Sports Car Brands That Perform
Sports cars have been around for a long time, I would say since the inception of the first automobile. How long do you think it took the first automobile makers to start improving on their design? How long before the first conversation about pushing limits? Getting higher performance? I would say it’s those conversations that brought the automobile to existence. Naturally these “high performance cars” we also call “sports cars” didn’t take long to make its way into our hands.
What is a High performance car?
A high Performance car is a vehicle that performs higher than normal. Sports cars are one segment of the high performance car conversation. All cars perform normally for everyday use, that’s what makes them a great fit for the roads and are a great focus on convenience.
High performance cars have a different focus. They are usually fitted with body aero upgrades for better aerodynamics. The engines are tuned differently for more power. The suspension has a different feel to it for better handling and the gearing is faster for utilizing the engines upgraded power in the best way.
Once you start hitting those areas hard you’ve now left regular car territory, now you’re in the sports/super/hyper cars arena depending on a host of factors. You can say sports cars are the first level out of regular car territory. However, they are first but by no means are they to be underestimated. Sports cars can be one of the most fun experiences you can have for everyday living. Let’s hop into a few sports car brands that kill it in the market today!
Nissan 400Z
Nissan is one brand that is known for their iconic sports car, the Nissan GTR and it’s little brother, the Nissan Z. The latest iteration, the Nissan 400Z brings the elegance and style of the “fairlady z” and the “300zx” back to present with a modern design. The history of the Nissan Z is alot for the 400z to live up to, that being said this car is no slouch.
It boasts a 3.0 liter twin turbo V6 pushing out a wapping 400 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. All that power hits at around 1,600 rpm all the way up to 5600 rpm. That said, you already know you’re going to get that punch in your back low in the power band. The 0-60 time only takes 4.5 seconds. All that power for going forward but what’s gonna stop this thing! The 400Z offers their sports brakes with 14’’ rotors and 4 piston calipers just in the front! There are additional 13.8” rotors with 2 piston calipers at the back, so stopping is not an issue needless to say.
Enough about performance let’s talk about livability! Thanks to the 400 Z’s hatchback design, the trunk space comes out to be 6.9 cu.ft. Enough for a fair amount of grocery bags worth of space, which makes it more livable. It also has 2 cup holders in the front and extra storage spaces in the door panels and center console. It’s the little things like these that make a sports car more of an everyday driver. These tiny conveniences allow you a more likely chance to enjoy a sportier driving experience more days than not.
Corvette C7 stingray
The Corvette legend! An Iconic sports car brand. The stingray ! Corvette brought back the Stingray name in 2014 with the 7th generation Corvette and boy did it live up to its name! The C7 Stingray has the 6.2 liter LT1 V8 Pushing 455 horsepower and 460 torque. The C7 only took 3.7 seconds to get to 60 with a 285/35 size tire in the rear and 245/40’s in the front. With powerful brakes stopping from 60 mph in only 107 feet.
The C7 Stingray is a super livable everyday sports car. With a trunk space of 15 cubic ft, having space is not an issue. There are two cup holders behind the gear selector and storage spaces in the door panels. Choosing this as a daily is a no brainer. It doesn’t end there, the C7 gets great gas mileage considering its a v8! With 19 mpg city and 25 highway. I’ve even heard stories of it getting up to 37 mpg on the highway! Very impressive for a 455 hp V8!
VW Golf GTI
With GTI now selling in the US for 40 plus years now, the latest generation code name “MK8” still is very impressive. This falls in the category of the more affordable sports car. Just because it’s cheaper than some sports cars, doesn’t mean it’s less fun or slower in some respects. In fact this hatchback styled sports car will put the biggest smile on your face. It has a turbo inline 4 engine pushing out 241 Horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque, with it weighing in at 3,461 lbs you can imagine how fun that would feel.
With 13.4“ vented disc brakes up front and 12.2” disc brakes in the back, this front wheel drive machine will get you down from 70 mph in just 151 ft. On the other side of stopping, going 0 to 60 will only take you 5.1 seconds, which is quite impressive. For the convenience factors, the trunk space comes in at 19.1 cubic ft of cargo space with the seats up! Seats down extends cargo space up to 34.5 cubic ft! Space is not an issue. This car started out as an affordable commuter car so you expect it to perform well in this area of convenience.
Conclusion
These three sports cars could never be compared fairly in head to head testing. I used these three as examples of sports car brands to show the range of capabilities under the sports car genre, from a turbo inline 4 banger up to a V8! There isn’t just one standard for a car to be sporty. They come in all different shapes and sizes, price ranges and power too. The fact that you can combine sportiness to any type of car, with its original disciplines intact means you can bring fun to any situation!
