1. New C6 Corvette
2. New Boxster S
3. New 911 S
4. Lotus Elise
5. Honda S2000
6. Viper SRT-10
7. BMW Z4 3.0i
8. Nissan 350Z (35th Anniv. w/ 300 hp)
9. Mercedes SLK350

And what? Why no RX-8? It seems R&T thought long and hard about the definition of a sports car. For this test, it had to have 2 doors and mainly 2 seats, but a 2+2 was ok in the case of the 911. For the same reasons the M3 was not in the test and the Z4 needed to carry the BMW flag.

Gotta love the new Corvette! It wins yet again.

Amazingly, the Z didn't do very well (and I like the Z), its down fall was its handling. It finished last in terms of track times. What's even more interesting is what they had to say about the Z:

"We discovered that the Nissan isn't a car that likes to be driven at the limit (in both an engine and a handling sense). It's perfectly comfortable at about 7 to 8/10ths."

"The Nissan 350Z may not be for the hardcore enthusiast anymore, but it's certainly still one of the best sports-car deals out there today"

That's the kind of stuff people say about our RX-8, not the harsh riding 2 seater Z. I thought the Z would do better in this shoot out. (And again, before you Z trolls start to flame away, I like the Z.) Regardless, an interesting read for you sports car enthusiasts.

 

Curious as to how they picked between boxster and 911s, was it just the cost?

 

The Carrera-S took first in the performance category, and the Boxster-S and Carrera-S tied for first in the subjective ratings. The Corvette won merely on price. Kind of disappointing if you ask me.

Even more surprising to me, is that 8 editors gave their order, and 5 out of the 8 had the Boxster-S at first place. And another thing that surprised me, is that Boxster-S ran the slalom at 73.9 mph. That's damn fast. Faster than the lighter, and more uncivilized Elise. Faster than an Enzo too. I think that's the highest slalom speed I've seen to date.

If you want, I can post the break down of points for the cars, and track times.

 

can you just imagine a 2 seater, shorter wheelbase sports coupe based on the RX-8's chassis, and a more powerful rotary engine.... my goodness, it may give the boxter s a run for its money!

 

Maybe someone can verify this, but I heard that.5 out of 8 editors chose the new Boxster S as their number one pick. One chose the 911 Carrera S, one chose the S2000, and one chose the Viper. While the Corvette won on points, none of the editors picked it as their first choice.

 

i have the issue, here's the personal choice breakdown (there were 9 'judges'):

5 boxter s
2 carrera s
1 viper
1 s2000

on a sidenote, even though the corvette wasn't anyone's top choice, it was ranked as their 2nd choice by SEVEN out of nine judges, a perfect case of 'not great in anything, but very good in everything', a well balanced car, so to speak :D

 

Yes I can, it's called the RX-7.

Mazda sorely needs a hard core performance flagship to run with the big boys. I have a feeling our RX-8 would have struggled to keep up with many of the thoroughbreds in this shoot out.

Mazda must come out with something that can do 0-60 in 5 secs or less. Either a MS RX-8 or a 4th gen RX-7, or better yet, both!

The new Boxster S looks super sweet! I can’t wait to see what the Boxster Coupe/Cayman is going to look like. If it out performs the Boxster S, with an even cheaper price as rumored, Porsche will have a grand slam home run line up of sports cars.

 

It's a fun and interesting article. While it's kind of pointless, IMO, to try to handicap cars with significantly different price tags by somehow doing an objective "normalization" based on price, it is very interesting to read what is said about each car. The new Boxster S certainly looks like a serious improvement over its predecessor (which was not exactly a shabby car itself), and the C6 once again wins many plaudits. And the S2000 can't feel too bad, finishing right in the middle of the pack, ahead of the Viper.

 

MT actually recently did something like a countdown and ignored our 8 also...I don't get it?

They had the 350Z, 05 Mustang GT...but no 8???

 

2 doors 2 seats. No mustang was included in this one. I love the 8 but besides the Zed, it can't compete with these other pure sports cars.

 

That cant make the Viper crowd very happy - getting beat down by a pair of 4 bangers

 

Right on, man. In case any of you don't know, there's a HP/performance war going on right now. It's not only about the survival of the rotary. It's also about Mazda's need for a true flagship that can, as Hachi states, run with the "thoroughbreds".

 

While I agree that it would be very nice to have a Mazda which could legitimately claim that it should be included in a "shoot out" like this one, I wouldn't say that Mazda "needs" such a car, unfortunately. Toyota, at least for now, has decided that it doesn't need such a car, and even Honda is rumored to be dropping both the NSX and the S2000.

