"Back to the topic at hand, the only things I could see were some semblance of handling, a top speed over 150, 0-60 under 6 seconds, and findable for under $30k. "
That's not enough. Heck, I've got a $500 '91 Dodge Spirit RT that can do that with about as much styling as a toaster.
They gotta be sexy, unique, crisp leather interior, and a lot of other stuff. I'm too fried to quantify it, but others here have offered some good input.
rabble rabble No NSX or FDrabble rabble
i still say that the only real way you can hate a 300zxtt is if you haven't driven one. unless you have driven one with super hicas. then i maybe see your point. but still.
I like the 300ZX, I just don't think of it as a "supercar." Same with Camaros and Supras.
according to gran turismo 4 for playstation 2, the supercar challenge specifies "cars with 458 hp of more" or some odd number in the 400's there.
Dr. Hess wrote: Yeah, I was smiling when I walked around one of those GTO's on a curve in tripple digits in my 18 year old English sportscar. Actually, I was laughing my back side off as soon as I slowed down.
That's because the GTO slowed to avoid all the fluids, smoke and car bits in your wake.
forzav12 wrote:Dr. Hess wrote: Yeah, I was smiling when I walked around one of those GTO's on a curve in tripple digits in my 18 year old English sportscar. Actually, I was laughing my back side off as soon as I slowed down.That's because the GTO slowed to avoid all the fluids, smoke and car bits in your wake.
Don't forget the $20 bills he was throwing out the window... I've heard that was a pre-requisite for driving british cars.
You guys are bad. That GTO was in front of me when the road opened up and he punched it, then I passed him on the turn in tripple digits. After I passed him was when he had to slow to avoid the oil and $20 bills.
I heard he blew that motor up a few months later at Hallett.
0-60 in 6 seconds is too high. 0-60 in less than 5 seconds makes more sense. And top speed should be at least 175. And lateral Gs should be at least .90. We haven't mentioned 60-0 braking or 1/4 mile times (IMO less than 110ft. and less than 13 seconds). And all of that should be stock.
How much does one of the 200 Ford RS200s go for these days? It's a joke, but seriously, are there any great cars that flew under the radar in both prominence and price?
Your supercar has arrived:
SVreX wrote: "Back to the topic at hand, the only things I could see were some semblance of handling, a top speed over 150, 0-60 under 6 seconds, and findable for under $30k. " That's not enough. Heck, I've got a $500 '91 Dodge Spirit RT that can do that with about as much styling as a toaster. They gotta be sexy, unique, crisp leather interior, and a lot of other stuff. I'm too fried to quantify it, but others here have offered some good input.
Spirit R/T tops out at 141 stock, per contemporary road tests. Not a supercar, but still a lot of car for the money.
Which leads to the question of when we'll see a "Budget 4-door sleeper family cars" comparison. Spirit R/T, SHO, Maxima SE....hell, couldn't you get a Z34 (or its 4-door equivalent) Lumina with a stick (at least hypothetically?)
Any one of those cars offers good performance and great utility for dirty-dirt cheap. I don't think you'd pay over $3k for clean, low mileage example of any of them.
93celicaGT2 wrote: Your supercar has arrived:
Gah! What the hell happened to that???
Joey
I thought it was kindof cool in an overly styled Mosler wanna-bee Pikachu kindof way.
But i would DEFINITELY consider one of these to be a budget supercar.
I had a ratty 91 w/ a 96 JDM Fairlady motor swap and some huge exhaust. All in primer, interior was disgusting, with some Kazera KZAs with HUGE rubber.
It was obscene amounts of fun.
You can't pick one 0-60 time or top speed to define a supercar. Old ones aren't that fast. A supercar is a performance oriented car that makes (or made) people say HOLY SH1T WHAT IS THAT THING when they first see it.
Raze wrote: How much does one of the 200 Ford RS200s go for these days? It's a joke, but seriously, are there any great cars that flew under the radar in both prominence and price?
yesyesyesyesYES! no way in hell the RS200 could not be considered a supercar. budget supercar, perhaps not, but I'd slap silly the first person to say it wasn't a supercar.
as far as little-known supercars, the modern TVR Sagaris, perhaps? according to top gear it does smell of glue and the bonnet doesn't seem as securely fastened as I'd like them to be for a car that tops out at nearly 180, but it will top out at nearly 180, the suspension was designed by the same dude who did the Noble, and it's 50,000 pounds sterling. not exactly budget, but around the top gear track it was barely any slower than cars like the Koenigsegg CCX and other sufficently insane cars that have price tags to match their insanity.
