Sport Compact - Classification and Debate

Classification and Debate

The exact definition of a sport compact remains a subject of debate. Some believe that any sporty compact car falls into this category. As with most automotive language, the category "sports compact" is not precise.

However, as the term "compact car" is a largely North American term and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a "compact" car as measuring between 100 cubic feet (2.8 m3) and 109 cubic feet (3.1 m3) of combined passenger and cargo volume capacity, the term compact is defined precisely in the US. A sports car such as a Lotus Esprit or Nissan 370Z is defined as a two-seater. It should not be a considered a sport compact, as it has the same length as many compacts, and a modest back seat is required for a car to be a compact. On the other hand, subcompact cars definitely are considered sport compacts, probably because the term "sport subcompact" is too awkward. In either case, they are vehicles that four full-sized adults could ride in on a trip across town, but they would not want to ride in on a longer trip. A mini-compact car such as a Porsche 911 does not have a rear seat big enough that full sized adults would even want to ride across town in. They are not sport compact cars either, just sports cars with miniature seats in the back. Sport compact cars in the US have always included six-cylinder cars as well as four-cylinder cars, from the V-6 Buick Skyhawk of the 1970s to the Citation X-11 in the 1980s, and the Cavalier Z-24 in the 1990s, just to name a few GM examples. A four-cylinder engine is clearly not a requirement. Of course if a sports car maker made a subcompact or compact model it should still be considered a sport compact.

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 sports car) 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 sports cars. 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.

Motor Trend often have sport compact road tests, and their 2009 group included the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge Caliber SRT4, Honda Civic Si, Mazdaspeed3, Mini Clubman S, Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart, Subaru Impreza WRX, and Volkswagen GTI.