RomanMoise

Ms.Ingram
UWRT1103009
14October2015
WhatsASupercar,Actually?

Whatdefinesamodernsupercar?Ibelieve
thatnowinthisdayandagethere
aremanytypes,brands,makes,andmodelsofcarsthataregreat.Manypeople
categorizelotsofcarsasasupercar,butisitreally?Differentdefinitionsoftheword
willencompassdifferentcarsandtheemotionstheyevokewhenseenand/ordriven.
Becauseofthis,manydebateshavegeneratedarguingaboutthetopic.Ithinktheterm
supercarisdefinedasacarthatcapturesthemindsandthoughtsofanyonewho
looksatit.Itisacarthatisutterlyoutrageous,andnotextremelypractical.Withthis
wowfactor,alsocomesanoutrageouspricethatonlytheuberrichcanafford.They
werethecarsonchildrensbedroomwalls,andtheyarenowthecarsthatthosevery
peoplecanonlydreamabouthaving.
Thebirthofthesupercarismuchmoresimplethandefiningwhatitisnow.The
termsupercarstartedtobecomepopularwhencompanieslikeFerrariandjaguar
startedproducingcarsthatwerenotonlymeantforroaduse,butalsomotorsport
competition.Inthelate50sandearly60s,carsliketheMercedes300slandtheJaguar
Etypefeaturednotonlystrikingdesign,buttheywereraceproventobeveryfast.It
wasaroundthistimethatthephraseWinonSunday,sellonMondaywascoinedin
America.Thismeantthatmanufacturersdevelopedandbuiltcarsthattheywouldtake

toraceonSundays,andhavetheroadlegalcounterpartsofthemavailabletosellin
dealershipsonMonday.Thisprovedtobeverytrueforthewinnersoftheraces.
CompanieslikeShelbyandFerrarigainedtheirracingpedigree.Thisphrasestill
translatestocarstoday.TheGTracingseries,oneofthemostpopularintheworld,
featurescarslikethetheFerrari458GT3,theLamborghiniHuracanGT3,orthe
Porsche911RSR,allofwhichhaveverysimilarlookingroadgoingcounterparts.The
supercargenrecontinuedtoexpandthroughoutthe70s,butinthe80s,tookabigleap
forward.MotorsportsbegantoboomwiththeadvancesinGTracing,LeMans
Prototyperacing,F1racing,andtheintroductionoftheGroupBrallyseries.Thisis
wherecarsliketheFordrs200,FerrariF40,Ferrari288GTO,LamborghiniCountach
andotherlegendarysupercarsgottheirinspirationandbeginning.Thesecarswere
low,wide,sleek,midengined,overengineeredmasterpiecesthatstillcaptivateminds
tothisday.
Ithinksupercarhastraitstheyareunique,expensive,fast,andgoodlooking.Its
importantthatitisnotjustfast,orjustexpensive,orjustunique,butacombinationofall
ofthesethings.Specializedcarsthatonlyhaveacouple(orless)traitsarenot
supercars.Forexample,theNissanGTR.TheGTRisisatechnologicallyadvanced,
extremelyfast,rocketofacar.Manymaycallitsuper,butitstrueplaceisasa(very
fast)sportscar.Why?Becauseotherthanthefactthatitsfast,ithasnootherunique
features.Thepriceisjustnowgoingover$100,000whichisnothingcomparedtoother
supercars.Itdoesntlookparticularlyspecialandtherearealotofthemaround.When
mostpeopleseeone,itwonthavethesamewowfactoras,say,aLamborghini

Eogista,whichlookslikeanalienspaceship.
Jalopnik.com
("WhatIsaSupercar,
Really?")
summarizesitperfectly:

I think, then, that it is the combination of factors the amalgamation of

competing forces into a single product that makes a supercar super. And in no
particular amount is anyone truly necessary, though supercars often share certain
aspects(highprice,lownumberofseats).
Cars like the 911 Turbo, the NissanGTR,and trackbuiltweaponsliketheAriel
Atom are, by contrast, deeply concernedwithaconcretejustificationforexistence.They
work to showyoutheir valueyouarepayingfor performance,forsomethingfast.That's
notasupercar,it'sjustareallyfastcar.

Usually uniqueness goes hand in hand with exclusivity, butexclusivityalonedoes not

make a supercar, no matter how much the car is liked. The 1,386 Cadillac CTSV
wagons are highly coveted cars inthe realmofautomotiveenthusiastsbecauseoftheir
looks, power and especially their exclusivity,but are still notsupercarsbecause ofthe
fact that it
wasnt designed to be one
("Cadillac CTSV"). In contrast cars like the
Lamborghini Reventonand Veneno,FordGT, FerrariEnzo andLaFerrari, McLaren P1
orPorsche918whichareextremelylimitedproductionsupercars.
One of the biggest reasons why most modern sports cars are not supercars is
simply because of their performance level. Many claim that the Ferrari 458 Italia is a
supercar, but forget that there is a car currently made by the same manufacturerthat
basically 1ups it onevery levelcalledtheLaFerrari.Whileitisimportantforthecarto
be near the top of the product line, It does not need to be at theexactlyattop of the
line. Oneoff makes like the Ferrari FXX and FXXK may be faster than the 458 and
LaFerrari, but they fall under the categoryof track cars, much like thetheArielAtom
500orthePaganiZondaRevolucion.

