What the hell does it mean to have a "sporty" car?

[Silver Ghia]

From Wiktionary:

Sporty:
Flashy in appearance.
eg. My new car looks sporty but is actually very practical.

[last fairlane]

T he magazines talk about some stars sexy new look
does that mean a 50 something and weighing 100 kilos would look sexy in a Speedo bikini just cos Jen does or is it just hype
John

[JimNiki]

it does get confusing with all the marketing speak...

The basic mustang is a 2 door coupe. (looks like a sedan but with 2 doors)
I call it a sedan because I've grown up with our "coupes" being like the XA,XB coupes.

fastbacks are the yanky way of saying (what we call coupe).
in 71-73 the ford marketing dept decided to call the mustang fastbacks "sportsroof".

It's all marketing gobledegook! ....means nothing! if you like the shape of the car, buy it...

[bigdude1011]

Originally Posted by D3v[]

huyandai

AFAIK they used the misspelt "Sportz"[sic] term, though the Asian makes are not the only ones who have used the rice technique. Does anyone remember the Barina Sportsgirl? or worse, the Ford Festiva Demon?

To be fair, the Falcon S-packs, SR models and even the current (BA onwards) XR6 are not too much different...

[onfire]

Sporty. What that loud mouth at work buys thinking he just bought a sports car. Then defends it to his death.

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by EgoFalcon

Toyota and sporty don't go together very well... besides the supra I guess. Everything else is fail. You have a choice in buying cars, fun, exciting = take risk of possible breakdown. Toyota and boring = reliable car.

What about the 2000GT? That was "Sporty"!!!

Originally Posted by Davebro

XT with a Typhoon body kit?

How about a Series 2 Forte with a T3 TS50 bodykit?

Oh wait...

[JimNiki]

To be fair, the Falcon S-packs, SR models and even the current (BA onwards) XR6 are not too much different...

I feel that if a car has a performance advantage of any sort then the "sporty" tag is justified...

ie: XR6's are factory lowered = better handling, etc.

Now I'm gonna struggle with the sportivo? does a spoiler give it a competitive advantage when driven off a cliff? hehehe

or the Arion supercharged TRD, a formidable sportscar indeed...(cough)

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by JimNiki

Now I'm gonna struggle with the sportivo? does a spoiler give it a competitive advantage when driven off a cliff? hehehe

No, but the "luxury trim" might make the fall a little more comfortable.

[Ducati888]

Isn'tit funny that whenever a car is a dismal failure, like the Toyota 2000 above, the P76 or the AU Falc, people just claim that it was "years ahead of its time".

[MexicanBatman]

Forget cars for a second, I have a sporty!

But what's so sporty about an 800cc motorcycle with 40hp and weighs almost 300kg and has no ground clearance?

But they have been making them for 55 years prettymuch unchanged so I guess people are conned. Although I do prefer the name sportster to crapster

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by SVD

but very common, just like XR8 humps on 6's and 6's with quad tips.

Sorry I didn't know quad tips were reserved for eights, I will remove mine immediately. The XR8 bulge has only been around for a few years, I don't see why it's so sacred either. I'm getting a bit sick of the V8 crowd thinking everything belongs to them.

I think a sporty car is just a car that's fun to drive spiritedly? It doesn't need Ferrari blitzing acceleration, or the handling of a Lotus - it just needs to put a smile on your face when you drive it! Just like sportsmen, from novice to olympian, there are all kinds of different levels that we can define as "sporty". So yes in my opinion, a Corolla with a body kit, milo tin exhaust and lowered suspension that is fun to drive is a somewhat "sporty" car.. obviously it's not at the head of the pack, but not being the best doesn't make it not sporty at all.

[mik]

sporty some cars are actually sporty, some cars are perceived to be sporty, my aunty had a red LJ torana , 2 doors, sludgematic auto on the column and and the highly acclaimed power house......... a stock 2250 engine , its about as sporty as a snail on mandrax, but she thought it was.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Isn'tit funny that whenever a car is a dismal failure, like the Toyota 2000 above, the P76 or the AU Falc, people just claim that it was "years ahead of its time".

that is just a polite way of saying people are too set in their ways and therefore living in the past

[burnz]

Originally Posted by SVD

but very common, just like XR8 humps on 6's and 6's with quad tips.

my old cortina 6 had a power bulge...

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by EgoFalcon

Toyota and boring = reliable car.

and i know you mentioned them but i also found a pic of supras not being boring

http://www.toyota-supra.info/albums/...ra_fatf_02.jpg

[gtxb67]

isn't the silver one a corvette

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

isn't the silver one a corvette

It is, but the image filename is actually "Toyota-MR2_2000_800x600_wallpaper_01.jpg" - epic that it could be so wrong!

