First off, I'm not some Tesla loving, electric car enthusiast or someone who thinks lifted trucks are the only way to get around. In fact, most of my life I've been a pretty big car enthusiast, not only having owned several sports cars during my life, but also someone whose really enjoyed playing games like Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, and other car racing games too. I also subscribe to a dozen different car related Youtube channels. So what I'm about to say might seem a little strange, but bare with me.
I've recently been going back and forth about what my next big "fun" purchase is going to be seeing how I have the money to do something pretty exciting, or at least buy something I'd enjoy for a long time. I've considered going on a nice vacation next year, buying a pinball machine or two, or buying another sports car. I haven't owned a sports car since 2012 and the craving to have another has definitely been real recently. However, there is something there that wasn't there last time I ended up buying a G35 Coupe that i'm both proud and a little embarrassed to admit. That thing is a practical state of mind.
I don't think many would argue that buying a sports cars isn't almost entirely an emotional decision. They're small, impractical, sometimes unreliable, get bad gas mileage, and cost a lot to insure, but damn are they fun to drive...right? While I've never owned anything ridiculously fast, I have driven stuff that is and one of the things that has always bothered me is knowing how capable the car is (horsepower, 0-60 times, handling, top speed, ect), but how you'll never even come close to being able to tap into it fully on public roads. It's hard to get an open stretch of road where you can actually floor it without worrying about hitting someone or being so far over the speed limit that you're looking at jail time. Or how at least in America our roads are mostly grid-like and straight, so you rarely get a chance to get a feel for how good the car handles. So while many argue that sports cars are "fun" to drive, I'd say they can be, but the sad truth is 99% of the time you're only able to drive it like everyone else unless you're either a wreckless douchebag, want to lose your license, or have a death wish.
If a sports car's potential is so woefully inaccessible in normal, everyday driving, then why the hell do people actually buy them? Again, it seems to go back to that impractical, brain turned off, pure emotional decision. I feel like the following are the real reasons people buy sports cars:
-they want the attention that comes with it
-they love the "idea" of being able to go 200mph even though they'll never even come close to reaching that
-its a status symbol
-they're okay with spirited driving even though they know the car is only being driven at 3/10th of what it's truly capable of
-they enjoy the other sensations of driving a sports car (the noise, being low to the ground, the overall feel of the car)
Of course, people who buy sports cars can argue, "take it to a track" and while this is a valid argument it seems like a huge waste of money to buy something so expensive in order to maybe track it 1 or 2 times a year ,which if we're being honest 99.8% of the people that buy sports cars never track them, ever. And as someone who has tracked before, it is very expensive. Not only is track time expensive, but pushing a car to its limits like that often results in needing new tires way sooner than normal road driving. It's also not uncommon to need to change break pads out after a track day, as well as some post track day maintenance. Given all that, it's easy to see why few people do it or at least truly understand what all goes into tracking a sports car. Oh, and hopefully you live near a track since most people do not, at least one that's open to the public.
So with all that said, I am left to conclude that buying a sports car is likely one of the biggest wastes of money one can possibly have. About the closest you can get to justifying the purchase of a sports car is buying one that actually has real world usability like a Toyota GR86 or Miata, where the car is cheaper, not overpowered, capable when you need it to be, and gives you the sensation of speed even if you're not going fast. But still, given how impractical they still are makes it hard to grant them any sort of exemption. I still love and appreciate sports cars from an aesthetics and engineering standpoint, but owning one just comes across as being a fairly stupid, impulsive idea that is probably best avoided, unless you simply don't care about any of what I just wrote.
But for any car enthusiasts on VGcollect, what are your thoughts? Do you have a different perspective on sports car ownership, or do you agree or disagree with me on the subject? I'd be interested to see how others feel about this.