Slow Cars That Fooled Us Into Thinking That They Were Fast
Ferrari Mondial
Released in 1980, the Mondial came with a wheezy 3.0-litre 205bhp V8, giving the car from Maranello a 0-62mph time of 8.2 seconds. Top speed was an equally slow 140mph.
Toyota Supra JZA80 2JZ-GE
The Toyota Supra: supercar-baiting performance at an affordable price. Not so with the naturally-aspirated 2JZ-GE 3.0-litre 220bhp inline-six. The base level of Supra was only good for a 0-62mph time of 6.2 seconds and a top speed of 140mph.
Delorean DMC-12
Marty McFly might have fooled us into thinking the DeLorean DMC-12 had some real firepower, but in reality the iconic car only packed a 2.8-litre 130bhp V6 engine. Performance is best described as sedate, with a 0-62mph time of 8.9 seconds and a top speed of 109mph.
Chrysler Crossfire
With woolly steering, an outdated chassis and the aesthetics of a dog relieving itself, this American sports car didn’t have a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even that fast in a straight line. With a 3.2-litre V6 packing a measly 215bhp, the Crossfire had a 0-62mph time of around 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 155mph.
Hyundai Coupe
The Hyundai Coupe had a good chassis, communicative steering, and some journalists even expressed that it looked similar to a Ferrari 456. Shame, then, that the top-spec 2.7-litre V6 only produced 165bhp. 0-62mph came up in 8.1 seconds and a top speed of 137mph stopped it from being the great little sports car that it had the potential for.
Mk1 Mazda MX-5
Sorry Alex, but the Mk1 Mazda MX-5 is one seriously slow machine. With a 1.8-litre, 131bhp four-cylinder motor, 62mph was hit in a laborious 8.3 seconds. Top speed is an equally ponderous 123mph. Thankfully, these cars respond well to boost!
Hyundai Veloster Turbo
With a turbocharged 1.6-litre and 184bhp, the asymmetric Veloster (it has two doors on one side and one door on the other side) would hit 62mph from standing in a pedestrian time of 8.4 seconds, ahead of its 133mph top speed. The Turbo was, then, a pitiful excuse for a hot hatch.
Volkswagen SP2
The Brazil-only Volkswagen SP2 is potentially the sexiest sports car you’ve never heard of. Unfortunately, a 1.7-litre 75bhp four-cylinder engine resulted in a car so slow that the 0-62mph dash was achieved in 16 seconds. As for its top speed, that was only 100mph.
Ferrari 400i
The Ferrari 400i was designed to be the ultimate GT car. With a 4.8-litre V12 producing 340bhp, 0-62mph could be achieved in a not unreasonable 7.2 seconds. Granted, with a top speed of 152mph it certainly wasn’t the quickest car to come out of Maranello, but we’d buy one just for the looks!
Mitsubishi FTO GPX
The standard Mitsubishi FTO (aka FTSlow) was embarrassingly sluggish with a 0-62mph time in the 10-second range. Thankfully, the 2.0-litre 197bhp V6 GPX was a bit quicker, with a 0-62mph time of 7.1 seconds and a top speed of 120mph.
Pontiac Fiero
The first-generation Pontiac Fiero was a disaster for GM. The project ran over budget so the ‘lightweight’ sports car got lumped with a heavy 2.5-litre 92bhp four-cylinder engine. Performance was pedestrian, with a 0-62mph time of 11.3 seconds and a top speed of 105mph.
Plymouth Prowler
The Plymouth Prowler was designed to be a hot-rod for the street. Unfortunately, the car didn’t have the firepower to back up its aggressive looks. The 3.5-litre V6 was a lifeless unit packing only 214bhp. 0-62mph in 7.2 seconds and a top speed of 118mph made the Prowler one of the most disappointing ‘performance’ cars of the ‘90s.
Chevrolet Camaro Iroc Z
Stringent emissions laws resulted in a colossal 5.7-litre V8 that produced just 223bhp. A 0-62mph time of 6.3 seconds and a top speed of 130mph might have been considered impressive, but not when you consider the real potential of that engine.
Porsche 924
Is that the Porsche with the engine from a Volkswagen van? Yes, it is. With a 2.0-litre 110bhp four-cylinder it’s safe to say that the 924 was slower than it looked. With a 0-62mph time of 9.1 seconds and a top speed of 124mph it was one of the slowest performance cars of the day. Thankfully, the chassis was truly brilliant.
Honda CRZ
The original CRZ was arguably the world’s first ‘pocket-rocket’. The 2010 CRZ, however, was a bit of a disappointment. With a 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain with 122bhp, the innovative little hatch was an underwhelming steer; a 0-62mph time of 9.1 seconds and a top speed of 121mph didn’t help matters.
Opel GT 1900
The Opel GT 1900 featured a 1.9-litre 88bhp four-cylinder, giving the car a slightly embarrassing 0-62mph time of 11 seconds and a top speed of 116mph. But do we care? Not at all, because just look at it!
So guys, which car was the biggest let down? Let us know! You can also find our original community question here.
Comments
Here come Supra fanboys with their Butt hurt.
The Brazillian veloster isn’t the turbo, and goes 0-62 in 11 sec plus, and it’s sold as a “sport car”
VW SP2: looks of a Porsche, engine of a Beetle
0-62mph in 6.2 seconds is considered slow? Woah. I’m happy when I can get my Outback to get to 62 in under 13 seconds.
the question that I’m begging to ask is: How the hell do the Americans manage to extract such few horsepower from a sizable engine? There must’ve been better ways of controlling the emissions without sacrificing horsepower, besides downsizing in that era? Even for their current cars, the Ferrari F12 manages to punch out 730hp from it’s 6,3lit naturally aspirated V12, while the 6,2lit supercharged V8 from the Z07 Corvette only manages 650hp? Granted, it’s not much of a size difference in the engines, but still, the Corvette should be capable of way more than the Ferrari considering that it’s supercharged.
I should wash my hand ASAP coz i touch the Mondial and being ‘fooled’! >_<’
It’s a car that’s no faster than a Golf GTi mk1. So yeah.
Also how long ago was this picture taken?
Thirdgens may be a tad slow considering their displacement. But for the 80’s they were amazing. And torque makes up for power in a lot of ways
Half of these cars really aren’t that slow
I don’t understand why some cars are on this list. VW SP2 was made and sold in the mid-70s and I would say 75hp were good for that time. Don’t forget, how old a car is. And the mx-5 is only on this list that Alex could be upset… Mitsubishi fto? Of course there are smaller engines available, wheres the problem?
The top speed of a delorean isnt 88mph?!!? My life is a lie😖!
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