Supercarsshouldnotbegood,practicalcars.Alotofthemostlovedsupercarsin

theautomotivecommunityareimperfect,nomatterhowdazzlingtheylook.Theyeach
havetheirownquirksandthingsthatmakethemuniqueandspecial,asRaphaelOrlove
("TheFerrari458IsNotASupercar")
statesSupercarsareallaboutbeingabsurd,
impractical,andextreme.Truesupercarsaresomuchmorethanregularfamilyhaulers
thattheydon'tevenseemlikecarsanymore.Forexample,thetypicalfamilysedanhas
ampleheadandlegroom,lotsofstoragespace,goodvisibility,andisrelativelyeasyto
repair.Thisisnotthecaseformanysupercars.Lotsofsupercarsaresmall(er)than
mostthink),sotheyendupbeingprettycrampedforbiggerpeople,andthemostyou
canputinatypicaltrunk/frunk/storagespaceisacouplegrocerybags.
Howeverblurrythesupercarlineistoday,itwillonlycontinuetogetblurrier.
Today,thebigthreehypercarsthatareconsideredthethreefastestsupercarsyoucan
get.Whileallbeingdifferentinmanyrespects,thePorsche918,McLarenP1,andthe
FerrariLaFerrariallshareonething,hybridpowertrains.Thismeansthatalongsidetheir
v8sandv12(respectively)theyhaveelectricmotorsthatruntogivethecarsextra
horsepowerandtorque.ThePorsche918inparticularusesnotone,buttwodifferent
electricmotorsonthefrontandrearaxlealongsideits4.8literv8enginetogiveit
allwheeldrive.Whilethehybridtechnologyusedinthesethreecarsderivesfromrace
cars,thewayithastrickleddowntosupercarswillalsohappentomorenormalcars.
Newtechnologybeingdevelopedeveryyearmeansthatthebarcanalwaysberaised
byanyonewhohasenoughresourcestopushthephysicalandpsychologicalbarriers
ofthepreconceivednotionsofwhatpeoplebelievetobepossibleincarstoday.

CompanieslikeTeslaarealreadydoingthis.TheTeslaModelSisanelectriconly
luxurysedanthatoutperformssomemodernbigmusclecars.Itwontbelonguntil
allelectricsupercarsbecomeavailableeither.PorschethisyearattheFrankfurtMotor
ShowunveiledanewconceptsportscarcalledtheMissionEthathastwoelectric
motorsthatmake600horsepowertoallfourwheels,whilestillmaintaininga310mile
range.
Inconclusion,Ithinkthetitleofsupercarshouldbegiventocarslikethebig
threehypercars,AllKoenigseggs,Paganisandothercarsoftheliketostay.Every
supercarhasdiscernabletraits
theyareunique,expensive,fast,andgoodlooking.But
itisimportantthatitisnotjustfast,orjustexpensive,orjustunique,butacombination
ofallofthetraits.Supercarsmustalsobetopofthelineperformancecars.Ifnot,they
arejustaglorifiedsportscar.Mostofall,asupercarshoulddemandeveryone's
attention.Nomatterwhattheemotion,Itmustatleastevokeoneineveryone.

WorksCited
"CadillacCTSV."
Wikipedia
.WikimediaFoundation,n.d.Web.05May2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_CTSV#CTSV_Sport_Wagon>.
"Discussion:WhatMakesASupercar?Speedhunters."
Speedhunters
.Speedhunters,22Apr.
2013.Web.03Mar.2015.
<http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/04/discussionwhatmakesasupercar/>.
"ExtremePowerforExtremeDrivingThrills."
Cars:AlltheFerrarisfrom1947toToday
.
Ferrari,n.d.Web.05May2015.
Orlove,Raphael."TheFerrari458IsNotASupercar."
Jalopnik
.N.p.,5Sept.2013.Web.03
Apr.2015.
Orlove,Raphael."IsYourCarASupercar?"
Jalopnik
.N.p.,9May2013.Web.01Mar.2015.
<http://jalopnik.com/isyourcarasupercar499050409>.
Perkins,Chris."WhyTheFerrariTestarossaIsn'tASupercar."
Jalopnik
.N.p.,23Oct.2014.
Web.01Mar.2015.
<http://jalopnik.com/whytheferraritestarossaisntasupercar1649962437>.
"WhatIsaSupercar,Really?"
Oppositelock
.Jalopnik,13Sept.2013.Web.03Mar.2015.
<http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/whatisasupercarreally1309026861>.
"WhatMakesaSupercaraSupercar?"
Complex
.N.p.,n.d.Web.03Mar.2015.
<http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/06/whatisdefinitionofsupercar/>.
"What'sASupercar?TheDebateRagesOnAFTER/DRIVE."
YouTube
.YouTube,27Feb.
2014.Web.03Mar.2015.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qjJ6pvkypM>.