When does a sportscar become a supercar?
When does a sportscar become a supercar?
Author
Discussion

Jungles

Original Poster:

3,587 posts

250 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
I noticed that the word "hypercar" was used for one of the articles on the pistonheads.com front page. It got me wondering... just what defines a sportscar, supercar, and even, "hypercar"?

What do those words mean to you?

Pearcyy

383 posts

200 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Sports, less than 60k and less than 300bhp, i.e MX5's, elises etc. Supercar, anything less that 200-250k 500bhp, F430, 911 etc. Hypercar, ludicrously powerfull, expensive (over 200k) with huge road presence, Zonda, veyron etc.

GingerWizard

4,721 posts

227 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
sports= 100k max 200mph max

Super= 500k and 200mph+

Hyper= anything more then super, one-77, CCXR, Veyron, Zonda R, Caparo

well thats my opinion any how....

Pearcyy

383 posts

200 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.

Conian

8,030 posts

230 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Pearcyy said:
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.
Sports car.

not big enough engine, not enough cylanders to be a super car.

Park'O

656 posts

203 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Pearcyy said:
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.
Coupe/GT...Sorry to throw a spanner in the works!

zac510

5,546 posts

235 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
I think it has come up since most sports cars <£100k are now as quick as what we called supercars just a few years ago.

So a new term was invented to elevate these cars back above <100k supercars. They need it because they trade so heavily on mystique and exclusiveness.

GingerWizard

4,721 posts

227 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Pearcyy said:
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.
Sports/track day special? wink

Park'O

656 posts

203 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
GingerWizard said:
Sports/track day special? wink
No such category.

james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

220 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Park'O said:
Pearcyy said:
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.
Coupe/GT...Sorry to throw a spanner in the works!
Wouldn't describe an Exige as a GT myself... wink

davepoth

29,395 posts

228 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Ask yourself "would I feel a prat driving to the shops in this car?" if the answer is no it is a sports car, if the answer is yes it is a supercar. Easy. biggrin

Scuffers

20,887 posts

303 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Park'O said:
GingerWizard said:
Sports/track day special? wink
No such category.
Sports/Coupe really.

(as opposed to a Sports/convertable)

GingerWizard

4,721 posts

227 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Park'O said:
GingerWizard said:
Sports/track day special? wink
No such category.
ahem, in this mythical world of unicorns and computer bits. Yes there is. Because if you look above, i mentioned it. wink

Sports

Josh147

189 posts

207 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
I read somewhere a while ago that any car that is capable of going over 150mph is classed as a super car but that would mean a hell of a lot of us are driving that sort of car - not very super?

For me:

Sports Car = capable of doing 0-60 below 8secs, capable of a top speed of 130+mph, have around 200bhp and be worth somewhere around the region of £30+k eg Golf GTI, Audi S3, BMW Z4.

Super Car = capable of doing 0-60 below 5secs, capable of a top speed of 160+mph, have between 300-450bhp and worth somewhere around the region of £70+k eg Audi R8, Porsche 911, Ferrari F430.

Hypercar = capable of doing 0-60 below 3.5secs, capable of a top speed of 190+mph, have 500+bhp (sky's the limit) and worth anything above £110k eg Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda, Lambourghini LP670. Also I think a Hypercar has to look completely different to any other car on the road, something that is instantly recognisable both by it's appearance and it's sound.

My ramblings smile

marcosgt

11,498 posts

205 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Today's supercar is tomorrow's ho-hum....

Back in the 60s, anything that did 150 was unbelievably fast.

In the 70s it was 170 or so.

In the 80s, they broke the 200 MPH barrier

And now anything that won't do 200 isn't really worthy of the name supercar, let alone Hypercar.

Whether we'll get to the point where 250 MPH is the entry level for supercars, I don't know, but the precedence says we will...

M.


West4x4

672 posts

201 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
cars are getting faster nower days i'd say 175/180+ is super. Hyper is 200+

ML

124 posts

199 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Conian said:
Pearcyy said:
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.
cylanders
What are these "cylanders" you speak of? cop

Conian

8,030 posts

230 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
ML said:
Conian said:
Pearcyy said:
So what would you call an Exige S then? More than 200bhp but doesn't go 200mph.
cylanders
What are these "cylanders" you speak of? cop
theyre the hloes that go in yuor egnine
god dont you know anything
(look i cant type leave me alone you brute!)

007 VXR

64,187 posts

216 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
davepoth said:
Ask yourself "would I feel a prat driving to the shops in this car?" if the answer is no it is a sports car, if the answer is yes it is a supercar. Easy. biggrin
roflrofl

Dracoro

9,025 posts

274 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
marcosgt said:
Today's supercar is tomorrow's ho-hum....

Back in the 60s, anything that did 150 was unbelievably fast.

In the 70s it was 170 or so.

In the 80s, they broke the 200 MPH barrier

And now anything that won't do 200 isn't really worthy of the name supercar, let alone Hypercar.

Whether we'll get to the point where 250 MPH is the entry level for supercars, I don't know, but the precedence says we will...

M.
So does that mean that a 60s Ferrari is no longer a supercar as it doesn't qualify according to a lot of criteria in this thread.

I say it's qualified by price

sportscar - ooh that's a little pricey
supercar - darn, that's expensive
hypercar - that's just a ridiculous amount

biggrin