ActiveAero
02-07-2003, 01:54 PM
And its about time if you ask me. I remember back years ago when it was looking pretty dim for sports car fanatics. The late 90's saw the dimise of such cars as the 300ZX, VR-4, RX-7, and Supra. The sport compact market was nothing but Honda and the domestic market was small as well. You either had to pick a Camaro or a Vette for serious speed. Heck the Mustang GT was only pumping out around 225hp unless you went with the Cobra until 99 so. In all things weren't looking good. Boy have things changed now. We have a ton of new cars to pic from and even more are on the way.
Ford has the new supercharged Corba as well as the Mach 1. They also ramped up the Focus with an SVT model and are going to up the hp on it even more with the turbo variant due out soon.
Dodge has the remodeled Viper with 500hp and the new bang for the buck challenger in the shape of the SRT-4. 215 turbo hp for less than 20k is one heck of a deal. Heck even the PT cruiser is turbo now.
Mazda has the new Protege equipped with a turbo variant, the classic Miata has been revamped slightly, and the RX-8 is fixing to be out in dealer show rooms very soon with word of a 2 seater variant to follow (RX-7 anyone). They've also released the very sport 6 sports sedan.
Nissan of course has thrown out the 350Z which is a very capable track car with Nismo support on the way. They also have the Sentra Spec-V for the compact folks. They have also confirmed that we will get the newest version of the Skyline when it is released.
Subaru is now famous here for the cheap and high performing WRX and are soon to be releasing what could be an absolute rocket in the STI version. Can we say 2.5 liter turbo?
Mitsubishi is finally offering the Evolution. I believe its out now as we speak. For a touch under 30k you are getting an AWD rocket that clicks off 13 second ET's and pulls almost a G on the skidpad with a slalom speed to back it up.
Chevy has the Z06 which is more than enough. Yeah the Camaro is gone but LS1 fanatics shouldn't worry because the Pontiac GTO is coming back (its really a Holden) and its got a 300hp + LS1 hiding under the hood.
Honda/Acura are releasing their FP packages. Not much in the way of power but the handling on the RSX's is supposedly much improved. There is also a new S2000 called the Modulo that is already out in Japan that could come under the FP badge here in the US. It has a more revised suspension and has knocked a half second of the stock S2000's lap times on the same track. Honda has also admitted that they are looking at a hardtop S2000 equipped with a 2.2liter engine for the more hardcore racer types. Even without these models the RSX and S2000 are two awesome cars in their own right.
Toyota isn't stepping down either and has just recently announced that they are fixing to take a more aggressive approach and will once again be affixed to the words speed and handling. The MRS now comes with a true sequential shifter and the Celica GTS's redline has once again been raised for the newest models in order to keep them in lift. Toyota has admitted there is also a car in development using the IS300 chasis to replace the Supra.
All of this looks like good news to me,
Ford has the new supercharged Corba as well as the Mach 1. They also ramped up the Focus with an SVT model and are going to up the hp on it even more with the turbo variant due out soon.
Dodge has the remodeled Viper with 500hp and the new bang for the buck challenger in the shape of the SRT-4. 215 turbo hp for less than 20k is one heck of a deal. Heck even the PT cruiser is turbo now.
Mazda has the new Protege equipped with a turbo variant, the classic Miata has been revamped slightly, and the RX-8 is fixing to be out in dealer show rooms very soon with word of a 2 seater variant to follow (RX-7 anyone). They've also released the very sport 6 sports sedan.
Nissan of course has thrown out the 350Z which is a very capable track car with Nismo support on the way. They also have the Sentra Spec-V for the compact folks. They have also confirmed that we will get the newest version of the Skyline when it is released.
Subaru is now famous here for the cheap and high performing WRX and are soon to be releasing what could be an absolute rocket in the STI version. Can we say 2.5 liter turbo?
Mitsubishi is finally offering the Evolution. I believe its out now as we speak. For a touch under 30k you are getting an AWD rocket that clicks off 13 second ET's and pulls almost a G on the skidpad with a slalom speed to back it up.
Chevy has the Z06 which is more than enough. Yeah the Camaro is gone but LS1 fanatics shouldn't worry because the Pontiac GTO is coming back (its really a Holden) and its got a 300hp + LS1 hiding under the hood.
Honda/Acura are releasing their FP packages. Not much in the way of power but the handling on the RSX's is supposedly much improved. There is also a new S2000 called the Modulo that is already out in Japan that could come under the FP badge here in the US. It has a more revised suspension and has knocked a half second of the stock S2000's lap times on the same track. Honda has also admitted that they are looking at a hardtop S2000 equipped with a 2.2liter engine for the more hardcore racer types. Even without these models the RSX and S2000 are two awesome cars in their own right.
Toyota isn't stepping down either and has just recently announced that they are fixing to take a more aggressive approach and will once again be affixed to the words speed and handling. The MRS now comes with a true sequential shifter and the Celica GTS's redline has once again been raised for the newest models in order to keep them in lift. Toyota has admitted there is also a car in development using the IS300 chasis to replace the Supra.
All of this looks like good news to me,