I think it depends on whether the car in question will be your only car and/or your DD.

I have four cars -- one practical and one toy each for me and my wife. If I had the money and found nothing better to spend it on than a new car (unlikely), I would consider replacing either of the practical cars or adding another toy. I have zero interest in getting rid of either of the existing toys.

With that motive, I'd test-drive (i.e. "cross-shop", whatever the heck that really means) lots of different things. That includes G8 GT and GXP, Sky Redline, Camaro, CTS, C6, all of the Lambdas, a Malibu, a Cobalt SS, and probably some more I'm forgetting at the moment.

If buying a 370Z was a transaction that caused profit to land here in the U.S., I'd consider that too. It's a really neat car, but I simply will not buy foreign -- my wife and I consider such a thing to be a vote against the success of our economy -- especially the Michigan economy. There are a number of other Japanese and German cars that are excluded from my list for the same reason.

The point is, the list of cars I'd consider has a considerable range in the number of doors and seats, all three possibilities for the number of driven wheels, a wide range of performance abilities and fuel economy, etc etc.

Some people will cross-shop anything. It doesn't matter why, and there's no point in us spending any time trying to figure out what competes with what -- it just matters that our favorite manufacturer should strive to deliver the best in every category.

Personally, I think magazine comparisons like the Corvette one in the December Car and Driver are much more useful -- they compared the three Corvette models and decided which one was the best value (ZR1 ). I'd like to see a similar article comparing the Saab 9-3, G6, Aura, and Malibu (especially after the former three get some upgrade benefits from the Malibu). Another detailing the differences between Traverse, Outlook, Enclave, and Acadia.

To bring this rambling post back around to the topic, I absolutely think that RWD performance coupes costing $25-35k is a legitimate category, and I fully expect to see a subset of the Camaro / Mustang / 370Z / G37 / 135i / Genesis Coupe comparison in at least one magazine in the next six months.