also, the Ariel Atom might fit in the list. scratch that, it DOES fit on the list. even the version that can't hit 150 is still suitably insane, and I doubt that you would want to do more than 140 in an open top car anyway without a full face helmet. if you opened your mouth at all the wind would destroy your face 
I'm assuming this list doesn't include kit cars, correct? if it does include kit cars, you could add the FFR GTM Supercar to the list, along with any of the Noble/Rossion cars and the Race Car Replicas Superlight Coupe, and countless others I'm forgetting
I'd also kind of question a 300zx TT being a super car, but I definitely wouldn't complain about it. But I think using performance alone to define a supercar is insufficient. An old Miura would be out-run by a Camry, but that doesn't mean the Camry is a supercar and the Miura isn't.
And to me, kit cars aren't supercars. They just lack the appeal and exclusivity. I love the GTM but it's not going to have the same drool factor as an NSX.
dculberson wrote: And to me, kit cars aren't supercars. They just lack the appeal and exclusivity. I love the GTM but it's not going to have the same drool factor as an NSX.
Thinking about this again (since the thread got revived), I have to say this hits the nail on the head.
A supercar is one that the Joneses can't keep up with when they see it in your driveway. You can't just make a quick local craigslist search and find one. I think that was my issue with the 300ZX, anyone who wants one could have one, and they don't make someone who knows nothing about cars go "ooooooh! what's THAT?!?"
i think slyp_dawg touched on what really makes the difference between a supercar and a really fast, great handling sports car.
the insanity.
its the rediculous colors, its the vertical doors that you can't open if you park next to another car, the back seat you can't get into because the seat hits the roof like on the old fiat abarth, its rearward visibility thats so bad you're afraid to use reverse.
all those things, along with styling and performance, are what make a supercar
I would be more tempted to say that a budget supercar is something that feels bloody fast, handles well, has a degree of exclusiveness, perhaps an air of mystery ("omg what is that?" "is that a Ferrari? no, doesn't have the badge, doesn't sound like one" "who makes it?"), and the equivalent practicality of a Ducati Monster, ok, maybe room enough for a mutilated tissue box. but nothing else. if I had to point my finger at one car that was the definition of a supercar, I would probably point at an Ariel Atom. sure, it can't hit 150 unless you get the larger of the two engines, but like I said before, 150 in something as bare and open as the Atom, you open your mouth and the wind might just rip your face off. I do think that some kit cars fit into the budget supercar list, such as the Noble M12 or a Rossion Q1 or even a RCR Superlight Coupe (or any of their reproductions of 60s sports racing prototypes like the 917 or the mk.1 GT40 or the mk. 4 GT40, or the T70, or the P4, or the...), or an Ultima GTR, because despite the fact that really anyone can own them, you still don't see a whole lot of them on the road. I know of one guy local to me who owns a Noble, but only one, and I've only ever seen pictures of the RCR Superlight or the Ultima GTR. even though the availability is there, they still are very rare, distinctive, fast-as-all-get-out, and not very practical, which in my book makes them supercars
How is a ducati monster any less practicle than any other duc, short of the ST line? The ergo is far more comfortable than the SS or superbike line. You drop it and you dont have to replace acres of body panels.
How about the FFR
I personally wouldn't consider the FFR a supercar, even though when built to the challenge car specs it can still embarass cars costing more than ten times as much money in the corners, because it's just too common. with the Cobra being one of the most popular cars to do a kit of (second only to perhaps the Lotus 7), and the FFR Cobra kit costing a mere $13K (give or take a few bucks), just about anyone can build one. the FFR GTM is mostly the same way, although for that you need either a donor C5 'vette or a GM parts catalog and at least $10K more, depending on how mild or wild you go with it. but still, that's a lot of damn fast car for less than the cost of a new Corvette. I do agree with you on the ducati Monster thing, though. I suppose an Aprilla supermoto bike would have been a better comparison.
still, ruling out a kit car as being a budget supercar just because it didn't roll off an assembly line ready to drive isn't quite right, because not all kit cars are as easily accessible to the masses as FFRs are. the RCR replicas of vintage race cars never dip below $20K, and that's for the most bare bones kit. many of their higher level kits are reaching into the $40K range, and I have seen other kit cars of vintage racers land in the $60K range for a rolling chassis. that isn't nearly as accessible as a FFR is
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