6 Unsung Performance Heroes Americans Didn’t Notice
If I could make one wish for all my fellow American petrolheads, it would be to have their eyes and minds opened to the wide, wonderfully rich performance culture available to us in this country. I’ve certainly devoted many words in my weekly columns to American muscle, but I hope I’ve also made clear my appreciation of performance in all shapes, styles and sizes. There are many Americans like me, but I still encounter a fair share of individuals who are so caught up in fanatical fandom for a specific brand, they never realise just how many great cars there are to experience.
This is why I want to take a moment and shine some light on a few models that deserved more from American enthusiasts. These are just a few cars out of many, so by all means share your own overlooked performance rides in the comments. We can’t open the minds of everyone, but just maybe we can open a few.
Mazdaspeed Protégé
Long before the legend of the Mazdaspeed 3, there was the Mazdaspeed Protégé. This chunky sport compact was only offered in North America and only in 2003, but its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot delivered 170bhp and was easily tuneable to make more. Equally impressive was the suspension tuning and factory limited-slip differential, which gave the Protégé seriously sharp handling for a front-wheel driver, even by modern standards.
Pontiac Bonneville GXP
The Bonneville name ended its 47-year run in 2005, and I’m happy to say it went out with something of a bang. The full-size GXP was given a version of Cadillac’s 32-valve Northstar V8, making a smooth 275bhp driving the front wheels.
It wasn’t blazingly fast, but the big GXP still had guts to hang with many sport compacts of the day, and it handled surprisingly well for something so large. Had Americans not been so transfixed on hating the new 2004 Pontiac GTO, they might have noticed this iconic nameplate - perhaps one of the best Bonnevilles ever - disappearing into the night.
Ford SVT Contour
The Ford Mondeo has long enjoyed success across the pond, but its American Contour cousin was never much of a hit among buyers. Even with an SVT makeover in 1998 to ultimately produce 200 horsepower with truly epic suspension tuning, it wasn’t enough to impress. The Contour disappeared in 2000 after just a five-year run, and though the SVT variant does have a small-ish cult following, its smooth 2.5-litre V6 and go-kart reflexes remain unknown to many American enthusiasts.
Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
The first two Eclipse generations will be forever immortalised in the sport compact scene, and rightfully so. The third-generation was very much a step in the wrong direction, leading people to overlook the good things that made the fourth and final generation so good.
Aside from the styling improvements, it was the fastest factory Eclipse of them all with a 263bhp V6 and manual gearbox turning the front wheels. It handled well, and though it couldn’t pull off wicked all-wheel drive donuts it was still a surprisingly athletic performer.
By the time Mitsubishi got it right Americans were crazy for the Mitsubishi Evo, so the Eclipse never really had a chance to properly redeem itself.
Nissan Altima SE-R
The Nissan faithful have long known about the sleeper status of an Altima equipped with the 3.5-litre V6 and five-speed stick. Nissan engineers figured this out, and in 2005 redressed the Altima’s rental car appearance to something a bit sportier. They also bumped the VQ35 to 260bhp, added a sixth cog to the gearbox and buttoned up the suspension.
In truth, it wasn’t much of a performance improvement over the regular 3.5 Altima, but it did have a bit more swagger for the sport sedan enthusiasts who like emphasis on the sport. I guess the Altima’s rental car ties kept the SE-R off the enthusiast radar, because many people still don’t know this car ever existed.
Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6
There was an SRT version of that Mercedes-based, retro-styled Chrysler from the mid-2000s? Not only that, it borrowed AMG bits to make 330bhp, and with only 1500kg of heft to contend with, this glorified hairdresser’s car was damn fast.
That power went to the rear wheels, and with some serious suspension tuning from SRT, this classy coupe made harder-edged performance cars look pretty bad on the track. But the SRT-6 pulled too many strings in too many directions - it wasn’t quite macho enough for enthusiasts, plus it lacked a manual transmission.
On the other side, it was too hardcore for typical Crossfire buyers. Hence its obscure existence despite being a uniquely handsome and capable performer.
Comments
I enjoy your articles man. Keep on writing!
Posts fine comment, gets down-votes for no reason. I don’t get it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6-9jTTwEIQ
LOL, Crossfire was designed by a brit named Andrew Dyson, and was built by Mercedes.
Same reason I hate the back of the Audi A7.
The best thing is that’s actually true
You Mr. Smith, are one great writer
Glad im not the only person who noticed, my favourite writer on CT so far
Saw an SRT6 some time back n I’ll admit I ddnt know what it was since I thought it was a bodykit on a crossfire. Good to know little gems like this exist.
Sentra SE R?
Yeah but everyone knows about those. This article was about hidden gems.
Love my Sentra SE R Spec V
Spec V reporting for duty
The thing is, I see the Eclipse ALL the time, riced. Every time I see it, it’s a farting airplane.
Upsets me when I see them with a fart can on the back. I have a stock 07 and love the way the stock exhaust sounds.
They could have made the 3rd generation eclipses better by fitting the enkei evo 8 wheels with the evo 8 brembos (which fit on the gt and GTS trims by trimming the rear backing plates) as well as putting in the 2nd gen gsx rear end for an AWD platform to make them even better.
My neighbor has an Altima SE-R. It’s actually a pretty nice car, and I’ve always dreamed of having it as a first, that is before I discovered other options. The SE-R has the Nismo Catback exhaust, Nismo seats, rims, tinted tailights, and little goodies that are foreseen by other people. It’s quite a nice car. Great post as usual. Love your writing!
It does indeed make à really Nice sound! I love mine it’s powerfull and full on character (read hère, torque steer)
The SE-R has the same problem as the SRT-4. If you got a brand new one they were awesome, but 99% of them were beaten to all h3ll by the time they were on their second and third owners.
And also, if you something like this again, it would be nice if you were too include the price range for the car. Thanks!
Thank you for writing this! There are some great cars here. Never even knew the Contour SVT existed.
You know how ford does. The Focus SVT was a good sale, so why not the Contour, both are decent cars, a regular Contour is an okay car. There’s probably a collector out there some place that has one, along with other SVT cars all the way back to the SVO Mustang.
The svt literally became the 99-02 Mercury cougar….under the body it was the exact same car minus the manifold n cams
I knew the MSP before and I wanted it so badly, too bad it was never sold in germany :(
In America they are not too popular. The FSDET motor can put out hp but it could have been built better. But overall it’s a great car. I have the NA 2001 Protege with a 2.0 and I love it. I would love to see how the ‘Speed version is first hand
In America they are not too popular. The FSDET motor can put out hp but it could have been built better. But overall it’s a great car. I have the NA 2001 Protege with a 2.0 and I love it. I would love to see how the ‘Speed version is first hand