And these are affordable how?
The only true cars that are both "affordable" and "performance" would be the Lancer Evo or the WRX. Even then, these do not come cheap. Maybe an RS or a Civic Type R, but you'd be better off spending the money on the first two.
A BMW 320d is hardly a performance car. Being a luxury sedan, it has soft suspension, is heavy as hell, and the engine is puny. I have no idea what would make anyone think this was a performance car. And a Range Rover Sport? Are you kidding me? No SUV will ever be a performance car, not even the formidable G55 or the drool inducing Porsche Cayenne S Turbo. Having a giant engine and slightly stiffer suspension does not suddenly negate physics and the tendency for top heavy cars to roll.
I guess my point is, if you're going to say any car with a larger than normal engine (not a huge feat in most of southeast asia) or "sport package" is a performance vehicle, then almost anything is going to be. This is the same kind of logic that compels people to attach rear spoilers to FWD vehicles and slap a Type R sticker onto a Toyota.
I was going with the original post of power to weight ratio, 0-60, hp/torque. Those alone would include a lot of street cars which may not be track cars and vice versa.
Where I am, not being a track car is not a big disadvantage if we're talking about mainly driving on the street.
I noticed on one of the videos that there's a Ford Focus SVT being reviewed. It's a fine track car. In a race track, it'll leave my ponderous V6 Sonata behind. But out in the street, that's simply not the case.
I know that firsthand because about a year ago, I chased one down after its driver (front of me, offset to the left) decided to spin its wheels and sent rocks flying into my hood and front glass. He tried weaving in and out of traffic and I was right there on his tail. He also tried slowing down and then trying to suddenly accelerate away. No dice. I was riding his bumper until he finally gave up. He raised his hands and feinted innocence. He knew what he did. The thud of that rock was so loud I thought it broke the glass.
It's only afterwards I analyzed closely what I did. I successfully chased down a car with great handling and decent power to weight ratio in a family car with a (probably) better power to weight ratio but much poorer handling.
Of course, I've been on the wrong end as well. Years ago, I thought I could leave all cars behind with my turbo Laser. Imagine my surprise when a souped up pickup truck (modded Chevy 454 SS) rode my tail and made life miserable for me. That brought me down to earth really fast and made me decide that out in the street, a track car isn't that important. And that was at a time when the DSM (Talon, Eclipse, Laser) cars were winning in Showroom Stock races.
OT side: apologies mods if you'd consider this as one.
I would just like to point out that the car mentioned on the vid I have provided was a FOCUS RS (212 bhp Duratec Turbo engine) which has only been available for the EU market only. I did google about FOCUS SVT and this is it's counterpart here in Europe:
http://www.channel4.com/4car/di/road...pression/834/5
http://www.forddesktops.com/show.asp..._2001_01_b.jpg
Well, you are the one who said that we should only consider locally (Philippines) available performance vehicles that can be bought from authorized dealers - but you are continuously posting vehicles that do not fall under your original criteria. Now we are discussing here Talons, diesel Focus RSs, owner-type jeeps, etc.
I've seen my share of hijacked threads here that deviated way off topic (e.g. an infiniti thread that ended up in the discussion of old nissan engines).
For the last time - please stay on the topic. This thread is about stock & locally (Philipines) available (through authorized dealers) affordable performance vehicles.
I'll be deleting all off-topic posts later. :police:
anyone mentioned the Ford Focus 2.0L hatchback? Its just at the P1M mark and does deliver good enough performance on the road but it does only come in A/T form.
Hehehe. My bad, mods. Guilty as charged. I feel like a College student that has just been told off inside the classroom or inside the Library. But hey, were all grown ups here aren't we? Hence, the acceptance of my fault. Apologies again to the mods.
Isn't it that Ford only gave us Pinoys the Ghia model as the top of the line? Although, someone might correct me on this one. I don't really consider that as a "performance" car as it is too poshy with all those leather and soft suspension.
Sorry for the OT post. But, that was just to illustrate performance in the track does not necessarily equate to an advantage on the street.
