Comparison Tests
A sedan, a five-door hatchback, and a three-door hatchback? What gives? Oh, it’s just the Car and Driver Random Comparison-Test Generator at work.
Lately the damn thing’s been acting up. The other day it advised us to compare the BMW 335i with an Epson fax machine and a Shetland pony. We installed new firmware—and it threw the Honda Accord Crosstour into a three-way with a Cinnabon franchise and Meryl Streep. So we called the help line and spoke with an accented fellow named “Rick.” After a virus detox and a full system reboot, it put the Ferrari California head-to-head with an IRS Form 4563, a bowling-ball polisher, and the sprinkler system at the Houston Astrodome.
We beat it with staplers, and that almost fixed it but not quite—the machine spit out the comparison test you see here, which isn’t completely, entirely random.
To be sure, our three competitors—the brand-new Kia Forte SX, the slightly less new Mazda 3 s, and the sixth-generation Volkswagen Golf, new for 2010—represent three distinct body styles. That may be a first for a Car and Driver comparison test. But these three also have close pricing, eerily similar performance, and identical aspirations to deliver driving amusement to folks on limited budgets, which is why we ordered all of them with sticks.
The freshest sheetmetal adorns the Kia Forte, launched in the twilight of ’09 as a rousing replacement for the forgettable Spectra. The compact Forte—there’s also a coupe called the Koup and a five-door hatchback that will be added later this year—from Hyundai’s subsidiary is sharpened, beveled, and scalloped into a decent facsimile of the former Acura TSX. It’s not an unwelcome association considering how we adored that old Acura. A Forte can be had for the lowest starting price by far, $14,390, or $3850 less than the Golf’s bottom dollar. But the loaded-up SX with its larger engine (2.4 liters), 17-inch wheels, and numerous power amenities is $19,890 after opting for leather ($1000) and a sunroof ($700).
The happiest car in America is the Mazda 3, judging from its freakishly grinning yap. Laugh at adversity, say the prophets, and the 3 does, the wattage of its smile amping up considerably in the 2010 model’s restyle despite the car’s being asked to carry the burden of Mazda’s U.S. sales (more than half of all Mazdas sold are 3s). With its 167-hp, 2.5-liter four, the 3 has the steepest price here. The starter hatchback, the s Sport, is $20,290, and we’ve got it, adding only $430 for satellite radio.
The VW Golf is one dwarf we’ve always enjoyed tossing. For 2010 the look is all-new, more sleek and lapin-like than when the Golf was briefly called the Rabbit again (model years 2007 to 2009). The unconventional 170-hp, 2.5-liter five-cylinder carries over unchanged. Unencumbered by logic, however, VW’s product planners deemed the three-door Golf the only gasoline version worthy of a manual. Five-door Golfs get a six-speed automatic—unless it’s a diesel (TDI), which is also available with a stick or the DSG dual-clutch automated manual. Our zero-option Shark Blue Metallic Golf cost $18,240.
You’re saying, “Why not a Toyota Corolla or a Nissan Sentra or a Chevy Cobalt?” They’re not new or exciting. “Why not the Mazda 3 sedan?” It can be fitted with a smaller, 2.0-liter engine and had for as little as $16,045, but the Car and Driver Random Comparison-Test Generator deems the hatch the best, most ink-worthy version of the 3. These days, ink is precious, though the C/D RCTG is not and has recently embarked on an exciting new career as a jack stand.
