Tiburon VS tC VS Cobalt SS

[JCE]

Ok we did the "affordable" roadster thread and now the "affordable" coupe thread is next...albeit a limited one.

They have similar numbers in most to all catagories so let's break them down and make a logical choice. You can choose to be biased or have an open mind. Let's dissect them shall we?

*edit* The Cobalt SS has a curb weight of 2991lbs.

*my pick*

It's actually quite difficult for me to make the choice, I really like the new Tiburon GT V6 and would buy one if I found a good cheap used one. But the tC just is better in everyway just about. It's much cheaper than either of the other two, it has a larger aftermarket, it's a Toyota so it's bulletproof, and I think it looks quite a bit better vs either of the other two. The Cobalt SS is last here for me because it still has a GM interior--which is not a good thing, and I don't really like the driving position and driver (lack-of) comfort. This is one case where faster does not mean better. The tC's suspension feels much more planted on the road vs the other two. I do like the Cobalt over the Cavalier and think GM is heading in the right direction with it--but it just still feels cheap. Really when you think about it these 3 are so similar in numbers it would be personal preference that wins here.

So to sum it up for me:

1. Scion tc
2. Hyundai Tiburon
3. Cobalt SS

 

[lmracer]

2006 sentra ser
$18,000
and doesnt look like im trying to be cool

 

[JCE]

2006 sentra ser
$18,000
and doesnt look like im trying to be cool

That's a saloon and not a coupe. 👎 The only coupe Nissan has at the moment costs $30k for the base model...and that is a 350Z.

 

[skip0110]

The Mustang V6 ($19,910 MSRP) absolutely blows all the competition away. Best coupe under $20K, and better than quite a few over $20K.

210 horses, 0-60 in under 7 sec., and it actually looks good.

EDIT: Also, the Eclipse GS ($19,699 MSRP) is missing, not that it would get many votes, with the 2.4 L four.

 

[Carl.]

What about this?

the MSRP is only $300 over $20K. Same for the RSX, although it's less practical and powerful. It's a shame we don't have the European Focus, too...

 

[JCE]

The Mustang V6 ($19,910 MSRP) absolutely blows all the competition away. Best coupe under $20K, and better than quite a few over $20K.

210 horses, 0-60 in under 7 sec., and it actually looks good.

You'd be branded "too cheap to afford the extra $4k" for the base GT around here. I'd never buy a V6 Mustang--I'd save another 2 month's salary for the base GT. Oh, and you're saying none of the three cars I listed looks good? But, thanks for posting another sub $20k USD coupe. 👍

 

[skip0110]

You'd be branded "too cheap to afford the extra $4k" for the base GT around here. I'd never buy a V6 Mustang--I'd save another 2 month's salary for the base GT. Oh, and you're saying none of the three cars I listed looks good? But, thanks for posting another sub $20k USD coupe. 👍

With the old V6 Mustang, such branding would be right on the money. But the new V6 is much better, and nothing to be ashamed of owning, especially taking a look at gas prices lately. It's not extremely fast, but I think it would still be fun to own, while being enjoyable on a commute. Some bonus points must be thrown in for being RWD, too.

The cars you listed don't look bad, as much as they are just unoriginal shapes. They are generic "jellybean" shapes, not bad, but never worth a double take.

 

[lmracer]

That's a saloon and not a coupe. 👎 The only coupe Nissan has at the moment costs $30k for the base model...and that is a 350Z.

your right. dang. i cant seem to plug the ser anywhere. well in that case, i would have to go for the Mazda 3 s. and if you call me on that cause its a hatch, then i must say the rsx.

 

[JCE]

With the old V6 Mustang, such branding would be right on the money. But the new V6 is much better, and nothing to be ashamed of owning, especially taking a look at gas prices lately. It's not extremely fast, but I think it would still be fun to own, while being enjoyable on a commute. Some bonus points must be thrown in for being RWD, too.

The cars you listed don't look bad, as much as they are just unoriginal shapes. They are generic "jellybean" shapes, not bad, but never worth a double take.

I do give the V6 Mustang points for being RWD but I just have a problem with it mainly because it's 4.0l's of displacement with only 210bhp and it's still a girl's car. The only way I'd have the V6 is with some exterior add-ons making it look a bit more manly. 👍

 

[lmracer]

I do give the V6 Mustang points for being RWD but I just have a problem with it mainly because it's 4.0l's of displacement with only 210bhp and it's still a girl's car. The only way I'd have the V6 is with some exterior add-ons making it look a bit more manly. 👍

hah. your right. what exterior add-ons though? i dont see any as being tasteful..

