Coupe and sedan: what is the difference?

What is the difference between a coupe and a car? For most people, the answer is simple: a sedan has four doors and a coupe has two doors.

After all, that’s how all the car manufacturers have defined them over the years. So is the answer that easy? No, not really. As with most automotive things, there’s unnecessary confusion as some car makers are trying to differentiate their cars by calling them four-door coupes, along with other seemingly contradicting names.

But as it turns out, the term “four-door coupe” is actually a legitimate claim. So is a “two-door sedan,” no matter how much you or I wouldn’t want to own one. So in a world of four-door coupes and two-door sedans, where do these strange descriptions fit in, and to which cars do they apply?

What is a Coupe?

What is a Sedan?

What is a Coupe?

A coupe is generally thought of as a closed-body style, 2-door car, often sporty in nature. A coupe generally has either 2 seats or 4 seats placed in a 2+2 configuration, meaning that there are only 2 seats in the rear (as opposed to the standard 3,) and those seats are smaller than average. To comfortably sit in a 2+2-style rear seat, you must either be a small child or an adult who happens to be missing your legs.

Technically, a coupe is defined as a fixed-top car with less than 33 cubic

There are, however, plenty of vehicles out there that have only two doors but more than 33 cubic feet in the rear. These cars, while their manufacturers may call them coupes, are technically two-door sedans.

A few examples of two-door sedans are the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Mercedes CL-Class, Chevy Monte Carlo, and surprisingly, the Mazda RX-8 (although that’s a bit of a different story.)

What is a Sedan?

We generally associate sedans with larger, 4-door, closed-roof cars that can comfortably seat 4 or 5. A good way to recognize a sedan is by its fixed B-pillar between the front and rear windows.

Technically, a sedan is any closed-roof car with greater than or equal to 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume. This makes me wonder if the recent self-defined “four-door coupes” are actually coupes by definition. This includes the Lamborghini Estoque, the Aston Martin Rapide, and the awkward Porsche Panamera.

Okay, so we know the technical difference between a coupe and a sedan. How to do? I still refer to 2-door cars as "coupes" and 4-door cars as "sedans." I suggest you do the same.