Comment by avenoir | Hacker News Reader

Comment by avenoir | Hacker News Reader

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Typical super-car designs embrace wider chassis and lower-sitting suspension. Both are impractical for daily driving. Not to mention the absence of space for occupants or lack of trunk space. Try to sit in any coupe with the second row of seats and you'll instantly feel like a sardine.

I think an even bigger issue is that you can't have a car with the super-car design but without the matching horsepower. They just wouldn't sell. And if you added the corresponding horsepower you all of a sudden created something that most people won't be able to drive daily without major safety concerns, which is why these cars are in their own class to begin with. I drive a modified WRX with slightly over 300 ponies and I can tell you that when i first started driving it there were times when i'd gun it to get around someone and would just have a hard time slowing the car down. Same with taking quick turns where giving a bit of gas can send your car for a wild spin. This is why youtube is full of lambo and ferrari owners crashing their cars while trying to show off at intersections and turns beause people have no idea how to drive with so much horsepower lol

Lotus Elise, BRZ, Alpha 4C, and others are very nice cars with lower horsepower to match the handling. It's nice to be able to drive something to it's full potential without electronics or loss of license. I haven't owned any of these cars but I do own a 600cc sport bike. Modern 200+ hp litrebikes are now mostly just computers on wheels.

And let's not forget the Miata! The best compromise IMO is to have a dedicated sports car (2-seater, manual transmission, low, light, optionally with ridiculous power depending on budget) and a second vehicle for everything else, like a Honda Element (wish they still made those, compact but roomy, handles well for what it is, truck bed liner in the interior, many seats if you need them) or a quad-cab pickup if you need to e.g. tow heavier stuff. There are some ideas like fast station wagons (Volvo v40 Polestar for ~$60k, automatic only, WRX STI wagon that they don't make anymore, E63 AMG wagon at >$100k also automatic only), fast trucks (SVT Raptor, Chevy SSR, SRT10 RAM), or hot hatches (A45 AMG, M140i, Audi RS1, Megane Trophy-R, Astra VXR, Leon Cupra, Civic Type R, none of which are available in the US...we get the GLA45 which is higher and handles worse, and the M240i which is a coupe), sporty SUVs (Cayenne, Macan, X5M, etc who cares), but all make huge compromises and end up mostly being heavy and/or expensive. For ~$50k new, you could have a real sports car and a real truck or utility vehicle.

I wouldn't put BRZ in this category, but Lotus Elise and the 4C are definitely perfect examples of super-cars with manageable horsepower. I stand corrected, sir! I do wonder, however, if people are still choosing 350z, BRZs and STIs over something like a Elise because, ironically, you get more ponies for your buck.

Typical super-car designs embrace wider chassis and lower-sitting suspension. Both are impractical for daily driving.

Didn't affect my Honda CRX as a daily driver one bit! (Aside from a bit more care with clearance.)

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