The cheap, fun sport compacts of the Great Recession

Sport compacts of the Great Recession

Not too many people have fond memories of the late aughts, but for fans of inexpensive fun cars, there were plenty of things to fiddle with while the world economy burned. In 2008 or 2009, you could walk into just about any dealership and purchase a fun but practical car for less than $25,000. 

Some of these nameplates survived the Great Recession that followed, but they’re the exceptions rather than the rule. As the economy rebounded and consumer tastes shifted to trucks, many of these fun, sporty small cars simply faded into obsolescence.

What a difference a decade makes, eh? Join us for a bit of nostalgia as we remember these sport compacts that helped keep our hobby thriving, even when the economy wasn’t. 

• Image Credit: 2008 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS

Chevrolet’s compact Cobalt sedan and coupe were ensnared by GM’s “SS all the things” frenzy of the early years of the 21st century. For several years, they featured supercharged engines which, while punchy enough, simply didn’t compete with competitors’ turbocharged offerings. 

That changed in 2008, when Chevy dropped a turbocharged, 260-horsepower Ecotec 4-cylinder into its compact and re-tuned the suspension. While its twist-beam rear setup didn’t exactly light the world on fire in the ride quality department, it handled remarkably well. 

The Cobalt SS Turbocharged was quickly recognized as a front-wheel drive performance monster. It was even the first Chevy sold with a no-lift shift program, allowing the driver to keep the right foot planted while changing gears. 

Dodge Caliber SRT-4

Yeah, it was a Caliber. They said the same thing about the Neon, right?

Well, sort-of. The Neon SRT-4 might have still been a Neon, but it was a lightweight pocket rocket, and owners of modified examples gave a lot of pony car owners fits. The Caliber SRT-4, on the other hand, was simultaneously a misguided attempt at recapturing the Neon SRT-4’s magic and a formula somewhat ahead of its time. 

The Caliber was in many ways the precursor to the modern subcompact crossover. Its proportions were more SUV-like than car-like, and it was noted for having a softer, more pleasant ride than many of its competitors. While the 285-horsepower 2.4L turbo engine was certainly punchy, the Caliber left the factory without a limited-slip differential, which severely restricted its ability to put all that power to the ground. 

For better or worse, the Caliber is a rare bird these days. Worthwhile? That’s another question entirely. 

• Image Credit: Joel Stocksdale

Honda Civic Si

Some consider the 8th generation to be the last true Civic Si. It packed a high-revving, 2.0-liter 4-banger that made just under 200 horsepower and put it to the ground through a mechanical limited-slip differential. It lacked the punch of its forced-induction competitors, but made up for it with nimble handling and linear power delivery.

In retrospect, this Civic is probably one of the most interesting and desirable sport compacts of its generation. While the Mk V Volkswagen GTI was an ostensibly better car overall, the Civic holds on to a bit of purity that the heavier, turbocharged VW left behind. Besides, in the modern world of four-cylinder engines with 6,500-RPM red lines, the 8,000-RPM scream of a K-series engine is an anachronistic bonus. 

Mazdaspeed3

The Mazdaspeed3 wasn’t the Japanese enthusiast brand’s first punched-up sport compact, but it was certainly the one that turned the most heads. With 263 horsepower and a limited-slip differential, the Speed3 was known for torque steer that could double as an arm workout. 

Mazda’s compact shared a platform and engine architecture with the Ford Focus. In many ways, this was one cylinder short of being the second-generation European Focus RS that America never got, and its rough-and-tumble nature endeared it to many drivers. 

The Speed3 survived long enough to get Mazda’s smiley front end treatment (and gained more weight in the process), but when the Mazda3 was completely redesigned for 2014, the Mazdaspeed model disappeared. We miss it. 

• Image Credit: Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Mini Cooper S

Back in 2008, the revived Mini Cooper was just a year or two past entering its second generation. The 2006 redesign brought a turbocharged engine to the S model, rather than the supercharged unit it replaced. Fans argue to this day over which powerplant was ultimately more desirable, but since switching to a turbocharger, Mini parent company BMW hasn’t looked back. 

This generation of Mini heralded the beginning of the brand’s bloat, with larger, more practical models joining the lineup to expand its appeal, especially in the United States, where a stable composed entirely of small city runabouts isn’t likely to survive very long. Mini’s tiny cars also come with a not-so-tiny premium, making them difficult to justify for fun-car buyers on a tight budget. 

Mitsubishi Eclipse

We promised you sport compacts; we didn’t promise you the best sport compacts. 

Sadly, there’s not a lot nice to say about the third-generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. It was large, heavy, and front-wheel drive; its styling was also controversial, to put it gently. A powerful V6 was available, put pushed the little coupe’s curb weight through the roof. 

This may have been good enough to keep fans of Mitsubishi’s sport compact nameplate in the fold, but the Japanese automaker effectively shot itself in the foot by offering the lighter, more capable and more versatile Lancer Ralliart in the exact same showroom.

