Sports cars are fast, but speed alone isn't enough to define a sports car. Take the Subaru WRX for example. The WRX is fast and powerful like a sports car should be, but it is far more capable and versatile than your average sports car. Yes, the WRX can burn rubber with the best of them, but it also has characteristics that would remove it from the sports car category.
It might be more accurate to call the WRX a “sporty car” rather than a “sports car”. So what makes the difference between a car that’s sporty and a sports car?
A sports car can loosely be defined as having a powerful engine and a small chassis. They're designed primarily for performance at high speeds. If you see a zippy little two-seater darting in and out of traffic, you can bet that it's a sports car. These cars are also notorious for putting speed ahead of safety.
The Subaru BRZ is a bit closer to what you would consider to be a sports car. It’s rear-wheel drive, super quick, and although it’s able to seat four, the two-door speedster is more comfortable for a driver and a single passenger. But unlike other sports cars, the BRZ is still a safe vehicle. It was awarded a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highways Safety (IIHS), so it carries on Subaru’s tradition of safety.
The Subaru WRX shares nothing in common with sports cars apart from the big, powerful engine beneath the hood. Like the BRZ, the WRX earned a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS. But unlike the BRZ and other sports cars, the four-door WRX is designed to comfortably seat four passengers. Combine that with Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and the capability to can handle dirt roads just as well as paved roads, and you've got a vehicle that can't be defined as just a sports car.
