The end of cool small cars
The end of cool small cars
The Taliban has fresher trucks than us. The Honda Fit is dead. U can’t find a sauced-out 2-door to save your life. How did we get here??
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I'm going to drive my fiesta st into the ground. The only comparable hot hatch left in the US is the GTI and even that is bigger in every demotion and about 700lbs heavier.
Fiesta STs are awesome. My first "enthusiast car" was a Focus ST, but I almost wish I went with a Fiesta ST instead. I noticed compared to other small-ish sports cars, Focuses are still pretty big. Roomy for sure, but I prefer smaller.
I've driven a few focus ST and they are great, but very noticeably larger with a lot more body roll. But they are also definitely more comfortable and faster on most tracks.
A Focus ST may be moderately big on the outside, but the cabin on my 2013 is fairly cramped. If someone tall is sitting in a front seat there is no leg room in the back seat.
That’s because the Focus ST isn’t a sports car, the platform was originally intended to be an economical family car.
I would argue that it is, by the very minimum of the definition, a sports car. But semantics. The Focus ST is a performance oriented version of an economy car, obviously, but compared to other cars I've driven, it's a lot more like driving a mini van.
I’d say that, fundamentally, a sports car is a vehicle where the architecture prioritizes driving dynamics over practical considerations like passenger capacity and cargo space.
Hatchbacks, vans, SUVs, and crossovers have become the default form factor precisely because the “box with a rear hatch” design is so practical for everyday life.
Hot hatches are, first and foremost, practical designs. The performance aspect is secondary.
Meh, I'd say any car where performance is an aspect is a sports car. Rather, any car that is intended for sport, i.e. track and autocross, which the Focus ST is definitely intended for and excels at.
Performance or Motorsports are an aspect with many cars that most people would never consider sports car, though.
Is the AMG G-wagon a sports car? It’s a body on frame SUV with live axle suspension, derived from a utilitarian military truck, but it’s fast.
How about the Toyota Land Cruiser? It is developed with rally raid in mind and excels in stockish form at the low prep classes of the Dakar, but it would be bizarre to call it a sports car. I have a Land Cruiser and it drives like a big ole tank.
The Honda Accord? The larger displacement models are legitimately quick. They do well locally at autocross and were successfully campaigned in a number of touring car championships. The suspension geometry is clearly designed with performance in mind. However, the Accord is a stereotypical four door family sedan. It would be quite odd to call it a sports car.