Anyway here's some numbers. HP to weight ratio doesn't necessarily mean anything with other factors to consider such as transmission, gearing, power delivery, etc. Turbos further complicate matters in its favor. But here:
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2.0L I-4 Turbo 286hp (1:11.3) 3219 lbs
Subaru Impreza STi 2.5L I-4 Turbo 293hp (1:11.4) 3351 lbs
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Subaru Impreza WRX 2.5L I-4 Turbo 234hp (1:13.9) 3192 lbs
Subaru Legacy GT 2.5L I-4 Turbo 243hp (1:14.1) 3415 lbs
Subaru Forester 2.5XT 2.5L I-4 Turbo 224hp (1:15.0) 3360 lbs
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Toyota Camry 3.5L V6 268hp (1:12.9) 3461 lbs
Hyundai Azera 3.8L V6 263hp (1:13.8) 3629 lbs
Mitsubishi Eclipse 3.8L V6 268hp (1:13.0) 3472 lbs
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Honda Accord 3.0L V6 244hp (1:13.5) 3371 lbs
Mitsubishi Galant 3.8L V6 230hp (1:15.7) 3616 lbs
Hyundai Sonata 3.3L V6 235hp (1:14.7) 3458 lbs
------------------------
Ford Lynx RS 2.0L I-4 142hp (1:19.1) 2717 lbs
Honda SiR 1.6L I-4 160hp (1:16.3) 2600 lbs
:
Last edited by Jun aka Pekto; May 17th, 2007 at 05:02 PM.
Ford is selling the Focus 2.0L Sport (hatchback).
Ford Philippines' price list:
http://www.ford.com.ph/servlet/Conte...Page&c=DFYPage
I have test driven it and its not that too soft nor "poshy". It might lack some real "sport" essentials like a limited slip differential to tame the potential wheel slip but it can handle pretty well.
IMHO, the suspension is good enough for the everyday driver but not suited to be pushed that hard. But if they gave it stiffer suspension (as stock), then most potential buyers would complain about the stiff ride (as some owners of the 1999 Corolla GLi and even older version of the Honda CRV have complained in the past). The stock suspension is good enough, it does dip slightly under hard cornering/braking but I won't fault it as being too soft. If you plan to take it racing, you could always swap the springs for a stiffer set.
That's not the point. A V12 S-Class could destroy a Civic Type R both on and off the track. Does that make it a performance car? Of course not. Having the ability to hang with, or even kill, another vehicle does not automatically make such a car a performance car. There's a difference between fast cars and performance cars.
A performance car is one that has been engineered with pure driving performance as a priority. Whether or not said engineering lives up to its intentions is an entirely different issue.
I'm not trying to be a snob or anything, but let's get this straight: A performance car is not simply a car with good power-to-weight ratios. Camries, Accords, and Galants are not performance cars. They may be relatively quick, but their primary purpose is not performance. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
to the threadstarter, that's ok... just doing some housekeeping around here. :police:
---
BTTT
I missed it... the ultimate in affordable performance here in the Philippines... the Westfield Megabird!
Available as: Complete kit (less engine gearbox wheels and tires), Starter kit
Engine: Honda Super Blackbird 1100
Capacity: 1137cc
Cylinders: 4inline DOHC 16V
Fuel: 95 Octane unleaded
Compression Ratio: 11.0:1
Ignition system: Electronic ignition & Honda throttle bodies
Max Power: 165 Hp * 9500rpm
Max Torque: 88 lb.-ft * 7250rpm
0-100 km/h: 3.9 seconds
Transmission: 6 speed constant mesh
Final drive: 3.36/3.21 optional LSD
Steering: Rack and pinion
Lock: 2.5 turns
Brakes: Disc brakes all round
Wheels: 15” x 6” Front 15” x 7.5” Rear Aluminum Rota Italia
Tires: 195/55VR15 Front / 205/50VR15 Rear Bridgestone Potenza RE540S Tires
Fuel Tank capacity: 28.4 liters
Suspension: Fully independent wishbones front and rear with adjustable shock absorbers
Overall Length: 3340mm
Overall width: 1610mm
Weight: From 440kg
c/o C! Magazine
source: http://www.c-magazine.com/c_article.asp?articleid=1
Performance is relative depending on the parameters. Quickness off the line can be counted as performance. But, I guess I missed reading the required parameters later in the thread. Anyway, I posted those stats to answer some the questions in thread starter's original post. If those cars aren't performance cars, then they're not. My apologies.
