Let's take a look at some wonderfully well-decorated cars that aren't very fast. Real sheep in wolf's clothing, then.
At Autoblog we always give you the hottest car news hot off the press, completely free. The car world is full of novelties and stupidities. Sometimes a piece of news unintentionally slips by unnoticed. In this case that was with the Toyota GR Yaris RS. If you are not familiar with this version: don't worry, it is a model specifically for the Japanese market.
It is a very special car. As you probably know, there are many different versions of the GR Yaris, as is often the case with Japanese sports cars. The special thing about the GR Yaris RS is that it is not what you think. Judging from the name, you might think that it is an extra pure version of the already very nice GR Yaris, but nothing could be further from the truth.
It is a strange combination of the three-door body of the GR Yaris, but with a naturally aspirated 1.5 engine (a four-cylinder after all), front-wheel drive and an automatic transmission! That sounds like a real sheep in wolf's clothing and that is exactly what this Toyota is. We in the editorial office continued to muse about how many variants we could think of.
And as it turns out, there are quite a few! That's why we now have a sheep in wolf's clothing for you ten times over. Of course this is a selection from automotive history, there are undoubtedly 10 more that fit perfectly into the overview. Of course you are always welcome in the comments to add more.
Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Coupé (E92)
2009 – 2013
There was once a time when diesel was seen as a clean fuel. How times have changed! In Germany, there were various subsidies or incentives for companies that were extra clean. At Alpina – which previously looked at a cheaper model – this resulted in the Alpina D3, the diesel version of the B3. Nowadays the D3 S is still there and it is almost as fast as the petrol version, but that is not yet the case with the E92.
The D3 Bi-Turbo looks exactly the same as the B3 Bi-Turbo. Instead of a 360 or 400 hp straight-six, there is a simpler 2.0 four-cylinder biturbo under the hood. This one produces, ahem, 213 hp! Now these engines are quite potent (you can get 260 hp out of them with a chip), but you involuntarily expect a little more from a real Alpina. There is also a nice surprise, because they are quite affordable and extremely economical. Hence the subsidy, of course.
Porsche 911 Carrera S Aero kit (997)
2005-2008
Porsche has done Aerokits before. Or other versions that turned 911s into sheep in wolf's clothing. In fact, everyone remembers the Turbo-look 911s from the '80s. With the wide hips. But there are also Aerokits. Nowadays it is a Sport Design package, but with an extra wing. With the 997 your car looked like a GT3! Same spoiler and bumper sets.
There was a difference: the GT3 has central exhausts, the Carrera models have these on the left and right. You almost come to the point of saying that the Carrera S with Aerokit looks even faster, thanks to four full exhausts.
Alfa Romeo Brera S 2.2 (939D)
2006 – 2008
Now the Alfa Romeo Brera has always been a car that looked faster than it was. It once started as a concept with a V8 and rear-wheel drive, but eventually became a front/four-wheel drive car that you could even get with a four-cylinder diesel. The Brera S was the top model, which was overhauled by Prodrive. They installed Bilstein dampers, Eibach springs, special wheels (those @dutchdriftking now also has) and some minor adjustments. A very special thing was that the V6 was stripped of the standard four-wheel drive. It transformed the car. But there was a catch, because you could also order it with the lethargic 2.2 four-cylinder. Eh?
Mercedes-Benz C30 CDI AMG
2001-2005
But isn't this Mercedes-Benz C-Class a real AMG? And super fast for a diesel at the time? Yes and yes! These were very cool cars and still are. In absolute terms, this is of course a wolf in sheep's clothing. Everyone sees an old C-class, but with 540 Nm you can quite surprise on the Autobahn.
The problem was that there were also plenty of car connoisseurs and Benz fans who spotted an AMG. Because the C30 CDI looked exactly the same as a C32 AMG. Same body kit, also lowered and same brakes. But despite the surplus of torque, 231 hp is nowhere near 354 hp, which the C32 AMG delivered.
Subaru Impreza Sport / SRX / RS
1996 – 2000
The Subaru Impreza GT Turbo and WRX were the ultimate fun for horsepower fetishists on a budget. Not only did you get a lot of power, but they drove out of the art. Despite the low price (less than 50,000 guilders at the time!), there were customers who wanted the looks, but an even lower price. In Japan you had the Impreza SRX, in the US the Impreza RS and in Europe the Impreza Sport.
The idea behind all those cars was identical. So the fierce gear of the GT Turbo, but with the standard 2.0 boxer with about 125 hp, the Impreza RS still had the 2.5 from the Legacy with 165 hp to save the honor. Nevertheless, these Imprezas looked much faster than they were.
Dodge Challenger Shakedown R/T Scat Pack Widebody
2022
Here we can hardly speak of a sheep in wolf's clothing. After all, there is a huge V8 in the front. In fact, the eight-cylinder has a larger displacement than the Hellcat! It's not a Hellcat, though. It's not even an SRT-8. No, it's just the R/T. The engine does come from the SRT and measures 6.4 liters. Why is it still in the overview?
