SE-R Replacement

[Greg Amy]

> Cobalt SS?
> Neon SRT-4?

These cars remind me of the old Shelby Dodge turbo
series, the Charger GLH, Omni GLH, and the Shelby CSX
(I had a CSX). Lots of punch, not a lot of chassis to
support it. Lots of giggles between stop lights but
dreadful to drive daily.

The SE-R - and its NX cousin - didn't try to beat up
the world with massive power; instead it finessed the
world with better-than-adequate power in a nice light
chassis and decent handling. The reason the car was on
the 10 Best for so long is not for power  - though the
spritely SR20DE was certainly a major factor - but
because it was a nicely-rounded package, certainly not
"very" good in any one particular area but definitely
not poor in all others.

You'd be hard-pressed to find that today. I think the
Mazda MP3 and Honda Civic lines come damn close, and
in slightly-out-of-production cars I'd not to the RSX.

It's easy to win by power, but it's hard to keep the
crown long-term with *only* that... - GA