Quote:
Originally Posted by series.trackday
Look at the Fiata. Effectively a slightly-longer Miata with a stronger 1.4L turbo engine instead of a relatively weak 2L, the Fiat 124 had 1/4th - 1/5th as many sales as the Miata and is now discontinued.
|
The "stronger" Fiata was *significantly* slower than the ND1 Miata (15.1 sec @ 91mph for the "hotter" Abarth 124 vs. Miata's 14.6 @ 95mph), had a less engaging engine (laggy as hell), was a couple hundred pounds heavier, and was ugly on top of all that.
Quote:
|
PS: You have literally one example, the Miata, because it's the exception to the rule, not the rule.
|
You, previously:
Quote:
|
The US government has mandated an amount of safety equipment that prohibits passenger cars being under a certain weight and a certain cost.
|
Gubmint regs do not prohibit reasonably-priced sub-2300-lb. 3-door fwd hatch, a 2350 lb. 2-seat roadster, or a 2800 lb. 2+2 from being sold in the US...
I would say that the CAFE regs do *discourage* smaller, lighter-weight cars though...