Well, this Dodge looks a lot faster than a regular Hellcat! The car is equipped with the widebody. It is also equipped with the Scat Pack, so you can see the engine moving above the hood. And yes, it is also called Shakedown, so you expect this to be a faster variant. That's not it. It is a wonderful muscle car according to the old-fashioned recipe, but it looks much faster than it is.
Lotus Esprit GT3
1996 – 1998
Early Lotus Esprits have a four-cylinder, the later models a V8. We all know that, right? However, in the 1990s, Lotus was not quite ready with its four-cylinder engine. Of all four-cylinder engines, it is one of the coolest ever made. They sound phenomenal and drove great. In fact, the real connoisseur knows that these last four-cylinder Esprits had the best handling.
The 'GT3' was a name that Lotus used and Porsche later borrowed without asking permission or paying for it. But they were angry at Porsche when Aston Martin named their sporting flagship the GT3 (which became the GT12). In terms of appearance, the GT3 looked just as impressive as the V8 with the heavy bumpers, skirts and optional spoiler.
Seat Ibiza Reference Sport & Sportrider
2007 – 2008
At Seat you have various nice models. The 'Sport' is not traffic and the FR is even fun. However, they are not Cupras. After the facelift of this generation of Ibiza, ALL models received the Cupra body, so with the enormous front bumper. Yes, also the three-cylinders. The Ibiza Reference Sport and the Sportrider looked sportier with their beautiful wheels. But underneath they were just normal Ibizas. The Reference Sport had 75 hp and the extremely sporty Sportrider even 100 hp!
Honda Civic Sport & Civic Si Factory Sport Performance Package
2004 – 2006
The Japanese often have versions with the equipment of a fast version, but with the simple engine. That is of course no different here. In Europe there was of course the Honda Civic Type-R, one of the most affordable cars with 200 hp. Those were very fast cars back then. You could also order the Civic Sport from the dealer, even with a 1.4 with only 90 hp. These still received the heavy body kit of the Type-R. Only the slightly smaller wheels and slightly different exhaust betrayed that you had not bought the biggest one.
There was no Type-R in the US. There they had to make do with the lukewarm Civic Si, with a 2.0 engine with 160 hp. That in itself was quite a nice Honda, albeit less exotic than the Type-R that was available here in the Netherlands. You could also order an extra fierce-looking variant from the factory under the name Civic Si Factory Sport Performance Package. Despite the very fierce looks, these fat Si's were considerably slower than the Type-R.
Audi A4 DTM quattro (8E)
2005
You can't easily call a sports sedan with 220 hp a sheep in wolf's clothing, and yet this A4 DTM falls under that category. It is a rare variant made by quattro GmbH, who later also developed the RS4. The A4 DTM was there especially to celebrate an Audi victory in the DTM. Very cool.
With a carbon spoiler lip, diffuser, deep front bumper and rear bumper with 'air' exhaust, the A4 DTM looked dangerous. A lot thicker than the regular S4. You can almost characterize that car as a sleeper, because it had a 4.2 V8 with 344 hp, but you could hardly see it. This A4 DTM was the opposite. Later – in some markets – an S4 DTM was delivered. Those are extremely rare.
Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder (982)
2021-2024
It is one of the coolest modern sports cars, the Boxster Spyder. A very pure Porsche. The 982 generation had the 4.0 six-cylinder with 420 hp, an epically tasty combination of sound, power, torque and direct throttle response. In China, that engine turned out to be a tricky issue with the extremely heavy taxes. That is why the Chinese version of the Boxster Spyder received a 2.0 four-cylinder boxer from the standard model!
So even though you have a real Spyder, a normal Boxster S will be many times faster. Of course, 300 hp and 380 Nm is not bad, but you obviously expect much more. Completely remarkable: thanks to the less favorable aerodynamic properties, the Boxster Spyder's top speed is 5 km/h slower than the standard 718 Boxster. Truly a sheep in wolf's clothing.
BMW 320Si (E90)
2006
And we have another 3 Series, of all things E90!. This has to be the slowest homologation special of all time. Just like the Audi A4 DTM, there is a link with motorsport. The funny thing is, the link is much more direct than with the Audi. The mooring of the 320Si is basically identical to that of the 320Si coaches. How cool is that? You also got more power than a standard BMW 320i, on which the car was based.
You also received the M Performance package with 18-inch BBS wheels as standard. Very cool. Besides the fact that the engine was notoriously unreliable, it only produced 173 hp when in perfect condition. So yes, a standard 325i was faster and a chipped 325d showed it all corners of the Autobahn.
That concludes our speech, of course the wolf in sheep's clothing category has been reserved for soon!
This article These are 10 sheep in wolf's clothing in a row first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
#sheep #wolf39s #clothing #row
