From the Archive: 1992 Hot Coupe Comparo

From the December 1992 Issue of Car and Driver.

In April, we brought you another installment in our search for the best sports coupe. After days of sliding through switchbacks on the Angeles Crest Highway in California, we crowned the Eagle Talon TSi as king of the two-plus-twos. Of course, the honor extended to the Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX and the Plymouth Laser RS Turbo AWD, because the three cars are nearly identical, built at the same Diamond-Star plant in Normal, Illinois. The Diamond-Star’s win over a strong field, including Honda’s Prelude Si, Nissan’s 240SX SE, and five other affordable coupes, reaffirmed its place on four previous C/D Ten Best lists.

Since then, the Diamond-Star’s class-leading performance has been challenged by four redesigned competitors. Honda has bettered the Prelude with a new vari­able-valve timing system and 30 more horsepower. Ford and Mazda have birthed a new Probe and MX-6, both built on the same assembly line in Flat Rock, Michigan, but strikingly different in character and mission. Volkswagen has boosted the power of its Corrado by cram­ming the zesty VR6 engine under its hood.

We dealt ourselves a hand of the four new contenders, plus the previous champ, and headed for southeastern Ohio to find out if any of these new high-revving, intimately sized two-doors could knock the Diamond-Star AWD from the top perch. Back in Michigan, we added some track time at Chrysler’s Chelsea road course to the customary route. And in the end, a new winner emerged.

It wasn’t easy. Among our four edi­tors, three different cars received the nod for first place. The final tally of votes put just nine points between first and fifth place. Here’s how they finished:

Fifth Place: Mazda MX-6 LS

How could an all-new car from the par­ents of the RX-7 and the Miata finish last? It boiled down to soft suspension tuning. The MX-6 LS is powered by a Mazda-designed 24-valve 2.5-liter V-6, and it rides atop an advanced multilink rear suspension. Even with those impressive credentials, it finished last on every edi­tor’s ballot.

Simply put, the MX-6 feels more akin to Mazda’s gorgeous but soft-hearted 929 than it does to the automaker’s sportier offerings. It’s far removed from a boule­vard cruiser, but the MX-6 lacks the secure feel on winding two-lane roads exhibited by our winner.

Mazda won uncontested praise for the MX-6’s compliant ride, knockout styling, and comfortable cabin, garnering a perfect score of ten in each of those categories. It accorded the most relaxed ride on highway stretches full of rumble strips and tar patches. The doe-eyed, voluptuous exte­rior reminded us of Europe’s sophisticated Opel Calibra. Inside, the best seats of the bunch coddled us over 600 miles without a complaint.

Our enthusiasm for the MX-6 waned sharply when the hairpins loomed. “This car is a lesson in the ride vs. handling tradeoff,” said one writer. “Smooth out the ride and the handling expires.” In deep corners, the MX-6 displayed an uncom­fortable amount of body roll. Its slightly numb steering prevented perfect correc­tions. The body seemed to flex in corners, which aggravated the rear wheels’ tendency to step out of a cornering line. On the skidpad, the MX-6 turned in 0.85 g of grip, and on the racecourse it charged to a mid-pack lap time of 1:22.4, but it felt less confident than the numbers would indicate.

The Mazda’s luxuriant looks and feel are without equal in the class. If your pri­orities hinge on comfort and grace, it best defines the notion of a civilized sportster. Just don’t ask it about its last race.

Fourth Place: Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

The Diamond-Star triplets, represented in this test by the Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, have shared a place on our Ten Best list each year since their introduction in 1989. They came to the market when a tur­bocharged, all-wheel-drive sports coupe sounded like a tall order from a European wish book. This year, Mitsubishi has refined the brakes, adding larger discs, and has improved the shifter action. The raft of changes makes working the potent turbo­charged sixteen-valve 1.8-liter four-cylin­der a sweeter prospect.

Four years, though, is a lifetime in this hotly competitive niche. The Eclipse’s powertrain, for instance, gives up nothing to its larger-displacement competitors in power or acceleration, but it can’t match the newer four- and six-cylinder engines for smoothness or seamless power deliv­ery. “The turbo lag feels crude and ancient compared with the VR6 and VTEC,” we noted. The gearbox’s stouter-feeling shifter failed to register against the Prelude’s lighter and newer transmission.

The Eclipse lost more momentum in highway cruising and in utility. The engine buzzed from 3000 rpm upward and grew coarse as it neared redline. The GSX bounded and galloped across freeway imperfections. It got the worst fuel economy of the group—an unseemly 16 mpg, while no other car dipped below 20.

On the test track, the Eclipse posted the same impressive numbers it has generated for four years. It turned in the best 0-to-60 time and tied for the highest top speed. On the racecourse, it tied the Probe for the fastest lap. “I feel really confident with its grip,” said one tester. “It has none of the limp understeering feel of some of the other cars here.”

Despite its intact performance figures, the Eclipse felt and looked like the elder statesman of this brat pack. It’s still a satis­fying car to drive, but as one driver put it: “The engine drone and clunky secondary controls are getting tiresome, especially for $21,200.”

Third Place: Volkswagen Corrado SLC

From its chunky styling to its tendency to oversteer, the iconoclastic Corrado has always struck us as an exotically flavored sports coupe. For 1993, Volkswagen sweetened the mix by adding its innova­tive VR6 powerplant, a hybrid of the clas­sic in-line and vee-type six-cylinder engines in which the cylinders are placed at a fifteen-degree angle.

