Originally posted by sxecrow
By only 400 lbs.
No matter how you cut it, 400 pounds is a lot of weight.
Figure a 2100lb CRX with a 180hp engine, that's a 11.6 hp/weight ratio. A 2500lb del Sol needs a 216 horsepower engine to have the same hp/weight ratio. I think that weight difference is pretty significant in most applications where absolute speed is desired.
2 door targa top, yes. I classify it as a sports car.
I guess our opinion of a sports car is different then. The del Sol is a sport compact, being that it has virtually no performance engineering at all (except for the B16A in the elusive VTEC models) and is a repackaged commuter car. It's a chopped up front wheel drive Civic, for god's sake. Nothing against the del Sol, it's a neat car, however two seats and a targa top does not make a sports car. The S2000 is a sports car, the S600 is a sports car. A del Sol is not a sports car.