Defining a Supercar

[deehtha]

With all the discussion about the Porsche, and the thread about features people want in a supercar, it got me thinking:

What defines a supercar? Is it the features? Or the size? Can we have a supercar built on the 62.4 tires? What if someone made a minivan with all the features of one of Nathanial Kuipers' cars, would it be a supercar?

[charlesw]

Size & unique (complex) features.

Edited May 25, 2016 by charlesw

[1974]

Coffeetable book

[technic_addict]

Coffeetable book

That's a step up from super to Ultimate.

[Lipko]

Supercars are supercars.

In case of Lego "expert" models, pretty much Technic car with many features. A Model Team supercar wouldn't be considered as a supercar in Technic sense.

Okay, made no sense..

Anyhoo, in my opinion a Lego Technic supercar obviously has to have features and has to be modeled after supercars in the supercar sense. Other car types are just cars (for example Sheepo's Land Rover is not a supercar, but his Bugatti is).

In my opinion.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Lipko

[Blakbird]

Supercars are supercars.

In case of Lego "expert" models, pretty much Technic car with many features. A Model Team supercar wouldn't be considered as a supercar in Technic sense.

Okay, made no sense..

Anyhoo, in my opinion a Lego Technic supercar obviously has to have features and has to be modeled after supercars in the supercar sense. Other car types are just cars (for example Sheepo's Land Rover is not a supercar, but his Bugatti is).

In my opinion.

A fair definition, but in the context of LEGO I consider the original 856 and 8865 auto chassis to be supercars even though they are not based on any actual car. A bit like UCS, it hard to make a firm definition. I do NOT consider 42039 to be a supercar even though it is the same scale and is a car. suum cuique pulchrum est

[M5Technic]

I would classify a supercar as any consumer-available car with enough functions/features. Whether sports car, SUV, Pickup. But not for instance the Arocs or other function heavy model that is work truck, including also actual racing cars (like 24 hours 42039)

[charlesw]

@Blakbird The Mega Track on which was (loosely) based 8880* was not really a proper supercar...it was a strange mix between a supercar and an all terrain vehicle. Look closely at it and you'll find parts from Mercedes, Audi, Peugeot and other cars from Mega's lineup...which are by no mean supercar-ish (quite the opposite in fact).

=> http://www.turbo.fr/...02-06-2013.html (in french)

* apart from the V12 being replaced by a V8 and the 2 so called "back seats" and hard-to-reproduce citroën-ish suspension with at least 3 ride height track / road / all terrain

Edited May 25, 2016 by charlesw

[Erik Leppen]

I'd say the minimum requirement would be having suspension, steering, drive, engine and a gearbox with different speeds (not a function-switcher as in 8070).

So that would disqualify 8070.

It would also disquialify many Power Functions-driven models. But I don't mind disqualifying those, because however great they may be, I do not consider them supercars in the Technic sense of the word. I think a supercar is a car that somewhat "realistically" shows what a real car does, functionality-wise, and a gearbox for me is an integral part of that. Electric components, in my view, aren't.

So 8466 would be a "supercar" to me.

[allanp]

I'd say the minimum requirement would be having suspension, steering, drive, engine and a gearbox with different speeds (not a function-switcher as in 8070).

So that would disqualify 8070.

It would also disquialify many Power Functions-driven models. But I don't mind disqualifying those, because however great they may be, I do not consider them supercars in the Technic sense of the word. I think a supercar is a car that somewhat "realistically" shows what a real car does, functionality-wise, and a gearbox for me is an integral part of that. Electric components, in my view, aren't.

So 8466 would be a "supercar" to me.

I pretty much agree with this. I would also add that it has to be 1:8 scale or bigger and must also be the flagship for that year. So the silver champion and 8297 don't count as supercars due to lack of speed changing gearbox.

I used to say that only 8880 and possibly 8448 only in the gull wing door configuration were the only supercars lego have made, which technically is true. But I guess in technic terms a supercar isn't a supercar in the real car sense, but a super model of a car that's not necesarily a model of a supercar, if that makes any sense.

