Best Sports Car For Seniors [Not What You Think!]

If you are looking for the best sports car for seniors, I’m here to help you out. Getting old doesn’t mean you have to drive boring SUVs or saloons, on the contrary!

While sports cars are rarely the most practical type of vehicle, let’s face it, they are fun! And a true car enthusiast rarely chooses their car with reason.

But as you age there are a few considerations you should make. The truth is that true sports cars are not usually comfortable, functional, or even safe in the hand of an inexperienced driver.

And I don’t mean experience driving regular cars for 40 years but driving high horsepower cars that can wheel spin even if you are going 60 mph if you floor the gas.

So it’s important to know if you are looking for a nice looking, high-performance car that can still function as an everyday driver and be comfortable or if you are looking at a street-legal race car.

For most seniors, I would recommend the former and if you prefer the latter, it’s very unlikely you would be looking for this information online anyways.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the important factors you should consider when choosing a sports car as a senior

How To Choose A Sports Car For Seniors

There are a few key things to consider when choosing a sports car for seniors. While driving a car is seemingly unaffected by aging, the truth is that there are many considerations to take into account when aging.

Functionality

One of the key things that aging affects is the functionality of the car. While an extremely low supercar or a nostalgic compact coupe might be your dream cars, the truth is they are very hard to get into and especially out of.

The seats in sports cars are often very low and you are as close to the road as possible. While this is only a minor annoyance when you are young it can be almost impossible to get out of a low sports car when you are old.

On the other hand, if you are relatively fit, don’t suffer from any joint inflammation, and have been doing your squats, this might not be a huge factor for you.

But for most seniors, a higher ride is so much more convenient that you will love using your sports car a lot more if getting out of it is not embarrassing, or in the worst-case scenario agonizing effort.

Another thing to consider is the transmission. Many sports cars, especially older ones have a manual transmission. Even if you are used to driving a manual stick, the truth is that operating the clutch and the gear shifter requires fine motor skills and is an unnecessary distraction.

Also, if you suffer from arthritis or any kind of knee or hip pain, operating the clutch can actually be painful because it requires more force and range of motion than the accelerator and brake pedals.

Then again if you have been driving a manual for the past 30 years, this is probably not a huge issue for you. But definitely don’t get a sports car as your first manual, especially as a senior.

If you are worried about performance, don’t be. Modern computerized automated transmissions are much more efficient in changing gears than the average driver and sports car manufacturers go to great details to optimize their performance.

Finally, while compact convertibles may seem fast and fun you can really go even grocery shopping with them. So I recommend you look at a car that has at least a small trunk or back seats so you don’t have to always choose your bigger car when you have to go to the store. Or even better, you don’t need that bigger car.

Safety

One very important consideration for sports cars is safety. Some sports cars are tiny and have ridiculous power to weight ratios. This combined with very sensitive controls is not the ideal option for seniors who are starting to have reduced reaction times, fine motor skills, and vision.

That’s why a bit larger high-performance car with an emphasis on safety equipment is a good option. They offer stylish bodies combined with high performance and better passenger and pedestrian safety.

Modern vehicles have safety devices ranging from lane watch to complete autopilot and from airbags to emergency braking assistants. The amount of both active and passive safety devices in many modern cars is staggering.

The most important part is that the safety equipment in modern cars actually works. Even though there are still about 36 000 unnecessary death in traffic in the USA alone every year, the advances in both automotive technology and transport planning have reduced the death rates to half of what they were in the 1960s.

So always put an emphasis on safety when choosing a car.

Economy And Emissions

One important factor, even when choosing a sports car is the power source and fuel consumption. I know it’s hard to beat the sound of a high-performance V8 or V12 engine, but the truth is that choosing an electric car, an alternate fuel car or a hybrid can help you save the environment, save you money in fuel and tax expenses and offers a superior driving experience.

Electric cars offer instantaneous torque and power from the get-go so there is no need to rev the engine or wait for the turbo to kick in. Hybrid vehicles use this to their advantage and combine electric motors with a high-performance combustion engine to increase performance, fuel consumption and range.

Modern electric cars can reach ranges up to 400 miles and hybrids naturally don’t have these limitations at all.

Unfortunately, there aren’t that many alternative fuel sports cars available. Hydrogen fuel cells, biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel are all good options if you happen to find a car that has these options and have access to these fuels in your area.

Other Considerations

Like I said in the beginning, people rarely choose a sports car with only reason. Cars, especially sports cars can be considered a piece of art or displays of automotive engineering and they are often chosen with feeling.

If you prefer a certain brand or chassis over others, no amount of reason is going to convince you to choose otherwise.

That’s why in the end I recommend you choose the car that you actually want if it suits your needs even adequately.

But if you are not really sure what you want, I have a couple of modern suggestions for you.

My Recommendation

So now that we know what you should be looking for in a sports car for seniors, I’m going to give you my suggestion. It is no other than the Tesla Model S!

I know, I know, this might seem kind of unexciting and you might not think of it as a “real” sports car since it’s an electric liftback sedan. But the reality is that the high-performance Tesla S models have superior acceleration compared to anything else in its price range.

Especially if you take into account the functionality, space, and safety equipment you can’t really beat the Model S currently in my opinion.

With the combination of top-notch safety equipment, state-of-the-art accessories, very nice styling, and a relatively low environmental footprint the Tesla Model S is the perfect high-performance car for seniors.

The power train is naturally completely automatic (actually fixed gear one speed) since it’s fully electric so it’s extremely easy to operate.

In case you are not familiar with the performance and technology, the Tesla Model S (D model) has two electric motors, one for each axle so it’s an all-wheel drive.

Tesla doesn’t officially state the power rating of its engines. This is likely because the performance of an electric engine is very different from a combustion engine because they have very different torque characteristics.

The 0 to 60 MPH of 2.3 seconds (of high-performance models), the top speed of 155 mph, and the range of 402 miles should be enough for any car enthusiast. How fast is that in reality? See for yourself:

The best thing is that the car is extremely comfortable and spacious and has probably the best safety equipment on the market so you don’t have to worry about cramping legs or the challenges of getting in and out of the car.

Oh, I almost forgot about the price. Tesla Model S high-performance models cost around $100,000 depending on specs. Similar performance conventional sports cars typically start from $150,000 up.

And don’t be afraid of the whole electric charging thing. Charging points are becoming ever increasingly available and with

If you are concerned about durability, the cars are designed to last for over 500,000 miles and the battery packs a minimum of 150,000 miles. So well-maintained used Teslas are a good option. You don’t need to worry about the engine because it only has a single moving part, instead focus on the suspension, body, interior, tires, and battery performance when choosing a used one.

Conclusion

I hope you found my suggestion useful even though it’s not a classic sports car. But I have no doubt that a Model S is far more enjoyable as a high-performance beautiful car than

More importantly it safe, practical, and environmentally friendly, and packed with top-notch modern features.

What do you think about my suggestion? Leave your comment and dream car in the comments section, I’m always interested to hear from my readers and to chat about cars!

Thanks for reading and if you found the post useful, feel free to share it on social media.

See you next time!