Has the FT86 changed the sports car industry?

[SigmaHyperion]

Originally Posted by Atropine

Muscle cars...no...the Mustang, Camaro, Challenger trio will stay big and fast.

The new Mustang that will finally be shown next week is reportedly down 400lbs from its present version, bringing it down to about 3150lbs -- that's lighter than the brand-new Corvette. 120% more power than us and just 20% heavier. That may actually get it under a 4s 0-60 time. Not a bad deal.

The new Camaro is a couple years out, but for obvious reasons has to somewhat match the Mustang. It will move to the newer, smaller, lighter, all-around much better Alpha platform that is expected to also shave 300-500lbs off its weight.

The new Challenger is also still a couple years out most likely, but will almost certainly share an Alfa platform. This will make it decidedly Mid-Size and a long way from the bloated beast that it presently is.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by NWFRS

I'm wondering if Mazda will roll out an MX-5 coupe in a few years as a result of our little Toyobarus eating into their sales. :-)

I think that the Mazda (MX-5) folks think they have a coupe .... the hard top on one model just comes unhinged and folds down ....

humfrz

[dem00n]

Nah, all it did was give it a wake up call.

RWD "lightweight" sport cars have been done for while now.

Honestly the only companies that should worry about the twins are Nissan and Honda.

Maybe not Honda, a person who buys an SI is pretty loyal to Honda. Honda crowds are very loyal, honestly not many people on these forums have owned a Honda except an S2000, i'd aruge the S2000 isn't apart of your run of the mill Honda crowd.

Or as a friend once told me, when i see a spanish guy driving an S2000 i'll let you know.

People who go to buy a muscle car don't really give cars like ours a 2nd thought, except maybe for lunch.

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by NWFRS

I'm wondering if Mazda will roll out an MX-5 coupe in a few years as a result of our little Toyobarus eating into their sales. :-)

I can't see that happening, the original Miata MX-5 is a design Mazda has not deviated very far from (aside from dropping pop up headlights). A coupe MX-5 with a rotary engine would be great!

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by dem00n

Nah, all it did was give it a wake up call.

RWD "lightweight" sport cars have been done for while now.

Honestly the only companies that should worry about the twins are Nissan and Honda.

Maybe not Honda, a person who buys an SI is pretty loyal to Honda. Honda crowds are very loyal, honestly not many people on these forums have owned a Honda except an S2000, i'd aruge the S2000 isn't apart of your run of the mill Honda crowd.

Or as a friend once told me, when i see a spanish guy driving an S2000 i'll let you know.

People who go to buy a muscle car don't really give cars like ours a 2nd thought, except maybe for lunch.

I came from a Si, true, Honda people are very loyal but check 8th Civic, the consensus is Honda has become complacent, boring (something Akio Toyoda wants to get away from), and lost their way. The 9th gen's lack of innovation and additional substantial horsepower over the 8th gen was a big letdown after the homerun of the 8th gen over the 7th gen and don't forget the debacle with the cheap Hyundai interior plastics in '12. A lot of Si people hate how Hyundai can through features like push button start, LED tail lights in a cheaper Elantra but not the Si.

Seriously, the best Honda can do is brag about the new super hybrid NSX -a car that will made in limited numbers and out of the budgets of most consumers -not knocking the car but aren't they in business of selling cars and making money? Seems the only Hondas people want are Accords, regular Civics, and the occasional Fits -Acura sales are in the toilet, the Insight is the Prius wannabe nobody buys, the CRZ is the hybrid that would sell like crazy if it had atleast a vestigial back seat and a K series engine. Granted, Toyota made the LFA their trophy car but they also made something attainable and desirable for the masses (our Toyobaru).

[DAEMANO]

Absolutely it has changed the market.

The FR-S/'86/BRZ platform isn't just about being lightweight. It has a laundry list of driver focused features that have reminded people what a real sports car looks like (that is not a roadster).

• Low COG - check
• Great shifter - check
• Great steering - check
• Communicative brakes - check
• RWD - check
• Linear throttle response (achieved via Natural Aspiration) - check
• Great fuel economy - check
• Decent power for that fuel economy & throttle response - check
• Great visibility - check
• Tunable ECU - check
• Weekend warrior track ready out of the box (no special "track" version required) - check
• Distinctive yet classic styling - check
• Driver focused cockpit - check
• Fun at street speeds - check
• Back seat - check
• and finally yes, it's lightweight,and NOT a GT (like every other car in the segment not named MX-5).