 

[JCE]

hah. your right. what exterior add-ons though? i dont see any as being tasteful..

*see this thead

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=79570

 

[lmracer]

okay.. so it look stunning, but in the end your spending $2,800 on your V6 mustang minus the 350 hp engine mods. thats kinda like buiding a massive home theatre and not buying a DFP and building a cockpit

 

[Joey D]

Your choices suck honestly, none of those cars are really good. The best is probably the tC, but still they aren't as good of a cars as I expected. The Tiburon is horriable, it's heavy and slow for a V6 and is just cheaply made. The Cobalt SS has to much wheel hop and people I know that own them have quite a few issues with them.

The best compact on the market? Either the Civic Si or the Golf GTi, and the GTi might be 21 grand, but it's still far superior of a car. But since it's sub 20k and the Si starts right at 20 grand I'm going to say that, you really can't do much better then 200 N/A horses under the hood.

 

[McLaren]

Out of those 3, the Colbalt SS.

As of the Mustangs, I'd def. go for the GT model, and then put some cash into that baby's engine and maybe even go for a nice body kit.

 

[Tornado]

The Tiburon was a great car, but it is getting old, and feels it when compared to all of the recent and new Hyundai's. The Scion tC is a posuer of a sports car, made to take over the Celica's place. Sloppy handling and too much power without the supercharger make it a good value car, but nothing else. The Cobalt SS is a bit too extreme of a performance-first car, and the base Cobalt itself is a little unrefined as it is, but it is a screaming bargain performance car. Personally I would choose a VW Golf GTi or Honda Civic Si, or (even better) an Acura RSX Type S. They all make compromises, and they all seem to fit between the Cobalt and the tC. GTi if your leaning more towards plushness, RSX if your leaning towards sporty driving, and the Civic Si if you want a equal balance.

 

[JCE]

Your choices suck honestly, none of those cars are really good. The best is probably the tC, but still they aren't as good of a cars as I expected. The Tiburon is horriable, it's heavy and slow for a V6 and is just cheaply made. The Cobalt SS has to much wheel hop and people I know that own them have quite a few issues with them.

The best compact on the market? Either the Civic Si or the Golf GTi, and the GTi might be 21 grand, but it's still far superior of a car. But since it's sub 20k and the Si starts right at 20 grand I'm going to say that, you really can't do much better then 200 N/A horses under the hood.

If my choices suck then why didn't you vote "Other" and name your cheap coupe? You spent months drolling over the Cobalt SS and now you say it sucks? And you say the Tiburon is "heavy and slow" I do believe it's basically the same as the other two. The Tiburon does have a low powered V6 but put that in relative terms to the Mustang V6...

4.0l V6 210bhp in a car that's 3300lbs = 15.4 Power to Weight Ratio (3300 divided by 210--this is the correct way to find the PtW isn't it?)
2.7l V6 171bhp in a car that's 2970lbs = 17.6 Power to Weight Ratio

Both motors are underpowered but get the job done. And if you haven't noticed Hyundai's customer feedback and ratings of this car are quite good...and the warrany Hyundai has it one of the best in the business. Hell, even some people in Europe like it. And, this is not a "compact" poll but a coupe poll...so VW doesn't qualify with any of thier models. And the Civic Si is above $20k and costs over $1000 more than the most expensive of the three. That $1000 difference is an extra chunk added on your monthly payments...and add the interest ontop of that. If there's a better one out there for less than $20k USD then post it! 👍

The Tiburon was a great car, but it is getting old, and feels it when compared to all of the recent and new Hyundai's. The Scion tC is a posuer of a sports car, made to take over the Celica's place. Sloppy handling and too much power without the supercharger make it a good value car, but nothing else. The Cobalt SS is a bit too extreme of a performance-first car, and the base Cobalt itself is a little unrefined as it is, but it is a screaming bargain performance car. Personally I would choose a VW Golf GTi or Honda Civic Si, or (even better) an Acura RSX Type S. They all make compromises, and they all seem to fit between the Cobalt and the tC. GTi if your leaning more towards plushness, RSX if your leaning towards sporty driving, and the Civic Si if you want a equal balance.

Problem is like I said perviously, the GTI, RSX, and Civic Si aren't available in this topic--they don't qualify in the under $20k USD coupe catagory. If the tC is a poser of a sports car then take the $2k+ you save when buying one and add some performance parts. Problem solved?

