Which I could see being a factor in a mid-size sedan comparo, but not in a sports car comparo IMO. Sometimes I honestly don't think C&D gives a shit about performance lol, take a look at a comparo they did a couple years ago with the MS6, Jetta GLI, Accord, TSX & G6.... the MS6 was the winner in almost every performance category and yet somehow came in 4th out of 5 cars. Or another article I read of theirs about the VW R32, and how if they had included in a comparo with the STI & EVO, the R32 probably would have been compared the victor.... when I read that, all I could think of was "WTF? How does that slow ass car even begin to compete with the EVO/STI?" It's a much nicer car, no doubt, but while VW was spending money making the interior nice, Mitsu & Subie were spending their money making their cars haul ass. Which is why I usually stick with SCC, as they put overall performance above everything else, kind of like me lol.[/rant][/b]
Reading the C&D article, if they hadn't put rankings next to the numbers, I would've thought that the RX-8 came in 3rd or 4th. The opening paragraphs about the car are less than flattering. I'm usually not big on comparo tests anyway. Mags should either go with the hard numbers to choose a winner, or just compare the cars and not really choose a "winner" per se. Comparisons are all subjective.