# What is a true sports car ?



## KP (Apr 16, 2002)

The HACK said:


> *
> 
> McLaren F1. *


Mclaren F1-GTR


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## cenotaph (Dec 19, 2001)

KP said:


> *
> 
> Mclaren F1-GTR *


If you mean the McLaren F1s that they raced at LeManns and other tracks, they had to be de-tuned to conform with the rules.


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## fuselier (Dec 23, 2001)

A "sports car" is a car that's designed for the primary purpose of going fast in a particular situation.

I was going to say that it has to be a two-seater, but that's not really true (Porsche 911).

I was going to say it has to be SOLELY for the purpose of going fast, but that's not true (practically every single car has a trunk of some sort, and thus has the potential of staisfying some basic practicality.

It doesn't have to be about "driving experience" (which, to me, roughly equates with sharp, go-cart-like handling). A big-ass muscle car, an IROC, or Cobra, or any Pontian from the 1970's, is a sports car. But they are designed to go fast in a straight line.

I was going to say it should have high horsepower, but that's not true. The MGB and the Miata are sports cars, but they aren't very fast in a straight line. They are, however, made to go fast through twisty back roads.

Perhaps a more succinct way of saying it is this: if the car was designed with the PRIMARY purpose of being fun, it's a sports car, even if it was built with some practicality (4 seats, a decent trunk, creature comforts) as a bonus. If it was designed with some sort of practicality in as the PRIMARY purpose (4 doors, any wagon, any pickup truck), it's not a "sports car" no matter how much fun has been built in as a bonus.

The gray area is 2-door coupes. Many are sports cars (I think all 3-Series coupes would qualify, as does the aforementioned 911), but many are not (Chrysler Sebring or the MB CLK 320). That's a tougher class to judge.

All two-seat cars are sports cars, even if you don't personally like a particular model. The designers may or may not have succeeded in making the car fun, but that was clearly the goal. Thus it is a sports car.

No 4-door sedan is a sports car, in the truest sense. But that's why the term "sports sedan" exists.


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## KP (Apr 16, 2002)

cenotaph said:


> *
> 
> If you mean the McLaren F1s that they raced at LeManns and other tracks, they had to be de-tuned to conform with the rules. *


I mean the ones that were road legal. There are around 10 of them in the world I believe. Orange color only.


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## johnlew (Dec 25, 2001)

Here's another sports car...back when I was in my 20's.










Examples of sporty, but not sports cars.

Lexus SC430
MB SL500
BMW M3 ???
MB SLK

Somehow, the older "sports" cars, Healys, Jaguars, MGs ... seemed to be truer examples. The newer stuff, Porsche Boxter, Porsche Carrera, etc. seem a bit less genuine. While old sports cars used some fine materials the newer sports cars with their luxury and convenience seem to contradict, to a point, the authenticity of a true sports car.


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## blackdawg (Jan 4, 2002)

*big hint: bmw doesn't make one right now?*

hee hee hee.

just a little ribbing.

wouldn't it be easier to base it on cars we consider currently sports cars? i would argue that it has to be built on a single purpose chassis (out go the econoboxes), lightweight, manual, RWD or AWD......i guess it should be able to keep up with track-prepped cars out of the box with little/no modifications.

F360?
GT2?
GT3 (don't get this one here)?
Z06?


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

*Do we all have one?*

I think the fact that most of us here own and drive BMWs says something about what we consider to be a sports car that can't be so easily defined by how many seats, how many doors, hardtop or convertible, number of cylinders, etc.

Even for the guys with BMW wagons, it has to be something(s) about the way the car drives that goes into whether someone feels like they have a sports car.

A TRUE sports car? A car that is enjoyed by it's owner in autosport? :dunno:


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## AF (Dec 21, 2001)

Reviving a thread with a post of mine that should really be in this thread ...

*In my opinion some of the current sports cars I could think of off the top of my head would be:

350Z
RX8
911
Miata
S2000
Z4
Boxster
Both current Lambo's
Ferrari's (except for that one with the backseat)
MR2 Spyder
Corvette (though on the muscle car side) 
Lotus Elise

Before anyone argues this let me point out that these are the modern sports cars (I'm sure I left some out) and although they differ from what the old school thinks a sports car is doesn't make them any less of a sports car.*


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## Pvt. Joker (Dec 20, 2001)

The HACK said:


> Also, I don't remember where I read/saw this, but supposedly it's a dual system, drum on the outside and disc brake inside the drum brakes or something like that.


My friend's 74 XKE has inboard brake rotors next to the differential. I couldn't believe it when I saw them. I still have a hard time thinking the half-shaft can withstand the brake torque.


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## Alamo (Sep 17, 2004)

Alex Baumann said:


> What makes a true sports car ?
> 
> Post your comments.


Two seat with some ponies


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## jw (Dec 21, 2001)

Alamo said:


> Two seat with some ponies


I didn't know you were from Dr. Phil's neck of the woods. :amish:


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

AF-RX8 said:


> Reviving a thread with a post of mine that should really be in this thread ...
> 
> *In my opinion some of the current sports cars I could think of off the top of my head would be:
> 
> ...


I think 6 of your suggestions are, but not the rest. 

Old or new...open, small and lightweight...anything else and they're something else.


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## rogue38 (Aug 26, 2004)

Per Webster's: 

A small High powered automobile with long, low lines, usually seating two persons.

Still a little unclear.

By my rules 2 seats, decently powered, well handling machine. 

IE: Corvette, 240/60/90 Zcars (not the 2+2), 914, BMW Z1/2/3/4/8, 507, X1/9, XKE, ETC.

M3, M6, 330ZHP, Mustangs, GM F-Bodys, etc do not qualify in my book. They are either GT's or sports sedans or coupes.

IMO


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

Even if we can't agree on the definition of "sports car" I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say that Alan and I can probably agree that the definition isn't going to be found in a dictionary. I could be wrong, though.


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## TXE39 (Oct 2, 2003)

Any of these would do for me...


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