# The worst sports cars, what's your opinion **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414 "2005-11-10T16:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/41 "2005-11-11T07:39:42Z")
There once was the Fiat X1/9 – every example I knew of had the timing belt break. Since it had an interference engine, this was seriously bad news. The original Fiero had a pronounced proclivity for engine fires. Many’s the time while driving down the freeway that I caught an acrid whiff of burning plastic to see, moments later, a Fiero, it’s faithful yet forlorn owner gazing helplessly at the bubbling, warping engine cover. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/42 "2005-11-11T13:54:07Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > The Fiat Spider > > I’m guessing an Alfa Romeo should be included as well. I was going to object and recount my Dad’s love for his Fiat 124 Sport and Lancia Beta Coupe but then I saw above your post; > [@Necros](#): > > I’d LIKE to nominate all those little, underpowered British roadsters of the 60s, because I don’t understand how anything so slow can be sporty After two Spitfires and an MGB the Italian cars must have felt super to drive 😉 Although a special nomination must go to Dad’s MGB, a car whose heavy steering and rock hard suspension Mum claimed contributed to her miscarriage. Lucky me that Dad had bought the Beta before my conception :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/43 "2005-11-11T15:14:59Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I’ve sort-of been following this thread, since I’ve had several sports cars. I wondered what ‘the worst’ would be, but didn’t think to speculate myself. > > And then you mention the TR-7. > > The TR-7 isn’t _bad_ as a ‘sports car’. But it did suffer by comparison. Power is not _really_ a defining characteristic of sports cars. Austin Healey Sprites and MG Midgets are no speed demons; but they certainly were ‘sports cars’. But the TR-7 _was_ underpowered. Even though I don’t consider power to be _that_ important, I’ll accept it in this case. Also, the TR-7 came out as a coupé instead of having a convertible hood. > > But the most damning thing about it is that it is a sympom (I’d not necessarily say a direct cause) of the Death Of The British Sports Car. The TR-6 had its problems, true. When the Datsun 240Z came out, the venerable TR-6 was rather outclassed. But instead of come up with a ‘Z-beater’, BL came out with a car with _less_ power than its predecessor. ‘The Wedge’, ‘The Shape Of Things To Come’, didn’t have the drop-hood as it should have. It didn’t _look_ like a British sports car. And it drained resources that could have been put into developing a new engine (which _was_ being looked into) for the MGB. (Except for switching to a five-bearing, from a three-bearing, crankshaft in 1964 or 1965 – I’ve forgotten which – and the addition of power-robbing emissions controls, the MGB engine was pretty much unchanged from 1962 to 1980.) > > I wouldn’t fault the live rear axle. The ones on my MGBs worked fine. But for replacing an aging but more capable car with this lower-powered car, for not initially offering a convertible option, for draining resources that could have been applied elsewhere, and basically being ‘The Car That Killed Triumph’ (as well as its stablemates in the BL conglomerate), I’ll add my vote for the TR-7 to be ‘The Worst Sports Car’. The worst of it is that MG had a beautiful little prototype running around, a car that still looks good today, and BL killed the program so they could build the TR7. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/44 "2005-11-11T16:12:22Z")
Honda CRX? A sports car? Does not compute. Yeah, it’s a sporty car, fun to drive, but I’d hardly consider it a sports car. Thought for a minute you’d gotten NSX and CRX confused. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/45 "2005-11-11T16:49:05Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > … true sports cars have to have a true manual _transmission_ (happy now, **Knorf** 😉 )… Yay! > [@Jonhhy L.A.](#): > > > [@knorf](#): > > > > Anyway, my suggestion: 1972 Fiat 850 Spider. > > Why? Dependability issues. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/46 "2005-11-11T17:04:18Z")
> [@Habanero](#): > > Being a newly converted Cadillac enthusiast… You are heartily welcomed to the club. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/47 "2005-11-11T19:18:33Z")
Frankly, I think bagging on the new Mustang as a ‘bad’ sports simply because it’s a Ford, or because it’s ‘driven by dipsticks’ is an idiotic argument. Is the Ford GT a ‘sports car’? It’s a Ford too. How about the SVT Focus? The fact is, the Mustang is a fine sports car. It handles extremely well, it’s got 300HP and a decent 5-speed transmission. It’s got good road feel, a good clutch, and it’s apparently a hoot to drive. It’s also very inexpensive. I’m not sure what else it has to be to qualify as a ‘good sports car’. This is just mindless Ford-bashing. My votes for the two worst ‘sports cars’ are the DeLorean and the TR-7. Not only were they underpowered, they weren’t even all that great in the handling department and they were very unreliable. Both were hard to work on, and the DeLorean’s stainless steel body was a bitch to repair. Other sports cars were certainly