Which 2-liter Car to Buy?

[jut703]

With a 2.0, I'd go with a compact instead of a midsize. On the list, that means the Civic and Mazda 3.

How about a (2008 and later) Mitsu Lancer? Pretty aggressive looking car to me.

I agree that a 2.0 engine might be too burdened with a big midsizer. However, the 6 has a 2.3 engine while the Accord is lighter than most compacts, giving good power-to-weight ratios:

Mazda 6 2.3: 164 hp/1442 kg = 114 HP/ton
Accord 2.0 VTi: 152 hp/1350 kg = 113 HP/ton
Mazda 3 2.0: 141 hp/1365 kg = 103 HP/ton
Civic 1.8 S: 140 hp/1215 kg = 115 HP/ton
CR-V 2.0: 147 hp/1430 kg = 103 HP/ton

As for the Lancer EX, I'm not a fan of its CVT, and manuals are rare. Plus, they're very expensive. They're not any better than a Mazda 3 2.0R, but since they're newer, they cost hundreds of thousands more.