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Limp-wristed uses of the word 'Sport' by a manufacturer


grogee

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The facelift Freelander 1 was offered with a Sprot spec in the early 2000s at the start of this weird obsession with having 'sporty' 4x4s . Lowered and stiffened suspension mated with the BMW lump or the V6 slush stirrer. The irony couldn't be more stark. 

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6 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

 

 

 

I came here to mention the MK2 Focus. The "Sport" trim adds those 6 spoke alloys, and 3 spoke leather steering wheel to an LX (which is base + air con) 

Alleged suspension differences but there is nothing measurable whatsoever 

Nope, no suspension changes in the 'Sport' spec.  There were genuine 'sporty' non-ST Mk2s (I've got one); they had 'sports' suspension - possibly what you refer to, alloy wheels, a strut brace and rear discs on the 2.0 litre; but for some reason those cars were all Zetec or Zetec Climate trim, which came with a lot more equipment in general.  Source: https://autocatalogarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Ford-Focus-2005-UK.pdf (pages 19 and 20).  

As stated, mine's a 2.0 Zetec Climate petrol with the full suite of 'sport' goodies.  Guess what it hasn't got?  You guess it: climate control!  What were they thinking?  

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8 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

Nope, no suspension changes in the 'Sport' spec.  There were genuine 'sporty' non-ST Mk2s (I've got one); they had 'sports' suspension - possibly what you refer to, alloy wheels, a strut brace and rear discs on the 2.0 litre; but for some reason those cars were all Zetec or Zetec Climate trim, which came with a lot more equipment in general.  Source: https://autocatalogarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Ford-Focus-2005-UK.pdf (pages 19 and 20).  

As stated, mine's a 2.0 Zetec Climate petrol with the full suite of 'sport' goodies.  Guess what it hasn't got?  You guess it: climate control!  What were they thinking?  

Ah yes, I'd only heard of the "sport suspension" as hearsay but having worked on god knows how many, all the parts are supplied exactly the same regardless of trim level. 

Something I didn't understand was the fact they added aircon to LX and Sport as standard. Zetec is higher than those two, but didn't come with aircon as standard. You had to have the Zetec climate to get aircon as standard again! And indeed, no climate control on anything other than the Titanium as far as I know? Not sure if it was an option for GHIA but I don't think so. 

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The last hire car I got through work was a Forester 'e-Boxer Sport'. It looked exactly like this:

64c761136eea4a179fa968c8a073513d.jpg

Unfortunately as it weighs 1700kg, has less than 150bhp and does 0-60 in 12s it appears that in Subaru land 'Sport' now means 'it has some orange bits' rather than 'we've stuck a daft turbo engine out of a rally car in it'

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Predictably...

 

a0c8d3cbac9243b3a03d943d80cd5709.jpg.9cf03d64a49271e162e863680989a831.jpg

 

Skoda Fabia "Sport"... originally a 1.4 16v with a world shoogling seventy-five brake horsepower. Later, a more 'revvy' 1.2 12v with 64hp instead. 0 to 60 in 16 seconds ish.

Loose grasp of the term, indeed.

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Cant think of any good 'Sport' examples but was working on a Nissan Pulsar boringmobile today that had 'Nismo' headlamp covers on it. Can you imagine the conversation at Nismo that morning?

'Morning Gov San! What are we doing today? Bigger turbos on a Skyline? Some sort of circuit racer?'

'Nah, sorry lads. We need to get ahead of ourselves designing headlamp covers for Pulsars and carpet mats for Navaras.'

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Ita similar but different. Mercedes and the AMG label. And Obv BMW and M sport.

Its been monetised and so the original usage has been progressively diluted down almost a trim level.

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7 hours ago, Verysleepyboy said:

How about the L320 Range Rover "Sport" - not just a trim level but indeed an entire model range based upon a Discovery 3 of all things!!

1-rr-sport-front.webp

Yes. 

One of the cleverest things LR did was to lower the L319 and put some fishnets on it. Basically worse than a Disco but it sold like hot cakes because Twats. 

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10 hours ago, wesacosa said:

good excuse to show the late Dave Metcalfe ragging his works Nova rally car.   (its the GTE not sport but still.....)

 

 

Marvellous that 👍🏻

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3 minutes ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Honda Jazz Sport*...

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At least it got a body kit and alloys!

*edit - they’re also pretty good fun if you drive them like you stole them. Not fast by any measure, but revvy and nimble like most Jap stuff.

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11 hours ago, Shite Ron said:

When I started my current job in 2016 I was given a Jeep Renegade until a car was available as it is compulsory to have a company vehicle. 

Based on the same platform as the Fiat Panda if I'm not mistaken.

The previous owner of my former car added a "Sport" badge. Here it is 18 months into my ownership when it still looked nice.

2003 Nissan Almera "sport"
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1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

At least it got a body kit and alloys!

*edit - they’re also pretty good fun if you drive them like you stole them. Not fast by any measure, but revvy and nimble like most Jap stuff.

They aren't bad to drive, especially considering their target audience. But if one bought a "Jazz Sport" expecting a japanese version of a "Clio Sport", they would be very, very disappointed !

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5 hours ago, angle said:

The last hire car I got through work was a Forester 'e-Boxer Sport'. It looked exactly like this:

64c761136eea4a179fa968c8a073513d.jpg

Unfortunately as it weighs 1700kg, has less than 150bhp and does 0-60 in 12s it appears that in Subaru land 'Sport' now means 'it has some orange bits' rather than 'we've stuck a daft turbo engine out of a rally car in it'

Don’t forget it’s got a CVT too.

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There was a runout ‘Sport’ trim of the Civic EJ/K and MB in 2000, either a 3 door 1.4 hatch with alloys, leather steering wheel and a/c usually in resale silver, or a 1.4i 5 door with a boot spoiler, half leather VTi seats, no wood on the dash, alloy wheels, leather steering wheel, electric windows and a/c. My dad had one which had rear disc brakes - no idea why as they had drums as standard! I can only assume the Sports were used to get rid of excess kit. 

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