Where parts

If high acceleration, top speed, and appearance are what you want in a vehicle, then a sports car is probably what you’re looking for. Sports cars are a $4.5 billion industry with about 55,000 units sold annually.

Sports cars are built as performance vehicles – meaning they are to be pushed in ways regular cars can’t. For example, acceleration is often no more than 5 seconds to go from 0 to 100 mph. As it is more difficult to manoeuvre a speeding object, sports cars are specially designed to be handled at top speeds.

The term ‘sporty’ was coined to refer to a sleek but robust design that exudes a powerful persona for the person behind the wheel. What follows is a basic run-through of sports cars out in the marketplace – their general designs and layout, as well as a listing of the more popular models and makers.

- FF – front engine, front wheel drive.

The FF layout has a moderate capacity for high speed handling and is seen in select models such as the Fiat Coup, and the Lotus Elan M100.

- FR – front engine, rear wheel drive

Considered the ‘classic’ sports car layout, the engine drives the rear wheels but keeps the weight off the back. The FR is good at drifting corners while still maintaining control. Mercedes-Benz is recognized for using this layout for its models.  Read more...

If you are a type of person who likes exotic high speed sports car, then you should prepare to spend a lot of money on gasoline. Sports cars are known to have large engines to achieve high amounts of speed. Having large engines mean that it will also consume large amounts of fuel.

For the typical person, this kind of car is definitely not something that they should drive everyday, especially because of the rising prices of gasoline. However, why do people still drool and save money to buy these expensive sports car. Maybe it is because of the high speed capability that they can take advantage of whenever they feel the need for speed, or maybe because it is because of the sleek and stylish look of these vehicles.

Hybrid technology is now being used to produce fuel efficient cars. These cars are designed to be lightweight, and aerodynamic with small engines to maximize fuel efficiency. However, hybrid cars are relatively slow because of the small engine. Hybrid cars existing today are designed for city or local driving where you do not need to go on high speeds. You have to consider that these cars are designed to be fuel efficient.

However, car manufacturers today are now opening up a new line of hybrid cars. Some already built a prototype or a concept car to be shown to the public. These hybrid cars are designed to achieve high amounts of speed but at the same time, take advantage of the hybrid technology to save fuel.  Read more...