Car and Driver comparo

[mcervantes]

Just got the June edition of C&D which included a comparison of "Little Cars" [13 to be exact]. Here are the rankings:
13. Kia Sephia
12.Daewoo Nubria
10. Toyota Echo [tie]
10. Suzuki Esteem [tie]
9. Saturn SL2
8. Mitsu Mirage
7. chevy Prizm
6. Hyundai Elantra
5. Dodge Neon
4. Honduh Civic
3. Ford Focus
2. Nissan Sentra GXE
1. Mazda Protege

I for one, don't really disagree with the list.

mikecervantes

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nismo:
At least someone finally realized that the 2000 Sentra has been redesigned for the better. It will be interesting when the bigger car mags start test driving the new Sentras for themselves (instead of relying on press releases).

P.S.: I'm happy to see the Sentra ahead of that crappy little Ford. But how exactly did the Neon get 5th place? Should at least be behind the Echo.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have never understood the automotive press and the Neon.They are poorly built,unreliable,and have a resale value of used underwear...i mean were talking Kia resale value!!!Maybe its fun to whip around a track a few times...but how fun can it be to see it in the shop again,and again,and again......etc.You cant even buy one with rear power windows or a 4 speed automatic!

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>They are poorly built,unreliable,and have a resale value of used underwear.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Falling on the floor laughing http://forums.freshalloy.com/forum//images/icons/grin.gif

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Ok there are a few memoral quotes in here this time http://forums.freshalloy.com/forum//images/icons/grin.gif But like my friend said he will never buy a car with the same ammount of gears as his 79 mercury zephyr.

[tbear]

That Hyundai Elantra is not bad, beating chevy prizm, toyota, mitsubishi, saturn, and all other korean autos. Is the price so cheap or something?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mcervantes:
13. Kia Sephia
12.Daewoo Nubria
10. Toyota Echo [tie]
10. Suzuki Esteem [tie]
9. Saturn SL2
8. Mitsu Mirage
7. chevy Prizm
6. Hyundai Elantra
5. Dodge Neon
4. Honduh Civic
3. Ford Focus
2. Nissan Sentra GXE
1. Mazda Protege
[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nismo:
At least someone finally realized that the 2000 Sentra has been redesigned for the better. It will be interesting when the bigger car mags start test driving the new Sentras for themselves (instead of relying on press releases).

P.S.: I'm happy to see the Sentra ahead of that crappy little Ford. But how exactly did the Neon get 5th place? Should at least be behind the Echo.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is not because Neon is so good; it's because the Echo is so bad http://forums.freshalloy.com/forum//images/icons/grin.gif

I think that the comparison was fair (except high ranking of the S.h.i.t.i.c, that had EVEN LESS power than Echo, but an absolutely dismal fuel economy of 20 mpg - a Maxima is better than that!).

I guess that Sentra SE's virtues would correct everything bad that was told about Sentra GXE in their conclusion, i.e. that it's not a sport sedan http://forums.freshalloy.com/forum//images/icons/wink.gif

BTW, Focus is pretty nice car, and if I'd want to buy a car in this class, I'd consider Sentra, Focus or Protege.

[Slack00]

Ford Focus IS a nice car...I know the styling is a little tall and narrow, but they do have a wonderful suspension and corner quite nicely....build quality is better, too.

The Nissan belongs up there, of course, and I understand the new Ford Focus (Europe eats them up over there), but whats so great about the Protege?

[tbear]

What makes the Protege a winner is probably its low low price, and it is the most roomiest of the Japanese compact cars.

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Slack00, I've always liked the Protege ES. It has a style and personality; even though it's not the most powerful one, it's fast enough for its class.

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i guess this shows that nissan really did improve the sentra. i owned a B13 sentra and was pretty disappointed with it. i'd estimate it being undrivable at least 3 times a year. that along with the paint problems and squeaky interior made me not want another sentra ever. however, if i buy another small car, i probably will give the sentra a look, but will most likely buy a civic EX (say what you will about power, but i've never heard of Civics being as crappy as that sentra i owned)

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Drive the Protege and you will make it in the top 3 if not #1. The Protege is a good car in terms of handling, interior room, build quality and reliability(anything is better then the Neon) and the price is right. Next year when they do this test with the new Civic, mostly likely it will be in first place. The car magazines don't have a long term test for all the vehicles they test here in a 13 car comparo?

[This message has been edited by 99ESMAX (edited 05-03-2000).]