Edited May 25, 2016 by allanp

[Saberwing40k]

I'd have to say that a Supercar, in the Lego world, is something that is the most realistic, or has the most features of a real world car. From that standpoint, 42056 is not quite a supercar because it misses out on a lot of features of the real car that would have been easy to add, like suspension that is not double wishbone. 8070 is also not a supercar, because it has no gearbox.

[allanp]

Now this is where it can get tricky. For me as a kid a technic supercar was a flagship technic car that took things to the next level, it was the flagship of flagships that gave a glimps of the future of technic. You look at the auto chassis, then the test car, then 8880 and each one took things to a whole new level (in terms of mechanical authenticity mostly as well as styling) requiring lots of new parts to do so. So now that you mention it saberwing40k this may be the most important defining factor of what constitutes a technic supercar. However, if we add that to what defines a technic supercar (along with having multispeed transmission and so on) then it may be debateable as to weather or not the porsche is a true technic supercar as opposed to a technic model of a supercar.

Edited May 25, 2016 by allanp

[Kelkschiz]

Supercars are the cars which, when you see them in real-life, you can't stop looking at it, often accompanied by a dropped jaw. For LEGO car models more or less the same applies ^^.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Kelkschiz

[jono rocky]

I think that it relates to anything fast and or exotic so no standard car setups it has to be different.

[Vectormatic]

Supercars are the cars which, when you see them in real-life, you can't stop looking at it, often accompanied by a dropped jaw. For LEGO car models more or less the same applies ^^.

Rules out the porsche then

I dont have a clear definition, real world or lego. Some people dont consider the Audi R8 (esp the V8 model) a supercar.. and then there is the term "hypercar" thrown about referring to the laferrari and competitors.

Lego-wise, its hard to define a single set of feature that works, to me 42000 most certainly fits the bill, but its not a consumer car, nor does it have a normal gearbox, the size, proper shape and wishbone/pushrod suspension do it for me. Meanwhile 42039 is just small and iffy (looks wise) enough to not make the cut, but can be modded to something well deserving the title.

And then there are the enzo and 599, feature wise extremely sparse, but they look lovely

[Nick Barrett]

I always understood a Technic Supercar to be one that included steering, suspension, engine, transmission functions - at any scale and of any car, supercar or not.

[Didumos69]

I'd say the minimum requirement would be having suspension, steering, drive, engine and a gearbox with different speeds (not a function-switcher as in 8070).

So that would disqualify 8070.

It would also disquialify many Power Functions-driven models. But I don't mind disqualifying those, because however great they may be, I do not consider them supercars in the Technic sense of the word. I think a supercar is a car that somewhat "realistically" shows what a real car does, functionality-wise, and a gearbox for me is an integral part of that. Electric components, in my view, aren't.

So 8466 would be a "supercar" to me.

I see it this way too. And I would like to add that it would be preferable if the vehicle represents a real supercar, or an imaginary car that meets real-life supercar requirements.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Didumos69

[TheMindGarage]

I personally would consider a TECHNIC supercar to be one with:

• 4 wheels... obviously...
  
• Either motors for drive, a LPE or a model piston engine. Drive connected to at least two wheels via differential(s).
  
• Steering - motorised, steering wheel or HOG.
  
• Gearbox - I would say 3+R or 4 speeds is a good minimum benchmark.
  
• Independent suspension.
  
• A body that vaguely resembles a car, be it a real one or a generic one.
  

As for "car", I suppose any consumer-available CAR would count for me. So if someone decided to make a VW Beetle or something with these features, I would consider it a TECHNIC supercar. However, if someone made a van or bus (not designed for consumers), I wouldn't count it as a supercar.

On the other hand, I think of a TECHNIC supercar MODEL as something different. To me, that means that it should be scaled to a real supercar. Obviously, your idea of "supercar" depends on your own opinion - I think that anything with good performance (180-190mph+, 0-60 in 3.5s or faster) counts, but there are some who insist that they have to be super exotic and not that common (by common, I mean Nissan GT-R/Audi R8). Ditto that for hypercar. At least "megacar" has a defined requirement of developing at least 1MW of power - as far as I know, that's Koenigsegg One:1 and the upcoming Bugatti Chiron.