Our only Best Buy in this class is the fun-to-drive Acura RSX. It offers plenty of thrills for the money with impressive acceleration and great handling.

Formerly a Best Buy, Volkswagen New Beetle still features interesting blend of styling, comfort, performance, and economy. If raw performance is what you are after, we Recommend Toyota Celica. This car offers a lot of bang for your buck, but, like all sporty coupes, may not be the greatest daily driver. New to the class is the Mini Cooper, a well-mannered small car, with sophisticated driving dynamics spoiled only by a ride that too easily becomes harsh on imperfect pavement. Because it is new and available in limited numbers, dealers are not discounting.

Helped by mostly good early reviews, RSX drew some 46,500 sales from launch through the end of 2002--not spectacular even for an Acura, but welcome extra business for dealers. Though this car is still in its early days, industry moles already forecast a fairly major freshening for 2004 or '05. A sportier Type-R could be part of it. This model is already available in Europe and Japan, and could doubtless be adapted for American needs with fair ease. If a Type-R does come here, look for around 240 hp, plus appropriate chassis upgrades and specific cosmetic touches. A full redesign shouldn't happen before mid-decade.