 

[Joey D]

I did vote for the other option and gave some other cars.

I like the Cobalt to a point but that have severe reliablity issues and this is coming from a guy who knows a lot of SS owners. All of them love the car but hate three things, the eletrical system is bad, the wheel hop is bad, and the back seat is hard to get into. When they finally get the turboed motor in it and fix the wheel hop it will be better. The Ion is slightly better in build quality, but not by much, they both aren't bad cars but I still don't think I want one.

I've driven a Tiburon and it was slow and heavy, even compared to my truck which is slow and heavy. I did not like it what so ever. But the V6 powered Tiburon has about the same power as the non-supercharged Cobalt SS...there is a issue their I think.

And if I can't pick the Si which is 20,460 or something then I wouldn't go with any of them, but there is probably some car in Europe that's much better.

Also another car that is under 20 grand is the 4 cylinder Camry Solra, its in the 19's.

So out of those choices the tC is the best.

 

[JCE]

I've driven a Tiburon and it was slow and heavy, even compared to my truck which is slow and heavy. I did not like it what so ever. But the V6 powered Tiburon has about the same power as the non-supercharged Cobalt SS...there is a issue their I think.

The GT V6 manual transmission does 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds (according to wiki)--I'd hardly call that slow. The top of the line tC--the TRD supercharged model ($26k) with 200bhp and 184 lbft of torque does 0-60 in 7.2--that's basically the same for $8k more money. Still think it's slow? If you drove a 4cyl or automatic then yes it would be slow, you have to drive the 5spd or 6spd V6 model to get the good acceleration. My roomate had a black GT V6 and it was anything but slow, it's in my quick catagory (6~8 seconds to 60mph). Anyway that's pretty much both of our points so no need to beat the horse more dead.

 

[Vonie]

If it had to be one of those, it'd be the tC.
If we could do used I'd go with a Focus SVT.

 

[YSSMAN]

Untill they pack the new engines from the Sonata under the hood of a Tiburon, I would stay away. Not to say that the car isnt good, it actually is a pretty nice car, but the bottom-rung engines are what hold it back.

The Scion tC is a good idea with poor execution. It simply is too heavy, too slow, and too dull to actually be considered a cheap sports coupe unless it is modified. Added to that, it is pretty expensive when you compare the options between it and the Chevrolet or the Hyundai.

My pick is going to the Chevrolet, unquestionably. I've herd plenty of gripes and grimes about the build quality, and my neighbors who own a 2005 LT Sedan have yet to have a major problem. The one I drove (a 2005 LT Coupe) was quite nice, and drove pretty well, on par with the ol' MKIV Jetta in most circumstances.

I'd say the combination of a decently efficent and powerful engine, a good ammount of reasonable options, and the added ability given to the car with what is baisicly a slightly de-tuned version of the SS Supercharged suspension and wheel/tire package is great.

The only car that would stop me from buying one would be a used MKIV Jetta GLI with the 1.8T, but even used they still sell for more than $20K.

 

[JCE]

Untill they pack the new engines from the Sonata under the hood of a Tiburon, I would stay away. Not to say that the car isnt good, it actually is a pretty nice car, but the bottom-rung engines are what hold it back.

The Scion tC is a good idea with poor execution. It simply is too heavy, too slow, and too dull to actually be considered a cheap sports coupe unless it is modified. Added to that, it is pretty expensive when you compare the options between it and the Chevrolet or the Hyundai.

My pick is going to the Chevrolet, unquestionably. I've herd plenty of gripes and grimes about the build quality, and my neighbors who own a 2005 LT Sedan have yet to have a major problem. The one I drove (a 2005 LT Coupe) was quite nice, and drove pretty well, on par with the ol' MKIV Jetta in most circumstances.

Great post, I would actually like the V6 that's in the new Sonata in the Tiburon--I think with 268bhp it would be quite fast. I wonder if someone's engine swapped an engine in a GK Tiburon. Hell if it's possible imagine buying like an '03 or '04 Tiburon for less than $10k and swapping a motor in it--I think it would be fun. I think Hyundai's biggest problem is removing the stigma that's attached to it's brand image by Europeans and Americans...they are almost where the Japanese are but no one gives them any credit--they have improved ten-fold. Also, I don't think 3000lbs is that heavy for a sports coupe--the problem is the drivetrain choice HAS to be comparable to it's weight which the tC doesn't have unless you supercharge/turbo it. Just look at the Merc CL's, they are over 4300lbs but have a motor to compensate for it being heavy. To me what's heavy is 3600~3700lbs+, my Focus is 3415 or so and I'd consider it slightly heavy...but 2900~3000lbs isn't heavy to me. The tC base is dull, but with just about $1500 in options you can make it not dull--and if anything looks and Toyota's bulletproof reliability to me put it on the top of the cheap sports coupe segment. And remember Scion is really about customizing your "vhip" (woot another VeeDub commercial reference) either at the dealer or aftermarket.

