Our only Best Buy in this class, the Volkswagen New Beetle, offers interesting styling and a nice mix of comfort, performance, and economy. The New Beetle is the most practical and affordable in this class.

If raw performance is what you are after, we Recommend the fun-to-drive Acura RSX and Toyota Celica. These cars offer a lot of bang for your buck.

A persistent sales disappointment since its 1999 reincarnation, Cougar dies after the 2002 model year as Ford Motor Company struggles to get back in the black by cutting losers, among other methods. Cougar might have been killed even if Ford weren't in dire financial straits now, as the model's year-to-year sales plunged 29 percent in calendar 2000 and another 27 percent in '01.

No direct replacement is planned, but Detroit gossips say Mercury may get a version of Ford's latest European Mondeo sedan as an exclusive offering to help pep up the tired Mercury brand. The first-generation Mondeo was the basis for the U.S.-built Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique compact sedans of 1995-2000, from which the soon-to-be-extinct Cougar was derived. Ford hasn't yet made a final decision on the "Mercury Mondeo", but says modifying the car for U.S. safety and emissions standards would take at least a year. That suggests a debut no sooner than model-year 2004.