Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDudeMan
Cheap performance cars don't exist because of regulation. It's difficult for manufacturers to justify the cost to develop niche affordable sports cars. Look the the BRZ/FRS sales. These numbers just don't support the effort. In addition, when the car is released, everyone complains about everything and doesn't buy it lol.
Year sold
2012 4,144
2013 8,587
2014 7,504
2015 5,296
2016 4,141
2017 4,131
2018 3,834
2019 2,334
2020 1,746
|
I say no, it's because everyone wants a land yacht, they want 4 seats with lots of legroom, "oh I have to be able to take kids", they want a big trunk, they want lots of air conditioning, they want sunroofs, they want heated and cooled seats, they want auto transmissions, they want 20" wheels, and so on.
Even your own numbers point to the fact that it's not regulation, although as pointed out, the BRZ torque is really poor, they handicapped that car.
The 2-seat car can be built at the required weight just fine, it's just that no one wants a purely sports-car. Lots of people "say it", but they want it to cost 20-30K and be produced with economy of scale, not enough people are going to buy such a car with only enough room for 2 people and with such limited utility.
Hell, just fitting "americans" inside of the car requires massive overbuilt seats and cabin width...
And when you get that specialized and expensive, you might as well pony up for something faster and more capable, like a Cayman.
The days of the 914/6, Fiero, X 1/9, MR2 are not coming back, because no one wants it. You can buy a lightweight sports car, like a Lotus or a Morgan, you are just going to pay for it.