Hybrid sports cars?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

Not looking for a sports car, but a fun minimalist car like the old CRX.

And why would you think the CRX isn't a sports car? Other than the fact that the top doesn't fold down, of course.

FWIW, I haven't owned a 4-seat car since... oh, maybe the mid-90s. And even the 4-seaters I had back then (4WD Subarus, before they started to bloat) spent most of their lives with the rear seat folded down to make a bigger cargo area.

[redpoint5]

I consider my 2-seater to be a motorcycle, and a 2-seater vehicle to be both unfun to drive compared to a motorcycle, and un-utilitarian to drive compared to any other vehicle. Perhaps it has the utility of keeping the rain off the heads of the (only 2) occupants while being as fun as possible, but it just doesn't seem like a good compromise to me.

As a single guy, I probably needed 3 or more seats twice a month, as a married guy, once a week, and as a father, every other day.

There is a market for 2-seaters, but it's very small.

[Ecky]

When I'm a father my needs will be different, but I can't think of more than a handful of times in the last decade I've needed, or event wanted more than two seats. My friends can drive their own cars. Two's company, three's a crowd.

I'll grant you that motorcycles are fun when the weather is nice, but they're seriously unfun when there is 5" of slush on the roads or when it's pouring rain.

I can move a full size dresser or book case in my Insight. I've taken 8 tires and rims to have them mounted and balanced before, and they fit in the hatch. It's nimble, lightweight, and well planted making it pretty amusing to throw around corners (for a car), even if it isn't a sports bike. The only thing it's lacking is acceleration, which I'll have fixed soon.

But yeah, I think I'm a minority. In another life I'd be one of those people who practically lived out of a Miata.

[freebeard]

My fatherhood days have come and gone. The sun-roof oval window was effectively a two seater with excessive headroom, with the front seats all the way back and a plywood deck in back.



When my son was five, he liked to ride around standing in the shot-gun seat with the sunroof open.



The Superbeetle had a single seat and L-shaped deck. aerohead got a ride in it at Bonneville. It functioned as a utility van/camper. I carried things as big as my air compressor. Sadly, it's reverting to a stock interior to resell.

The Dasher is a two-seater with a pickup bed liner in back. Basically a fast-back panel van. It has the most potential to become a mild hybrid with a 20hp altermotor (to keep it on topic).

[Angel And The Wolf]

Extra weight. Toyota had a good car in the MR2. They should bring it back with a turbo three and a Prius drive train. (Not like the CRZ, though, a REAL hybrid.)