Comparison Tests
With the economy booming despite chairman Greenspan's best efforts at the Federal Reserve to whoa it down, this may seem an inappropriate time to focus on budgeteer sedans.
On the other hand, have you noticed gas prices lately? Maybe we should have done this six months ago.
But that would have missed some important new players in this market. Ford's daring Focus promises to be this season's rave. Toyota's tall-boy Echo is a provocative entry. And the paint was barely dry on the new Nissan Sentra when it arrived in our lot. So let's cut the second-guessing and get down to testing.
This is a class of four-door sedans. Not hatchbacks. The differences may seem insignificant on first perusal, but buyers have strong preferences and strong aversions on this point. Most Americans prefer the notchback shape of a sedan. So there will be no blurring the differences here. Hatchbacks need not apply.
We have one other requirement for this class -- manual transmissions. Automatics are fine -- for your mother. But manuals are more fun. And they've never been better, smoother, slicker. They also deliver a bit more performance, and there's never too much of that from engines of 2.0 liters or less.
Price, of course, is always critical. What can you get for $15,000, plus or minus a grand? We're not looking for hair shirts here. We want real cars, with comfort and convenience. So we're stepping up from the meter reader's special. By pushing the ceiling up to $16,000, we're assured of hospitality in a small package.
No one will be mad if the sticker is lower -- even a lot lower -- as long as the hospitality is there. So we've deliberately avoided a price floor. If cheaper cars can outflank and outcharm pricier ones, we want to be the first to learn of it.
Murphy being the lawman he is, these multicar roundups never quite work out as planned. Chevrolet builds Cavaliers and Pontiac produces Sunfires with five-speed transmissions in our price range. But not many of them. In more than a month of searching, those companies found not a one to supply for this test.
So scratch the Cavalier and the Sunfire, leaving Saturn alone to carry the GM pennant in this comparison. Oops, no, the Prizm wears Chevy badges over its Toyota machinery.
Japan has been the leading source of small cars for years. For this test it provides the Mazda Protege ES, the Mitsubishi Mirage DE, the Suzuki Esteem 1.8GLX Sport, and the Toyota Echo. The Honda Civic LX and the Nissan Sentra GXE, though Japanese in name, are built in North America.
The 2000 Dodge Neon was introduced about a year ago, but this will be its first appearance in a C/D comparison. Add Ford's Focus ZTS as the third genuine Detroiter.
For the lowest prices, the South Koreans are the automakers to beat these days. The Daewoo Nubira CDX, the Hyundai Elantra GLS, and the Kia Sephia LS all check in below $14,000.
That's 13 entries, a rather amazing class, all powered by 16-valve fours of more than 100 horsepower. Most of them have CD players, and two have side airbags. Little cars are still little, but they're more ambitious than ever.
Let's see how they run.