Prior to the FR-S/'86/BRZ, automakers were making a beeline towards fat GT's, or FWD, CVT's with pseudo-gears, and small, laggy turbo fours. Yes, we'll still see those cars, but we're also going to see competitive versions of the '86 appear from other automakers.

Most importantly, the FR-S/'86/BRZ has shown automakers that the public will indeed seek out and buy driver focused cars even during a poor global economy if provided with cars just like the FR-S/'86/BRZ. Solid sales via good fuel economy, a fixed roof, and an emergency service back seat reflect a viable product. The engineers like it, the bean counters like it, and the public likes it. So great, more fun cars like ours to come.

[Kelbyat07]

The z has already dropped its price to compete with the twins

[husker741]

Originally Posted by DAEMANO

Absolutely it has changed the market.

The FR-S/'86/BRZ platform isn't just about being lightweight. It has a laundry list of driver focused features that have reminded people what a real sports car looks like (that is not a roadster).

• Low COG - check
• Great shifter - check
• Great steering - check
• Communicative brakes - check
• RWD - check
• Linear throttle response (achieved via Natural Aspiration) - check
• Great fuel economy - check
• Decent power for that fuel economy & throttle response - check
• Great visibility - check
• Tunable ECU - check
• Weekend warrior track ready out of the box (no special "track" version required) - check
• Distinctive yet classic styling - check
• Driver focused cockpit - check
• Fun at street speeds - check
• Back seat - check
• and finally yes, it's lightweight,and NOT a GT (like every other car in the segment not named MX-5).

Prior to the FR-S/'86/BRZ, automakers were making a beeline towards fat GT's, or FWD, CVT's with pseudo-gears, and small, laggy turbo fours. Yes, we'll still see those cars, but we're also going to see competitive versions of the '86 appear from other automakers.

Most importantly, the FR-S/'86/BRZ has shown automakers that the public will indeed seek out and buy driver focused cars even during a poor global economy if provided with cars just like the FR-S/'86/BRZ. Solid sales via good fuel economy, a fixed roof, and an emergency service back seat reflect a viable product. The engineers like it, the bean counters like it, and the public likes it. So great, more fun cars like ours to come.

Great post. I know that there were so many other factors, like the ones you listed, but I was on my phone and didn't wanna type it all out. I agree with everything you said.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by husker741

I've heard from many magazines and other media sources that in the next few years, sports cars like the 370z, Mustang, and others will drop in price and weight. Is this because they have seen how much of a success this car has been and how it'll boost their sales if this car has more competition?

Discuss.

The only way our cars will "change the industry" is if it can sustain the success of the first/second-gen Miata in terms of sales.

Otherwise it will just be "another sports car on the market"

-alex

[n2oinferno]

Nah, the MX5 was already there. The twins are just another option, but with the benefit of a back seat. Seeing how many people post that it's useless, they'll never use it, etc, it might not even matter to a large percentage of customers.

[Anaxilus]

I won't ever use the actual seats but I will use the space.

And yes, nobody is all too happy that plane Jane Toyota developed the $25K, 2700lb RWD 86 coupe to compete in such a small market segment. They can't just sit there and do nothing regardless of CAFE rules.

It's not really a revolution at all, just remembering what was already known.

[Leonardo]

Nope.

But, it does what it does really well.

[jblmr2]

Originally Posted by Anaxilus

It's not really a revolution at all, just remembering what was already known.

Couldn't agree more. At best it's evolution. When I was gaining my automotive awareness, a light weight, inexpensive, RWD, low HP coupe was introduced at the peak of a time when manufacturers were adding ever bigger engines to their offerings. That car was the 240Z. In fact it's almost scary how similar those times are to now automotively speaking.

Like the 240Z did in 69, the twins have shown is that there is again a market for our type of car. Whether it will spur competitors or not only time will tell.

[DarkSunrise]

As others have said, I think the Twins proved there's still a market for lightweight RWD coupes, especially those that emphasize the driving experience over pure horsepower.

Yes Mazda sells the Miata, but never had the willingness to develop/market it as a fixed-roof coupe. Maybe now they will.