Cars.com Best Bets for Sports Cars
To rank models as first, second and third best, and so on, is to suggest that all people want the same thing in a vehicle, and that's just not the case. For this reason, cars.com Best Bets include one or more models that are overall "Best Bets," but all other citations center on a subcategory or a particular aspect in which the model excels. To understand the methodology behind the picks, click here.
| Cars.com Best Bets for 2006 Sports Cars | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Here, cars.com staff reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder applauds 10 sports cars, which are ordered according to base manufacturer's suggested retail price, from lowest to highest. The destination charge is not included. | |||
 | $19,915 | ||
| Best new sports car: Just seeing this roadster as a real product suggests that it's not too late for General Motors. I noticed some water leaks and other quirks with the test vehicle, and the Solstice doesn't have the refinement of the MX-5 Miata, with which it's a direct competitor. What it does have is slightly more room, a more masculine look and the badge of an American manufacturer. All three have been lacking since the Miata revived the small-roadster segment more than a decade ago. In terms of performance, for a brand-new product, it's pretty impressive. | |||
 | $20,435 - $26,700 | ||
| Best non-sports car: With the 2006 redesign, Mazda took a good thing and made it better. The term sports car evokes power and speed — something the regular MX-5 Miata has never offered. Yet its steering, handling and rear-wheel drive with perfect weight distribution make it a blast to drive. It lets you go sideways all you want without ever becoming unmanageable. Best of all, it's affordable. It might not be pure sports car, but it is pure fun. | |||
 | $23,995 - 27,495 | ||
| Best sleeper: Performance and utility are no longer mutually exclusive. For people who want four doors and some gusto under the hood, the Impreza WRX delivers — without attracting attention with a giant rear wing or flashy wheels. The standard all-wheel drive contributes to excellent handling. What makes the 2006 special is the switch from a 2.0-liter to a 2.5-liter horizontally opposed engine. Where torque was anemic below 3,000 rpm in the previous WRX generations, the new model's additional displacement evens out the torque and makes for more enjoyable driving at all speeds. The interior quality could be better, and the engine is chronically rough at idle, but the model shows well in the important criteria like safety and reliability, and buyers can choose between sedan and hatchback styles. | |||
 | $25,140 - $26,320 | ||
| Overall sports car Best Bet: The styling catches you, but it's the performance that converts you. (I don't include the V6 model in this citation because I didn't drive the manual, and the automatic transmission didn't impress.) Critics whine about the solid rather than independent rear axle, but the roadholding is damned impressive, even on all-season tires, and the steering is far more precise than in previous generations. The responsive throttle lends balance in turns, and the slight understeer bias prevents any surprises. It's not a perfect car, but is leaps better than the reasonably successful previous generation, and it has entered its second year with a clean record. | |||
 | $27,650 - $40,000 | ||
| Overall sports car Best Bet: From sedans to sport utility vehicles, everything is getting sportier, but whatever happened to the vehicle that is first and foremost a sports car? How about an affordable one? We've watched one example after another disappear. Then along comes the 350Z with a return to the tried-and-true formula: two seats, a big-displacement, normally aspirated engine, a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive — and a ton of fun for about $28,000. Another $7,500 or so will net you a handsome convertible version, the solid Z Roadster. | |||
 | $34,050 | ||
| Best premium roadster: The category of roadsters (two-seat convertibles) priced at roughly $30,000 to $40,000 is saturated. Many of them are desirable on several levels, but when the sole criterion is performance, to my own surprise I choose the Honda S2000. This car stole my heart only after Honda increased the four-cylinder engine's size from 2.0 to 2.2 liters and smoothed out the ride markedly back in 2004. The torque is now great enough in the low rpm range to satisfy us bigger-block snobs, and the juice comes on earlier under a redline lowered to 8,000 rpm. The quick-flick shifter is a thing of beauty. The utterly rigid body makes you forget it's a convertible and ensures excellent dynamics and tractability. There are quicker roadsters in this class, but the S2000 has the whole package. | |||
 | Audi TT (1.8-liter quattro) | $37,390 - $40,190 | |
| Most well-rounded (no pun intended): Automakers are on a power trip, making their models more interesting by adding horses, which results in a lot of one-trick ponies. The TT offers a more well-rounded performance package. A successful sports car requires style as well, and the TT has loads, inside and out. You can choose 180, 225 or 250 horsepower. I recommend passing on the front-wheel drive. It has to be quattro all-wheel drive and a manual transmission. For me that leaves the 225-hp model, because the 250-hp version has an automatic only. The one caveat concerns reliability, for which earlier models have been below average. Did you ever play with slot cars as a kid and wonder what it would be like to drive one? Stop wondering. Drive this car. | |||
 | $43,690 - $64,890 | ||
| Overall sports car Best Bet: With a standard electronic stability system and a choice of suspension and tire packages, including Magnetic Selective Ride Control, the Corvette is as refined or as randy as you want it to be. If the standard 6.0-liter V-8's 400 hp isn't enough for you, check out the 505-hp 7.0-liter in the outrageous Z06 variant. You could pay a lot more for a car that's far less refined — the Dodge Viper SRT10 — or one that's arguably too refined, the Porsche 911. But why? You won't find a world-class sports car for less. Seemingly immune to the domestic automakers' travails, the Corvette is a car Americans can be proud of. | |||
 | $46,400 - $60,250 | ||
| Best all-wheel-drive luxury rocket: There's a divide among sport enthusiasts along, well, drivelines, due to the difference in their handling characteristics. Rear-wheel drive probably has the most devotees, and all-wheel drive is a likely second. Comparing the two types in a straight-line drag race is like measuring the diameter of apples and oranges; the two can be the same in that sense, but they still taste totally different. For acceleration and handling that's virtually free of wheelspin, the surefooted S4 is tough to beat. Quattro — Audi's refined all-wheel-drive system — ensures that all the engine power goes to the road. The V-8's low-rev torque is a welcome addition to a model that, in its former generation, topped out with a turbocharged V-6 and its associated turbo lag. Despite the 4.2-liter's weight, the S4 exhibits impressive balance and predictability. Unless an all-wheel-drive BMW M3 or Cadillac CTS-V comes along, the Audi S4 has this one in the bag. | |||
 | $58,900 | ||
| Overall sports car Best Bet: The Cayman S is what you get when you take an exceptional rear-wheel-drive roadster, the Boxster, and give it a fixed hard top. It's only 11 pounds lighter than the Boxster S, but Porsche claims the Cayman — available only as an S version — is a tenth of a second faster to 60 mph, at 5.1 seconds. The Cayman is much more than that. It's a prime example of every component working in harmony with the others — and the driver. The gearshift is just where you want it. The ratios always seem to be just right. The mid-engine design makes for excellent dynamics and controllability. The brakes are always up to the task and consistent, and the clutch is forgiving without being numb. The 295-hp, horizontally opposed six-cylinder sounds as good as it performs. The Cayman is a thrill to drive. Bravo. | |||
Excluded from consideration were the following new and redesigned 2005 and 2006 sports cars. Once tested, they will be removed from this list and, if worthy, added to the commendations above.
- Bentley Continental GT
- BMW M3, M5, M6 and 650
- Cadillac STS-V and XLR-V
- Mazda Mazdaspeed6
- Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
- Porsche 911
- Porsche Boxster
- Subaru Impreza WRX STi
- Volkswagen GTI
- Volvo C70
Posted on 2/14/06
