I hate to play devils advocate, but there's a quite a few Porsches throughout time who have had a back seat.The 911 to name one, all the 944s, BMW M series, Mustangs, Mazdaspeed, Lancer, and Impreza which I would consider all to be sports cars yet all have a back seat (anywhere from 2+2, 4, and 5 seats).

 

Dammit Cody. Well the 911's back seat is so undersized that nobody over 5 years old could sit there, so it doesn't count, I believe the 944 is in the same boat. These are definitely sports cars, but neither was meant to comfortably transport 4 passengers more than a mile or two.

There have been several Ms from BMW, the only 2 coupes I can think of with 4 seats are the M3 and the M6: The M3, like our cars, is sport luxury, and the M6 is a grand tourer.

Mustang - sport coupe (Ford's only sports car is called the GT, although it's kind of a supercar)

Mazdaspeed 3 or 6 - factory tuned sport compact

Lancer, WRX - sport compact

Evo, Sti - factory tuned sport compact

When you think of sports cars, think of the Corvette, Viper, Lotus, Ferrari, Z... these are actual sports cars. Most everything else is a sport coupe, sport sedan, sport compact, grand tourer, but not a sports car in the true sense of the term.

 

^+5,000,000 Thanks, I was too lazy to write it all out.

 

Haha Unlucky, np man. I had to do it, sharing knowledge and spreading the love for all my fellow G drivers out there is what it's all about. We wouldn't be here if we weren't car enthusiasts, and a real enthusiast needs to know:

1. what a sports car is
2. don't be afraid of the manual transmission

 

Most people seem to dislike the vibration felt through the shifter and clutch. I actually love the mechanical feedback and noise experienced through the transmission and it feels weird now in other cars that are artificially deadened. I like the directness of shifts and relatively short throws for stock. I like it all, actually, except for the terrible clutch engagement. On or off and that's about it.

 

Really? My Previous Honda S2k didn't have any, My integra I had in HS didn't have any... It's not normal unless u have a aftermarket flywheel that weighs 7 pounds...

Ever driven any other manual cars besides the one from Infiniti? No chatter. Drive a BMW.. Heck, drive a honda civic. No chatters.

Out of integra, S2k and G35,, the G35 has by far the worse clutch out of the cars. The honda transmission are much smoother, not as notchy and the engagement points for the Hondas are PERFECT..

Don't lie to yourself. The G's manual transmission is horrible. Thir Automatic Transmission is ok. But, the G35 clutch engagement point is way off. And I remember people here trying to fix it using a PENNY. hahaha.

 

Wow, Didn't realize that 'Sports Car' was such an esteemed position. I Understand understand dividing car's into itty bitty subclasses, but as far as the broad majority of the population is concerned a 'Sports Car' is any Car meant for use in on-road Motorsports.

My Rail is a Baja, but I'd never get frustrated with someone calling a 4x4, offroader, or Sandrail. It's technically any of those things, and in a broad term it can still do what those things do so I can understand calling it that.

The G can still make a pretty good run on a slalom, windy back roads, or Autocross (Atleast extremely close to as well as a Z can do it). It's a Sports car. It's a Luxury coupe, too. It falls into multiple classes.




P.S. I don't mean to start a flame war, but there are tons and tons of people who call my car a 'Sports Car' and the definition of words tends to come from how people use the word.

 

I actually like the G35 tranny, but I've been driving a Nissan (previously a 1992 300ZX) for 12 years, so I'm somewhat used to it. I like the notchy/positive feel that gives you lots of feedback, and since I heel-toe, I never have problems getting it into gear.

I do agree with the criticism of the clutch engagement point, however - it is too high - though I have gotten used to it over the years.

 

first: is it just me or does it seem like everybody and his brother on this forum used to drive a S2K?

second, the definition of a sports car (at least to people who drive one) varies highly.... i consider my G coupe a sports car, a luxury coupe, a luxury sports car..... so quit splitting hairs

lastly, i agree that the MT is a little different.... ive had the car over a year now and engaging second gear is still tough to do smoothly.... the clutch is a little stiff (recently making about a 40 point turn in my friends driveway my calf started to cramp up) but i love the manual, i would have been so mad at myself if i hadnt gotten it..... i highly recommend the manual

 

1) rev matching will help with this
2) our cars are not well stablized throughout, Toyota uses individual rubber mounts that smooth everything out.

 

I see where you're coming from, but I'm not putting the term "sports car" on a pedestal or anything, I'm just trying to spread the truth. There are tons and tons of people who say "nucular" instead of "nuclear", and those same people will most likely point at South America on a globe if you ask them where Portugal is, but that doesn't make either correct. You have to differentiate, otherwise people will be calling all kinds of cars "sports cars", like the IS300, Civic Si, Integra, RSX, Celica, Neon SRT4, Mini Cooper, Golf GTI, blah blah... all are at least somewhat quick and handle better than a minivan, people even run them in drag race and autocross events, but c'mon, they're not sports cars.

 

If I consider my G sedan an SUV I'd be wrong, just like you.

 

The examples you gave are absolute. A sport car does not have clear cut lines, just a general guideline. Mirriam Webster defines sports car as: "a low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, and high-speed driving". Given that's a dated definition, It's still as absolute as you are going to get. Excluding the 'Usually' part there are plenty of cars that fall into that catagory. Civic SI, Integra, Mini Cooper, and Golf GTI all do. The SRT 4 puts out an assload of power for a the price but it's still a neon. In my opinion if any of these were to be considered a sports car I would have to call them low end or 'crossover' sports cars if you will. Perhaps entry entry level. Regardless though, the G and the Z are pretty much the same functionally. It looks like a sports car, It drives like a sports car, It sounds like a sports car. The Z was designed as a sports car, and the G designed after that so I say we tack on qualifiers rather than strip them off. Let's go with Luxury sports car, or Sports luxury car.

 

Found this old picture... thought it might be fun in this thread...

oh the stuff you see at dealerships

 

And the Z is indeed a sports car. The G has 4 seats, so you know what I'm going to say.

YES! You've got it! If you go back and read my response to your devil's advocacy, you'll see that's exactly what I did when I mentioned the M3. It's settled. Spread the word buddy!