Hooray For Sports Cars!

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

With all of the blog talk on the Tokyo Motor Show lately, I just wanted to share my two cents.

Many sports car purists (myself included) have been disappointed by the massive slowdown of sports cars being produced. This slow down has been timed impeccably with the rise of eco cars, kei cars and overall cars that I would classify as practical and boring when compared to sports cars. As some of you can tell, I’ve been at times worried that sports car tuning is being gradually replaced with more “practical” and “eco” cars and the tuning that comes with them.

The trends have been validating my fears for the past couple of years and seeing my idol tuners like Top Secret switch new R&D to the Prius and Insight only brought that idea home more.

But I get the feeling like we’ve just reached a turning point for the better.

Nobody understands market trends and demands better than the car manufacturers. Their interpretation of future demand is highly refined because due to costly production cycles their success entirely depends on it. As such, when new models are released you can see clearly where they are betting their own money on what the future will be.

Bet On Sports Cars.

I love the news I’m hearing about the Toyota/Subaru FT-86 (lightweight FR w/ STi Variant!). I love what I’m hearing about the Honda CR-Z (6MT!). And I continue to love the fact that the Lexus LF-A will somewhat soon be seen on the streets after a seemingly endless round of concept cars.

The long term success of the sports car tuning world will depend greatly on winning over the next generation of car enthusisasts to find sports cars as cool as we find them now. In my opinion, that battle was slowly being lost in Japan but now Toyota and Honda I feel are about to change the momentum drastically. The accessibility of quality sports cars is what will make the FT-86 and the CR-Z capture the imaginations of the next generation of tuners. Its like the 1980s with the AE86 and the CR-X all over again, only this time with cross platform sharing and hybrid engines.

Without a doubt eco car tuning will continue to grow as well, which I’m all for. I’m just really pleased to see that Honda and Toyota are prepared to keep sports car passion and tuning alive so that eco tuning can thrive alongside sports car tuning rather than replacing it.