If All You Want is the Look

For the most part where do we drive? We drive on the road and we have to obey a speed limit, or be somewhere close to it, unless we want to risk the possibility of a ticket. This means we don’t drive down the road at breakneck speeds or head out in a way that makes us feel like we’re racing wherever we go. The desire is to reach the destination safely, but what if you want a car that looks fast, even if it isn’t, what do you do? What you do is buy one of these models when that’s your desire.

Porsche Cayenne – The Cayenne is the longest running Porsche SUV and gives you a great look with the Porsche bade up front, but it isn’t a vehicle that you can step on the gas and expect to rocket past the rest. The time to reach sixty mph is 7.3 seconds and the top speed is 142 mph, which makes it the slowest vehicle in the Porsche lineup.

Hyundai Veloster – This is a car that was supposed to be the sports car from Hyundai, but it has become more of a great looking hatchback. With a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that only offers 132 horsepower and 120 lb.-ft. of torque that can be bumped up with the turbo engine that brings it to 201 ponies and 195 pounds of twist, this is a car that is fun to drive, but isn’t fast.

Mazda6 – The Mazda6 is the mid-sized sedan with the sporty look that comes from the Kodo design language. This car appears to want to get going in a hurry and it does have the action of the SkyActiv technology under the hood, but like many other models from this brand, this car is meant to perform and handle well, but it’s not built for speed.

Toyota Celica – Talk about a car that has the looks you want, the Celica is a car that appears to be a dynamic sports car. While you can love the look of this car, it doesn’t drive fast at all with even the Gt model using a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that only makes 140 horsepower and 12 lb.-ft. of torque.

Dodge Dart – The name says it’s quick and can cut through the air with precision, and the look is excellent, but this is the compact sedan from Dodge that’s meant more for the commuter lane than for the excitement of driving around the track at top speed. None of the engines make more than 184 horsepower and you won’t win any races in this car.

Mitsubishi Lancer GT – This car has kept the look from the Evo, but lost all the fun that made the Evo the car you wanted to drive. If you want a car that still looks like a lot of fun, without having to pay for that fun, this is the one you want to drive. The Lancer GT gives you a sporty look and feel, but not the performance.

Mazda MX-5 Miata – Yes the Miata is a sports car and yes it’s the posterchild for “zoom zoom” but it’s not fast. This car is quick off the line and gives you a dynamic drive, but with only 155 horsepower and 148 lb.-ft. of torque this is a car that will let you have the fun you want but not take itself too seriously, we should all be so lucky to drive cars like this one.

DeLorean DMC-12 – This is the Time Machine from Back to the Future and it was not fast then and it’s certainly not fast now. The challenges faced during the dark days of the automotive world made this one of its casualties because it was so underpowered. This car has the look you want with a fast back two seater roadster feel with the gullwing doors, but not much else.

Honda CR-Z – Here you have a car that was to be a hybrid that could give you good fuel mileage and more power to be the affordable Honda sports car you wanted to drive. Instead this car doesn’t do anything well except look fast. You don’t receive an impressive fuel increase and you certainly don’t have much power to enjoy in this car, but it is a car that’s a lot of fun to look at.

Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86/Scion FR-S – Yes these three are all the same car and they are sporty and great to drive. All three offer you the dynamics you want to enjoy on the road to make your everyday driving more fun, but none of them are going to compete on a track full of sports cars. The look is amazing but the speed is left wanting.