The classic "sleeper." A wolf in sheep's clothing. That boring-looking car at the traffic light that suddenly peels off into the sunset faster than you can say, "What the heck?" In today's marketplace, however, the traditional sleeper is a dying breed. Seriously, why would XYZ Motor Company put a snorting powerhouse under the hood of a car, and then forgo slathering the thing with "I'm a fast car" badging, spoilers and trim?
There's still a niche out there, though; folks who yearn for a rocket of a car, but want no part of the "me too" vein. C'mon, sometimes you just want to slip under the radar of your peers, as well as the fuzz. The auto manufacturers have wised up to this, and are none too bashful when it comes to advertising how fast their "boring sedan" really is. The 2005 Subaru Legacy GT is a perfect example. It looks like a regular comfortable-shoe Subie, but under that hood resides a 250-horsepower version of the "look at me" WRX STi's powerhouse. Textbook sleeper? Oh yeah. But Subaru is quick to advertise this, so anyone who knows anything about the current auto market knows that the sedate-looking Legacy GT is actually a quick ride.
So let's take this to the next level, a sleeper's sleeper of sorts. Something that looks slow, and really is slow, then make it fast. Of the cars available on today's market, which would you least expect to dust you at the freeway on-ramp? How 'bout those high-mpg glorified golf carts, namely, the Honda Insight (highest mpg ratings of any car sold in the U.S.), Toyota Prius (stop trying to keep it in electric mode; get out of my way!) and the family of TDI diesels available from Volkswagen (why don't they stink like diesels are supposed to?)? Is it possible these things are sleepers masquerading as fuel-sippers?
Honda Insight:
Think of this 1,850-pound two-seater gasoline-electric hybrid as an emasculated CRX. Its all-aluminum body, fantastic aerodynamics and stiff structure are befitting of an expensive exotic. No matter, Honda's goal was outstanding fuel economy. But we can't help wondering if there are some hidden ponies under that featherweight hood.
Unfortunately, the aftermarket tuners have yet to offer any of the typical Honda hop-ups, like turbo kits or hotter cams. This is a very low volume seller, and for now nary a blip on the tuner-car radar. However, as more of these little gems hit the junkyard, creative minds will start churning out the "what ifs." The light weight alone makes the Insight a great foundation for serious mods. Stuff a four-cylinder VTEC under the hood, ditch the heavy battery and hybrid components and throw on some decent tires. Mark our words, hot-rod Insights will happen.
Toyota Prius:
Unlike the Insight, the four-door Prius is firmly planted in the sedate family car category. Would you ever expect this infamous green mobile to dust anything in the stoplight grand prix, or weave through traffic with precision and speed? Of course not. But wait, it really ain't that slow, and maximum power is available at any given moment, there's no hitting the wrong gear, no waiting for the engine to rev. It's a decent handler, too. Starting to sound like a bit of a sleeper, eh?
Toyota's clever engineers have been thinking the same thing. Enter the Prius GT. No joke, they really have created a hot-rod Prius. Put away your checkbooks, though. The GT is just a concept car, a one-off engineering exercise.
The heart of the GT concept is power. See, the Echo and Prius share the same basic 1.5-liter four-banger, the most significant difference being the economy-bent Atkinson-cycle valve setup in the Prius. So Toyota just bolted up an Echo engine. The gain? Twenty-two horsepower. In addition, the high-voltage power components were bumped from 500 volts to 550, mainly to feed a more powerful electric motor. Naturally, the computers were also tweaked to manage the hybrid's additional vigor. Net combined output: 145 hp, versus a stock rating of 110.
Other changes for this alleged concept include a retuned suspension with sportier shocks, springs and stabilizer bars, along with a gutted interior. With the additional power and 400 fewer pounds to haul around, the Prius GT scoots to 60 mph in about 8.5 seconds (versus 10.4 for a stock Prius). Sleeper, anyone?
Toyota resolutely claims that the Prius GT is merely a concept vehicle, albeit with a wink and a smile. Nevertheless, one little statement describing this concept does give us pause. According to Toyota, the weight loss and more powerful electronic components compensate for the stronger gas engine, resulting in virtually unchanged fuel economy (driven at normal speeds, of course). Since our crystal ball is on the fritz, we can only speculate as to what this means. Will Toyota offer a "sport" Prius someday, or is this just a preview of the next-generation powertrain upgrade?
If you're a current Prius owner looking to up the ante, good luck. Unless you have a spare Echo engine lying around, getting more ponies out of this hybrid is not a reasonable possibility. There's hope in the handling department, though. The concept GT's suspension bits could easily find a place amongst TRD (Toyota Racing Development) parts catalogs. Suspension and tire improvements alone would boost the fun factor of this could-be sleeper. Pretty please, Toyota; give the Prius a little TRD love.
VW New Beetle TDI automatic:
Nope, that's not a typo. But not just any slush box; the New Beetle TDI is the only VW available (for now at least) with Audi's acclaimed SMG sequential automanual transmission, as found in the TT 3.2 DSG.
This transmission combines the best of both worlds — the direct connection and efficiency of a manual and the no-brainer operation of an automatic. Diesels have a narrow powerband, so having six cogs at hand is a boon. But the diesel is slow, so who cares about the wow-wee transmission? Chip tuning, baby.
The stock beetle TDI produces 100 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. A simple ECU (engine control unit) computer chip reprogram from Upsolute adds a little more verve to the fuel maps and turbo boost programming. Everything else remains stock. Fuel economy may dip a little, and you may even get a little visible smoke from the tailpipe. But you also get 133 hp and a whopping 221 lb-ft of torque, all fed through the rifle-action six-speed SMG tranny. In a New Beetle. That, my friend, is the ultimate sleeper's sleeper.
