Most mass market manufacturers use the 'sport' tag for their modified production cars, trucks and vans, but these are not sports cars. In order to establish the 3 best sports cars of 2011, we need to define what a sports car is.
A sports car is normally defined as a two seat automobile designed for speed and handling. Typically there are few luxuries and creature comforts, but these are traded for light weight and better performance.
There are 3 types of sports car manufacturer, the supercar makers like Ferrari, Bugatti and Lamborghini, the specialized sports car company like Panoz and McLaren and the mass manufacturers like Chevrolet and Ford, who make sports cars as part of a wider range.
Supercar manufacturers tend to use expensive materials such as carbon fiber and produce their vehicles to a limited number to make them even more exclusive. One of the best and most recent of these is the Ferrari 458 Italia. It was first introduced in autumn 2009 as a replacement for the 430. It has a bonded aluminum chassis and uses carbon fiber throughout, so is unashamedly expensive.
Sports cars from high volume manufacturers like Ford, BMW and Chevrolet are much less expensive. The best of these cars is the Ford Mustang, and not only because of the car's illustrious history. Ford has revised the engines for 2011 but retained the body styling. The entry model, called the V6, produces 305bhp from its 3.7 liter engine and provides 19 miles per gallon for city driving and 31 mpg on the highway. Although that doesn't sound attractive, it's pretty good in comparison to the Ferrari 458, which gives a combined 20 miles to the gallon.
The other type of sports car manufacturer is the specialist, such as Panoz and McLaren. Neither launch new vehicles as often as the mass market or supercar manufacturers, but this year McLaren will unveil the MP4-12C. It's powered by a turbo charged 3.8 liter V8 which produces 592bhp, so is expected to rival the Ferrari 458 for performance.
A sports car is normally defined as a two seat automobile designed for speed and handling. Typically there are few luxuries and creature comforts, but these are traded for light weight and better performance.
There are 3 types of sports car manufacturer, the supercar makers like Ferrari, Bugatti and Lamborghini, the specialized sports car company like Panoz and McLaren and the mass manufacturers like Chevrolet and Ford, who make sports cars as part of a wider range.
Supercar manufacturers tend to use expensive materials such as carbon fiber and produce their vehicles to a limited number to make them even more exclusive. One of the best and most recent of these is the Ferrari 458 Italia. It was first introduced in autumn 2009 as a replacement for the 430. It has a bonded aluminum chassis and uses carbon fiber throughout, so is unashamedly expensive.
Sports cars from high volume manufacturers like Ford, BMW and Chevrolet are much less expensive. The best of these cars is the Ford Mustang, and not only because of the car's illustrious history. Ford has revised the engines for 2011 but retained the body styling. The entry model, called the V6, produces 305bhp from its 3.7 liter engine and provides 19 miles per gallon for city driving and 31 mpg on the highway. Although that doesn't sound attractive, it's pretty good in comparison to the Ferrari 458, which gives a combined 20 miles to the gallon.
The other type of sports car manufacturer is the specialist, such as Panoz and McLaren. Neither launch new vehicles as often as the mass market or supercar manufacturers, but this year McLaren will unveil the MP4-12C. It's powered by a turbo charged 3.8 liter V8 which produces 592bhp, so is expected to rival the Ferrari 458 for performance.
