lol @ comparing a $30k affordable car to cars that cost in excess of $55k, $100k, etc.
My buddy has a 2010 Mustang GT, and I can beat him in a straight line, and in corners EASILY. 0-60 we are close (unless I launch), and once I hit around 80mph, I start pulling away pretty good. We've competed several times on the back roads and in parking lot autocross events. Autocross, he has a much harder time with and the car is a pig in the turns.
I've autocrossed with a Cobalt SS, and the thing feels horrible.. floaty rear end suspension, it feels like driving in a cardboard box.. it has terrible understeer when trying to power through corners, etc. After about a year of ownership on Michigan roads, the thing rattles apart. Two of my friends who owned them had to get rid of them after about 2 years because they literally fall apart. Lower control arms, ball joints, steering gear, random stalling, transmission grinding, etc. I would never own one. Don't get me wrong, they are one of the best handling FWD cars I've driven.. but that doesn't make up for much.