Why Do We Put Up With Heavy Souless Sports Cars? Going Green--Is The Cure Worse Than The Disease ? 

How much should a sports sedan weigh in your opinion?

I basically had this whole theme in my head as I sat at a light behind a 5500lbs X5M in my 2700lbs S2000.

I use to be a car guy -- guess I still am at heart, but I've pretty much lost all hope. I don't aspire to own anything new -- none of it is appealing. It's all junk and it's all been destroyed in the name of technology and cost savings. iDrive 8 in BMWs SUUUUUCCKS! The 8 shortcut buttons are gone. Climate control buttons are gone. Heated seats and ventilated seats are now have to be turned on / off in software. Manual turning on of low beam headlights and PARKING LIGHTS are in iDrive. Was the turn-style headlight switch too complicated, for BMW? Even the HEATED STEERING WHEEL BUTTON is gone. Worse yet, what physical controls remain are touch capacitive garbage. It's ironic that a luxury brand implements massive cost-cutting measures and is rewarded with simpletons thinking it's a premium experience. Obviously it costs way less to slap a screen in a car than design, create, manufacture, test, inventory, and warranty a bunch of buttons that could go wrong. The Kool Aid drinkers will say use voice commands, but voice commands are slow and half baked at best. And everything being on a screen is massively distracting and dangerous. Buttons you can press without looking away from the road are way safer. Anyway, I won't buy another BMW until BMW undoes iDrive buttonless stupidity. And don't get me started on all the mechanical problems just about every manufacturer has had trying to eek out better mpg for the sake of emissions.

thats what ive been saying! sports cars are huge now and all this tech isnt needed because everybody plugs their phone in anyway

Tbh its quite impressive what they can do with heavier cars. Look at the new m2. It gained like 150kg / 300lbs more and is faster than ever. even from 0-60 4:20 On most sportier cars u can still disable the majority of driving aids ..

I disagree that automated driving should even be optional. They should do their due diligence and mark a return to PROPER driving tests and driver education. People should learn to start driving with a manual, as this teaches and reinforces focus and driver engagement, and it leaves no hands free for a freaking smartphone. I refuse to place my life in the hands of some software engineer's code that's likely full of bugs and is secretly a beta version. Yes, today's sportscars/performance sedans are rolling bank vaults with 800 computers controlling everything from the headlights to the cigarette lighter. A lot of the added weight is in compliance with crash safety standards. The doors on today's vehicles are almost a foot thick in some models! The door to my '86 Camry's is about as thin as a slice of pizza. If the vehicles were lighter, you wouldn't need 700hp to only get you to sixty in 3.4 seconds or whatever. All of this bloat is ridiculous, unnecessary, and not requested from enthusiasts.

E46 3 series remains the obvious example. Curb weight ranged from 3400 (coupe) to 3900 (wagon) lbs. The tech is window dressing. Fundamentally it's all about rotating wheels. How old is the wheel? BEV is overrated. Battery chemistry is hard limit. It's a political / religion problem. Re / manuals - See VW GTI mk 7 / 8. High take rate for manuals in N. America. Global market forced dropping it going forward.