What do you class as a performance car?
- Thread starter Steve
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paradigm said:
Would agree with that, not being able to mindlessly boot it on a wet corner (or dry one for that matter) can be a pain, especially when that FWD 172 is giving you grief
e36 320 poor you
my mate had one and I borrowed it for a while, nice e36 handling but dire power for the lardy weight!out of those listed only the GTO would get my nod for a performance car tag
The others lack power and no oil burner (however good) will ever get the P word, how could I forget that requisite
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Steve said:Make sure you get an M5 and you can refer to it however you want and we will all agree
Are you taking the mick, no way can a lowly student run an M5
The M5 is staying in my dreams for a few years, I will have to make do with a pretend M5 until then
Caporegime
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olv said:
Erm, exactly, they use 'own test drivers' in each car each driver has a varied level of skill and knowledge of the track, if each manuf used the same test driver then fair play.
[TW]Fox said:Are you taking the mick, no way can a lowly student run an M5
The M5 is staying in my dreams for a few years, I will have to make do with a pretend M5 until then
can get an e39 for sub 20k now
I would interpret "performance car" as meaning virtually anything on 4 wheels that has good, on paper performance stats, e.g. high top speed, good acceleration etc. As such, I'd even include some cars that are probably pretty rubbish at handling. So for example, some of the BIG mercs are very fast in a straightline, and I'd call them a performance car.
Can't say I agree with your comment about "sports car" though, and including a whole bunch of hot hatchbacks. My view is that a sports car should be light, preferably front engined, rwd and not have a roof. So I'd classify a Boxster as a sports car, but a Cayman as a "sports coupe".
Can't say I agree with your comment about "sports car" though, and including a whole bunch of hot hatchbacks. My view is that a sports car should be light, preferably front engined, rwd and not have a roof. So I'd classify a Boxster as a sports car, but a Cayman as a "sports coupe".
Firestar_3x said:
you talk like the ring is some mystical far off world that only 3 people in the whole world know well.
lots of very good racing drivers know the ring well, and in the same car will lap within a few seconds of each other.
Steve said:Not wishing to turn this into a FWD v debate but there is a reason why "performance" (that word again) cars are all AWD or RWD and not FWD, and I am sure 99% of people who drive them would never go back to FWD unless deliberatly going back to a normal car.
Not being funny but have you owned anything other than FWD? (this REALLY is not having a dig just intrested in where you are drawing your opinions
Steve
Don't forget things like LSDs as on the RS - don't assume that all FWD cars are the same!
We need to ask, what is performance? Is it just horsepower/torque or is it something more? If you take the definition that it's just horsepower then yup, RWD or AWD are the only ways to go. However, if you take performance to mean something more than just "grunt" then it takes in a much broader range of cars (IMHO). One of the most fun cars i have ever driven was a 106 Rallye - Bugger all in terms of power but for the sheer fun of driving the thing it came second to none.
Mabye power to weight ratio is a better measure of performance - weight is the enemy of acceleration/direction changes/braking after all.
Goliath said:
I was also starting to think along those lines as well as grunt is not enough on its own
I really don't have a definitive answer in my head I am formulating as I go along using everyones thoughts, so don't think I am having a pop at FWD or anything like that.
[TW]Fox said:
But is it not relative as all cars have better performance next to a lesser machine. My misses Mini Cooper (new one) is beter performance than her old KA but is hardly a performance car
Maybe we need to change Performance to High Performance
As everything that performs a function is performing something and has a degree of performance.
It needs to be measured against something to have meaning
NickXX said:Lol, I hope that's not how you've financed your new M3
When the moo bag at the bank was trying to get me to take out there payment protection (adds 8k to the loan!!!!) and after three attempts at applying for it (they kept messing it up die to admin errors) I said
"Look, I go to the gym 6 times a week I have a fit body, I live in Brighton so I am damn sure I could rent myself to men and more than cover these loan payments!!!"
That shut her up