3 Mid-Engined Sports Cars Straight Outta Your Dreams

5 August 2019 Redazione News, Supercars Lounge

Words by Carlo Brema

They say dreams do not cost anything, but unfortunately the same rule does not apply to achieve a certain amount of them. Take for example those cars that probably lived hang on the walls of your bedroom when you had more hair than today and you will notice that over the years they have increased in value to the point of becoming prey for collectors or wealthy wallets. And so, with our poor savings, we have to be grateful that there is wide choice among the hot hatches segment, so as to satisfy our thirst for speed. No one intends to settle though and at the bottom of our minds there will always be the obsession for that car we yearn so much, one of those that wakes up and arouses a flood of emotions in us, just starting from a look that leaves no compromises, passing through a drivability kissed by a perfect marriage between a mid-rear engine position and rear-wheel drive, up to performances that know how to defend themselves very well even compared to current standards. Think of three purebred sports cars able to cause mouth watering only leafing through our pages and keep in mind that it won’t be necessary to put a kidney on Ebay if you want to put one in the garage. So do you prefer the English one, the Japanese or the Italian?

LOTUS ESPRIT

Aesthetically and mechanically updated compared to the previous series – the one made famous by an unforgettable scene in the movie “007 – The Spy Who Loved Me” – the Esprit represents the summary of the English company of the time. A low weight that does not exceed one and a half ton, a comfortable and leather-rich interior and a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine with power ranging from 215 horsepower to the 254 of the Turbo S4 and SE, then reaching 300 with the special edition introduced in 1993. This incarnation took up solutions developed in the racing world and saw a stiffening of the suspension, which together with a weight saving of 90kg compared to the traditional model, allowed real sports car performances (without necessarily calling into question the V8 variant, even more powerful, but just as delicate).

The extraordinary on road behavior comes courtesy of a new braking system, as well as for the new Renault GTA gearbox (which replaced the Citroen SM), while the aerodynamics left no space for doubts, thanks to showy spoilers able to accentuate the grip between the curves, natural habitat of a model for driving purists, not to mention that with the arrival of the S4 there was also the addition of power steering, an aspect that contributes to making the Esprit a sports car suitable for everyday life as well.

LOTUS ESPRIT SPORT 300 (1987-2004)

Layout – mid-rear engine, rear wheel drive

Engine – 4 cylinder 2.174cc – turbo

Transmission – 5-speed manual gearbox

Power – 300 hp / 380 Nm

Weight – 1.340 kg

Acceleration – 4,5 sec.

Top Speed – 266 kph

Current Quote – from € 40.000 ca.

HONDA NSX

The NSX helped to take Japanese sports cars seriously all over the world. It may seem strange today in 2019, but when Honda revealed this avant-garde model at the dawn of the 90s, the minds of the enthusiasts were shocked by astonishment, to say the least. Fueled by the legend of Ayrton Senna and that iconic video in which he goes flat-out at Suzuka wearing simple moccasins on his feet, the NSX was initially born as a sports car with a 3-liter V6 in a mid-rear position, for an overall power of 273 horses. The engine size increases and in 1997 the naturally aspirated VTEC capable of screaming over 7000 rpm reaches 280 hp with the new 3.2 unit, always available with a 4-speed automatic transmission, or with the new 6-speed manual (the previous manual ‘box had just 5 gears), while in 2002 the facelift introduced led to the end of the model’s life cycle, before finding the NSX name again with the new hybrid version born in 2016.

Aesthetically less elegant than its rivals, the NSX is undoubtedly a car capable of getting all the attentions, also thanks to interesting solutions – especially for the era – as the rear spoiler integrated with the bumper and the large glass surface that seems to unite the front windshield to the large rear window. The cabin is minimalist, but overall the NSX is equipped with a sporty character to allow it to be a proper sports car, offering the possibility of being exploited without limitations of any kind.

HONDA NSX 3.2 (1990-2005)

Layout – mid-rear engine, rear wheel drive

Engine – V6 cylinder 3.179cc

Transmission – 6-speed manual gearbox

Power – 280 hp / 298 Nm

Weight – 1.370 kg

Acceleration – 5,9 sec.

Top Speed – 275 kph

Current Quote – from € 50.000

FERRARI F355

Defining the F355 is not easy at all. Arrived at the beginning of the 90s to replace the outgoing 348, it has the merit of not having distorted the design that Ferrari introduced some years before, but to have transformed everything in pure gold. Aesthetically flawless, with clean lines, ample air intakes carved in the door panels and with a the rear area that embraces the generous V8-cylinder, a 380-horsepower volcano good for 363 Nm of torque to be discharged on the ground via the rear wheels thanks to a 6-speed manual gearbox in first place, then followed a couple of years later by the revolutionary sequential with paddles on the steering wheel directly inspired by F1.

The F355 is the quintessential Ferrari of the ’90s, despite a cockpit and a reliability not without defects, it manages to embody every deepest desire towards Maranello, with a pure, analogical grand tourer able to transmit to the driver an experience to be seen as a true point of reference for the supercars world. An instant classic that in 1995 has been joined by the GTS version, the Targa variant of the rigid roof Berlinetta, better identifiable as a way to amplify the sound of the V8 behind the shoulders of both the driver and passenger and enjoy the elegance and style of the Italian coupe, even when you do not feel the urge to act vigorously on the throttle, a situation that takes you from 0 to 100 in just 4.7 seconds and with a top speed that can top 300 per hour, remarkable figures, also compared to contemporary standards.