You guys are talking about stage 2 GTI's and .:R's beating it, but looking at it will it even be any competition compared to the 5.0 GT's, etc that we typically play with? I think this is more stage 2 1.8t territory
. It has the same problem as most american muscle cars where it weighs somewhere between a large building and a tanker ship, but without the 400-700hp v8 to try to compensate. Hopefully it has something else going for it. That combined with only being offered with an automatic, apparently having a nice interior with a good amount of space, etc... I don't know why they are trying to advertise this as a performance car, it's a luxury car.
Also, the opening paragraph of Car and Driver's review makes me feel really uneasy, there's no way they could have written that with a straight face. "you know it was built by car enthusiasts... ...[underwhelming engine specs]... ...eight speed automatic... ...adaptive cruise control, automated emergency braking, lane-keeping assist" Those aren't things that you design as a car enthusiast, they're things you design as a comfort enthusiast.