Last edited by Jun aka Pekto; May 18th, 2007 at 03:12 AM.
I guess I have given a topic that is too broad for us at the moment. We all both know that this is a public online forum, that's why everyone's opinion matters. At the end of the day, it all boils to each to their own opinion. If one would say this and that, then that's fine. But for me, there really should be more than power to weight ratios thingies and what not. As I've said, it should be as a whole package.
Now this would fall, for me, in the right category!! Anyone know how much this beast is?
around 1M pesos... but the price is dependent on the choice of engine and options that you want to put in.
They used to offer the basic kit for 700k (sans engine)... but I don't know if they're still doing business (I've tried looking).
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RE: Ford Focus Sport 2.0: Yes, it's soft, but it's still a more composed handler (IMHO) than the current Civic, as it has better spring and shock rates. I've driven the TRS-fettled 1.6 Focuses (Focii?), and you're right (ghosthunter), with just the proper springs, they're excellent handling cars.
There's just a bit too much understeer in the car, though, due to the slippery tires they put on the TRS Cup cars to keep speeds down. But I'm not sure if it's just that or due to some quirk of suspension geometry with the Focus, as this also appears in the Focus ST. (and throw those "nose-heavy" guesses out the window... EVO has measured the Focus ST to be perfectly 60:40 in weight balance... even better than many other modern "hot hatches", which linger around 65:35)
With some power mods (a CAI and an exhaust should net about 20 hp more) and good springs, a Focus 2.0 Sport is a pretty nifty (if not too fast) car.
But a great performance bargain here is a Honda Jazz. Fitted with lowering springs, a Mugen(?) exhaust kit and 15's with Neovas, it really took names on a track day we had in 2005. Chased my cousin's SiR into a spin in the midfield... hehehe.
Ang pagbalik ng comeback...
the range rover sport, the amg g55 and the porsche cayenne S turbo ARE PERFORMANCE fine not cars but SUVs ... then why did they ever created these special models if not for performance? there is a normal range rover which is bigger, a normal g-wagen and a normal cayenne but why release special models like these? its for performance and for those who wants the performance and speed of a sports car but in a body of an suv ...
tpos you call the rs and type R and evo as performance cars e ganun din yun e the RS is a lynx with a 2.0 engine the type r is a civic with a slightly stronger engine and the evo, a lancer with turbo and awd
same banana to the suvs mentioned above e halos lahat naman talaga ng performance vehicles are normal cars that are slapped with bigger or stronger engine e
Last edited by kmo; May 19th, 2007 at 02:33 AM.
Hmm ... if affordable meaning 1.1 M or less, my choices would be:
1. Impreza 2.0 -- HP 150 // AWD!
2. Focus 2.0 TDCi -- HP 134 // 340 nM Torque and Diesel!
3. Civic 2.0 -- HP 155 // Honda Efficiency & Reliability
4. Mazda3 2.0 -- HP 147
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I think the thread starter needs to define exactly what he means by performance cars. He seems to already have a predefined meaning. He needs to tell us what it is although it may only be a subgroup of what's considered a performance car. At the very least, he needs to narrow it down as much as possible since many mainstream cars can be modded to or has a performance version just like what many here have said.
For example, he probably wouldn't consider a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-600 (Hennesey-modded) a performance car even though the thing has 620-turbocharged hp, 0-60 mph of 3.7 sec, quarter mile of 12.2 sec, and pulls .90g at the skidpad (Compare to a Civic Si which pulls .87g's, 0-60 mph in the mid 6 sec, and quarter mile in the upper 14's/low 15's).
Last edited by Jun aka Pekto; December 14th, 2007 at 08:30 PM.