The VR6 gave the Corrado a feel we’ve experienced before—almost American. Its razor-sharp throttle response and hefty torque gave it unparalleled flexibil­ity. The VR6 also proved more agreeable to spinning the tach beyond 5000 rpm than the supercharged four-cylinder found in older Corrados. Best of all, the VR6 pushed the Corrado to 60 mph in just 6.8 seconds (seven-tenths quicker than before) and bumped its top speed up 7 mph, to 137 mph, tied for highest in the group.

The Corrado’s steering held almost unanimous appeal. Its progressive off-cen­ter weighting gave it a purposeful feel absent from the other cars. But one among us found it twitchy and nervous: “I just got out of the Mitsubishi,” he said, “and com­pared with that, this one hunts and feints around curves.” No one cared much for the Corrado’s manual transmission. It felt disconnected and had long shifter throws and abrupt clutch takeup. The brakes felt strong, though, and superb pedal feel and modulation earned them top ranking.

Like the Eclipse, however, the Corrado’s platform is showing its age. This Golf-derived coupe exhibited a strong tendency toward lift-throttle oversteer. Deep trail-braking unsettled the rear tires dramatically. Torque steer hasn’t been abolished, although the new electronic limited-slip differential is intended to do just that. Modest grip and slight twitchiness put the Corrado at the bottom of the pack at the track, about three-quarters of a second off the lead car The entrance price for Volkswagen’s Corrado SLC is a steep $22,540. That doesn’t include an air bag and does include motorized belts. At that price, it seems destined to remain a rare treat, appreciated by a select number of enthusi­asts. Including us.

Second Place: Honda Prelude Si VTEC

Honda fans were disappointed with the new-for-1992 Prelude’s second-place finish in our last sports-coupe comparison. Its 160-horsepower four-cylinder engine (derived from the Accord’s powerplant), sophisticated control-arm and multilink suspension, and slick gearbox weren’t enough to unseat the Diamond-Stars. The Prelude Si had points of brilliance, like neutral front-drive behavior and a gem of an engine, but controversial styling dropped it from a first-place finish.

Since then, Honda has wrought the magic of variable valve timing and lift on the engine. The system creates 30 addi­tional horsepower, which dramatically alter the Prelude’s personality above 5000 rpm. At that point, the engine’s switchover to the racing-cam profile is marked by a ripping, Formula 1-esque note that grows fantastically shrill at redline. The siren song is easily accessible thanks to a light, progressive clutch and shifter.

Like all Hondas, the Prelude benefits from a mild touch of understeer that makes it easy for inexperienced pilots to push the car near its limits. “The back end always feels securely planted,” one driver said. “There’s no unseemly motion from the rear wheels at all.” We attributed its slower-than-expected showing at the track to its all-season tires, which sang a song of their own in heavy cornering. The VTEC Prelude’s improvements unfortunately didn’t extend to the jumbled, messy interior. It’s not only the shape of the dash that offends. The power windows can only be operated easily by people whose palms face outward. The steering wheel blocks the view of important dash-mounted switches, very uncharacteristic of a Honda. We’ve heard an interior fix is in the works. It can’t arrive a moment too soon.

We liked the Si model enough to call it one of 1992’s Ten Best cars. The song remains the same for the VTEC Prelude and its fans. Fans can take heart that, even with a flawed interior and a $22,500 estimated price, the VTEC version bowed to a worthy comrade by just one point.

First Place: Ford Probe GT

Geneticists and automakers alike will study the Mazda MX-6 and the Probe GT for years to come. The cars share the same basic building blocks (with the Mazda 626 sedan, too), but like fraternal twins, they’ve grown up with distinct personali­ties. The fifth-placed MX-6 is the mild-mannered, Clark Kentish twin. Its thinner front anti-roll bar, milder spring rates, and softer bushings are geared for enthusiasts who enjoy washing their cars on warm Sunday afternoons and driving them leisurely around the block to dry.

The Probe GT, on the other hand, is tai­lored for the guy who might spend a minute or two picking squashed bugs from its flared snout before hitting the curves again. From the outset, the Ford engineers assigned to this project wanted the Probe to be a hard-charging driver’s car. Judging from our time behind the wheel, we say they’ve succeeded admirably.

We felt supremely confident on wet or dry pavement in the Probe GT: “Never a slip, slide, or other puckering moment,” wrote one driver. The Probe’s superbly placed pedals encouraged rapid and fre­quent heel-and-toe downshifts. The gurgling noises emanating from the Mazda-supplied V-6 sounded perfectly content to stay near redline all day long, and the engine generated enough thrust to approach the seven-sec­ond acceleration mark. The potent com­bination of grip and guts made the Probe a winner on the track, where it tied with the Eclipse for the best lap time of this test, 1:22.1.

The new Probe also takes a tremendous leap forward in vibration and noise reduc­tion. The old Probe GT finished mid-pack in our April test, mostly due to unbridled torque steer and unrefined whooshing noises from its turbocharged four-cylinder. The new car eliminates the mechanical clangs, and though it’s objectively the loudest car of the group, its valves play as sensual a tune as John Coltrane. The body structure of the car, despite its hatchback configuration, is outstanding.

Our complaints were few. The Probe rode the most aggressive tires in the group—sixteen-inch Goodyear Eagle VR50 225/50VRs—and consequently rode stiffly. Its heavily contoured seats were strangely lacking in lateral support and general comfort. One driver com­plained that the steering was a little numb.

We were willing to overlook these minor flaws because a Probe GT can be had with a driver-side air bag, a five-speed gearbox, and a V-6 engine for a fire-sale price of just $15,504. For showroom-stock racers and first-time buyers alike, that cheap sticker puts the class leader within range of the thrifty. Even with $4600 worth of optional creature comforts to bring it up to the level of the competitors, the Probe still was least expensive car in this group. At its new price and perfor­mance levels, the Probe GT aces all challengers.

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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com