The fastest cars under $20,000

**McQueen** · May 23rd, 2007 08:52 PM

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...han-20000.html

Surprising yung Mazda3 ha... tinalo pa yung Tiburon na V6. Pero mas lighter naman kasi yung MZ3 kesa sa ibang cars kaya naka 4th pa.

Tapos yung Impreza naman last place.

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 23rd, 2007 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by McQueen

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...han-20000.html

Surprising yung Mazda3 ha... tinalo pa yung Tiburon na V6. Pero mas lighter naman kasi yung MZ3 kesa sa ibang cars kaya naka 4th pa.

Tapos yung Impreza naman last place.

No Nissan Sentra SE-R or SE-R Spec-V?

Hmmm. If it wasn't for the improved Korean won - US dollar exchange rate, my 2006 V6 Sonata would probably be in there. The current-gen V6 Sonatas are now a few hundred dollars more than $20k versus in 2005 when it was a bit less than $20k.

**niky** · May 24th, 2007 12:16 PM

Old list... this came out before the current Sentra SE-R was unveiled, and I think they had issues on whether or not to include the outgoing model.

Originally Posted by McQueen

Tapos yung Impreza naman last place.

If you'll look closely, that's the base 2.5 liter Impreza. No turbos. So it's merely 170 hp going through that heavy AWD system.

That it still gets to 60 mph in under 8 seconds despite that AWD and the sedan body is a testament to the Impreza's great off-the-line traction.

Puny quarter-mile, though, because of all that weight and driveline drag... 16 seconds flat is something you'd expect of a 150 hp 2-liter FWD car. Even with just 1.8 liters, the Civic comes close to matching it.

Moral of the story? If you want a car that's faster than an Impreza, get a 1.8 Civic!

**the_wildthing** · May 25th, 2007 12:07 AM

Would've been nice to test around a track, not just straight line speeds.

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 25th, 2007 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by the_wildthing

Would've been nice to test around a track, not just straight line speeds.

They're probably going by the notion that the chances of these cars being used in a racetrack is just about nil. I tend to agree. A race track wouldn't be representative of the environment these cars would be used in.

The roadholding, 300-ft skidpad benchmark would be the closest thing from a racetrack that can be used on the street and even that isn't very often used.

**mazdamazda** · May 25th, 2007 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by the_wildthing

Would've been nice to test around a track, not just straight line speeds.

Well, that's for another comparo.

Although they did note that the Mazda 3s was one of the best handlers.

**BlueBimmer** · May 25th, 2007 09:51 AM

ohoy civic civic! :clap:

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 25th, 2007 11:24 AM

2007 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V...... tested by C&D.

0-60mph: 6.4 sec
1/4 mile: 15.0 * 94 mph
top speed: 137 mph
roadholding, 300ft-skidpad: .83g
70-0 mph braking: 186 ft

Base price: $19,900.00

If it was included in the less than $20k comparo, it would've won.

Seems like a good match for the Civic Si on the street. The Si would make a much better track car with a skidpad of .91g.

**niky** · May 25th, 2007 01:28 PM

0.83 is kinda pathetic for a sport compact... considering what a good handler the older SE-R was... but damn those numbers are pretty good for an N/A.

**redorange** · May 25th, 2007 11:29 PM

That base Mustang just posted times that the old 5.0L V8 used to do not too long ago and with a liter less in displacement. Of course the $8000 that you save compared to the average cost of a car can be used for a supercharger, exhaust, and tires to get more power than the GT and still have a lower insurance than the GT.