Nothing beats the exhilaration brought about by speed. Anyone who has ever driven an automobile has at least dreamt of taking the role of Steve McQueen in "Bullitt", getting into a high-speed car chase. If not Bullitt, each driver has dreamt playing Michael Caine's Charlie Cosker in "The Italian Job", driving that gorgeous convertible into the very heart of the gold heist.. Anyone who has ever taken control of the wheel has at least once dreamt of driving not just to get from point A to point B but to go from point A to B in flair. And driving a fantastic sports car fulfills this dream.
In making an automobile or any land vehicle for that matter, a lot of factors are being considered: cost of material, safety, efficiency, and performance are only some of these at play on the drawing board of a car maker. A sports car however, in definition gives priority to performance above all other factors. By performance, speed is usually the first thing that comes to mind. Speed relies heavily on the power of the car's engine.
Most sports cars do have muscle engines which can outrun even the fastest sedans easily. A sports car engineer therefore puts it first on the list of factors that he has to consider: how to travel the distance with the least amount of time possible.
But of course, even if performance is a cut above every other consideration, the other factors are never neglected. Safety cannot be compromised, because even the fastest sports car needs a driver on the wheel at all times, and safe at all times. Besides, everyone wants to drive from start to finish in one piece, after all. So a performance-oriented vehicle must pay attention to the other factors and not rely solely on the car engine's power.
