's the most important), etc..
Not to mention the car would go up in price, which you have to consider how much R&D and platform development went into this car. What they're asking for it is a hell of a deal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tachi1247
First, having a higher horsepower car has absolutely nothing to do with how big of an ass a particular driver is. I've seen as many jack asses driving in civics and camrys as I have mustangs. Age has by far a greater correlation to how stupid someone is on the road.
Now to address your question, yes there is a difference. It's the reason that most people end up buying a sports car. They want performance. A truly good sports car has both great handling and good power. If I'm driving a corolla, I expect to have to make that downshift, if I'm driving a sports car I don't. It's all about expectations. In a time when an affordable 4 door family sedan can hit 60 in ~6 seconds expectations are higher for a sports car.
For those of us that grew up with the Supra, 300ZX, RX-7, etc we want both parts of the performance equation because we know it can be done affordably. All of those cars existed for several generations before they ultimately got out of control with the price. For example, the first gen
Supra (non-turbo) had 200hp from a NA straight 6 in 1986. Your average family sedan at the time with GM's 3800 V6 was putting out 140hp.
The only "successful" sports car which could have been considered under powered (during its time not compared to now) is the miata. That is a tough act to duplicate and I personally don't think Toyota/Subaru are going to bank on being able to do it. They are following typical new model procedure. Hype the car up and release the base model and sell as many as you can. A year later introduce the convertible version and reel in all the new buyers. Finally, release a higher performance version and reel in even more customers. In the case of this car, I can see Subaru releasing an STI version and Toyota introducing a convertible version at the same time. It would further differentiate the products and for some reason I just don't see Subaru introducing a convertible in the US.
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You know what though, according to EVERY SINGLE REVIEW on the FRS/GT86/BRZ it's looking like subaru/toyota DID succeed in making the type of successful sports car that the miata was. All we need now is to get regular joe's in the car giving the driving impressions most of us know we'll see.