RE: The best sports cars to buy in 2020

RE: The best sports cars to buy in 2020

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Discussion

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
Oxford Dictionary said:
a low-built car designed for performance at high speeds, often having a roof that can be folded back.
Seats have little to do with it IMO. I’d add any car which has a manual but the owner has chosen the auto though.

Edited by ddom on Saturday 17th October 11:51

Zumbruk

7,848 posts

259 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
Skyrocket21 said:
I'd swap the Peugeot for a Nissan 350z for under 5k.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008112...
350Zs are *horrible*. Heavy, slow, poorly handling, antique interiors (which are tiny compared to the exterior). I was glad to see the back of mine.

dinkel

26,886 posts

257 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
pycraft said:
I think it's fairly simple: (...) As Oscar Wilde might have said, all sports cars are quite useless.
Uselessness is the reason of life IYAM.

'The best sports cars to buy in 2020' are the ones you like best to drive and look at. Horses for courses. Get me a 911 G Model or Alfa GTV 1750 / 2000 and I'll be quiet for the rest of my life. They can be driven to punishment without extreme budgets and will last forever,

Go faster? Take a track toy because on public roads a Ferrari is useless unless you want to loose your license within weeks.

And yes, an MX-5 is of course a sports car.

MyV10BarksAndBites

919 posts

48 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
ddom said:
ash73 said:
Performance oriented doesn't just mean power, it's also handling and driver enjoyment.

So of course a MX5 is a sports car.
The MX5 is not a sports car. It’s a 2 seater convertible. If not one of the most overrated things ever rofl
This..

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
dinkel said:
And yes, an MX-5 is of course a sports car.
Fortunately those of us who understand the subject are able to agree on these fundamental aspects of automotive enjoyment! biggrin

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
rockin said:
Fortunately those of us who understand the subject are able to agree on these fundamental aspects of automotive enjoyment! biggrin
rockin said:
RWD makes very little difference in everyday driving. Jump in an unknown hire car at an airport and you'll struggle to tell which end is driven unless you give it some stick
rofl

braddo

10,399 posts

187 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
MyV10BarksAndBites said:
ddom said:
ash73 said:
Performance oriented doesn't just mean power, it's also handling and driver enjoyment.

So of course a MX5 is a sports car.
The MX5 is not a sports car. It’s a 2 seater convertible. If not one of the most overrated things ever rofl
This..
This.. This is a load of bks.



samoht

5,633 posts

145 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
In my mind, a 'performance car' is anything fast, and a 'sports car' is low, light, compact, balanced and responsive - the whole car designed for fun over practicality.

An Audi RS6 is a performance car, but not a sports car.
An MX-5 is a sports car, but not much of a performance car.
Something like a Boxster or Cayman is both a performance car and a sports car.

Some people seem to define 'sports car' as a subset of 'performance car', but I think that they are conceptually two separate ideas, and it's more descriptive to keep them separate. However it's entirely reasonable to choose to prefer cars that fall into the 'both' category (perhaps 'high performance sports cars').

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
samoht said:
In my mind, a 'performance car' is anything fast, and a 'sports car' is low, light, compact, balanced and responsive - the whole car designed for fun over practicality.

An Audi RS6 is a performance car, but not a sports car.
An MX-5 is a sports car, but not much of a performance car.
Something like a Boxster or Cayman is both a performance car and a sports car.

Some people seem to define 'sports car' as a subset of 'performance car', but I think that they are conceptually two separate ideas, and it's more descriptive to keep them separate. However it's entirely reasonable to choose to prefer cars that fall into the 'both' category (perhaps 'high performance sports cars').
Good post.

I have driven a few variants of MX5, none of them IMO were very good. It's a facsimile of something that was. It apes cars like the Sprite, MG, TR's but for me totally misses the point. It's not speed it's character, which is where all but Honda fall over.


anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
ddom said:
I have driven a few variants of MX5, none of them IMO were very good. It's a facsimile of something that was. It apes cars like the Sprite, MG, TR's but for me totally misses the point.
Which cars "for you" hit the point? One can't help noticing there are no cars on your profile and you never contribute to specific car threads.

