Is the EVO and WRX STI sport sedans?

[Black Bird]

I think of them more as rally performance cars. Unless a sports sedan can be a performance car.

 

[CDailey]

They are sedans. They are sports cars. That makes them sports sedans. So I say yes.

 

[opendriver]

2 a : a 2- or 4-door automobile seating four or more persons and usually having a permanent top -- compare COUPE b : a motorboat having one passenger compartment

And well, there sporty

/thred

 

[harrytuttle]

Sports sedans. Right up there with the M3 (in terms of classification). A "sports car", as defined by Colin Chapman, is a small, lightweight, one-driver + one-passenger, well-sorted, front-engine/rear-drive, convertible top car. Power's got nothing to do with it. Morgans, Austin-Healy's, MG's...all classic examples of sports cars.

Funny, though, they're all British and really old....

 

[Dougboy]

I think of them more as rally performance cars. Unless a sports sedan can be a performance car.

and who said rally performance cars cant be sports sedans?

 

[samj_13]

The WRX and Evo are near perfect examples of sport sedans. Why? Well, for one thing, they're sedans (they have 4 doors and a trunk(boot)). Cross off sedan from the list.

Now the sport part. The WRX and Evo both have great success in the auto racing world. They both have been juggernauts in rally racing, and both make for excellent autocross cars. The WRX is used in the JGTC, and the Evo is a potentially great drifter. Both cars have 300+bhp engines, 4 Wheel Drive, and both have huge spoilers. But a spoiler doesn't nessesarily mean they are fast, but they are. Both are fast, nearly on par with the Supra and the Skyline.

Cross off sport from the list.

So, both of them are sport sedans! 👍

 

[red70mach1]

Sport sedan for the masses. Not like the high luxury examples from the German automakers.

 

[toyomatt84]

If it makes you feel any better, you could call them Sport Saloons, like some other countries do.

 

[Wolfe]

Sports Sedan.

They're sporty, and they're sedans. Like everyone else here, I don't see what the problem is.

Unless a sports sedan can be a performance car.

Who said it couldn't? In fact, how could a car be called a "Sports Sedan" if there's nothing performance-oriented about it?

 

[G.T]

They are sedans. They are sports cars. That makes them sports sedans. So I say yes.

What I was about to say. 👍

 

[1X83Z]

I've always defined "sport sedan" as having a bit of a premium flair - like the 3-series, or the A4 - but the premium portion of the definition has been blurred in recent years by vehicles like the Nissan Altima V6 and Honda Accord V6, which have the spec and the power to run with vehicles like the 3-series. To me, though, the Evolution and STi are too hard to be sport sedans - I personally consider them "performance cars."

 

[TS]

Sport Sedans, just not on the same level as the 3-Series or anything else from Germany.

 

[skip0110]

Compact sport sedans, but yes, sport sedans IMO.

 

[F1GTR]

They aren't sport sedans. They're matter transporting machines.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well I think it is a title that is open to one's personal definition of "sport sedan," and by my accounts, it is a no. While the cars certainly are sedans in the sense that they have four doors and do without a rear hatch, but I would call them "sport compacts" by days end.

Simply put, the cars aren't big enough. If they were bigger, say the size of the Legacy, sure I'd call them "sport sedans," but limitations placed uppon them by size put them out of a category dominated by models such as the Chrysler 300C, Cadillac CTS-V, BMW 335i, Infiniti G35 6MT, etc.

 

[1X83Z]

You'd call the Chrysler 300C a sport sedan?!

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, sport in the sense of "thats a pretty fast car for being so big" type of thing. Granted, its no M5, but hey... It is technically a part of the same group...

 

[Wolfe]

When I think "sports sedan" I think of a car that's 3-series-size or larger, with RWD/AWD and 4 doors (2-door versions of 4-door cars also count, a la M3 and Skyline GT-R), and some amount of "premium-ness" to it.

On the other hand, when I think "sports compact" the Evo and the WRX are two of the first ones to pop into my head, mainly because they're among the very best of the bunch.

However, that's just what pops into my head when I hear each term. In my opinion, the WRX and Evo fit the definitions of both categories.

 

[Pupik]

Personally: A sport sedan has the reflexes and power of a sports car, 4 or more doors, a bit of luxury that mainstream cars don't have, and has back seats that fit average-sized without complaints.

The definition is blurring a bit since the term came about in the mid-1980s, but that's what I stick with.

