Right off the jump, let me say that you’re free to go past-tense with today’s Ask, as in “What car that never had a high-performance do you most wish had been offered as a high-performance version?” Autopian Asks is never into hard-and-fast rules for these things; I see our get-togethers here as the type of conversation you’d have at a dinner party with the guys (and/or gals, I’m hip) who are also into cars and don’t care about how work is going or how your kids are doing. Borrrrring, let’s talk about cars.
Anyway, I’ve always thought properly high-output minivans should be a thing, regardless of how well they’d actually sell. To that end, I wasted my time photochopping a hotted-up Toyota Sienna with a racing stripe for the topshot, which is sadly giving “Starsky and Hutch but they’re soccer coaches” vibes. I wish I had remembered The Bishop’s sweet Odyssey render before he dropped it into Slack:
Bish made that art for Honda Needs To Use NSX Tech To Make A Honda Odyssey Type R, which I’ve hyperlinked in case you missed it. And, I mean, look at that thing; surely any insecure guy who worries what the fellas think of his minivan when he rolls up to the gym will have no such concerns when said minivan is thusly maxxed out.
I just saw Stephen (Walter Gossin) pop up in Slack, I shall copy and paste:
I nominate the LH cars because they were designed to accept either FWD, AWD or RWD. They never got anything other than FWD. The 318 V8 wouldn’t have fit under the cab-forward hoods, but a 3.5L RWD/AWD Eagle Vision would’ve been the heat.
Indeed, such an Eagle would have flown!
Your turn:
What Car That Will Probably Never Get A High Performance Version Would You Most Like To See Get A Performance Version?
Volt SS would have been fun. Add a second electric motor powering the rear wheels, and let it run in full parallel with the ICE for short bursts. The 2nd-gen was already quicker and more fun than you’d expect, but very much held back by FWD.
Honda Fit Si
I want a performance version of the Aptera.
That’s all of them! The base model has 270 hp in a 2700 lb car, the highest power-to-weight stock FWD ever.
What??? That’s insane! If they just put that info on their website I’d have already reserved one.
I was playing a cheesy mobile ‘customize a car’ match game and made a slammed, chopped, widebody new Bronco. I’d like to see something like that on the road, maybe a GTD underneath…
A Maverick ST (or even an RS) would be an exciting ride. Perfect sized truck to revive the SVT Lightning name too.
Back in the day I would have loved to have seen a Subaru Justy STI. Ditch the 1.2L inline three for the 1.8L turbo boxer four from the Subaru XT and make AWD standard. Like a mini rally racer.
Chevy Express. 3 rows of removable bucket seats would do a lot, twin turbos and magnetic shocks would do a lot more.
Seriously, why doesn’t every van have a performance version? Power is a safety feature, I might have to pass a reckless driver or avoid an accident with my family on board and I’d like to do that as quickly as possible.
To jump on the van train, Toyota Sienta.
Honda Accord Crosstour. I saw a lowered one once and was amazed how much difference it made. Give it the engine from the Acura RLX or MDX and revised suspension. Suddenly it’s a discount Porsche Panamera.
I’ve believed for a long time that, relative to their place in the market, every car should have a performance version. But if you’re asking me for one I personally would like? Kia K4 hatch. Especially if a hybrid performance.
My list of stuff I’d love to see:
Miata-turbo it with 300 hp, print money
Maverick-put the existing Mustang Ecoboost engine in it, print money
Taos-2.0 GTI engine=fun and affordable
Toyota 86-put a turbo on it, do it!
Sonata N edition, why not?
Prelude-Civic Type-R engine=fun, fun
Accord-add in the 3.5L engine with TT=awesome
I have an Accord with the 3.5 V6. It has more than enough power (especially since it’s FWD). And it easily gets upper 30s mpg on long trips at 65-75 mph.
The thing about equipping cars to tackle Nürburgring is that it tends to destroy everything else about the car that makes it comfortable to drive the other 99% of the time. But I’m a 69-year-old man and would probably scare myself trying to do the loop.
Re: SWG’s LH dreams… I thought the LH’s were all pretty good-looking cars. We had an old Dodge pickup with a 318 transplanted into it and granted it was the mid-70s, but that thing was a thirsty dog and heavy for what it feebly delivered. But yeah. A hotter LH would have been pretty cool. Not that I could’ve afforded one back then.
They make a T-Roc R. Not in NA of course
I’d love a Maverick in something like the Tremor trim with the plug-in hybrid setup out of the Corsair.
Miata is always the answer.
Plymouth Prowler, yeah 250 HP in that era was not the worst, but it definitely did not seem very High performance either.
I always wished the last gen Firebirds would have gotten a Turbo option on the 3.8 V6 versions. TTA making a return option in a Firehawk type body would have been interesting to me.
Miata’s, they are definitely lack high performance motors, but they have the cult following that likes to drive slow cars fast, which just says to me they like to not know how to drive on the edge and skirt disaster like say a Viper.
I want a Raptor/Rally version of a Subaru Crosstrek. Not just a trim and modest bump in power – I want to scare kids when it starts up.
It’s not loud, but Subaru is marketing the Uncharted as the spicy Crosstrek. If they dropped the 420 hp version of the drivetrain from the Getaway into it it would be even more beastly than the mere doubling of hp in the Sport and GT trims at 338.
Definitely a little spicy on the performance, sure. But needs more travel in the suspension. The world needs more pre-runners.
Wilderness edition???
MORE! – Kylo Ren
Well the Mitsubishi Mirage could have benefited hugely from a performance version. But now that it has been discontinued, that will never happen.
Same with the Honda Fit. Would it have killed Honda to do a Honda Fit Si with a 1.8L R-series or a 2L K-series engine?
Of course if we are talking about cars still on sale locally to me, then the Mirage and Fit don’t count since they’re both discontinued.
For cars… the Nissan Sentra. It used to have a performance version in the past. And these days, Nissan could really use the image boost of a performance version of the Sentra.
Kia Niro. I loved my Niro for its efficiency, but it actually handled better than one would expect for a hatchback pseudo-CUV. I would love to see Kia throw in the turbocharged hybrid from the Sportage for an extra 100hp, lower the car an inch, and add some tasteful aero bits to the body. It’ll never happen, but it would be fun.