Best Sports Cars 2011 – 2012

Thinking about Top Ten Best Sports Cars 2011 – 2012? The stylish, sexy, sleek, streamlined, spirited and speed demon are all words used to describe sports cars, which are essentially two-door automobiles that are designed for high speeds, great power and smashing good looks.Sports cars are fantastic are they not? But the conception of sports cars for the public has not been around since the start of the modern car industry. In fact, the concept of modern sports cars is pretty new. It was the Italian manufacturer, Enzo Ferrari, who thought of the idea and produced the first super car for the public in 1929.

The manufacture of the modern-day sports car began only after 1945, when the economy started booming, technology developed dramatically and better roads were being built. They came in various shapes like convertibles, roadsters, coupes, grand tourers and sedans. Sports-car lovers are either devoted to timeless classics that have been souped up for current times, or are trendsetters looking for the latest kind of exotic car.

Ask any car enthusiast and they can likely give you a dozen or so of list of the top best sports cars ever made. You would think that the new ones are worth buying but the highly coveted ones were manufactured way back.

Check out my top picks of the best sports car ever made:

1. Lotus Elise Series 2

If you are going to buy a car to impress your friends, this will certainly evoke a lot of bells and whistles. It has an imposing and aggressive design that will stand out when included in an array of cars. If you have a penchant for small cars, this one combines a small frame with super performance that can go up to 60mph in just 4.7 seconds.

2. Porsche 911

This brand of car has perpetually been raising the bars when it comes to quality, design and performance. The 911 model is one of the best Porsche has to offer. Every inch speaks of being a sports vehicle meant for full speed racing. How fast can it go? It can travel up to 60mph in 4 seconds.

3. Nissan Skyline

Nissan is one of the front runners in the racing car business most especially in Japan. This one has a rather tamed look compared to the previous models but it has very low suspension that enables it to round those sharp corners with ease. It can also go for as far as 60mph in just 4 seconds.

4. Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

For something that is a little bit classic, this model of Aston Martin is definitely a good choice. It was first introduced to the car loving public way back in 1960. You will love its vintage look with its rounded hood. And despite the fact that it is vintage, performance-wise, it is still one to impress. It can go as far as 60mpg in a little over 6 seconds. In its time, it was probably the king of the road.

5. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

If you intend to woo ladies with your car, this is a good choice. It has two doors with an aggressive and impressive sleek design. It was coined as the fastest car that uses automatic transmission in the whole world. It can run for as fast as 60mph in just 3.1 seconds.

6. Lamborghini Diablo

The name alone sounds daunting. The over-all look of this car fits nicely in any car racing scenario. Maybe it is not as fast as the previous car but it can hold its own with its speed of 60mph in just 4.1 seconds. But this one will surely bust the bank.

7. Bugatti Veyron

You would love this if you are after speed. Its maximum speed can go as high as 60mph in just 2.46 seconds beating the record of Mercedes Benz. However, it holds not the fastest but the best acceleration award.

8. AC Cobra 427

This classic will surely impress the girls. Did you know that road speed limits where introduced in the UK mainly because of this car? It runs up to 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds.

9. Dodge Viper

This one is a star and a show stopper. It may look familiar as it has been in quite a lot of television shows and movies already. With its speed of 60mph in just 4 seconds, who needs jets?

10. Porsche Carrera GT

Clearly Porsche hold the torch when it comes to car racing and this one proves that to be true. It can give you speed with its 3.9 seconds record for 60mph.

From powerful purring beauties like the Mercedes Benz SLK 350 to thundering thrillers like the Ford Mustang V-8, you can choose a sports car that matches your personality. In fact, sports cars are as much about personality as they are about performance – smooth aerodynamic bodies of carbon fiber, chrome pipes and fittings, rich leather upholstery, wide wheels, shiny wooden panels and snazzy paint jobs.

Enzo Ferrari was the pioneer of the modern sports car sector, but it soon caught on as wealthy men all around the world wanted to own a special, fast car, to set himself above the general public, who still cannot afford new modern sports cars.

Ferrari’s modern sports cars are well known all over the world. People are spellbound by the designs of Ferrari’s super cars and racing cars. Ferrari has been in Formula One racing since it started and they are the most popular racing team of all time. The Ferrari team has included such celebrated names as Michael Schumacher and Alberto Ascai, who quickly became popular heroes.

Different brands of sports cars adopt different principles of design. Some cars may be light in order to achieve greater acceleration, others may boast of extremely powerful engines for better car handling and performance, while still others may stress safety and comfort rather than style. The majority of contemporary sports cars have front-wheel drives as opposed to rear-wheel drives, which were more common in the earlier generation of sports cars. Many cars also have the engine in the center, driving the rear wheels, which is unique to sports cars. In these cars, the engine is placed behind the driver, at the middle of the chassis. Porsche is the only sports car that has the engine mounted at the rear, driving the rear wheels. This aspect is a crucial part of car design, as it affects the maneuverability or handling of the car, which is critical at high speeds.

The most well known brands today are Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Triumph. Companies which manufacture other cars also make some sports models; prominent among these are Ford, Toyota, Honda, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Nissan. Today, the design and manufacture of sports cars is becoming more specialized and competitive, with newer, more attractive designs and a higher degree of technical sophistication being utilized.

The flagship of the Ferrari super cars is the F430, which is a two-seater coupe. It is constantly being enhanced and re-engineered. In fact, it has lately undergone a major revamp and now it is the most sought after modern sports car of the year. It is not only exceptionally beautiful, but it has great performance statistics too. The price tag is very reasonable for a car of this quality. However, at $160,000 plus, most people could not afford a new set of tyres for it.There are other producers of modern sports cars such as Dodge with it’s Viper, Chevrolet with its Corvette, Lamborghini and the Murcielago and Porche with its Boxter and $440,000 Carrera.

If you cannot afford any of these modern sports cars, you could purchase a kit car. With a kit car you can remove the shell of a relatively cheap car, like a Boxter, and substitute it with an exact reproduction body of say a Lamborghini Murcielago in fibre glass.

The latest Ferrari is the Superamerica hardtop convertible, which sells for $300,000. It became immediately sought after when it appeared in Ferrari showrooms across America. It has a fearsomely powerful V12 engine, which produces unbelievable performance. The engine is based on their Formula One racing cars and comes with gear changing paddles on the steering wheel.

The roof of the Superamerica is striking and pragmatic. It is made from electro chromic glass and carbon fibre and can be taken off to convert the Superamerica from a smart coupe into a chic open top super car in a matter of minutes. The drop-top Superamerica is one of the most beautiful modern sports cars in the world.

Ferrari bought another leading racing car manufacturer, Maserati, in 1997. Since then Maserati’s output from their production lines and the popularity of its cars has soared. The public just cannot get enough of Maserati’s modern super cars like the Quattroporte at $95,000 and the Spyder GT convertible, which costs a very reasonable $83,000.