Which sportcars break and which survive aggressive driving?

I personally hear stories that modern Ferrari clutches still suffer (like the story that gave birth to Lamborghini).
AWD Lambo geartrains are crap, Corvette frames twist permanently after an autocross evening, Porsche gearboxes and CV joints break like glass. BMW and Mercedes rear ends tend to howl, and so on...

What are the strong and weak points of modern sportcars?

Are there any tank-durable cars capable of surviving modern performance? i.e. like somebody who takes his daily driver to the autocross every weekend for two years?

The strong points are the engines. But supercar and sportscar gearboxes are so much lighter now and they sacrificed durability for lightness. And if there is a car company that makes a dependable and durable sportscar then it would be Aston Martin because the people I know who own one haven't had any issues with it.

Anecdotally you could probably 'prove' that all sportscars are super durable and all sportscars are delicate little flowers, depending on who you talk to. Some I'm sure are better than others, but they're all designed to at least outlast their warranty period so there's clearly some durability built into things.

[quote=Big time;983642]Are there any tank-durable cars capable of surviving modern performance? i.e. like somebody who takes his daily driver to the autocross every weekend for two years?[/quote]

A daily driver autoX flogged every weekend for two years? At minimum, 208 runs without a problem? Uhhh... no.

There's dependable modern performance within reason, and the the extreme scenario you describe. Porsche CV joints and gearboxes break like glass? Only under abusive conditions, they aren't exceptionally fragile... in fact, like most modern drivetrains just the opposite. An epidemic of howling Merc and BMW pumpkins is news to me. Anyone actively autocrossing or tracking their street car knows that wear & tear goes with
the sport, requiring service and/or modifications to stay competitive AND survive.

Drive or use anything long enough and it'll break. Not really something you wouldn't expect, no?

depends on how you maintain it..

No supercar is meant to be driven for a quarter of a million miles like it's a 200 MPH Toyota Camry. Even 40,000 miles of "normal" driving is a lot for a supercar.

Jeremy Clarkson often refers to supercars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis as thoroughbreds and I think that is a very fitting description when you're talking about maintenance and reliability. They are delicate and expensive to maintain [I]because [/I]they are so high performance. Simply put, supercars and race horses have to be maintained much more often and at a much higher cost than a normal road car or a farm mule.

And speaking of Top Gear orangutan, just look at how many supercars he's broken.

Top Fuel dragsters sound like a good example, they make so much power and have so much performance that they sometimes don't even last a quarter mile

Well, if you drive hard enough, nothing, not even a Toyota Camry will survive your reign of terror.

I guess the closest to your criteria is a 911 GT3 RS or Elise/Exige. But that's assuming you have the technical competency to master such a car without destroying it and I figure daily driving would, quite frankly, suck.