These Mundane Cars Deserve Sporty Trims

OKay, let’s get stupid.

Chevy Express SS.

You can already get a big LS in them, so just slap a supercharger on there for monster power. AWD was available up until 2015 or so, so bring that back. Slam it, put on a body kit, stiffen up the suspension, and you’ve got a family size Typhoon.

Call it the ExpreSS. Do it, GM. What’s the worst that could happen?

That’s the exact vibe I’m going for, amigo.

Submitted by: Anthony Thornton

Ya’ll, the answer is simple. Mazdaspeed5

If that had existed in 2013, I’d be driving that now instead of an 11 year old Mazdaspeed3. Road and Track made this happen, but a one off doesn’t really count.

Submitted by: Maxis47

Build a tiny terror!

Keep it as basic and barebones as possible. Tighten the suspension & handling. Slap a turbo on that little 3 cyl.

Submitted by: Weirdisgood

Subaru Crosstrek STI

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My wife drives a Crosstrek, and it’s a great little car, but a WRX Crosstrek would be so fun. And given that plenty of brands use the letter X to say “Cross”, they could even call it the WRXtrek.

Submitted by: Artificial Stupidity & MJL

The Honda Accord. The old Accord Sport with the 2.0T and a manual was super rad. Throw the Type-R/Integra engine in it and give it a manual. Lower it on some sport springs and put a more agressive front end on it. As a matter of fact bring back all the old Japanese sedan sport models. Altima SE-R, Sentra SE-R, Mazdaspeed 3 and 6, an actual TRD Camry, etc. About the only ones that still exist are the Civic Si and the Corolla GR.

Submitted by: klone121

The new Chevy Trax, it has a nice hatch/wagon shape but is hampered by only offering the 1.2T. It would look really good dropped a few inches, then drop in the 2.0T or 2.5T, add AWD if possible, swap out the 6 speed auto an 8 auto (I’d say manual but trying to be realistic with the present market). A 250 or so hp Trax would be a riot, hell the 180ish hp 1.5T from the Equinox would be a nice upgrade.

Submitted by: CitronC

Ford Maverick Raptor

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They could also go the other way and lower it and throw the full Focus RS engine/Trans in there. It has all the potential for a sport truck.

Submitted by: Robert Rio & klone121

I still wish Stellantis adopted a policy of dropping a Hellcat in everything. A 200 Hellcat, Pacifica Hellcat, Dart Hellcat, and ProMaster Hellcat would have been absolutely hilarious.

You get it, Merc.

Submitted by: Mercedes Streeter

I wish there was a sportier version of the Mazda6. I’m on my second estate. I had a 2.2D, which died when the oil pump broke. It was fast enough and had pull, even in lower gears, but sublimely in the high gears.

Now I have a 2.0 (NA), which is a bit slow tbh. Struggles in the upper gears, but pulls ok in the low end. No torque compared to the 2.2D though.

I know the US have a 2.5, but I hear the engine is a bit dodgy and the extra power doesn’t equate to a faster car.

Just give me a MazdaSpeed6 please.

Oh no, wait. They killed the model 😭

Submitted by: Dabamash-is-back-until-they-kill-kinja

I vote for less sporty models of non sporty cars. Hear me out:

One: they’re never done well. They mostly consist of less comfortable seats and less comfortable ride with slightly louder exhausts.

Two: YOU NEVER BUY THEM. Enthusiasts never buy the sport version because there are exactly 3 enthusiast approved cars- the Golf, The Miata, The BMW 3 series, and these are almost always bought used - and anything else is just, “yeah, but it’s not as good as a golf so...”

Three: The general public also doesn’t buy them, because the general public doesn’t like paying more for less comfortable cars.

Four: The car companies who build these sport models are like “WTF, we built you enthusiasts yet another sport model, but instead you’re just buying used miatas, we give up, enjoy the blandmobiles we’re going to build instead because you never buy our cool stuff.”

Y’all will be buying used 3 series until the heat death of the universe. You’re never going to buy a Camry SuperSport even if it could wipe the floor with a similarly priced used 3-series. You’re never going to buy a Saturn Sky Red Line because it’s not a miata. Stop teasing car manufacturers, just let it go.

Submitted by: Buckfiddiousagain

Any 3 door hatch which hasn’t one already. AWD too. One car that already has a sporty model is the new 3-door Mini, but I wish it had AWD.

I still miss my VW Lupo 3L, but it could have had more go. The equivalent would be the VW UP - a sporty model of that would be great.

Yes, I love small cars.

Submitted by: NBM343

Something pint-sized and cheap like a Hyundai Venue ST with a manual. I’m drawing a blank because there are so few cheap cars now. Maybe a Toyota CorollaCross XRS or something like that.

Submitted by: spookiness

Take the Outlander Sport Ralliart edition

Lower it maybe an inch and a half with Bilstein suspension, Make it a 2 door, give it the 4B11T Evo X engine, a Manual, Super AWC and sell it for a starting price of $35K. The looks it already has down fairly well imo, idk maybe widen the arches another 1/2 an inch with 245/45/18's for shoes (maybe 245/50 for some added comfort), and I would be hard pressed to not look at these seriously. Mitsubishi’s got it in them, but they’re too scared to take risks nowadays and I don’t believe this would be big risk.

Submitted by: darthspartan117

The K5 continues Kia’s fine tradition of making cars that look vaguely like European sport sedans with good enough performance and tolerable prices. But it’s “hot” trim, the GT isn’t really a big improvement over the base model, performance wise. I assume they don’t want to make it too zesty because that would eat some of the G80's lunch, but you could always do a “cheap and cheerful” sport version, with a lightened interior, camera deletes, non-functional rear doors, etc. Would people buy a stripper track version of a midrange Korean economy sedan? That’s not the question here!

Submitted by: Rayce Archer

Nissan Skyline V37 aka Infiniti Q50 / Q60

they should have add GT-R trim back to Skyline, especially since now they sell it under Skyline name

Infiniti Q60 IPL ?? that sounds lame, but imagine if they saw the ads of Nissan Skyline GT-R V37, at least it will be attention-grabbing

Submitted by: hayase

Call the performance version Lightning and Thunder.

It is already quick, so keep the battery & motor the same. Lightning and Thunder will come only as a single cab, short bed, RWD only. Lower it a bit and give it street tires.

Submitted by: Weirdisgood

The newer ones look good, imagine throwing a turbo in one and see how fun the family hauler could be.

Bring out a 400hp Accord Type R to the US market. They wouldn’t sell many but it would be an awesome card for Honda to play

Submitted by: PDM33

These things already race around my neighborhood at break-neck speed, might as well spec them out properly.

Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I