Quote Originally Posted by redorange
If life was just driving in a straight line then GM and Ford would still be number one and two in sales. Unfortunately for them people actually have to turn in corners. If all I had to do was drive stop light to stop light and not turn then I would get drag slicks and get the most powerful engine and shove it in my car. But, such is not life as we know it and you have to get a vehicle that handles everything equally well or as close to it as possible. Unless of course all the streets in Arizona are straight lines with no curves.
It depends on location then. Here, it's normally a stoplight grand prix. So straightline performance takes precedence. Those who makes a turn normally indicate they're either tucking tail between their legs or just quitting because they reached the point where they need to turn.

But, in mountainous locations like Denver, Reno, and the Lake Tahoe area, there's a big number of STi's and Evo's. The terrain there is alpine and ideal for AWD and turbos.

Yes, you do have to rev the Toyota but you are far from blowing the gasket on it because it has been detuned for the Corolla. You would have a greater chance of blowing the gasket on your supercharged Cobalt. The technology(VVT) in the Toyota engine has been around for 15 years when Honda first used it on the NSX and what does GM and Ford do they wait until 2005/2006 to use it. DC has to use MB designs to get things right with the 300 and messed up the Charger by making it 4 doors. There is a reason why the Koreans have over taken Ford and GM go ask the consumers.
I've driven the new Civic Si as well and that one's a joy to drive compared to the Corolla. The Civic had a pleasant feel that doesn't really feel like I'm abusing it. The power spread seems more balanced. The Corolla....... it really feels like I'm flogging it. The Corolla felt labored. Maybe it's just the difference in hp.

That Cobalt may quicker but it is already supercharged so what else could you do to it? Increase boost, add nitrous maybe. I take the Civic with 197hp stock add a turbo and nitrous and it's got more than the Cobalt in hp. Otherwise leave it stock and still beat the Cobalt in everything but the quarter mile.
It certainly can be improved. After all, my 1991 Plymouth Laser RS Turbo at stock condition was already turbocharged and made 190hp with 205lb-ft torque. Yet, I had it modded to HKS Stage 4 which brought it to an advertised 281hp (for $6k).

Jun aka Pekto, just a question if you think domestics make great products why do you own three imports? I consider the Contour an import because it's a Mondeo designed in Germany using a euro engine so Ford(US) couldn't mess it up as much.
If there was a 252hp (or even the older 240hp) G6 GTP at the time, I probably would've had it in the running. As it was, I tested the older G6 GT. The GTP version reached town a month after we bought our Sonata. Besides, my wife is the one who made the final choice for the Sonata. My personal choice was the M/T Mazda 6 V6 (too cramped in back). If it wasn't for the Sonata's quite decent acceleration, I probably would've fought my wife over the choice, even with the modified 10yr/100k miles warranty (bumper to bumper) and 4 years free oil changes.

We skipped the Altima 3.5SE because a Pinay friend had one that had engine problems, had to be towed from her garage to the dealer service shop, and it wasn't even a year old at the time.

We also looked at the V6 300C. Wife said it was too big and didn't even try to sit inside.