Admittedly I've just never been interested in the WRX which is why when I couldn't find the 0-60 time in less than 5 minutes on the subaru website I just googled it and copy+pasted which lead to the incorrect 8 seconds you saw. As I said earlier, I respect it, but too many people own it for me to be interested in owning it myself so I'm not up on its specs as much as one might expect of someone who obsessively follows the car industry.

I did a fair bit of research 2 years ago as I was in the market for a sports car / coupe then. I test drove a miata, the THEN 370Z before the 350 was rolled into it, and the genesis coupe both 2.0 and 3.8. I was also considering the Lotus I have now and a Z3 M coupe but couldn't find an example of either to drive. Anyways.

I'll concede the WRX is definitely the best bang for the buck right now, that's easy to see, especially with the 3.8's recent price hike to almost 30K.

What I'm getting hung up on is that there was no 370Z back when I drove the 3.8 GC that was comparable to it. All the ones at the dealer were near 40K or higher and filled with luxuries that, while might be nice, don't add anything to the sports car experience. Similarly, the test drive was shitty since everyone at the dealership thought the 370Z was made of gold so I drove it all of .5 miles, had to have the salesman look at me and talk to me condescendingly for 20 minutes, and thus just didn't feel any enthusiasm about it when I saw the mediocre styling, blind spot, clutch, rev match problems.

However, later that same day I jumped into a 3.8 R spec at the dealer and got to drive it almost 5 miles with a chance to check out the handling, braking, do a little bit of drifting and rev matching. Finally, it had all the bare essentials: bluetooth and a steering wheel. So it was to me basically trying to compare a Nissan that should've been an Infiniti because of the price tag and attached tech to something simple like an older miata that still felt poised and great but had a much bigger engine. For what I look for in a car, the choice was a no brainer between the THEN GC and the THEN 370Z.

I was going to buy it but the funds didn't become available as fast as I'd liked so my very good friend bought it instead and I still drive it on and off to this day. However, he drives it everyday and even learned manual on it. He says it's the best purchase he's ever made in his life. When the funds did become available, I considered it heavily but figured I could just drive my friends whenever I want to which lead me to the miata. I considered that heavily but in the end decided it was just too heavy for me and narrowed it down to the Z3 Coupe and my Lotus Exige. Choosing between the two has been one of the hardest choices in my life haha and I'm determined to own a Z3 coupe before I die. Okay back on topic again!

I'll concede the new 370Z is a superior car according to the stats you link. However, as tested, they are reviewing a $40,000 car, and comparing it to the as tested only $30,000 2013 GC.

If the performance stats are comparable on the lower end 370Z to the Touring edition with optional extras as tested by motortrend, then I will concede that you've 100%. Until then, I'm going to hold out that the GC might still be the best bang for the buck of performance COUPES, if not the best bang for buck overall or the most well made performance coupe.

This has been a great discussion though, and I've learned a lot. Thanks for that.