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Old 12-04-2014, 05:46 PM   #7
FRiSson
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Join Date: Jun 2012
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There is something amusing about this focus on speed. The first sports cars to become really popular in the US were the Austin-Healey, Jaguars straight-sixes and various Triumphs and MG's. None of those went fast compared to the big V-8 cars of the day. In fact, there was a certain pride that the motors were small, but that they didn't have to slow down for curves, unlike the big detroit iron.

The first real pocket hatches, the Rabbit GTi and BMW 2002Ti were in the 10-12 second 0-60 range and were considered fast. Ferraris and Porsches might be faster than 7 seconds. Now a car that is 12 seconds is considered "dangerously slow".

With supercars now in the 2 seconds range and cadillacs in the 4 second range, it is difficult to consider what fast is in the real world. Certainly utilizing those speeds off of the track is borderline sociopathic.

The FR-S requires a different mindset. The car gives an immediacy to driving that is totally missing in contemporary cars. To me, that is far more important that the rush of speed. I've driven a lot of crappy cars that have big engines. But, I don't care to buy one. Give me a real driver's car instead.
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