If the Trinity was meant to deliver some of the sporting feel of the Akuma in a smaller, lighter and cheaper package, then it clearly succeeded, despite being a loss leader. And as with its bigger brother, anyone in the Midnight Club would have realized its tuning potential and worked on giant-killing setups capable of embarrassing larger, more expensive rivals.
Much like the 1989-1999 Toyota MR2 (SW20) Turbo, the pre-facelift Trinity (specifically, the Premium trim) also reminds me of the original design for the Sports Coupe (which was originally called the Venom SX) from the first Burnout game, before it was reworked to have a much more rounded appearance in the final release:
In fact, the Trinity Turbo Premium would have deserved an appearance not just in the first Burnout game, but also the next two, considering its sleek looks and stellar performance.