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...