This combination proved to be fatal to the Eclipse, which did not live to see a 4th generation. 

VW GTI

The fifth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI was the very definition of a game-changer. While the fourth-generation GTI had proved to be a blockbuster for the German automaker, reliability and durability concerns began to put off buyers who found themselves surrounded by other viable hot hatchbacks. 

While the MkV GTI had its share of issues, it effectively defined the future of the nameplate. Need further proof? The GTI is a hot hatch variant of the Golf powered by VW Group’s ubiquitous 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. Are we talking about 2006, or 2020? The answer is “yes.”

And yes, it had plaid seats. 

Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart/Evo

Like the Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi’s compact Lancer was offered in two hotter, all-wheel drive variants: the Ralliart, which used a single-scroll turbocharger and made 237 horsepower, and the Evolution X, which was Mitsubishi’s STI competitor. 

The Ralliart felt neutered compared to the 291-horsepower Evo variant (and compared to some of the 250-plus-horsepower models we’ve mentioned here), but the twin-clutch automatic available on both was surprisingly good for the time. 

And unlike the Evo, the Ralliart was offered in a cool Sportback variant, which made it much more practical for daily duties. Sadly, both models have since bitten the dust. 

Scion tC

If you know much of anything about cars, you’re already aware that Toyota folded the Scion brand into its core lineup years ago, so the chances of this particular story having a happy ending are pretty low. 

The 160-horsepower tC may not have set the world on fire in base form, but it was far and away the hottest model sold in Scion dealerships. Adding to its credibility was the availability of a TRD supercharger kit. While this combo was only good for about 200 horsepower, that brought it up to the level of contemporaries such as the Honda Civic Si and Volkswagen GTI.

Ultimately, it wasn’t much more than a blip on the sport compact radar, and it was more of a Toyota terCel successor than anything else, but the tC is one of those cars that holds up a bit better in real life than it does in our memories. 

Hyundai Tiburon

OK, hear us out. Hyundai’s compact coupe was an also-ran at the time, we’ll admit, but its on-paper credentials probably weren’t quite as abysmal as you remember.

The front-wheel drive coupe was offered with both a four- and a six-cylinder engine (Remember when compact cars came with V6s?) making 138 and 172 horsepower, respectively. That was certainly enough to qualify it as “sporty” at the time, even if it wasn’t going to win any comparisons. 

Ultimately, what the Tiburon did was pave the way for two far more competent sporty Hyundais: the Veloster hatchback and the rear-wheel drive Genesis Coupe. The latter even evolved to become an entry-level luxury competitor, and in that sense both survived to the present day. That’s not a bad legacy at all. 

Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V

The phrase of the day is “swan song.”

Nissan’s legacy of producing solid sport compacts has fallen by the wayside over the past decade, but prior to that, the Japanese automaker pretty much always had something to offer enthusiasts with even basic budgets. 

Those days may be gone, but the SE-R’s 177- and 200-horsepower variants were both relatively competent for the time. Like others here, they were overshadowed by competitors’ bigger power numbers, and their interiors were barely passable even then, but for lightweight, tossable fun, they weren’t half bad. 

We wouldn’t go out of our way to get our hands on one today, but if you needed fun on a particularly tight budget back in 2008, you could have done worse. 

Subaru Impreza WRX & STI

Like the aforementioned Mitsubishi Lancer, Subaru’s Impreza has long been offered in two punched-up variants: the WRX and the hotter STI. Unlike the Mitsubishis, they weren’t offered with a nifty twin-clutch automatic. 

The 225-horsepower WRX and 305-horsepower STI offered increasing levels of rally-spec performance and everyday practicality. In fact, this was the last generation of both to be offered has hatchbacks here in the States, making them perhaps even more desirable. 

Like the VW GTI, the Impreza variants have maintained an almost identical formula for the past decade. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?

Volvo C30

Admit it: You forgot about this one, didn’t you?

The Volvo C30 was the fashion play in a segment full of athletes. Its turbocharged five-cylinder was far less lively than the variant found in hotter Focus models offered in Europe, but it still made a respectable 230-ish horsepower. Plus, it offered a unique soundtrack in a segment packed with four-bangers. 

While the S40 sedan was offered with all-wheel drive, the C30 only powered its front wheels. The interior, while stylish compared to some of the mainstream competition, was nonetheless held back by the bean counters of corporate overlord Ford. It’s a weird one, all right, but that makes it all the more charming. 

• Image Credit: GM/Chevrolet

Chevrolet HHR SS

You thought we’d forgotten, didn’t you? For shame. 

The HHR was a Cobalt underneath, and those frisky GM engineers knew exactly what to do with that particular commonality. Chevy’s PT Cruiser competitor was likewise a nostalgia play for Boomers, but that made the SS variants even more appealing as everyday sleeper cars. 

For extra under-the-radar cred, you could even spec the panel model as an SS. There’s nothing quite like a windowless compact cargo van with 260 horsepower and a manual transmission to surprise unsuspecting V6 family sedan drivers during the morning commute.