06/19/2006, 4:44 PM

Industry/General

The wimpiest cars of 2006

Here at Leftlane we often bring you lists from various publications of the best cars in a given category. And you usually disagree. Today, Business Week did something a little different. They published a list of the ten wimpiest cars of 2006. Here it is:

 
 

06/19, 4:46 PM

posted by:

tino

a chrysler sebring is very spiffy, not wimpy

06/19, 4:49 PM

posted by:

Mike

alllllrighty. a nice, purely subjective article.

At least they could have compiled power to weight ratios or looked at performance, but nope. 100% subjectivity on display here!

06/19, 4:52 PM

posted by:

W1ck3d / Dirk

Golf might be wimpy, but that is because their is a market for it. If you want to un-wimp it, buy a Golf GTI R32 and you know why that one is highly recommended by the automotive reviewers.
I agree that the regular Golf however is a little wimpy because it looks are too fluffy.

06/19, 4:52 PM

posted by:

Jon

According to the list, the GTI has 180 bhp. This is incorrect; it has 200 bhp. You would think that they would double-check their facts.

Jon.

06/19, 5:57 PM

posted by:

Anonymous

The Malibu should be joined by the Pontiac G6, Buick Lacrosse, Chevy Aveo, and Saturn ION…

06/19, 7:23 PM

posted by:

Carlos

So this is a “10 cars that the author of this article doesn’t like” list?

I could come up with one of those and it’d be just as useful.

06/19, 7:49 PM

posted by:

JIBBA

I dunno how Tiburon and Montero can beat out pu$$y looking cars like the scion xA, the Aveo and all the Kias.

06/19, 9:08 PM

posted by:

Jim

I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS !

06/19, 9:13 PM

posted by:

joe shmoe

WTF!? montero? i thought that thing won dakar like a million times in a row, if dakar is wimpy, than just about every other racing series is just flat out gay!

06/19, 9:59 PM

posted by:

manny

sadly, mitsubishi doesnt know well enough to sell that version of the montero… or anything based on it… hell, anything that looks like it…
where are the civics and camries on this list?

06/19, 11:02 PM

posted by:

Malcolm

this isn’t news. this is opinion. wouldn’t hold up in court:) i’m glad that the leftlanenews has something decent to write about…

06/19, 11:16 PM

posted by:

Big Nick

since when is a jaguar “wimpy”!?!!!!

06/19, 11:39 PM

posted by:

think!

a jaguar is “wimpy” when it is based on a ford contour, sorry, i mean ford mondeo and is basically FWD… tacking on a useless AWD unit doesnt make a jaguar.

06/20, 1:10 AM

posted by:

Renton

#16 …………

#17 could not have said any better. Jags have become pretty corporate and very wimpy.

06/20, 1:21 AM

posted by:

Niels

I had no idea they were even still making the Montero, but the Zephyr and Sebring are far from whimpy.

06/20, 3:54 AM

posted by:

JohnnyBlazE

Except the Mondeos are nice for their price and market position - in fact watch out for the next one ;)

06/20, 6:37 AM

posted by:

canut4ever

The true Wimpy cars are the X-type, Malibu, Terraza, and the ancient Ranger. The others are OK I guess. I really don’t know how they came up with this list because some of the cars and suvs listed are competitive. Maybe they don’t know anything about cars, they should stick to their turf and go home.

06/20, 7:18 AM

posted by:

JohnnyBlazE

Hold on, the X-Type is usually a AWD with great handling for what it is and it’s engines aren’t all that wimpy as the 3 litre v6es push out 231bhp to give a 0-60 of 6.6 seconds… not exactly AMG Merc material, but not THAT bad… Tops out at a fairly weak 146mph though.

But, then again the E320 CDI mercs perform just as well with better MPG hehe…

06/20, 8:08 AM

posted by:

Wimpiest Cars of 2006 at Gargles

[...] via Published June 19th, 2006 in Vehicles. EMail This Post [...]

06/20, 10:53 AM

posted by:

Anonymous

Everything in the world is wimpy compared to General Motors

06/20, 11:59 AM

posted by:

Steve

I’d say if anything the Zephyr is the least wimpy of the Ford triplets. And what about the F*$%ING Beetle?

06/20, 1:13 PM

posted by:

Derek

Miata, Civic, Anything pre 2007 Saturn, rav4, element, scion, sunfire convertible.

06/20, 5:23 PM

posted by:

PJ

“Ha, ha ha, hahahahahahahahahahahaha ha ha ha… whew.” That’s for your comment, Anonymous. You brought out the full-fledged villain laugh.

Naturally, lists like these are of minimal value. But as far as subjective opinion goes, it’s pretty accurate. The Sebring is most definitely a wimpy car–average or below in every possible respect. Anything it can do, another car in its class does better. There’s a reason that platform inspired the “I drive a Dodge Stratus!” sketch.

Same goes for the X-type. It’s really not slow in 3.0 manual form, and I personally like its looks, but it does nothing better than the leaders in its class (except get bagged on for its Ford roots).

The Malibu, Golf, and Tiburon, IMHO, don’t belong on that list. They’re not best-in-class, but they’re certainly competitive, particularly the Malibu.

My additions to the list? The Buick Rendezvous, Chevy Monte Carlo, Mercury Sable, Saturn ION, and Toyota Solara. To me, what makes a “wimpy” car is how far short it falls of its promises (for example, the Monte Carlo and Solara, sporty? Ha!).

PJ
motoralley.com

 
 
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