Scion tC Supercharged: Fourth Place Pick
Driving dynamics hampered the Scion tC Supercharged’s ranking on my personal must-buy list. I scored the car third overall based on the strength of its outstanding interior design, its ride quality, and its stylish detailing, but when it comes to buying a sport compact car, the powertrain, brakes, steering, handling, and fun-to-drive factor are critical elements. Despite its expensive dealer-installed supercharger and competitive power ratings, the tC just didn’t feel as eager to run as the other cars. I downgraded the steering and brakes, too, and though these two components behaved in a more predictable fashion on the Streets of Willow race course, on city streets and country two-lane roads they were disappointing in terms of response and refinement. The end result is a lively but dull car.

Erase the Scion tC Supercharged performance pretensions, however, and this is a terrific daily driver. It’s comfortable, features a smooth ride quality thanks to its long wheelbase, is equipped with a handy hatchback design that masquerades as a stylish coupe, is constructed with high-quality interior materials, and looks more upscale than the base price would lead you to believe. If you’re shopping this segment but can’t afford the $20,000-plus price tags of the other three cars, grab a base Scion tC and skip the Toyota Racing Development add-ons. The standard 160-horse engine offers enough verve for most drivers, and you won’t suffer the indignity of spending a wad of extra cash only to have your ass handed to you by a Chevy Cobalt – because you won’t be tempted to race the Cobalt in the first place.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged: Third Place Pick
Believe it or not, the Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged could easily overtake the Honda Civic Si on my personal choice list if three things happened: it would need to lose the stupid rear wing, GM would have to spend the money it cost to create that monstrosity on upgrading the cabin’s interior materials and build quality, and the seats need to be ripped out and replaced with something that can actually keep up with the car on the twisty road. Seriously, how many negative reviews is it gonna take for GM to realize that it needs to spend some development dollars on the inside of the car if it expects to win repeat buyers, or expert recommendations? The Cobalt SS is a thrill a minute, no matter where you’re driving it, and it even looks good – especially the wheels. But that interior is junk, and that wing is juvenile. Obviously, the cabin is where the company is cribbing cash to pay for its legacy pension and health-care costs, because the Cobalt SS Supercharged isn’t exactly an inexpensive set of wheels.

The flat, featureless buckets inside our test car were worthless and inexcusable – especially since the Saturn Ion Red Line, which is the same car but a whole lot uglier inside and out, gets outstanding Recaro seats as standard. Our Cobalt’s grip far exceeded the seats’ ability to hold me in place, and when driving the car hard I was constantly distracted by attempts to anchor myself with the steering wheel. Still, it was clear from the first run down Spunky Canyon Road and the first lap around the Streets of Willow that somebody at General Motors knows what they’re supposed to be doing. The Cobalt nails every important mechanical ingredient of a sport compact car. It even has a trendy boost gauge molded into the A-pillar. But between the lousy materials, sloppy assembly, craptastic seats, and suddenly clunking front suspension after an afternoon at the track, it’s clear that plenty of people at General Motors are still clueless. That’s too bad. This is an extremely fun car at an extremely competitive price.

Honda Civic Si: Second Place Pick
My first exposure to the Honda Civic Si was almost exclusively on a track and nearby smooth, flat, blacktop two-lane roads in rural Illinois, and I found the car a real thrill to drive. However, on my home turf of Los Angeles, the Civic didn’t impress me as much. In this setting, the car was more work than fun.

All the power sits in the top third of the rev range, and while you’re waiting for the VTEC variable valve timing to open the floodgates, the other three cars in this test are pulling away. The Civic is loud, too, and you certainly oughta be paid for your extra patience and aural pain with more power than the Civic delivers. Drive the Si in the mountains, and you’re constantly shifting between second, third, and fourth gears while the guy in the Cobalt is blasting along in third. On the track, where you can run near redline all day long without raising the ire of the local police, the Civic Si came into its own, but still required more shifting than the other three cars. Honda is turning to turbocharging to bump power ratings these days (read: Acura RDX), and a blown Civic Si would be a sweet treat, indeed.

I know, I know. All you Temple of VTEC freaks are now calling for my head. Here’s why you can just calm down and relax. Regardless of my dissatisfaction with the Si’s performance in my little geographic corner of the country, I’d still buy this before saving a few hundred bucks with the Chevy Cobalt. In the real world, this car offers exceptional value. It’s nimble in urban environments, is equipped with a kicking sound system, and for our as-tested price of $22,590 it included a voice-activated navigation system. Plus, it’s stylish, made of quality materials, and has a good-sized trunk. Personally, I can’t get comfortable in this thing because of the sticky seat fabric and the location of the parking brake handle, which continuously pokes into my right kneecap, but that’s more a function of my funky body shape than anything else. If you were shopping for a sport compact car, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Civic Si.

Volkswagen GTI: First Place Pick
This is an ugly car, but it’s so comfortable, so much fun to drive, so practical, and built with such care that I’d buy it in a heartbeat – even if it does cost the most. The Volkswagen GTI thrills you no matter what kind of road you’re on, no matter what the weather conditions are, no matter how much traffic there is. It is a superbly capable all-arounder, usually not the best at any single thing, but a top performer in all areas. In fact, my single problem worth mentioning is the exterior styling, which, if ordered in black with the optional 18-inch wheels, resolves the issue because that repulsive decal on the front bumper would be masked by the color coating the rest of the car and the optional wheels are just so damn hot.

Dynamically, the GTI’s brakes could use some attention. When driving hard, I didn’t like the pedal feel, and when they heated up they began to fade. Inside, I disliked the trip computer, which reset the average fuel economy after extended rest periods, making it impossible to track total fuel economy for a single tank of fuel. Otherwise, the Volkswagen and I got along quite nicely. The front seats were incredibly comfortable and supportive, the driving position was perfection, and the materials used to construct the cabin were of higher quality than the other cars. I appreciated the simple stereo and climate control layout, the big and secure bottle holders molded into the front doors, and the retro plaid upholstery. Need to move something big and boxy? Fold the seats, pop the hatch, and you’re good to go with a whopping 46 cubic feet of cargo space. Plus, our particular VW’s assembly quality, inside and out, was nearly flawless. This is definitely the sport compact car I would buy today, even if it does have a face only its mother could love.

Photos by Ron Perry