Sweet Dreams, Sweetheart... Sleeper Cars!

[JohnBM01]

Let me make this intro simple. A "sleeper" is a car that doesn't seem to be a powerhouse, but once the gas is floored and the car takes off, it can take on almost anything.

So GTPlanet, let's talk about those automobiles that may not look extreme, but possess extreme performance. This can be a stock street car, or a hard-tuned (as in Gran Turismo 1 terminology) machine. Oh, and one thing. They have to be street legal. So let's go. Bring on the SLEEPERS!!!

 

[Ring_Berkut]

Well, for queue cars, i'd pick Hartge H50 ( A 3 series BMW with the M5 engine), the Alpina B7s, the B10 biturbo, the Ringmini, the Speedparts Saab 9-5 Lightning and there are so many more but these reflect most of what you asked for.

 

[StevieMo]

Dodge Omni GLHS

 

[Roo]

Brabus EV12

There was a car Famine posted a picture of not so long ago, a Toyota Corolla, from a tuning company called Fensport. They made a 535hp, 4wd Corolla that looked almost (they had to make some subtle tweaks) stock.

 

[Famine]

Yes - that Corolla is evil...

The best "as bought" sleeper had to be the Lotus Carlton (Lotus Omega for our continental friends). A standard-looking, black (actually dark green) Vauxhall Carlton/Opel Omega, but messed around with by Lotus. Looked totally standard, but for slightly larger wheels and a Lotus badge. Highly potent car.

 

[Ev0]

Buick Grand National. 'nuff said.

 

[1X83Z]

The Saturn Vue V6 is the best sleeper of all time.

The Vue was a mediocre compact SUV until this year, when it traded its British-built 181bhp 3.0L V6 in for Honda's 3.5L V6, which makes 250bhp - it's the same engine that powers the 4310-pound Odyssey to 60mph in 7.7 seconds. Either way, the Vue V6 2WD now does 0-60 in 6.6 seconds, making it the fifth-quickest front-wheel drive car for sale (1 Dodge SRT-4 5.8; 2 Acura TL 6.2; 3 Nissan Altima 3.5SE 6.3; 4 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP 6.5) and the third-quickest production SUV of all time (1 Porsche Cayenne Turbo 5.6; 2 GMC Typhoon 5.9).

Oh, and it's also car of the year.

 

[Famine]

Compare that to the Vauxhall Carlton, which went from mass-manufacturer flagship bore-mobile to a Lotus-tuned, insane saloon car (with all the relevant suspension and brake tweaks you'd associate).

Vauxhall Carlton GSi:
5-speed, 2969cc straight six
204hp, n/a lbft
0-60mph in 7.6s, 149mph

Lotus Carlton:
6-speed, 3615cc straight six
377hp, 416lbft
0-60mph in 5.0s, 176mph

And the only external difference was a Lotus badge...

 

[Ring_Berkut]

The Carlton in RHD models and Lotus Omega in LHD models is one of my favourite cars of all time, but it isn't that of a sleeper car, it has a lot of outside looks that are just manic. But in terms of raw performance i just need to say that it was, untill very recently the fastest production saloon of the world.

Great car indeed 👍 See the pics below

 

[pimp racer]

This is a nice sleeper J/K Taken from lambocars.com

 

[GTO_VR4]

All those old Land yachts equipped with big V8s

 

[240Z]

This is a nice sleeper J/K Taken from lambocars.com

What's with the wheel immobiliser?

 

[[]AzNDrifter[]]

Hmmm possibly the Pontiac GTO?

 

[Joey D]

The best sleeper I've seen in a long time was my buddies 1999 S-10 equipt with a supercharged LS1 under the hood. Thing looks like a normal truck but it runs in the low 13's at the strip. Let me find a picture.

 

[McLaren'sAngel]

Hiya!

I am not sure if its street legal but I would like say the Lingenfelter Twin Turbo Corvette is a good sleeper! Its from the corvettefever.com site.

0-60: 1.97 Seconds
Top Speed: 230 MPH
1/4 mile: 8.95 @153.7 MPH
HP: 1,100 HP

WAIT! I guess it is street legal according to the magazine print out of the corvette: "The big street-legal Mickey Thompson tires are no match for the power of this 8 second Corvette. COMPLETELY street LEGAL, this corvette not only smokes the tires but also is completly streetable right up to top speed of 230 MPH"

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

My car's not a sleeper, but I just got a nice sleeper item. The RS*R exmag exhaust. Looks like the usual exhausts that are coming on everything these days, with a relatively big chrome tip, and only as loud as an M3, but performs as well as most GT-style "fart-can" exhausts!

 

[TsLeng]

hehe, my car's a sleeper. It sleeps when I press the accelerator.

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

hehe, my car's a sleeper. It sleeps when I press the accelerator.

LMAO!!!!!

 

[JohnBM01]

Oh, I see the Dodge Omni GLHS... the machine that anti-tuner show "Sports Car Revolution" called "the world's first tuner car." When Kazzer, Sony Music recording artist, talked about it, he talked about how the GLH kind of stood for "Goes Like Hell." But then mentioning the GLHS as the "Goes Like Hell Some more."

