WHEELS COTY - any updates?

[Teki04]

As a sports car, at $40K, it accelerates pretty quick... sure, its slower then the Golf GTI, and the Renault Clio Sport, but its not far off. Not sure what else at $40K NEW goes quicker, especially a "sports car". I do not think an XR6T is a sports car.... unfortunately they need to steer/corner as well as go quick.

From what your saying Merlin, every sports car is measured by it's 0-100kmh. Unfortunately that is not how it works. Lap times and pace through corners are a measure of how good a car is around the bends, and hence a true measure. Just because it doesn't beat a family sedan at the lights, doesn't mean it is not a good sports car.

[merlin]

Originally Posted by Teki04

As a sports car, at $40K, it accelerates pretty quick... sure, its slower then the Golf GTI, and the Renault Clio Sport, but its not far off. Not sure what else at $40K NEW goes quicker, especially a "sports car". I do not think an XR6T is a sports car.... unfortunately they need to steer/corner as well as go quick. .

We will have to disagree on this point - to me an XR6T is a fast car that handles damn well for their size and has a load of street cred.

Originally Posted by Teki04

From what your saying Merlin, every sports car is measured by it's 0-100kmh. Unfortunately that is not how it works. Lap times and pace through corners are a measure of how good a car is around the bends, and hence a true measure. Just because it doesn't beat a family sedan at the lights, doesn't mean it is not a good sports car.

I didn't say that at all, I said it needs to do BOTH - for all its handling praise the MX5 sets dead SLOW lap times due its lack of grunt, it is outlapped by most cars in its price catagory, including XR6T. There is no point having dreamy handling if the thing dosnt accelerate quickly.

From Wheels: 0-100 in 7.8, 400m in 15.6, sorry but in todays standards for a $40K plus sports car that is people mover territory.

Why would you pick one of these over say a WRX (which arguably outhandles it and would leave it for dead in a straight line)? Reason probably is that you are not all that concerned with performance and just want a poser mobile hence the "hairdresser" tag hence my argument that Mazda has not shaken that image with the new version. As for COTY the major deciding factor is that the chosen car "meets the drivers expectations of what the car was designed to do" - to me it is marketed as a "sports car" (zoom zoom) and to me a sports car is more than just handling, it includes acceleration/top speed/

I am not saying it is a bad car or that no one should buy one, just that it didnt meet my expectations.