I don't think adults would like to sit in the backseat of a Lexus IS, Evolution, or WRX, maintly because the rear seats are quite cramped. There's that ungraceful exit, as well. But for the twenty or thirty-something that has a child or two (or one on the way), you get the sports-car you wanted with the practicality you need, so I'd never call the extra 2 doors superfluous.

You'd call the Chrysler 300C a sport sedan?!

Yes, but at the entry level; again the line blurs because a Honda Accord V6 is competition for a 300C, yet few auto writers would call it a sport sedan.

 

[Black Bird]

The WRX and Evo are near perfect examples of sport sedans. Why? Well, for one thing, they're sedans (they have 4 doors and a trunk(boot)). Cross off sedan from the list.

Now the sport part. The WRX and Evo both have great success in the auto racing world. They both have been juggernauts in rally racing, and both make for excellent autocross cars. The WRX is used in the JGTC, and the Evo is a potentially great drifter. Both cars have 300+bhp engines, 4 Wheel Drive, and both have huge spoilers. But a spoiler doesn't nessesarily mean they are fast, but they are. Both are fast, nearly on par with the Supra and the Skyline.

Cross off sport from the list.

So, both of them are sport sedans! 👍

You mean GTR right? A skyline is just a sedan.

 

[1X83Z]

To me, the 300C is way too large to be a sport sedan - I realize it has some degree of athleticism (mostly due to its engine, and not its handling) but do you guys realize that it's as long as a Chevrolet Tahoe and weighs more than the Jaguar XJ8?

 

[Danny]

My opinion-

Evo, Impreza, Mazdaspeed 6=Sport Sedans
300C (SRT-8), Quattroporte, E55 and upwards=Supersaloon.

Supersaloon being cars that aren't as fast off the mark as the above, but could whoop them at higher speed. Supersaloons are fast in general.

 

[JCE]

There is no way that Chrysler product is a super anything. It's just a cheap V8 RWD saloon car. Also, there is almost zero luxury in that car...and before you say there is compare the the 300C SRT8 with anything German in it's class. I can't stand people (mostly 300 owners like my boss) who constantly classify the 300 as a "luxury car" when it isn't.

 

[TopHat]

You'd call the Chrysler 300C a sport sedan?!

As others have said, with the V6 it is, but IMO the 300c becomes a Full Size Muscle Car once you have that HEMI infront of you.

 

[JCE]

As others have said, with the V6 it is, but IMO the 300c becomes a Full Size Muscle Car once you have that HEMI infront of you.

Yes, I actually agree. The touring 300 with the V6 and AWD is to me a sport saloon. But once you stuff the V8 in it--it is now a muscle car.

 

[harrytuttle]

Well, sport in the sense of "thats a pretty fast car for being so big" type of thing. Granted, its no M5, but hey... It is technically a part of the same group...

By the same definition, so are Bentley's. Who, ironically enough, probably set the standard for Britain's interpretation for "sports car" over 80 years ago.

 

[YSSMAN]

The 300C, a luxury car? I'd call it more of a "near-luxury" car than anything else, despite the fact that they are technically supposed to be competing with Cadillac. But after the "collapse" of Chrysler in the late '80s and early '90s, the Chrysler brand was scaled back more to do battle with companies like Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Buick than anything else. Which is sad really, as there was a point in time in which Chrysler and it's spin-off brands such as DeSoto and Imperial were considered to be worldwide standards.

The 300C today is a great car, there really isn't any way around it. But the car feels very "cheap" to me, even when compared to lesser models from other companies. But, the car is still a screaming deal in any form. Although I would generally consider the "standard" 300C to be more of a Brad-type car, the 300C SRT-8 is an impressive model as well. But for those prices and that level of performance, I'd much rather go with the "lesser" Magnum and Charger SRT-8s... Or spend a few more dollars and go with the CTS-V.

---

Either way, the standard sport sedan by which all things are measured continues to be the BMW 3-series. Does that mean that the Evolution and WRX get into that group? I still say no, but it is certainly open to one's own opinion...

 

[Wolfe]

Despite its price, the 300C is something I imagine rappers driving. Not soccer moms or white guys who work in a cubicle. To me, it's very much a "luxury" car, no matter how luxurious it really is.

 

[1X83Z]

The Chrysler 300 is a 'large sedan,' like the Dodge Magnum, Toyota Avalon, and Ford Crown Victoria. You can't call the 3.5-liter version a "sport sedan" - it's slower than hell and not well-specced! No no no!

 

[TopHat]

Actually, the V6 300 moves quite well for its weight.
Also, why does ford use such inefficient engines?