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
rockin said:
Which cars "for you" hit the point? One can't help noticing there are no cars on your profile and you never contribute to specific car threads.
One can't help notice you're an unimaginative troll.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
ddom said:
rockin said:
Which cars "for you" hit the point? One can't help noticing there are no cars on your profile and you never contribute to specific car threads.
One can't help notice you're an unimaginative troll.
So a complete inability to answer a simple question. Very well done!

Let's talk about cars. You choose to sneer and snipe. What have you actually got to bring to the party?

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
rockin said:
So a complete inability to answer a simple question. Very well done!

Let's talk about cars. You choose to sneer and snipe. What have you actually got to bring to the party?
What is 'sneering' about an opinion, clearly you're a little bit angry, and not the brightest.

Does it bother you that others have an opinion different to yours?

'Bring to the party'... nothing if not consistent rofl


otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
ddom said:
Good post.

I have driven a few variants of MX5, none of them IMO were very good. It's a facsimile of something that was. It apes cars like the Sprite, MG, TR's but for me totally misses the point. It's not speed it's character, which is where all but Honda fall over.
It is perfectly reasonable to think an MX-5 is not a good sports car. I would respectfully disagree, but that’s a matter of taste. I don’t think the fact that it is a sports car is a matter of taste or really disputable.

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
Sod the crap cars, where's the party?

braddo

10,399 posts

187 months

Saturday 17th October 2020
quotequote all
ddom said:
Good post.

I have driven a few variants of MX5, none of them IMO were very good. It's a facsimile of something that was. It apes cars like the Sprite, MG, TR's but for me totally misses the point. It's not speed it's character, which is where all but Honda fall over.
Those old cars you mention are rubbish to drive compared to any mx5.

They can be tweaked into something vaguely acceptable, but they’re all (at the time they were made!!) old tech, slow and built to a low budget usually putting looks and a bit of basic fun over pure performance.

I can’t see any reason to call those st old cars sports cars while excluding MX5s from the same definition. confused

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Sunday 18th October 2020
quotequote all
braddo said:
ddom said:
Good post.

I have driven a few variants of MX5, none of them IMO were very good. It's a facsimile of something that was. It apes cars like the Sprite, MG, TR's but for me totally misses the point. It's not speed it's character, which is where all but Honda fall over.
Those old cars you mention are rubbish to drive compared to any mx5.

They can be tweaked into something vaguely acceptable, but they’re all (at the time they were made!!) old tech, slow and built to a low budget usually putting looks and a bit of basic fun over pure performance.

I can’t see any reason to call those st old cars sports cars while excluding MX5s from the same definition. confused
I was thinking the same - I thought the MX5 was loosely copied from the Lotus Elan with it's twin-cam engine and all-round disc brakes.

Rather than the antiquated BMC/BLMC offerings with push-rod engines and rear drum brakes that were dated in the 60s!

pycraft

764 posts

183 months

Sunday 18th October 2020
quotequote all
dinkel said:
And yes, an MX-5 is of course a sports car.
I'm astonished no-one's cited the definitive authority on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3MhS_TzPbA

cerb4.5lee

30,184 posts

179 months

Sunday 18th October 2020
quotequote all
I was always in the MX-5 is a 2 seat convertible rather than a sports car camp, but the current one does actually have decent performance which in my mind now makes it sporty.

I had one of the older MX-5's try to out drag me when I had the E92 M3...god knows what he was thinking was going to happen! After that I always thought that the MX-5 looked sporty but they certainly don't go sporty. All mouth and no trousers if you like, and if a car looks sporty it should go sporty for me.

baconsarney

11,990 posts

160 months

Sunday 18th October 2020
quotequote all
cerb4.5lee said:
I was always in the MX-5 is a 2 seat convertible rather than a sports car camp, but the current one does actually have decent performance which in my mind now makes it sporty.

I had one of the older MX-5's try to out drag me when I had the E92 M3...god knows what he was thinking was going to happen! After that I always thought that the MX-5 looked sporty but they certainly don't go sporty. All mouth and no trousers if you like, and if a car looks sporty it should go sporty for me.
Lee, are you suggesting an E92 M3 is a sports car? Or that anything slower can't be?
wink