The Ford Lynx (or rather, its identical cousin, the Mazda Protege) has been consistently finishing at the top of the pack in most U.S. magazine comparison tests even against such established models as Corollas, Civics and Sentras.

The Optra is a new model by Daewoo (which will be sold as a Suzuki in the US).

Personally, I'd go with the Lynx on this one.