There's still a niche out there, though; folks who yearn for a rocket of a car, but want no part of the "me too" vein. C'mon, sometimes you just want to slip under the radar of your peers, as well as the fuzz. The auto manufacturers have wised up to this, and are none too bashful when it comes to advertising how fast their "boring sedan" really is. The 2005 Subaru Legacy GT is a perfect example. It looks like a regular comfortable-shoe Subie, but under that hood resides a 250-horsepower version of the "look at me" WRX STi's powerhouse. Textbook sleeper? Oh yeah. But Subaru is quick to advertise this, so anyone who knows anything about the current auto market knows that the sedate-looking Legacy GT is actually a quick ride.
So let's take this to the next level, a sleeper's sleeper of sorts. Something that looks slow, and really is slow, then make it fast. Of the cars available on today's market, which would you least expect to dust you at the freeway on-ramp? How 'bout those high-mpg glorified golf carts, namely, the Honda Insight (highest mpg ratings of any car sold in the U.S.), Toyota Prius (stop trying to keep it in electric mode; get out of my way!) and the family of TDI diesels available from Volkswagen (why don't they stink like diesels are supposed to?)? Is it possible these things are sleepers masquerading as fuel-sippers?
Honda Insight:
Think of this 1,850-pound two-seater gasoline-electric hybrid as an emasculated CRX. Its all-aluminum body, fantastic aerodynamics and stiff structure are befitting of an expensive exotic. No matter, Honda's goal was outstanding fuel economy. But we can't help wondering if there are some hidden ponies under that featherweight hood.
Unfortunately, the aftermarket tuners have yet to offer any of the typical Honda hop-ups, like turbo kits or hotter cams. This is a very low volume seller, and for now nary a blip on the tuner-car radar. However, as more of these little gems hit the junkyard, creative minds will start churning out the "what ifs." The light weight alone makes the Insight a great foundation for serious mods. Stuff a four-cylinder VTEC under the hood, ditch the heavy battery and hybrid components and throw on some decent tires. Mark our words, hot-rod Insights will happen.
Toyota Prius:
Unlike the Insight, the four-door Prius is firmly planted in the sedate family car category. Would you ever expect this infamous green mobile to dust anything in the stoplight grand prix, or weave through traffic with precision and speed? Of course not. But wait, it really ain't that slow, and maximum power is available at any given moment, there's no hitting the wrong gear, no waiting for the engine to rev. It's a decent handler, too. Starting to sound like a bit of a sleeper, eh?
Toyota's clever engineers have been thinking the same thing. Enter the Prius GT. No joke, they really have created a hot-rod Prius. Put away your checkbooks, though. The GT is just a concept car, a one-off engineering exercise.
The heart of the GT concept is power. See, the Echo and Prius share the same basic 1.5-liter four-banger, the most significant difference being the economy-bent Atkinson-cycle valve setup in the Prius. So Toyota just bolted up an Echo engine. The gain? Twenty-two horsepower. In addition, the high-voltage power components were bumped from 500 volts to 550, mainly to feed a more powerful electric motor. Naturally, the computers were also tweaked to manage the hybrid's additional vigor. Net combined output: 145 hp, versus a stock rating of 110.
Other changes for this alleged concept include a retuned suspension with sportier shocks, springs and stabilizer bars, along with a gutted interior. With the additional power and 400 fewer pounds to haul around, the Prius GT scoots to 60 mph in about 8.5 seconds (versus 10.4 for a stock Prius). Sleeper, anyone?
Toyota resolutely claims that the Prius GT is merely a concept vehicle, albeit with a wink and a smile. Nevertheless, one little statement describing this concept does give us pause. According to Toyota, the weight loss and more powerful electronic components compensate for the stronger gas engine, resulting in virtually unchanged fuel economy (driven at normal speeds, of course). Since our crystal ball is on the fritz, we can only speculate as to what this means. Will Toyota offer a "sport" Prius someday, or is this just a preview of the next-generation powertrain upgrade?
If you're a current Prius owner looking to up the ante, good luck. Unless you have a spare Echo engine lying around, getting more ponies out of this hybrid is not a reasonable possibility. There's hope in the handling department, though. The concept GT's suspension bits could easily find a place amongst TRD (Toyota Racing Development) parts catalogs. Suspension and tire improvements alone would boost the fun factor of this could-be sleeper. Pretty please, Toyota; give the Prius a little TRD love.
VW New Beetle TDI automatic:
Nope, that's not a typo. But not just any slush box; the New Beetle TDI is the only VW available (for now at least) with Audi's acclaimed SMG sequential automanual transmission, as found in the TT 3.2 DSG.
This transmission combines the best of both worlds — the direct connection and efficiency of a manual and the no-brainer operation of an automatic. Diesels have a narrow powerband, so having six cogs at hand is a boon. But the diesel is slow, so who cares about the wow-wee transmission? Chip tuning, baby.
The stock beetle TDI produces 100 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. A simple ECU (engine control unit) computer chip reprogram from Upsolute adds a little more verve to the fuel maps and turbo boost programming. Everything else remains stock. Fuel economy may dip a little, and you may even get a little visible smoke from the tailpipe. But you also get 133 hp and a whopping 221 lb-ft of torque, all fed through the rifle-action six-speed SMG tranny. In a New Beetle. That, my friend, is the ultimate sleeper's sleeper.
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