[388cube_edxr8]

Originally Posted by Yaw

If you think "sporty" is an obscure term.
Explain to me what a fast back is?
Or the difference between a Fast Back, Hatch and Lift Back.
The corrolla has all of the above sometimes even in the same year model.

Fastback is like a Mustang, where the roofline essentially goes straight from the top of the B pillar down to the front of the boot lid.

A Liftback is similar, except the roofline goes to the back of the bootlid (or where it should be) and the whole arrangement (including the rear window) lifts up with hinges at the top of the B pillar. This is of course a 2 door liftback, like a Supra. It's also possible to have a 4 door liftback like some Corollas, with the hinges atop the C pillar.

A Hatchback is essentially a Wagon, except there are no windows between the rear doors and the tailgate/hatch, making the car shorter. It is also possible to have a 2 door hatchback. The hatch is usually almost vertical.

A Coupe is essentially a sedan with 2 doors instead of 4. Either the 2 doors and the rear quarter panels are longer to take up the space of 4 doors (new Monaro, Starion) or the whole car is short enough that the 2 doors are all that will realistically fit (Prelude, Subaru XT).

Sporty is a term adopted by modern day car manufacturers and dealers, to sell (predominantly) underpowered, front wheel drive piles of Japanese crap (Celica).

Hope this helps.

[JimNiki]

Sporty is a term adopted by modern day car manufacturers and dealers, to sell (predominantly) underpowered, front wheel drive piles of Japanese crap (Celica).

Hope this helps.

hehe ... well said,... but I think you just insulted nearly every car to come out of Japan? except the Soobie's.

but that's ok, cause they're not on this forum, they're too busy on spaceface showing thier new sporty limited edtition Yaris to their mates...

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by ken2903

http://www.toyota-supra.info/albums/...ra_fatf_02.jpg

Still boring

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Isn'tit funny that whenever a car is a dismal failure, like the Toyota 2000 above, the P76 or the AU Falc, people just claim that it was "years ahead of its time".

Your post must be "years ahead of its time"

[Nikked]

To add insight to the thread. A "Sporty" car can encompass a few ideals.

The popular japanese coupes like Integras, Supras, celicas, Silvias, etc are sports cars, while something like a Sportivo has "Sporty" looks.

Nothing wrong with people wanting a sporty looking car, without having to worry about the performance aspect of it. That's why cars like the XR6, SV6 commodore etc do well.

But "sporty" could be used to describe pure sports cars, like Type-E jag's, datsun 240z, corvette etc.

Cars like Lambo tend to be more perfomance/exotic cars. The faster ones getting the "Hyper-Performance" tag

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by EgoFalcon

Toyota and sporty don't go together very well... besides the supra I guess. Everything else is fail. You have a choice in buying cars, fun, exciting = take risk of possible breakdown. Toyota and boring = reliable car.

Boring toyotas eh

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Isn'tit funny that whenever a car is a dismal failure, like the Toyota 2000 above, the P76 or the AU Falc, people just claim that it was "years ahead of its time".

Seeing as this is a Sporty car thread you name me one falcon that handles better then an IRS equipped falcon?
The AU still looks better then anything its age ie competitors. Go away AU hater

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Boring toyotas eh

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

isn't the silver one a corvette

It certainly appears to be a corvette. Not sure what happened there :(

[onfire]

Originally Posted by DJM83

The AU still looks better then anything its age ie competitors. Go away AU hater

What about a well kept VT or VX Commodore?

AUIII and the many ' sports ' variants look good, the XR models, etc.. but can any one actually say, with a comment like " the AU was ahead of it's time " that 12 years later, the AUI Forte looks good?

[Rev28K]

I've been near people at motorshows looking at the car I've bought mouthing off & saying why would you bother. I've had a guy in an HDT VT GTS burn rubber for 20m to prove that his car was "tough".

As it is I'm happy enough with the performance of my "sporty" 4 cylinder fwd hatchback. It may not be able to accomodate 5 people and tow a caravan around Australia but it will keep a stock FPV honest on a racetrack, at least under brakes and in the corners.

Boring Toyotas? I'd still love an AWII supercharged MR2.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by onfire

What about a well kept VT or VX Commodore?

AUIII and the many ' sports ' variants look good, the XR models, etc.. but can any one actually say, with a comment like " the AU was ahead of it's time " that 12 years later, the AUI Forte looks good?

Ill admit that yes but i still think the AU shape has aged better, anyway this is getting off topic lets get back there.

[SSD-85]

I think the term "sporty" is method of acknowedging an actual "sports" car usually by appearance. Which would explain why manufacturers apply the term to their mainstream cars with nice kits and wheels bolted on. I think it has nothing to do with the mechanical aspects of the vehicle.

Having said that, you could almost say that "sporty" is just a nicer, manufacturer-speak word for r.i.c.e.