 

[skip0110]

I'd agree that of the choices given, I'd take the Tiburon, because as JCE3000GT correctly noted, it's fairly peppy and probably the least boring of the three. (C/D hated the Cobalt SS engine, and from my experience I agree with their opinions on engines, so I'm discounting it. Also, am I correct in noting that you spec'd out a "fake" non-supercharged SS?)

But I'd be more embarassed seen in a Hyundai than a V6 Mustang.

 

[JCE]

But I'd be more embarassed seen in a Hyundai than a V6 Mustang.

But I'd be more embarrased being seen in a Cobalt SS than a V6 Mustang! Haw, for teh win!

 

[STLbarcelona5]

Well fine. I'll be the one to bend the rules, and go over by $290.00!!!! As in Honda Civic Si.

But then again. Are we going by MSRP or including Destination & Taxes and all of that fun stuff? Otherwise I believe the Civic will turn out closer to $21,000. Oh well.

 

[lmracer]

ths civic si should have been in the selection. whoever is buying a new car can afford the grand more than those three. but im afraid there would be no competition if it was. so i contradict myself in saying that for the sake of socialization, im glad its not.

 

[ND4SPD]

You'd be branded "too cheap to afford the extra $4k" for the base GT around here. I'd never buy a V6 Mustang--I'd save another 2 month's salary for the base GT.

Don't forget to mention that V6 stangs are usually sneered at for being chick cars.

 

[JCE]

ths civic si should have been in the selection. whoever is buying a new car can afford the grand more than those three. but im afraid there would be no competition if it was. so i contradict myself in saying that for the sake of socialization, im glad its not.

Actually I for one wouldn't care if Honda sold me a brand new Si for $16k I wouldn't take it. It has a horrible interior, it's very uncomfortable, it has laughable torque (it only has 7 more lb ft of torque that my Focus), it's ugly, and frankly anything Toyota is going to outlast anything Honda. And by the way, having worked for a Honda dealer recently I can tell you that no one is going to get a new Si for less than $21k (and that's without dealer markups!), and $1000~2000 difference is actually quite a bit as it will put alot of buyers in this segement out of thier monthly budget. As I said earlier, adding a minimum of $1000 a month is easily $30-40 a month extra and don't forget the interest you'd have to pay on that $1000...and no Honda doesn't have any 0% or 2.9% interest deals like the other automakers. Honda is quite different in the way they sell cars to the public. They don't even have an employee plan, it's basically whatever the General Sales Manager says is what goes. So if the Si is ~$21k that puts it quite a bit out of the price range of the other 3 not to mention for ~$3k more you're in Mustang GT territory...and the Mustang GT is well worth saving up for as it's infinitely better. So spend your $18k on one of the three I mentioned or a V6 Mustang or spend another few months saving up for a Mustang GT, it's rather a no brainer I think. 👍

*edit*
This brings me to an idea, can a moderator add the regular Civic coupe? Not the Si but the Civic EX coupe? Is that possible--just an idea...

Don't forget to mention that V6 stangs are usually sneered at for being chick cars.

I wasn't going to say it figuring someone else would. It isn't as bad with the new model--but the V6 Mustangs from 94-04 were definately chick cars.

 

[YSSMAN]

^^^I agree with JCE...

The Honda Civic Si is horribly overrated, and really overpriced IMO. I cant see how anyone in their right mind would actually spend the money on that car, esp. with the incredibly ugly interior that has been placed inside of the car. I swear, the plastics quality in my '96 Jetta are better than that in a '06 Civic. Something tells me that that is wrong...

Added to that, the Honda is going to have outrageously high insurance rates in comparison to the Hyundai and the Cobalt. According to Insure.com, the Honda Civic is the fourth most expensive car to insure in their top-10 list, while the Cobalt is rated at second least expensive to insure in the bottom-10 list.

 

[Joey D]

When I was looking at GTi's I went to a Honda Dealership and manage to take the new Si for a short test drive with the salesmen with me. I really liked it but the GTi was better.

 

[Poverty]

Damn thats a poor selection of coupes. Id have to agree with blazing on this one.