The performance leader in this group is also our Best Buy. The Honda Prelude will hustle two large adults and their luggage in comfort and luxury to a weekend getaway. Prelude has plenty of power, excellent road manners, and gets reasonable fuel economy.

We also recommend you take a look at the Chrysler Sebring (which will be redesigned for 2001 in coupe, convertible, and sedan form) and the Volkswagen New Beetle. The Sebring offers the most room in this class, while the New Beetle has interesting styling and a nice mix of comfort, performance, and economy.

VW continues mining the popular retro-Bug for all its worth. Last May, for example, the company introduced two new colors, bright yellow and "vapor blue," in special runs of 2000 each, with orders taken only at VW's Website. Word got around quickly, and orders poured in. But overall demand has cooled somewhat from the New Bug's early-days frenzy. Though orders rose 49 percent in calendar '99 vs. '98, they were only about 7 percent ahead in the first four months of 2000.

Which might make this a good time to introduce the convertible Bug so many people have been clamoring for. Late word is that VW will do just that, but not before early in calendar 2002. Reportedly, the open-air Bug will be assembled at VW's Puebla, Mexico plant alongside hatchback Beetles, but will follow tradition in special body engineering by Karmann of Germany, which built the Beetle convertibles of old. Several private companies have been converting hatchbacks into drop-tops almost from the day the New Beetle went on sale, but VW has refused to honor its warranty on such "chopped" cars, much to the consternation of buyers. Obviously, the company doesn't want to share this business with any outsiders.

Meantime, sources say a hot V6 New Beetle with 4Motion all-wheel drive will go on sale sometime during 2001, probably as an '02 offering. A prototype seen in August 1999 serves as the template for this racier hatchback, which will probably be badged RSi. VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech has apparently ordained 225 horsepower, plus "boy racer" body add-ons including a prominent rear wing and jumbo wheels and tires. A standard 6-speed manual transmission seems likely too.