I'm copying and pasting this from the poll/thread on if you'd have bought your Elise if it was FWD. Its a vaild (albeit long) arguement, I don't have to retype it again and the first paragraph is perhaps the most important part - thanks Tim.
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Originally Posted by TimMullen
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By the way, everyone - stop the name calling, and personal insults on all sides. It's okay to agree to disagree. No need to get personal.
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You are absolutely right. I, for one, apologize for any remarks, intended or otherwise, that may have taken as rude or insulting to anyone. There's really no reason for it. While we may get emotional about our viewpoints we should all retain a bit of level-headedness when explaining them.
Its just frustrating trying to convince people of somethign you know to be true when they just don;t want to believe. I accept its everyone's right to have thgeir own opinions on any issue. It doesn't matter whether the opinion is right, wrong or neither in one's estimaiton. Its an opinion and, by definition, an opinion isn't right or wrong at all. I can't help feel that people are purposely refusing to accept the facts when presented to them and that's what irks me. Admittedly, it has to do with the fabulous Lotus M100 Elan I own and love so I'm emotionally attached to the discussion.
Having said that, I'd like to try once more to summarize the argument in support of an answer to the original quesiotn posted. I'll do it in a way that i belive a truely honets, open minded, unbiased reader would have to agree with regardless of how badly they'd prefer not to.
Here we go................
The original question was whether a FWD car could be considered a "true" sportscar (paraphrased). The contention put by many was that the answer had to be no. Now, the reasons given were not what I would call "Factual". They were more subjective (much like the definition of a sports car). Subjective in that one reason, for example, was that there's too much understeer in a FWD car. The truth is that, while FWD cars typically show this more than RWD cars, even I can induce understeer in a RWD car if I wanted too. AWD for that matter too.
Regardless, reasons are put forth to explain the position of why FWD cars can't be sportscars. Agreeing or disagreeing with them is irrelevent at this point. The reasons are presented and that's fine and dandy.
Now, along comes someone who says wait a minute, I can name a car that has FWD and should meet anyone's definition of a sportscar. And, best of all, its a Lotus - the M100. The replies are a bit surprising.
Instead of saying, oh yea, forgot about that one. Well, I guess a FWD car can be a spportscar afterall we get something different. At first, we get people saying its not a sprtscar at all. Well, irrefutable evidence, directly from Lotus themselves says otherwise. The M100 is a sportscar emobying everything Lotus has stood for, especially innovation.
This can't be denied by anyone of rational thinking. The M100 is a sportscar, plain and simple. To say otherwise after examining all the facst presented implies only one of 3 possibilities:
1. You have already defined, in your own mind, that FWD cars can not be sportscars (thereby redefining the term altogether and without any other reputable source to agree with you) and won't review the facts any further.
2. You simply refuse to accept the overwhlming evidence that the M100 is a sportscar. You are in denial.
3. You are about to claim that lotus either outright lied or don't know what they are talking about. You know more about sportscar design than they do. I doub there's aperson on this board that knows more about sportscars than Lotus does.
These are the only 3 possibilities you can choose. The information is accurate and represents direct quotes from Lotus staff that anyone can look up for themselves. It sin the public domain so you can't say the evidence is wrong.
Now, after being presented with this evidence, new comments arise. The Elan was an aberration. It was a fluke. A mistake. You know what. For the purpose of this logic reasoning experiment, let's say for a moment that those comments are true (even though they are not). Does that change, in any way, the fact that the M100 is a sportscar? Not one bit. It either is or isn't. It can be a massive mistake, the biggest stoke of luck the automotive world has every seen and the red herring or sportscars. But, its still a sportscar as none of those arguments changes this.
Right now, those that refuse to be open minded and are sticking to their cherrished belief that FWD cars can't be sportscars are having a hard time accepting this. They just don't want to belive it can be true but the logic can't be disputed so far.
Now, if just one car, the M100, is a FWD sportscar then the only possible answer to the original quesiton is Yes. It only takes one to make the answer yes. Even if there's only one in the history of mankind then the answer is still yes. Isn't it?
Denying this simple fact is akin to this analogy. I state that cars can not be cars if they are the color black. Someone says, but wait, I have a black car right here. Its a car, its black, therefore the statement can't be true. I say, well yes, but its the only black car around, possiblt the only one in existence. So surely, its a mistake, a fluke, an aberration. Therefore my statement is still valid. Even though I'm staring at a black car....... Or worse, i try to tell that person that its really not black at all. Its mostly black but I detect a little bit of dark grey in there. I try to redefine black to suit my position. Kinda like asking if a FWD car can be a sportscar but by the way, my definition of a sportscar is a car that only has RWD.......
Let's continue. We now have 1 car that is a true sportscar and is FWD. I'm not going to argue that we may have others that are too. I'm content if we only have this one car to discuss. So, if we have one car then we clearly have to answer yes to the original question. I can understand people saying NO to the quesiton if they didn't know about the M100. They can change their minds after reviewing the evidence and that's fine. But, here's the next logical conclusion that must follow that people also have a hard time with.
If 1 FWD car is a sportscar, then FWD cars can be sportscars. And, since RWD and AWD cars can be sportscars (don't think anyone would argue that) then the only conclusion that can follow is that the drivetrain choice has nothing to do with the car being a sportscar. Its what you DO to that platform that makes it a sportscar.
There's no other logical, honest conclusion a sane, unbiased person can come to. I'm willing to bet that every manufacturer in the world would say the same thing. Some might have a preference for one layout over the other. Some may believe that there are advantages of one over the other. But that's not the question now is it. And, its not, in any way, relevant to the quesiton either.
1 FWD sportscar in the world = FWD cars can be sportcars. You can not escape this conclusion. To try and do so you would have to go back to the beginning of the logic train here and choose one of the 3 ptions mentioned previously.
So, will you people all stop and think for a moment, open your minds, release your grip on these beliefs and accept that there's a world of possibilities out there. If you ant to debate this logic that's fine. Present facts. If you want to say "Well FWD cars just can't be sportscars no matter what you say" then fine. If you can't back it up with real facts you can be excused from the discussion. If you can show hy a 4th option can exist, I'm all ears.