Just did a quick seach for this car, I think it is what will be known as the Mazda 6 in Europe, its not yet launched but in Europe it certainly wouldnt be classed as a sports car more of a family saloon.

 

I think Mazda 6 is something else...
MP3 is a sportier protege with mp3 player....

 

Another reason to buy Car & Driver

 

Sure....lots of little articles.......................But lets be serious...............There are very few comparisions...........................If the manufacture does not update the car every year with horsepower....or styling they don't bother to test it..........sure half those articles are rehashed crap! I noticed the same thing with the Vwgti vr6....lots of articles the first year or so.............then.........................nothin g but rehashed shit until they make and engine change or style change! Any roadster comparision hould have the s2000 included!

 

Motor trend.......01/02 mp3....slalom.............64.8 mph....0-60 8.9 "ouch"
02/00 s2000....slalom..........70.0 mph

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ItalianBucwheat
[B]Motor trend.......01/02 mp3....slalom.............64.8 mph....0-60 8.9 "ouch"

 

Sorry Jason, but your 411 is incorrect.

The MP3 is a tuned Protege (I'm not sure what it's called in Europe). The Mazda6 is the replacement for the current 626.

Most every car rag that I've read agree that the Mp3 is a phenominal little FWD sedan. Slalom speeds, lateral g's, etc. have varied but always been impressive. I have no doubt that it handles very well.

My beef with the article is that the damn thing isn't even available for sale here in the US. Mazda is reportedly bringing the same car with a low boost turbo to the US next year under the name Mazdaspeed but that's not set in stone.

 

I haven't seen the article, but if any car from the list should be switshed for the S why not the MP3. Come on the car is named after a computer file. They aren't testing which car has the best sound system here. However, in corporate America its $ that talks. The cars were probably given to R&T to test to boost sales and since the S really speaks for itself Honda probably decided why make all of its competitors look bad. After all they pretty much did it with the intro of the S two yrs. ago, not to mention the NSX being named the best all around super car. Don't get me wrong I would love to have a Lotus Elise and my dream car is the 911 Turbo but hey I can have just as much fun for a quarter of the money.

Pfhobia.

 

A few thoughts:

I too was disappointed with the S2000's absence. But I wouldn't condemn R&T.

I read most of the US car mags. To me, R&T may not be the most exciting, but is perhaps the most balanced.

In their justification, they compared the S2000 to the Boxster S (Sept '00) and they clearly favored the latter. So, if you have to start pairing down the field, it makes some sense to delete the S2K. I think they used the same logic for omitting the Viper, which always gets trounced in these subjective categories.

MP3? They picked it as the hands-down best handler in an under-$25K comparo (including RSX-S). I think they wanted to see how it would compare to top-ranked cars. Sadly, it is no longer available, though a new Protege/MazdaSpeed combo is rumored to be around the corner. Anyway, I suspect they wanted some differing powertrains for the comparo.

I'm very happy with the inclusion of the Elise, regardless of its inavailability in the US. It has near-mythic handling status, so I wan't to see how it stacks up to the competition from a mag I know and respect.

No comments here on the M3. Man, did it take a drubbing or what? The previous generation almost always walked away with the gold medal. This gen ups the ante way up on power, but is taking some hits in categories that BMW had previously been lauded for: handling and steering.

Where would the S2000 have finished? Pulling out the Sept '00 issue and translating the relative numbers to this competition, I think it would have finished a tad above the Boxster in the "objective", mid to low pack in the "subjective", no guess as to what Herta would have said. It would not have beaten the Boxster's overall 6th.

 

Democracy in action. You may not like the result, but you can't really fault it.