Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin.b
BMW (M3, M5, Z3, Z4, M Roadster, M Coupe....)
Mercedes (SLK, SLS, SLR, AMG stuff)
Nissan (Z, GTR, SE-R)
Mazda (Miata , RX8, Mazdaspeed Protege, Mazdaspeed 3)
Dodge / Chrysler (Crossfire, SRT-4, Challenger, Chrysler 300C)
Chevy (Camaro, Corvette)
Ford (Ford GT, 100 flavors of hot Mustangs, Focus ST, Fiesta ST)
Hell, even two dead brands Have had more real sports cars in the 2000's than Toyota (Saturn Sky, Pontiac Solstice)
I don't consider a lot of those to be sports cars, obviously. A lot of them are just warmed-over family sedans. But that's my point about Toyota. In the absence of a real sports car they haven't even tried to offer a 'hot' version of anything else on their lots.
I think they've missed a trick with that. I think if they had a nice TRD Yaris and tried to sell it on handling (doesn't take much to make a light car handle - some 205 summer rubber on alloys and light suspension upgrades) it would have done well. With some marketing behind it, they certainly could have stolen some of the wind out of the 2/Fiesta's sails.
I do hope that the FT86 is a bit of a turning point for Toyota. Hopefully we see more drivers' cars from them in the next few years.
-Justin
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I agree - Toyota does not typically tart up their base models with performance tidbits as much as other brands. When it comes to stage upgrades, aero packages, or other performance add-ons, Toyota hasn't been the most forthcoming.
But many of those models would not be considered sportscars (protege?) and they're quite a different take on performance - adding parts to a people-hauler, or creating a sporty vehicle from scratch. Justin, your argument here is worthy and I'll give you that Toyota is not as practiced when it comes to adding performance to existing models. But I still contend that Toyota does far better at developing purist sportscars based on their historical track record.