Call me crazy when I say this, but here's why I think the Silvia S15 Spec-R Aero is a sleeper. As you may have seen me reply about it, I say the car is very beautiful and doesn't look like a car that can seriously blow away any competition, but it can. I honestly think the car seems more like a nice, economic, affordable sedan. However, it can be a driver's (or even racer's) dream once functionally-modded or taken to the limit. And sleepers aren't just limited to us horsepower-crazy Americans. Perhaps a sleeper can be a normal car, like the Corolla mentioned above. To be honest, I can't give you an exact example of any car that is a pure sleeper. You all would seem to know much more than I do on sleepers. Perhaps a sleeper car be as elegant as the Peugeot 406, but have the Jaguar XKR. One might be as plain as a Lancia Delta, but can handle as sweetly as the Ferrari F40. What I'm saying is... almost ANY car can be a sleeper. The "street-legal" can also mean a dominator on the drag strip or on the road course (I don't know of many road course sleepers. The only ones I hear about dominate the drag strip).

I think to end my reply, someone on the show "Hot Rod TV" dropped a V8 into a Focus and probably engineered it enough to be a "not your average Focus." You know of any sleepers, or if you own one, the Reply button is waiting for your reply.

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

The problem with sleepers is, it's easy to make a drag sleeper, not as easy to make a road race sleeper. Even with a stock body, the ride height and stiffness of a performance suspension are easy to spot. And a car intended for handling will also have performance tires, and rims are important as well.

Personally, my car is pretty "quiet", but it's not a sleeper. If the small stickers for Japanese tuning magazines, drift events, and the companies who make my parts don't give me away, and if someone looks past my rims, the bright red seat and harness I are quite a giveaway.

 

[SkylineObsession]

My Dad's Skyline GTS-4 is a sleeper. Those who know nothing about Skylines pull up at the lights and see the '4' of 'GTS-4' and think its a four cylinder.

Ahhhh.... na. It's 6cyl, 4WD, turboed and about to kick your batooty.

 

[Ev0]

hehe, my car's a sleeper. It sleeps when I press the accelerator.

10 characters...

 

[pimp racer]

What's with the wheel immobiliser?

I have no clue probably just for the picture.

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

I have no clue probably just for the picture.

Well, he appears to have parked his car on a staircase. That's usually not legal.

 

[JohnBM01]

Maybe my boy Pimp Racer couldn't find one without the wheel immobilizer (another word for it would be "boot"). After all, he's a pimp. He doesn't want his Murcielago to be jacked by some chump trying to spit game at some honeys walking by, you dig?

Okay, for those of you who think I've been hypnotized by Snoop Dogg, here's some SANE commentary. I've talked about the latest Subaru Legacy. Now if you ask me, the car will be a sleeper for one reason. It is so beautiful at the front. The car looks like an economy car, but with the "breeding" from Subaru's dedication to Subaru all-wheel drive. I think the aggression of the new Legacy will give away any hopes of it being a true sleeper, but if it was more elegant, not so aggressive, and pack the same motor from the Impreza/WRX STi, the machine would be a killer on the road. And I DARE anyone call it rice, because it's all business. I mean, say what you want. This new Legacy from Subaru might just be the sleeper in Subaru's lineup. Think of the Legacy as a more practical Impreza.

 

[Jay]

My Dad's Skyline GTS-4 is a sleeper. Those who know nothing about Skylines pull up at the lights and see the '4' of 'GTS-4' and think its a four cylinder.

thats great

People think my R33 is a GTR because the body kit and the RS*R badge.

 

[Powripper]

The Volvo V70 R, a 300hp turbo wagon. in Motor Trends words: "the V70 R really moves the freight. Its slalom speed of 65.9 mph betters non-Z06 Corvettes".

 

[Famine]

Maybe my boy Pimp Racer couldn't find one without the wheel immobilizer (another word for it would be "boot"). After all, he's a pimp. He doesn't want his Murcielago to be jacked by some chump trying to spit game at some honeys walking by, you dig?

Okay, for those of you who think I've been hypnotized by Snoop Dogg, here's some SANE commentary. I've talked about the latest Subaru Legacy. Now if you ask me, the car will be a sleeper for one reason. It is so beautiful at the front. The car looks like an economy car, but with the "breeding" from Subaru's dedication to Subaru all-wheel drive. I think the aggression of the new Legacy will give away any hopes of it being a true sleeper, but if it was more elegant, not so aggressive, and pack the same motor from the Impreza/WRX STi, the machine would be a killer on the road. And I DARE anyone call it rice, because it's all business. I mean, say what you want. This new Legacy from Subaru might just be the sleeper in Subaru's lineup. Think of the Legacy as a more practical Impreza.

How about the Subaru Forester, which IS an Impreza, just in a slightly jacked-up estate (wagon. Shooting brake. Whatever) body, with the same running gear and engine.

 

[pimp racer]

Well, he appears to have parked his car on a staircase. That's usually not legal.

Maybe my boy Pimp Racer couldn't find one without the wheel immobilizer (another word for it would be "boot"). After all, he's a pimp. He doesn't want his Murcielago to be jacked by some chump trying to spit game at some honeys walking by, you dig?

Naw I am an asian pimp actually

 

[ND4SPD]

Well I don't know the exact specs on this car but an excellent sleeper would be the lingenfelter H2 it looks completely stock except for different rims. It does 60 in about 5.0 seconds and does 13's in the quarter mile, it was featured at the motor trend site a few months ago. Its sad that john lingenfelter can't be with us and make monster cars out of ordinary cars anymore.