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My subscription finally came in for me to read up on it first hand.It looked like "points" wise to me the Sentra won,being the best balance in all the major areas (performance,comfort,price,value..etc).None of these cars are performance vehicles.For this reason I felt they tried a little to hard to make the comparo "sports oriented".If they talked reliability and maintence (its the only one in there with a timing chain that Im aware of and distributerless ignition,no plug wires...etc) The Sentra would be light years ahead.Lets face it,you dont buy a GXE Sentra and imagine its a 300zx (the SE would be better if you imagine REAL hard!).Still,I enjoyed the review..Lets all savor a partial victory..because when the Civic gets redesigned,they will give it first place automatically...Guess Honda didnt pay them off well this year.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Zcarnut:
My subscription finally came in for me to read up on it first hand.It looked like "points" wise to me the Sentra won,being the best balance in all the major areas (performance,comfort,price,value..etc).None of these cars are performance vehicles.For this reason I felt they tried a little to hard to make the comparo "sports oriented".If they talked reliability and maintence (its the only one in there with a timing chain that Im aware of and distributerless ignition,no plug wires...etc) The Sentra would be light years ahead.Lets face it,you dont buy a GXE Sentra and imagine its a 300zx (the SE would be better if you imagine REAL hard!).Still,I enjoyed the review..Lets all savor a partial victory..because when the Civic gets redesigned,they will give it first place automatically...Guess Honda didnt pay them off well this year.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I went to the dealer yesterday and sat in a GXE and agreed with what Car and Driver said about the interior being a bit too plump and with a lot of lines - however the materials looked to be of high quality. The plastic on the dash was really too hard though. But for the price - $15k for a car with a decent engine (good torque at 2400 rpm), keyless entry, cd player, a/t, and a/c its a bargain compared to a comprable Civic at $17k.

[Max Ima]

There's a favorable review of the Sentra in this month's Road&Track. There's also a good write-up in the most recent SportCompactCar. The SportCompactCar guys definitely seemed interested in modifying the Sentra. It would nice to see some of these guys modify something other than a Civic for once.

[GTR]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Max Ima:
There's a favorable review of the Sentra in this month's Road&Track. There's also a good write-up in the most recent SportCompactCar. The SportCompactCar guys definitely seemed interested in modifying the Sentra. It would nice to see some of these guys modify something other than a Civic for once. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

actually, scc has project z's 240's and se-r's. they dont seem to be as partial to honda as other import mags such as turbo, import tuner, super street, and other riceboy mags are. and hey, it's so easy for those mags to find civics, look around your town, a lowered civic with i/h/e and rims come a dime a dozen now a days.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GTR:
actually, scc has project z's 240's and se-r's. they dont seem to be as partial to honda as other import mags such as turbo, import tuner, super street, and other riceboy mags are. and hey, it's so easy for those mags to find civics, look around your town, a lowered civic with i/h/e and rims come a dime a dozen now a days.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think SCC actually has some Nissan fans...I think Dave Coleman wrote that he was a Nissan person "at heart" and Mike Kojima one of the writers works for Nissan so they actually have some good Nissan allies there.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slack00:
Ford Focus IS a nice car...I know the styling is a little tall and narrow, but they do have a wonderful suspension and corner quite nicely....build quality is better, too.

The Nissan belongs up there, of course, and I understand the new Ford Focus (Europe eats them up over there), but whats so great about the Protege?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The protege is a better car because

A. Its not Found On Road Dead. It is a whole lot more reliable.

B. IMO It looks alot better
C. You can fit in the back seat
D. ES is faster
E. It has a better looking interior (I think its the chrome accents.

What burns me up is that the focus already has alot more attention than the 10 year old protege. What people dont know is that it does have an aftermarket, it can be tuned well

Makers with protege parts
1. Jackson Racing Miata Supercharger (fits 1.8 liter ES protege)
2. Erebuni Body kit
3. Intrax
4. Suspension Techniques
5. Weapon R
6. Tenzo R
7. Arospeed
8. NOS (makes for everybody)
9. Pacesetter
10. corksport
11. J-spec
12. Mazdaspeed
13. Eibach
14. Sprint
15. HKS
16. Unorthodox Racing
17. indoxine
18. APC (altezza tail lights for 1999 and up protege's in 2001)


I named 18 reputable companies that make protege parts and I am not counting parts that dont really matter. The lowest part I posted was the indoxine white faced guages. I hope someday the protege will get some attention because they are so much better than civics. If you read the january 2001 issue of Stupid Street, there is a protege on the top of page 104. There is also a small picture of one in the middle of some nopi cars on page 106 (Yeah its in the middle of a civic, a skyline cool, another civic, then theres the protege, then a mercedes ML series, then a bug.

[Nismo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>What burns me up is that the focus already has alot more attention than the 10 year old protege.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Aftermarket companies don't care about cars, they care about car sales. If Focuses are selling the most then that's where you--as an aftermarket company--are probably going to sell the most. Capitalism pure and simple. I agree that the Protege has not gotten much recognition but--from a strictly economic standpoint--it's easy to see why.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GTR:
actually, scc has project z's 240's and se-r's. they dont seem to be as partial to honda as other import mags such as turbo, import tuner, super street, and other riceboy mags are. and hey, it's so easy for those mags to find civics, look around your town, a lowered civic with i/h/e and rims come a dime a dozen now a days.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dont forget project altima, 200sx se, and Datsun 510. They also use to have a section called Z scene. Its nice to see a magazine show cars other than civic's and intergra's every month.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tbear:
What makes the Protege a winner is probably its low low price, and it is the most roomiest of the Japanese compact cars. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


I have a 2001 Protese ES and I think it is a really good car. As you were saying about the cheap price, that is not ture. Mine came with a sticker value of $17,095. Also I think the neon should be rated lower because it is a very poor car. I bought a 96 brand new and I had it in the shop every other month after about 50,000 miles. They are crapy little cars.