A sportscar shouldn’t have...
Discussion
Super Josh said:
cerb4.5lee said:
My Cerbera was really difficult to pigeon hole though, it wasn't light enough(between 1100kg-1200kg) to be a sports car
Oh bugga, my mx5 is the same weight. So obviously mx5s are no longer 'sports cars' 
Cheers,
Josh
It is just a personal thing for me, and I class most sports cars as weighing a fair bit under 1000kg that's all.
cerb4.5lee said:
I think that pretty much everyone classes the mx5 as a sports car in fairness.
It is just a personal thing for me, and I class most sports cars as weighing a fair bit under 1000kg that's all.
The trouble is that pretty much anything a fair bit under 1000kg won't meet crash tests etc. In years gone by MGs and Triumphs and even ACs all weighed under a ton. Even hot hatches like Lotus Cortinas the early Golf GTis were well under a ton. Today even the lightest Elise configured with a few creature comforts is close to a ton - and an Exige is well over. You probably can't make an affordable series production sportscar under your target weight. The Alpine A110 shows how hard you need to try to get to even 1100kg with something vaguely affordable and torsionally stiff - and it would be significantly heavier if it was a convertible.It is just a personal thing for me, and I class most sports cars as weighing a fair bit under 1000kg that's all.
bcr5784 said:
The trouble is that pretty much anything a fair bit under 1000kg won't meet crash tests etc. In years gone by MGs and Triumphs and even ACs all weighed under a ton. Even hot hatches like Lotus Cortinas the early Golf GTis were well under a ton. Today even the lightest Elise configured with a few creature comforts is close to a ton - and an Exige is well over. You probably can't make an affordable series production sportscar under your target weight. The Alpine A110 shows how hard you need to try to get to even 1100kg with something vaguely affordable and torsionally stiff - and it would be significantly heavier if it was a convertible.
Yes and it is quite an old fashioned viewpoint from me really. I was surprised at how heavy the Elise has become recently in fairness. As I've mentioned before I do think that Alpine should be really applauded for getting the A110 in at 1100kg. The Cayman/Boxster are definitely GT cars in comparison for me! 
cerb4.5lee said:
My Cerbera was really difficult to pigeon hole though, it wasn't light enough(between 1100kg-1200kg) to be a sports car and it was a 2+2 so that also rules it out as a sports car for me.
Potentially raising the level of controversy further, I consider the Cerbera to be the only supercar I've owned. It is temperamental, ludicrously fast and most importantly the only car that made my hand shake with adrenaline as I picked up the keys knowing I was going for a 'drive'. It was a fantastic handling car but the theatre, lack of protection in an accident and raw feel of the thing always walked a fine line between fear and pleasure. I loved it.Niffty951 said:
cerb4.5lee said:
My Cerbera was really difficult to pigeon hole though, it wasn't light enough(between 1100kg-1200kg) to be a sports car and it was a 2+2 so that also rules it out as a sports car for me.
Potentially raising the level of controversy further, I consider the Cerbera to be the only supercar I've owned. It is temperamental, ludicrously fast and most importantly the only car that made my hand shake with adrenaline as I picked up the keys knowing I was going for a 'drive'. It was a fantastic handling car but the theatre, lack of protection in an accident and raw feel of the thing always walked a fine line between fear and pleasure. I loved it.
cerb4.5lee said:
Yes and that is a very good way of looking at it to be fair. It was also one of the quickest cars on the road in its time too.
True, but if you compare a Cerbera's performance with a current Supra/Z4/Alpine/Cayman S the 4.2 is slower, the 4.5 faster. Even the 4.2 would have been considered an "animal" in its day , the current generation cars are, by comparison pussy cats...Edited by bcr5784 on Saturday 21st December 19:48
bcr5784 said:
True, but if you compare a Cerbera's performance with a current Supra/Z4/Alpine/Cayman S the 4.2 is slower, the 4.5 faster. Even the 4.2 would have been considered an "animal" in its day , the current generation cars are, by comparison pussy cats...
Yes and I respect the performance of the more modern cars for sure, but the Cerbera does spoil you with its rawness compared to most modern stuff now though for certain. cerb4.5lee said:
bcr5784 said:
True, but if you compare a Cerbera's performance with a current Supra/Z4/Alpine/Cayman S the 4.2 is slower, the 4.5 faster. Even the 4.2 would have been considered an "animal" in its day , the current generation cars are, by comparison pussy cats...
Yes and I respect the performance of the more modern cars for sure, but the Cerbera does spoil you with its rawness compared to most modern stuff now though for certain. In truth, all the cars mentioned are sports cars if they’re even the slightest bit less mundane than a people carrier full of baby sick.
From a 1.6 capri with a go faster stripe to a Ferrari or a Mustang, all are marketed with that bit of extra testosterone in mind.
It’s how the car makes you feel!
People do love to pigeon hole these things, hell if it carried on to the inexorable conclusion we’d be left with Lewis Hamiltons F1 car and everyone else emasculated.
From a 1.6 capri with a go faster stripe to a Ferrari or a Mustang, all are marketed with that bit of extra testosterone in mind.
It’s how the car makes you feel!
People do love to pigeon hole these things, hell if it carried on to the inexorable conclusion we’d be left with Lewis Hamiltons F1 car and everyone else emasculated.
yonex said:
The Mx doesn’t belong in the same sentence as an Elise
It’s good fun embarrassing Elises with an MX5 on track days though. I’m no driving god but I was surprised at how the two models mixed it on track, and even I found it surprisingly easy. Edited by heebeegeetee on Sunday 22 December 12:57
yonex said:
The Mx doesn’t belong in the same sentence as an Elise
I'm not sure why you should look down on the Mx5 either. It is an affordable fun car which is practical enough to be used as a daily. An Elise is twice the price, and while it is dynamically significantly superior it is an expensive weekend car for most people. I have used one as a daily, but most wouldn't, so you need another car for daily duties. If you can't afford or justify two cars to meet your needs the MX5 seems like a perfectly sensible choice. At the price there really isn't any open topped competition - which is why it's the world's most popular sportscar.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff