what defines a sports car? Options

[d3ath2009]

my roommate ticked me off the other day bc he said my car is not a sports car... do i asked him how my celica wasnt a sports car and all he could say is "it just isnt".... so what r eveerybody's opinions on sports cars?

[S8S8]

Plenty of opinions in here, but I think it's near impossible to create the perfect definition of a sports car. For me, a standard Celica is not a sports car. A GT4 is, SS-II and SS-III maybe at a stretch, but none of the others.

I think some of the other posters have got it right - the Celica is a sporty car, but not a sports car.

With regards to insurance, the insurers take into account MANY things other than whether the car is a 'sports car' or not. Aside from the value of the car, premium pricing is based mainly around three things: the claims history with that type of vehicle, the claims history with the age and profile of the driver, and the claims history with where the vehicle is kept.

For a comparison, try getting a quote on a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Yes the premium will be huge because of the value of the car, but on a dollar-for-dollar basis you will find that they are often cheaper to insure than something like a Celica. There's a host of reasons behind that, but basically it comes down to claims history rather than the sportiness of the car. The average Celica driver is far more likely to damage their car than the average Ferrari driver, therefore the claim risk is lower for the insurer, and therefore on a dollar-for-dollar basis the Ferrari will generally be cheaper to insure.

Going back ten years or so, one of the most expensive cars to insure in Australia was a Hyundai Excel. One of the slowest and crappiest cars around, and definitely not a sports car - but their claims history was horrific and therefore the premiums skyrocketed.

Anyway, I'm just trying to say that people should stop talking about their car being classed as a 'sports car' by their insurer and having to pay higher insurance as a result.