All Show, No Go: Stunning Designs Hiding Poor Performance

Sometimes there are cars like that—you see one that looks cool, but once you drive it, the power just isn’t there. You’re left wondering, “Why isn’t this thing fast?” even though it seems like it should be. It looks the part, the specs aren't terrible, but somehow it just doesn’t deliver.

Take the Toyota Celica, for example. I think the Celica—especially the last generation—is one of the coolest sports cars Toyota ever made. It’s got a bold, sporty design that still turns heads. But unfortunately, it came with a pretty underwhelming engine.

Toyota gave it basically the same engine as the Corolla. Depending on where you live, there were two versions, but neither one had more than 200 horsepower. If I remember right, the top trim only had about 180 HP, which is kind of a letdown. A car that looks this aggressive should’ve had at least 200 HP—honestly, 250 would’ve made way more sense.

But maybe that was Toyota’s goal; Celica was not made as a very fast and high-performance sports car but as a cheap and economical sports car so it carried the Corolla engine, but unfortunately people didn’t like it and the Celica failed. Maybe Toyota will fare better with the latest generation Celica, which is rumored to be in the works

It really seems like Toyota just didn’t want to give the Celica a proper performance engine. They always treated it like a sporty-looking sedan that shared a platform with the Corolla, even though older generations had some solid performance options. You kind of see the same story with the modern Toyota FT-86. It looks and handles like a real sports car, but you can’t help thinking it deserves a bit more power under the hood.

As we know, the FT-86 is a collaboration between Toyota and Subaru. They’ve basically made two versions of the same car, and it runs a 2-liter Boxer engine that makes around 200 horsepower. Is that enough? I don’t know. Sports cars can definitely be faster, but it seems like Toyota didn’t really build this one to be all about speed. They clearly focused more on handling and overall balance. It feels like they intentionally didn’t make it too quick—probably so it wouldn’t step on the toes of its big brother, the Toyota Supra.

Toyota’s lineup already has a few sporty models, and it makes sense that they wouldn’t want them to overlap too much. Each one has its place in the market, and they want buyers to see clear differences between them.

Personally, I think there’s a solid market for cars like the FT-86. A lot of people prefer something that’s easy to handle rather than just fast. In this case, the FT-86 shows that a lightweight, well-balanced car with a modest engine can still be a ton of fun—and safer, too. Most drivers want to build up their skills before jumping into a high-powered car. A slower, more manageable car gives them room to learn, and manufacturers know that. That’s why there’s still demand for entry-level sports cars.

Cars like these are also designed to look good. That’s usually what draws people in at first—the design—then they look at the specs. In many ways, handling and suspension are the real selling points. Honestly, it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slowly, and I think that’s exactly the idea behind this type of car. Mid-range sports cars are built for the driving experience first, and horsepower comes second. If someone wants more power, they can always move up to a faster model.

Is that a bad thing? Maybe not. If you're a skilled driver, cars like the FT-86 might feel a bit underwhelming. But for beginners, they’re perfect—easy to control and not too intimidating. As long as there are people just getting into driving performance cars, there’s going to be a place for cars like this.