Sport compact
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A sport compact is a high-performance version of a compact car or a subcompact car. They are typically are front engined, front-wheel drive coupés, sedans, or hatchbacks driven by a straight-4 gasoline engine. Typical sport compacts include the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Honda Civic Si, Volkswagen GTI, Ford Contour SVT, and, more recently, the Focus SVT, the Mazdaspeed 3, the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, the Honda Prelude, the Scion tC TRD, and the Dodge SRT-4.
The design philosophy of a sport compact sharply contrasts with those of 'true' sports cars. Sports cars are designed with a performance-oriented philosophy, often compromising cargo space, seating, gas mileage, (daily) driveability, and reliability. A sport compact is usually designed with a practical design philosophy and profit in mind. This philosophy has led to several compromises when it comes to performance, such as front wheel drive, conservative engine design, and platform sharing.[citation needed] Electronic control units are also programmed for optimal gas mileage.[citation needed]
Performance-oriented sport compacts focus on improving handling and increasing engine efficiency, rather than increasing engine size or conversion to rear-wheel drive. For example, the Celica GT-S and Civic Si are both sport compacts that produce 100 hp/ L of displacement, and have handling superior to their stock trims and other cars in its price range.
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[edit] Classification and debate
The exact definition of a sport compact remains a subject of debate. Some believe that any 4-cylinder compact car falls into this category, clearly placing cars such as the Nissan 240SX or Acura Integra in the sport compact category. However, the Lotus Esprit was offered with a 4-cylinder engine that produced greater than 100 horsepower per litre engine displacement -- a feat achieved only by exotic supercars at the time. Today, its performance is largely eclipsed by high performance versions of compact cars such as the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Volkswagen R32 or the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. As in most automotive jargon, the category "sports compact" is not precise.
Nevertheless, the designation of the "sport compact" is generally reserved for the higher-performance versions of common, lower-performance compact and economy vehicles. A car that is specifically designed to be a performance automobile (a sports car such as grand tourer or an exotic supercar) may also be compact in size, but is clearly delineated from an ordinary compact by manufacturer's performance intent. Thus, a "sports car" is a car specifically intended to provide elevated vehicle performance. The "sports compact", on the other hand, is a compact car that has been improved (by owner or manufacturer) to provide an elevated degree of vehicle performance over the base version of the car.
Note that the debate is often confused by arguments of power, since engine power is a clear indication of straight-line acceleration performance. However, categorization by number of engine cylinders, the addition of forced induction, or even an arbitrary horsepower reference does not provide clearer categorization. This is due to the rapidly advancing performance capability of new sport compact cars as compared to yesterday's supercars. Cars such as the Toyota Supra, Acura NSX, Lotus Elise, and the Nissan Skyline clearly fall into a different market segment than even the highest performance production versions of the Honda Civic and specifically prepared post-production-tuned automobiles.
Despite this, Sport Compact Car Magazine often contains articles on the Toyota Supra, Nissan 350Z, Honda S2000, Lotus Elise, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, in addition to other sport compacts.
[edit] Tuning
It has become fairly popular to modify or customize a sport compact, commonly referred to as tuning. This has given rise to the term "tuner" for the owners of modified sport compacts (and other vehicle classes), and by extension, their automobiles. As with trucks and other vehicle categories, there is a large market for performance-enhancing equipment designed to fit small cars. Unfortunately, "tuning" is a term that is also symbolized by cosmetic and non-performance related vehicle modifications. It is the subject of some controversy whether to recognize a compact "tuner" car that has been modified to offer lesser vehicle performance than a "sport compact".
Restoration of a Japanese import to its JDM specifications (or J-Spec) has become a fairly popular modification for many tuners in North America. It is quite common for Japanese automakers to produce or export less powerful versions of their models to the North American market. The common exception to this is the 1993-1998 Toyota Supra which received a more powerful engine for US export due to the "Gentleman's Agreement" in Japan. Such modifications usually involve swapping engines and transmissions. Popular examples include the conversion of parts from a JDM Silvia onto a USDM Nissan 240SX, or replacing JDM Honda parts and equipment (such as from a Civic Type-R) onto a United States Domestic Market USDM Honda Civic. Most Hondas are particularly good examples of this because of the cost saving "parts bin" designing used at Honda. To save production costs many high-end production equipment use the same or similar mounting locations as a cheaper or lower-performance alternative. These modifications can also be cosmetic, such as the replacement of the front fascia or rear spoiler with its JDM counterpart.
[edit] Motorsport
Small cars with high power ratings can be formidable racing vehicles. The Sports Car Club of America SCCA has long hosted races for compact cars. More recently, sport compacts have become so popular that the National Hot Rod Association NHRA (http://www.nhrasportcompact.com) and the Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) (www.andra.com.au) now have special classes for sport compact racing.
ANDRA has no less than 7 dedicated classes catering for the popularity of Sport Compact Drag Racing: 1 - Pro Rear Wheel Drive 2 - Sport Modified 3 - OZ Modified 4 - Front Runner 5 - All Motor 6 - Sport Rear Wheel Drive 7 - Sport Front Wheel Drive
All these classes are officially sanctioned by ANDRA and are recognised through a series of successful events and National Records (www.andra.com.au)
Some highly modified sport compact dragsters can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than four seconds.[1]
Sport compacts are fairly popular for autocross competitions. The Acura Integra, Toyota Celica, and MINI Cooper are some of the more successful sport compacts within their classes.
It is also worth noting that sport compact cars have been the backbone of the latest motorsport discipline to emerge - drifting - since its beginnings.
[edit] Market trends
Sport compacts remain one of the largest segments of the performance car market in Europe and Japan, and is seeing a resurgence in North America after declining sales in the 1990s.
Manufacturers such as Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru have continued to release new generations of modestly priced sport compacts, such as the Honda Civic Si, Mazdaspeed 3, and the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V.
General Motors and other American companies has responded with the Saturn Ion Redline, the Pontiac G5 GT, and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and SS/Supercharged. Dodge also offers the Caliber SRT-4, high performance versions of their respective models.
European manufacturers have long offered multiple high-performance compacts. These are called hot hatches or warm hatches depending on engine power. They include the VW Golf GTI, Peugeot 206 RC and Peugeot 207 RC and Renault Clio V6.
