sports cars design image
vincent_va
I've always wondered. The actual appearance of a sports car comes from the chassis, but that's just plastic and metal, and not particularly expensive. It's the engine and the performance that costs money and makes sports cars so expensive.
But since people seem to like sports cars, why don't car manufacturers just slap a sports car chassis onto a regular car? It would look like a ferrari or lamborghini or whatever you want, but it's really just a Volvo C30.
It's not like it actually matters whether or not the car can go 300 Km/h or not, since no one ever drives that fast anyway.
Answer
>Why are there no cheap sports cars?
Define cheap ? You can find "sports cars" that start around or even under the $20k mark new (and go way up from there).
>...but that's just plastic and metal, and not particularly expensive...
So, by that logic, wouldn't the engine (and everything else) be cheap too? I mean, it's all pretty much just metal? The chassis IS the car. Developing a chassis that is capable of high performance and then manufacturing it is the majority of the cost of a car. The engine and everything else is often the cheap bits (relatively). The cost of the raw materials has little to do with the cost of the final work (the engineering, custom fabrication, etc. is the cost). You could put a Ferrari engine, brakes, etc in that Volvo C30, and it wouldn't come close to the performance of the Ferrari around a track. Those parts are important, but not as important as the chassis itself (it's balance, rigidity, layout, etc); and in a high end sports car, it's designed to work in concert with the other components.
> just slap a sports car chassis onto a regular car?
Manufacturers have, since the earliest days of car production, copied styling elements from race and sports cars on to other cars (do you really think those Honda Civics need those spoilers? Or those brake ducts that don't actually feed air to the brakes on some cars?). That's not the chassis though... just body panels and styling. But since the form of a car often follows it's function, designing a car that is usable for daily commutes and seats four, is available for a low cost (and therefore using off the shelf, not custom made parts) will compromise what is possible.
>Why are there no cheap sports cars?
Define cheap ? You can find "sports cars" that start around or even under the $20k mark new (and go way up from there).
>...but that's just plastic and metal, and not particularly expensive...
So, by that logic, wouldn't the engine (and everything else) be cheap too? I mean, it's all pretty much just metal? The chassis IS the car. Developing a chassis that is capable of high performance and then manufacturing it is the majority of the cost of a car. The engine and everything else is often the cheap bits (relatively). The cost of the raw materials has little to do with the cost of the final work (the engineering, custom fabrication, etc. is the cost). You could put a Ferrari engine, brakes, etc in that Volvo C30, and it wouldn't come close to the performance of the Ferrari around a track. Those parts are important, but not as important as the chassis itself (it's balance, rigidity, layout, etc); and in a high end sports car, it's designed to work in concert with the other components.
> just slap a sports car chassis onto a regular car?
Manufacturers have, since the earliest days of car production, copied styling elements from race and sports cars on to other cars (do you really think those Honda Civics need those spoilers? Or those brake ducts that don't actually feed air to the brakes on some cars?). That's not the chassis though... just body panels and styling. But since the form of a car often follows it's function, designing a car that is usable for daily commutes and seats four, is available for a low cost (and therefore using off the shelf, not custom made parts) will compromise what is possible.
What are some sports cars similar to the design of this one?
Anon
Here is a pic of a concept car:
http://p.webwombat.com.au/motoring/car-photos/saleen-s5s-raptor-concept-1-big.jpg
What are some cars the have a similar design? Or some sports cars that look really cool and you like? No muscle cars please. Thank you.
= )
Answer
Well the front end looks kinda like that of a Lotus Elise or Lotus Exige, with the front air dam from a Lamborghini Murcielago. The profile is very similar to that of an Audi R8 and/or its kissing cousin, the Lamborghini Gallardo, while those curvaceous fenders call to mind everything from a 1971-1974 AMC Javelin to a 2003-2008 Mazda RX8. The side and rear-quarter windows remind me of the Infinity G35 coupe.
In summation, I'm sorry to say this car looks to me like an unoriginal mish-mash of styling elements copied from other, more distinctive automobiles.
Well the front end looks kinda like that of a Lotus Elise or Lotus Exige, with the front air dam from a Lamborghini Murcielago. The profile is very similar to that of an Audi R8 and/or its kissing cousin, the Lamborghini Gallardo, while those curvaceous fenders call to mind everything from a 1971-1974 AMC Javelin to a 2003-2008 Mazda RX8. The side and rear-quarter windows remind me of the Infinity G35 coupe.
In summation, I'm sorry to say this car looks to me like an unoriginal mish-mash of styling elements copied from other, more distinctive automobiles.
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