overrated as sports cars. Many of the old ‘supercars’ actually were no great shakes, and got by on dramatic looks and cachet appeal. As true sports cars… meh. And of course, many of the domestic ‘sports cars’ of the 1970’s and 1980’s were anything but. The fastest Firebird in 1977 had a 400 cubic inch engine that made a whole 200 HP, and redlined at 4500 RPM. It was a dog. The cars had creaky, flexy frames, lousy brakes, crappy power assisted steering with no feel, and they were overweight and too big. The Z-28 Camaro from that era had, I believe 195HP. Today your average family car has more than that, with less weight and a better suspension. And while the 240Z was a great sports car, the Z cars got worse and worse, until you got to cars like the 280ZX, which was a slow, soft, overweight car that was anything but sporty. Later Z cars got better again, but for a while there they were pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/48 "2005-11-11T19:38:37Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Is the Ford GT a ‘sports car’? Hell, yes. If I can’t have one of those, I’ll take an Ariel Atom. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/49 "2005-11-11T19:59:17Z")
Of course there is a difference between a ‘sports car’ and a ‘GT’. ---
**Author:** ![chaparralv8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@chaparralv8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaparralv8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/50 "2005-11-11T20:17:24Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Honda CRX? A sports car? Does not compute. > > Yeah, it’s a sporty car, fun to drive, but I’d hardly consider it a sports car. Thought for a minute you’d gotten NSX and CRX confused. CRX: 2 seater car, designed for the specific purpose of being fun to drive, successful in competition… sports car. ---
**Author:** ![chaparralv8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@chaparralv8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaparralv8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/51 "2005-11-11T20:22:15Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Frankly, I think bagging on the new Mustang as a ‘bad’ sports simply because it’s a Ford, or because it’s ‘driven by dipsticks’ is an idiotic argument. > > The fact is, the Mustang is a fine sports car. It handles extremely well, it’s got 300HP and a decent 5-speed transmission. It’s got good road feel, a good clutch, and it’s apparently a hoot to drive. It’s also very inexpensive. I’m not sure what else it has to be to qualify as a ‘good sports car’. This is just mindless Ford-bashing. Sam, the Mustang in its current form is a very good muscle car. The problem is that it’s very heavy (3600 lbs) and very softly set up. It understeers - a lot. I found the steering feel to be at odds with what you said about it. I thought it felt completely artificial - all the resistance to turning seemed to be provided by steering-system friction and flex. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/52 "2005-11-11T21:41:00Z")
> [@chaparralv8](#): > > Sam, the Mustang in its current form is a very good muscle car. The problem is that it’s very heavy (3600 lbs) and very softly set up. It understeers - a lot. I found the steering feel to be at odds with what you said about it. I thought it felt completely artificial - all the resistance to turning seemed to be provided by steering-system friction and flex. [Road and Track](http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=1662&page_number=2) doesn’t seem to agree with you. > [@](#): > > Like the Chinese, we were expecting a Great Leap Forward, but we weren’t expecting the positively sublime steering, nearly absent understeer, excellent control harmony, the hair-quicker-than-expected turn-in, suppleness over heaves and bumps coupled with a plushly firm ride that doesn’t jiggle on the freeway or hammer in the rough. My, but a well-suspended live axle is a thing of wonder; anvil tough, devoid of sleight-of-hand toe changes and cheap to boot. Neither does [Car and Driver](http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=8778&page_number=2) > [@](#): > > The next best thing about the Mustang is that it now rides like a modern car. Less jarring crash-through, fewer expansion-strip jitters, no lateral wango-tango over broken pavement, less suspension-borne road noise. Yet even with the far cushier ride, handling has improved. Not even the most recent independent-rear-suspension SVT Cobra can match the new GT’s skidpad grip, which now also surpasses a Nissan 350Z Touring’s, come to think of it. Pitched hard into corners, the Mustang is initially neutral, then tends toward understeer. If the push annoys you, just stab the throttle and you can induce power oversteer. Neutral, understeer, oversteer. Quite a smorgasbord. And the tail-happiness now materializes more gently, rather than in one heart-stopping twitch. Throughout, extraneous body movements are nicely damped. I have not driven a new Stang so I am not in a position to comment myself, but I do find it interesting that all the buff books I read seem to disagree with you. ::: shrug::: ---
