Spirited performance (cars)

[King Crimson]

On the Wiki page for Sports car (here) I have found this definition:

A sports car (sportscar) is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for spirited performance and nimble handling.

Now, it seems to me that the meaning of "spirited" here is clear, they want to say that a sports car is a car made for high-speed driving and featuring a quick response. However, I have found plenty of examples of "spirited" used in reference to people, actors, plays or sports teams but never in reference to car performances, so I just wonder whether this usage of "spirited" sounds natural to a native speaker's ear or sounds a bit out of place.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[Egmont]

It sounds natural to me. I think this usage is an extension of describing a horse with that word.

 

[Parla]

It sounds fine to me, too. While a car can't be said to have "spirit" in the sense that a living being (human or animal) can, "spirited" can certainly be used metaphorically to describe its performance.