ebonyandivory wrote:
In reply to Nick_Comstock:
Sure. I just wish Porsche would quit calling the 911 a sports car on their site. Idiots!
Because you get dummies like the Wall Street Journal, Top Gear, FoxSports, USNews, Edmunds, Car and Driver, LA Times et al saying different.
They obviously don't read GRM.
I thought Top Gear Called the 911 a Beetle?
I'll just leave this here:
Blue or green?
And before you object here's a better version:
A lie?
Driven5
HalfDork
10/3/14 10:55 p.m.
In reply to Nick_Comstock:
If somehow our society miraculously chose en masse to define the color that we currently know as green with the word blue, and vice versa, then that is what they would necessarily become. The colors themselves would not change, just the individual words used to describe them. Words by themselves have no inherent meaning, without us as a society assigning it to them.
In reply to Driven5:
So your saying words have no meaning??? That makes me so gay!
JFX001
UltraDork
10/4/14 12:12 a.m.
My Insurance Company pretty much tells me what constitutes a "sports car" when they give me a quote...
Not sure if being ironic, but your example proves Driven5 correct: the meaning of the word gay has changed over the past decades.
Nick_Comstock wrote:
In reply to Driven5:
So your saying words have no meaning??? That makes me so gay!
In reply to Nathan JansenvanDoorn:
I asked Ms. Service this one as my definition wouldn't be a surprise, or contribute anything new to the discussion.
She said: "Something that looks like you would have a mid life crisis in. It has to look like the guy would have to use Viagra."
I hope this helps. She identifies Mustangs by the chassis codes and understands how to change her own tires, for a skill set qualification.
noddaz
Dork
10/4/14 11:19 a.m.
I'll take the easy route and go with the Wiki..
Wiki said:
A sports car (sportscar) is a small, usually two seater, two door automobile designed for spirited performance and nimble handling.[2]
Sports cars may be spartan or luxurious but high maneuverability and minimum weight are requisite.[3]
And Merriam Webster concurs...
MW said:
a low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, and high-speed driving
more or less...
And why would a GTi not fit this definition? I notice neither definition says anything about roof or trunk/hatch design...
To me sports car is anything where practicality/comfort/etc comes 2nd to a fun drive down a twisty road on a nice day. So in my book that rules out comfy gt cars and practical hot hatches.
noddaz
Dork
10/4/14 11:55 a.m.
BlueInGreen44 wrote:
To me sports car is anything where practicality/comfort/etc comes 2nd to a fun drive down a twisty road on a nice day. So in my book that rules out comfy gt cars and practical hot hatches.
So..... A 240/260/280Z are not sportscars? And neither are 944s?
(I was waiting for a response like this...)
So after what was posted at the top of this page, we have someone post here named BlueInGreen44?
Cue Twilight Zone music!
sanman
HalfDork
10/4/14 12:22 p.m.
Reading this, for me thinking about one thing. By every definition listed, is the Chevy SSR a sports (or sport) car?
Rupert
HalfDork
10/4/14 12:40 p.m.
noddaz wrote:
BlueInGreen44 wrote:
To me sports car is anything where practicality/comfort/etc comes 2nd to a fun drive down a twisty road on a nice day. So in my book that rules out comfy gt cars and practical hot hatches.
So..... A 240/260/280Z are not sportscars? And neither are 944s?
(I was waiting for a response like this...)
Don't forget the 928 or the Avanti.
Rupert wrote:
Don't forget the 928 or the Avanti.
928 may be just over the edge weight wise to be a "sports car'.
And I don't think anyone ever accused an Avanti of being nimble...
Rupert
HalfDork
10/4/14 1:15 p.m.
In reply to noddaz:
No dispute on either call. However if you're going to drive either one within 25%, no 35% of it's maximum you'd better be a sport!
Sports car:
Completely impractical, rwd, 2 doors, with a touch of unreliability to keep it interesting.
/end thread
In reply to noddaz:
I've owned a 924 and I definitely wouldn't say it was designed to place practical use over fun.
I mean... I guess it technically had a back seat.
To me a sports car is one designed for a specific focused purpose, and that focus is chassis dynamics and driving feel superior to nearly everything else available on the road. It's designed to make you want to drive...to make excuses to go out and drive because of its handling properties and feeling it elicits in you... driveline configuration, power levels, and body configuration are irrelevant... but it can't be a pig in weight, because that would mean it is going against the specific focused purpose... you simply can't have superior chassis dynamics in a pig of a car - weight is always the enemy.
Even though it isn't a sportscar, my stock height and longer wheelbase Tacoma Extended wiped the floor against any Ford Lightning that was competing in Autocross events... simply too massive and wide of a truck to handle tight transitions well. Always about 3 seconds slower than my Tacoma. Now on a roadcourse things would change and it would be a different story... but trucks are still not sportscars and never will be.
Not a sportscar:
100% a sportscar:
Lof8
Reader
10/4/14 2:06 p.m.
Anything I drive becomes a sports car.
Lof8 wrote:
Anything I drive becomes a sports car.
True. Did you know a dead base Pontiac Sunfire will lift oversteer?