**Author:** ![chaparralv8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@chaparralv8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaparralv8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/53 "2005-11-11T22:36:33Z")
Hmm. I may have been driving one that was a bit soft in the sidewalls, either from bad option-picking (if a dealer is willing to put me in a manual-transmission car for a test drive despite my forthright explanation that I have no intention of buying the car, I’m thankful for whatever I get) or from low tire pressures. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/54 "2005-11-11T23:29:19Z")
> [@chaparralv8](#): > > CRX: 2 seater car, designed for the specific purpose of being fun to drive, successful in competition… sports car. 2 seater with rear bench, because it’s a converted hatchback, so… hot hatch. Let’s agree to disagree on this one, eh? 🙂 The Ariel Atom… my goodness, those look like a hoot and a half, don’t they? But they’re reallly just trackday cars which happen to be road legal. I bet they’re tons of fun, and I _suppose_ you could drive one to work… but would you? I love the looks of the new Mustang, but I have no idea how it drives. Guess I should go and find out, but they’re quite rare here. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/55 "2005-11-12T00:20:18Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Ah, British Leyland… the company with the unspeakable talent of fucking up a good thing, no matter how easy it would have been to just evolve a new model. Hey, the cars we exported were the good ones! Just be glad we didn’t inflict the [MG Montego](http://www.mgturner.demon.co.uk/roverm.htm) or the [Morris Marina fastback](http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?ado28storyf.htm) on you. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/56 "2005-11-12T01:43:27Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > 2 seater with rear bench, because it’s a converted hatchback, so… hot hatch. Let’s agree to disagree on this one, eh? 🙂 Porsche 924. Rear seats (more or less), and a hatch. ‘Hot hatch’, or ‘sports car’? Or GT? Yes, yes, I know that the 924 was originally supposed to be a VW, then an Audi. I know Porschephiles hate it. But, having once had one, I can say it was a pretty good little car. Faster and better handling than my MGBs. In spite of the hatch and the rear seats, I’d still call it a ‘sports car’. Oh, and the MGB had an occasional bench seat in back. Porsche 911? Definitely not a ‘hot hatch’. But ‘sports car’, or ‘GT’? It has rear seats. I’d call it a ‘sports car’, though by some definitions it could be called a GT. (Man, was I an idiot to sell mine! :mad: Someday, I’ll have another.) I think ‘hot hatch’ is a very new term. I hadn’t heard it before coming here, and then looking it up. Seems to be some sort of hybrid. Not a ‘sports car’, but not your basic coupé either. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/57 "2005-11-12T01:59:43Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I think ‘hot hatch’ is a very new term. I hadn’t heard it before coming here, and then looking it up. Seems to be some sort of hybrid. Not a ‘sports car’, but not your basic coupé either. “Hot hatch”, meaning the sportier version of a mass production hatchback, has been in use since at least the early eighties. The VW Golf GTI introduced in 1975 was the original hot hatch. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/58 "2005-11-12T02:03:35Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Hey, the cars we exported were the good ones! Just be glad we didn’t inflict the [MG Montego](http://www.mgturner.demon.co.uk/roverm.htm) or the [Morris Marina fastback](http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?ado28storyf.htm) on you. Check my location field, dude. Both those eyesores once graced the Dutch roads. Luckily, most have rotted by now. 😃 Johnny: all right, I’ll specifiy the term “hot hatch”. The CRX is based on the regular Civic. The floor pan is the same, the engines are derived from the normal ones, it was produced alongside the mundane verions. That makes the CRX a hot hatch, a sporty version of a normal car. Albeit a very good one. The Porsche 924, let’s forgive it its early Audi engines, was a Porsche. A weird one, sure. But it had RWD, two doors, good handling, and a manual gearbox. There was no 1.4 liter 60 BHP 5-door version. It’s a proper sports car. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/59 "2005-11-12T02:05:04Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > The VW Golf GTI introduced in 1975 was the original hot hatch. And the Peugeot 205 GTI was the BEST hot hatch. Evah. 🙂 1.9 no cat, if you please. 130 BHP @ 850 kilos, and more oversteer than most RWD cars. MAN, tons of fun. In a dangerous way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chaparralv8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@chaparralv8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaparralv8)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414/60 "2005-11-12T02:54:20Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > And the Peugeot 205 GTI was the BEST hot hatch. Evah. 🙂 > > 1.9 no cat, if you please. 130 BHP @ 850 kilos, and more oversteer than most RWD cars. MAN, tons of fun. In a dangerous way. 🙂 VW Polo G60 was also in that league. As is the RenaultSport Clio 182 Trophy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-sports-cars-whats-your-opinion/330414.md?page=4)