Why do 'supercars' cost so much?

Yugguy

Yugguy

Torque King
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Rugby (expat Preston lad)
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Merc C220Cdi Elegan
I saw an ad the other day for the latest Nissan GTR. It does 193 mph, does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, laps the nurburgrurgburgring faster than a 911 GT3. It's incredibly capable, packed full of technology and will likely never break down.

By any measure it's a supercar. It only costs 55 grand. I say 'only', but it's so much cheaper than the Porsches, or Audi R8, or Ferrari, or any other supercar.

So apart from the badge and some nebulous concept of 'heritage', why do those other cars cost so much more?
 
Don't know! Perhaps the R&D costs are much higher for those other brands?

Do they inflate the prices to control market forces, low volume = high prices? If a ferrari could be purchased for £50,000 would people still aspire to them?
 
It's made more cheaply. Sit inside a GTR and there's still a lot of cheap plastics and switchgear scatterred around. I think there is also an element of mark-up just because it is a Ferrari etc.
 
arent supercars hand built???
and just a guess here but i would presume the gtr would be on a production line
 
It's called a free market economy where something is only worth what you can get for it. Or, conversely, what someone else is willing to pay for it.

This is fine with luxury goods which attract VAT but when the supermarkets apply a similar principle to food I get very angry. There are people in the UK and across the world without homes or food and I don't like the principle, even though it doesn't affect me directly.
 
GTR R35s aren't that good. They're a nice sportscar, and yes they can nail a 911 GT3 around the Nurburgring - but what about other tracks?

Also, folks are wrecking the clutches on them, they aren't robust enough for the rough handling that should have been predicted.

Anyway, I digress. The price of a real supercar (not an entry level GT) includes factory tour and all sorts.
 
Would have to put the silly costs down to R&D as well. All those boffins with slide rules on the payroll for years, materials bought and then scrapped, long before the finished article ever comes to fruition, cannot be cheap! ;)

I must admit I do sometimes think about a supercars true value when you can; start with a decent every day car, inject some Torquecars know how and 15-20 grand into the engine and suspension, and you will have a Ferrari/Porsche owner with his rear view mirror filled with your newly designed chariot and sporting a very red face :embarrest:
 
T9 man said:
Would have to put the silly costs down to R&D as well. All those boffins with slide rules on the payroll for years, materials bought and then scrapped, long before the finished article ever comes to fruition, cannot be cheap! ;)

I must admit I do sometimes think about a supercars true value when you can; start with a decent every day car, inject some Torquecars know how and 15-20 grand into the engine and suspension, and you will have a Ferrari/Porsche owner with his rear view mirror filled with your newly designed chariot and sporting a very red face :embarrest:
Click to expand...

Well exactly. Having said that although I've never driven a Ferrari or Aston, I do think there is something about heritage, or soul, something indefinable. I had an Alfa 156V6, and on paper, looking at it purely by the numbers, it's was no better than a Golf Vr6, or Mondeo ST220, or other cars like that. BUT, it WAS better, it just felt good to drive it, to look at it, it gave more back to you than the average car.
 
Yugguy, if you've read my posting in "speed kills" you'll know where im comin' from, give me a Caterham 500 any day, there's no badge envy, just a big grin when you sail past a £250,000 supercar, if you want bragin' rights at the local wine bar then u buy the most un-cool car on the road,,, a supercar,,,,ever seen a Lotus 7 with a 4.6 TVR under the hood,,,aursome,,,the guy said he had no choise but to use 2nd gear to pull away 'cos 1st was a waste of time & effort, now thats a supercar, not a poncy badge..
 
yankfan101 said:
Yugguy, if you've read my posting in "speed kills" you'll know where im comin' from,
Click to expand...

That is very possible buddy, but as Yugguy cannot time travel as he wrote that post in October 2010 and you wrote your post fairly recently he would be totally unaware of any of your pearls of wisdom ;)
 
Supercars are low volume machines, the development costs alone have to be recovered somewhere.

Personally I don't care too much for supercars but if I had the money and owned one I suspect I'd definitely own something else in addition. Think 535d Touring, E350CDI etc.

And I suspect that the addition would be the car I use 99% of the time. Hence no need for the Ferrari, Maserati etc....

But that's just my personal preference.

Each to their own.

Some men like supermodels. I like attractively proportioned real women.
 
HDi fun said:
Each to their own.
Some men like supermodels. I like attractively proportioned real women.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, do you have an example of such a woman? I do hope it is Susanne Reid or Carol Kirkwood on BBC Breakfast TV ;)
 
Hard to think of anyone in the public eye as such as I am not much of a TV watcher. But think Sarah Beeney who does the house buying/selling shows. And no, it's not to do with her frontal assets. I just think she's straightforward and built and gorgeous because of it rather than in spite of it. She's REAL.

On a local (to me, geographically, anyway) level there's a sensational looking woman who works it B&M Stores in Aylesbury. Gotta be size 18 plus (tall too), she's pretty in a natural way, fun to chat with and has sparkly eyes which smile. Gorgeous hair and a stunning deep, smooth, ebony black complexion.

Supermodel material, well no, not in the eyes of the masses but she is beautiful in a real and likeable, approachable and frankly lovable way.
 
And this thread is about supercars? :) It's great how conversations develop and diverge. I was only saying the other day to my gynaecologist...............[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
 
cc 3600 :bigsmile:


btw a car that you cant pull away in first gear isnt a supercar its a waste of time
 
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Wht doesn't the second paragraph of your post show up when listed but does when clicked on to reply?
 
old-git said:
Wht doesn't the second paragraph of your post show up when listed but does when clicked on to reply?
Click to expand...

Curious! I have had this sometimes OG, I see 3 or 4 lines on the email notification only to discover more when I login to read the thread.
Yet sometimes I see reams of information on the email with nothing missed; I will ask Obi Waynne the question and see if he can shed any light on it.
 
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