{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A performance car is a car that exhibits above-average capabilities in one or more of the following areas:
acceleration
In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by t ...
braking
A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction.
Backgroun ...
. It is debated how much performance is required to move classification from standard to high performance.
Classification
Further classification of performance cars is possible in the following categories:
*
Grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wh ...
— a
luxury
Luxury may refer to:
* Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises
*Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars
**Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
performance car designed for high speed and long-distance driving
*
Hot hatch
A hot hatch (shortened from hot hatchback) is a high-performance hatchback car.
The term originated in the mid-1980s; however, factory high-performance versions of hatchbacks have been produced since the 1970s.
Front-mounted petrol engines, ...
— a high-performance version of mass-produced hatchback model
*
Muscle car
Muscle car is a description according to '' Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' that came to use in 1966 for "a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The '' Britannica Dictionary'' ...
— a large American
rear-wheel drive
Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars.
Most rear-wheel ...
car with a
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...
*
Sports sedan
A sports sedan (also known as sports saloon in British English) is a subjective term for a sedan car that is designed to have sporting performance or handling characteristics.
History
The term was originally introduced in the 1930s an ...
Supercar
A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...
— an expensive high-end sports car, with '' hypercars'' being the most expensive and fastest supercars.
Gallery
File:2012-03-07 Motorshow Geneva 4528.JPG ,
Aston Martin DBS V12
The Aston Martin DBS is a high-performance grand tourer based on the DB9 and manufactured by the British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin.
Aston Martin has used the DBS name once before on their 1967–72 grand tourer coupé. The ...
- grand tourer
File:2017 Volkswagen Golf GTi TSi 2.0 Front.jpg ,
Volkswagen Golf GTI
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
- hot hatch
File:BMW M5 Competition IMG 0799.jpg ,
BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a high performance variant of the BMW 5 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand. It is considered an iconic vehicle in the sports sedan category. The majority of M5s have been produced in the sedan (saloon) body style, but in so ...
- sports sedan
File:Ferrari 488 Pista Genf 2018.jpg ,
Ferrari 488 Pista
The Ferrari 488 (Type F142M) is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car replaced the 458, being the first mid-engine Ferrari to use a turbocharged V8 since the F40. It was succeeded by the Ferra ...
Pontiac GTO
The Pontiac GTO is an automobile that was manufactured by American automaker Pontiac from 1963 to 1974 for the 1964 to 1974 model years, and by GM's subsidiary Holden in Australia for the 2004 to 2006 model years.
The first generation of the G ...