IMHO, the 3 should be an HS car, esp since it was a stretch in GS before this. i think it and the 2.3L focus would be good competition for the MINI.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, the Mazda 3 should have been in HS all along, since the newer Calif 2.3 Focus's (Focii?) were left in HS (145HP). When the P5 first came out, it was in E-Stock with all the 16v Protege's and Escorts. My main beef about the Mini vis-a-vis HS was that H-Stock is an entry level class if there ever was one. The bottom of the barrel, the lowest of the lowly. Mom's old Jetta, the girlfriend's old Sentra. If it's slow and stock, enter it here. Now you might have to run the old underpowered 4 door against an a car that, while underpowered itself, does possess incredible handling, so much so that it can match 700' slalom times (Road & Track: road test digest, 7 cones 100' apart) with the likes of a Z-06 Vette (67 MPH), and whip (by 2-5 MPH faster) such cars as the WRX, Miata, Sentra SE-R V-Spec, MR-2 Spyder, Neon SR-4T, Focus SVT, and on and on. To beat those cars through a slalom says alot about the potential to change direction quickly, an important aspect of Solo II. But hey, it is a trendy popular car, and maybe politics come into play, the lastest cool car winning the latest cool sport. So be it. I'm in STS for now, and it has it's advantages (suspension upgrades for sure), but God do I miss R compound tires. Maybe I'll get some next year and go the FSP route.
