[Closed] Why do manufacturers make cars look sporty...

My Cavalier SRi 130 had Recaros – they were just shonky OEM Recaros mind.

aye, but it was pretty desirable all the same, along with the 405 mi16.

i went the insanity route with a maestro turbo

Why would you have a 19" wheel on an estate car?  It just makes no sense.

Yup, what you should fit is really wide 15s with normal sized tyres stretched onto them, then slam it by torching the springs.

Or combine hobbies...

I really wanted a Cav SRI 130 or even an LX. The boggo 1.3 and 1.6 were surprisingly quick. The equivalent Sierra at the time was dog slow. OHC v pushrod I guess.

I don’t see anything wrong with a manufacturer making a car look sporty, as long as you don’t ruin the ride. Would you rather they made all the low power models beige with one wing mirror?

Trying to make a car look sporty? That's putting lipstick on a pig.

Sporty has to be there from the start, and it's simple - separate mudguards, fold flat windscreen, tonneau cover, not roof. But a Caterham would be ok. 🙂

If I had to use something without a roof, it  wouldn’t be a car.

Crappy little Fiats etc made to look mean, when clearly they just make fart noises!

As far as I know, the only Fiat that’s designed to look ‘mean’ (sporty), is the Abarth 500, which delivers around 150bhp in a tiny little car, and has, shall we say, ‘spirited performance’, or there’s the Fiat 124, which is based on the Mazda MX-5, which is a genuine sports car, adequately powered, not over powered.

Hell, even the Panda came with 100bhp, that’s only 10 less than my 1.9TDi Octavia. Ford’s latest iteration of the Ecosport has a 1.0 three-pot motor, that delivers either 128 or 135bhp! Or a 1.5 diesel that gives 99bhp. It’s not a ‘sporty’ car, it’s a small, practical crossover that won’t take a calendar month to reach the NSL. Not a bad little car to drive, actually, it’s improved a lot over the original model.

Why would you have a 19″ wheel on an estate car?  It just makes no sense.

Dont see why not. On a 4x4 SUV or pickup, though, I’d want a deeper section tyre.

jamesoz

If I had to use something without a roof, it  wouldn’t be a car.

I came to a similar conclusion in my late teens, and since then i have never been without a motorbike or two. 🙂

I've never understood the UK obsession with noisy slow little tin boxes, although the Mini Cooper (original) did appeal for gravel.

You have to spend well north of £100k on a "sporty" car to get anything like the on road performance of a very ordinary motorbike.

However, a car is useful at times, and if there's no roof, or the roof folds down you can get more bikes in.

Failing that, the obvious choice is a van (or ute if you live in Oz).

Dont see why not. On a 4×4 SUV or pickup, though, I’d want a deeper section tyre.

why not have both ?

🤣🤦‍♂️

Why would you have a 19″ wheel on an estate car?  It just makes no sense.

Why?

I’ve never understood the UK obsession with noisy slow little tin boxes, although the Mini Cooper (original) did appeal for gravel.

You have to spend well north of £100k on a “sporty” car to get anything like the on road performance of a very ordinary motorbike.

Very happy with my slow little tin box it is very comfortable and not noisy, very cheap to run and gets me to where I need to be keeping me dry and warm.

It also has more than enough performance to drive at sensible speeds.  Why do I need the performance of a motorbike when I am pretty much always following other cars along the road usually at speeds around the speed limit for the given road?

Because an estate car is a utility vehicle which is designed to carry gear and people. Normally driven as a daily driver it will therefore cover high miles and very different road surfaces. 19" wheels means:

Uncomfortable harsh ride for occupants

Worse handling in many situations

More expensive tyres which wear quicker and are more prone to punctures and damage

Easy to damage alloys themselves

Why would you hobble a piece of design if you didn't need to?

:

..I'm glad I've got 20" wheels on mine then ..oh and 3 different air suspension settings.." Allroad " , "Comfort " & "Dynamic " ..oops ..four actually as there is an " Auto " setting too...😁

Couldn't be on with that harsh ride malarkey ..

Don't laugh - that'll be factory soon.

@hodgynd  yep, so have both my next door neighbours (RS6 one side, 335 the other) I think it was over 2k for the Audi when he hit a pothole and the 335 eats tyres every 8000 miles. Jokers the pair of them - still at least they are looked up to by the 14 year old kids in the street!

Wish I could say the same for my 15 year old son ..

Joking apart ..which I was ..I don't think you can pay too much attention to what might happen ..otherwise you wouldn't leave the house ..but I do take your point that it would hurt your wallet badly ..

kerley

Very happy with my slow little tin box it is very comfortable and not noisy...

Jolly good. Then you'll realise the comment wasn't aimed at little tin boxes which aren't noisy or been modified to be "fast".

Why would you have a 19″ wheel on an estate car?  It just makes no sense.

Not sure what size they were, but low profile tyres are utterly acceptable on a Volvo 850 T5R. What seemed ludicrous back then is probably not far off what you get on a 1.2 Corsa these days though.

Can we all agree that 1.2 Corsas are a bit shit?

I saw an escort rs cosworth yesterday at the Ford dealer, blingtastic.   Just looked them up and they are going for 50k plus now.  Isn't the insurance 5k or something as its a getaway car.  Saying that 205 gtis now are 25k for a mint one.

Just because a car is fast doesn't mean it is a sports car. For example, an S4 isn't a sports car. Do you know why manufacturers make cars look sporty?

edit, meant to be amusing, not insulting. An S4 is fast.

Crazy innit?

I like silly things, so doing something tasteless to a Corsa makes me smile.

Taking something completely inappropriate and tuning the balls off it is fun. Scooters, MZ's, Honda Cubs, 2CV's etc.

My* crappy little Fiat is one of the most charming and amusing cars I've ever driven. Especially now that classic Minis and mk1 GTi's have disappeared from common usage.

Actually, this summer in the Alps and the back roads of the Aosta valley, it was literally the most fun I've ever had in a car. And it can barely break the speed limit.

And look at its cute little wheel arch extensions! And 15 inch wheels! It looks so much cooler than a normal Panda without looking like a wannabe DTM racer like every German effort.

*It's actually my girlfriends first car because the insurance is dirt cheap.