It is, in a sense, a golden era for sports car enthusiasts, with a delicious smorgasbord of offerings enticing us, but that very fact makes it also a very competitive environnent in which to play. In this article, Road & Track said that they almost didn't include the S2000 because it is "supposedly [an] old car." And yet, it only goes back to 2000, and it was significantly re-done in 2004! And they sell in very low volumes.

Honda has a racing heritage they seem to want to remind people of with their street cars, even if they don't sell too many of them; I'm not sure that Toyota or Mazda shares that compulsion.

 

I believe the biggest reason the RX-8 wasn't included was because of the number of doors. On the very first page of the article they specify what the "requirements" were for the sports cars they chose. Though the 911 had four seats, all of the cars only had two doors. Though the RX-8 doors are more like 2.5 doors rather than 4. I kind of wished they would have put it in there just for comparison. Sure, it wouldn't have won the acceleration contests, but I think it would have done well in some of the handling and subjective rating areas.

 

As 124Spider says, "Toyota, at least for now, has decided it doesn't need" a high performance sports car. And in case you haven't checked, Toyota is doing quite well, thank you. Whatever those of us who are enamoured of such vehicles think, they don't contribute much to the bottom line of major manufacturers, even as "halo" models.

Such models have a short shelf-life (e.g. S2000), are expensive to design and manufacture, and simply don't appeal to a large enough market segment to justify year-by-year one-upsmanship to put out the hottest model available, especially in the mass market at which manufacturers such as the US carmakers and the Japanese aim their sights.

This, in sharp contrast to the sportbike market where annual changes and three year model lifespans are common for the 600 cc segment. In contrast to the auto manufacturers, the motorcycle manufacturers spend massive amounts to shave a few ounces off their bikes and add a few horsepower. Why? Such bikes constitute the bread and butter of their sales.

In short, be grateful for the attention paid to us. It's more than we deserve from the standpoint of manufacturers' bottom lines.

 

Did I miss something? Seems like Toyota is very much in the game. The new Lexus LF-A concept has just broken cover at the Detroit Auto Show. And it seems Toyota/Lexus is trying to create a business case to build the supercar. From what I've seen, there is still a 50/50 chance that Honda will have a new NSX concept for the Tokyo Auto show later this year. And it's possible that Mazda will have something up its sleave to show off at the Tokyo show as well.

Mazda has a proud racing heritage. The first and only Japanese car maker to win the 24hrs of Le Mans can't be willing to take a back seat for long. Mazda made a name for itself with its sports cars (RX-7, MX-5). More than any other Japanese car maker, their sports cars made them what they are. So I believe they do need an image car that can compete with the best pure sports cars out there. The easiest and most cost effective way is to bring out a killer Mazdaspeed RX-8. But I also think if they can leverage enough parts from the RX-8 and the new NC Miata, a pure sports RX-7 might be doable. The key for any hope of an RX-7 is for the RX-8 to continue to sell well.

 

If it's any condolence, at my house, the RX8 wins EASILY in a sports car comparison


The results are:

1. 2004 RX8
Highs
Crisp Handling
Fantastic Engine
Practical as any sports car can be
Cutting-edge styling
Excellent Brakes
Excellent Headlamps
Lows
Fuel-Thirsty
Dead Spot in Powerband between 6000-7500 rpms
Understeer
Verdict
An S2000 for the entire family to enjoy - at once!

2. 1995 Nissan Altima
Highs
Four Real Doors
Great Gearing for the Freeway (80mph = 3500 rpms)
175,000 miles and counting
Lift-throttle oversteer
28-30mpg
Paid Off
Lows
Weight - or perception of weight
Slower than my previous 1.6L miata
Upsidedown bathtub on wheels styling
Stains in floor carpet
UNDERSTEER
Verdict
Did I mention it's paid off?

:D

2004 Mazda RX-8
Current list price: $26,680
Engine: side-port 1.3-liter 2-rotor Wankel
Horsepower: 238 bhp @ 8500 rpm
Torque: 159 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-60 mph: 5.9 sec
Braking 0-60 mph: 114 ft
Curb weight: 3000 lb

1995 Nissan Altima GXE
MSRP: $14,999 (in 1995), current value - $1,500-2000 (estimated)
Engine: 2.4L I-4
Max Horsepower: 150hp @ 5600 rpm
Torque: 154 ft-lbs. @ 4400 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Drive Type: FWD
0-60 mph: 8 sec (estimated)
Braking 0-60 mph: 160 ft (estimated)
Curb weight: 2829 lbs