What is the difference between a Sports car and a Muscle car (whats your opinion)

[rgrizzard]

Sports Car= Smaller 2 seater, engine size does not matter. Very broad segment. From roadsters to Lambo.
Muscle Car =2+2 American V8. Sorry but the V6 doesn't count in my book. Niche market.

[c0rsa180]

The Camaro SS will undoubtedly be named a muscle car, but the camaro classifies as both a muscle car and sports car...I think we are going to have to create a new class for the Camaro...

[CamaroScotty]

Muscle cars = Chevy

Sports cars = Everthing else

[nfamous209]

Originally Posted by RSHugger

My thought... Muscle car is tire smoking, straightline action. Sports car, power but with the ability to handle the curves.

thats how i see it, sports car is great iin all categories, whereas muscle great in straight line, tire burning category, not so much handling and comfort.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Sports car = 4thgens and new Camaro
Muscle car = Older Camaros

EDIT:
Or,
ALL = Sports car
Some = called Muscle cars out of affection.

[Muscle Master]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Sports car = 4thgens and new Camaro
Muscle car = Older Camaros

EDIT:
Or,
ALL = Sports car
Some = called Muscle cars out of affection.

LoL isnt GM callling the Camaro a "Sports Coupe"

[Mr Twisty]

A sports car can avoid a brick wall with it's nimble handling, a muscle car uses it's power to drive thru the wall.

[Zhawk]

I've always seen a sports car as having only two seats.
A muscle car was one of the larger cars from the 60s/early 70s era with a large displacement engine. (Chevelle, GTO, Cutlass, GS, GSX)

Today, since all of those larger cars are gone, the Camaro can easily be called a muscle car, a sports coupe, whatever.

[69copo]

My opioion is this:
1- A sports car is a car that does many things well. Handling, Straight line exeleration and braking. It can use many different engines as handling and overall performance are the main objective. Can be a coupe or sedan (hence my CTS-V). It also uses many different lay outs (FWD,RWD,AWD) And usualy has the engine in front. Can be used on moderate to long trips. I have driven my Cadillac to Las Vegas from Cleveland and was not uncomfortable at all.
2- A muscle car is a car that is not as forgiving and usualy does Strainght line exeleration and possibly braking very well. These typically have V8 engines although some V6 an V10 can qualify. My Viper is a V10.It is usualy found as a coupe with a FE/RWD config. And not ideal for long trips but short to moderate "fun" trips. But remember the Z/28 was a handling option. Muscle cars are typicaly North American cars. We did create them! Thank you Johnny D!
3- An exotic is a combination of both. Ferrari, Lotus and Lamborghini and Aston Martin have all proven that you can have it all, if you write a big enough check, except a back seat. These are typicaly found as a ME/RWD or AWD config. These can be used for longer trips, I have driven my F430 to Canada 3 times in the past 2 years. These cars run any engine size they choose V6-V12, The NSX uses a V6 while some for the Ferrari's and Lambos use V12's. These cars also use exotic materials and have a much higher standard than mass produced vehicles.
That's just my opinion and I could be wrong.......

[AZCamaroFan]

a muscle car is all about power. a sports car is small, great handling. now older purists will say a sports car has to be a convertible. that's the way it was in the real old days.
i really loved how the 3rd and 4th gen's stepped up the looks into the sports car category. in some ways the 2nd gen did too. we know the 1970 1/2 was inspired by a Ferrari. i love the looks of the new car, but it does basically go back to "musclecar".
these days everything handles fairly well, compared to the huge cars of the 60's

[Wm Holden]

Muscle car races regular cars...not pretty.

[GreySteele06]

When Muscle cars first started you took a regular coupe OR sedan and plunked a big engine in it and hopefully a beefier rear end. They are not made to reduce the drag coefficient that most sports cars are. thats it. They are a muscle car because the only thing that set them apart from their grocery getting siblings was their "muscle". I would have to say the new camaro is "partly" a Muscle car. Part of this is why the Camaros time at the ring was not particularly any thing to write home about; the design for the drag coefficient is not there. It cannot and will never get the times of even a regular LS3 corvette because of the styling does not lend itself to being "slippery" through the air.

I would say that true Muscle cars are dead. Any manufacturer putting a big engine in a car today has thought out the car long and hard to make it more of a sports car. The only thing that comes close to being a "muscle" car in my mind are the dodge challenger and charger SRT8 because those cars were not engineered enough to put them in the sports car category. They put a huge thirsty engine in a platform that was made for other uses (read stole the underpinnings from another car)

To much time was put into the Camaro fine tuning and testing to call it a true (Damn Billy drop that big ole engine in that Buick and well see how many tires we can go through) muscle car.

I would agree w/ the sports coupe (with a muscle car history) nomenclature.

And for all the V8 chest thumping? Why dont yall catch up w/ the technology and get yourselves some direct injection...... I dont know how many times it needs to be stated: This V6 makes more power than the current Mustang GT. And the V8 guys will have the same size fuel tank as the V6 (im guessing) Have none of yall heard of the tortoise and the hare? Yall can wave to us as we pass by the gas station you are filling up at yet again....

Oh and we get the better looking bumper :-) ..... Awwwww too soon?

EDIT: the 2004 GTO was IMHO a "muscle" car ....
"The LS1: Like an idiot on Viagra they'll stick it in anything"

[DGthe3]

the difference between a muscle car and a sports car: a muscle car only needs to handle well enough to head back for a second pass at the drag strip. Sports cars might sacrifice some acceleration and engine power for better handling, but this is not always the case.

In my mind, the original Z28's were sports cars while the SS 396 was a muscle car. The new Camaro SS is a sports car

[Beelzebubba]

Originally Posted by 09'Z28

if you feel that way then let me throw this out there do classify this as a '80 sportscar? (both same car just different colors once mine's painted i'll use it for examples)
[/IMG]

That's a grand tourer.

The Datsun/Nissan Z cars ceased to be sports cars in 1979 with the introduction of the 280ZX.

Don't think of it as an insult. Other Grand Tourers include the Porsche 928, Mitsubishi 3000GT...etc...

The definition for sports car keep including "powerful engines" and acceleration.

What about sports cars like the Triumph Spitfire, MGB, and FIAT X1/9?

None of those are particularly powerful, they do not accelerate well but they all have an undeniable racing history.