"So that's what it's for!" The purpose of the bright metal "blade" on the side of the Audi R8 was suddenly revealed as seven All-Stars candidates flowed along a twisting, climbing, and descending road in Ohio. From the last car in the cortege, I caught tantalizing glimpses of the blade--and only the blade--from half a mile away. Seeing it flashing through the light woods bordering our route was as dramatic as seeing a shark's fin in surging waves at sea. And drama is a large part of the R8. How better to express it than with an unmistakable design feature shared with no other car? At least, not yet. Asia awaits.

What we look for in a Design of the Year is excellence in every aspect of a car: innovation, style, beauty, engineering, dynamics, heritage, and public approbation. Rarely do we find a single car that is outstanding in every way, but this year, there was a vehicle that checked almost all of the boxes for us: the R8. An aluminum body and a spaceframe chassis shared in principle with the Lamborghini Gallardo, a dry-sump engine that shares technology with the V-8s that won Le Mans six times (counting the 2003 Bentley victory using an Audi powertrain), and all-wheel drive are impressive enough, but the staggering performance of a mechanical package that can be mastered by drivers who are not blessed with superhuman reflexes is even better.

To some, the fact that the R8 is easy to drive, whether hard and fast or slowly and smoothly, is anathema. They love the idea of twitchy, all-but-impossible-to-master cars, thinking that owning one imputes mastery to them. We prefer the sophistication of cars such as the Lancia Aurelia GT, perfect for an evening out but which could, and did, win the Targa Florio. The R8 is definitely in that mold, and we honor the designers and the engineers who have so perfectly realized a truly civilized grand touring coupe. The car is low, but the big doors, low sills, and arched side-window profile combine to make getting in and out really easy. And once you're in the spacious cabin, there is as much a feeling of being in a luxury sedan as in a 180-mph road rocket.

Carsten Monnerjan, who was responsible for the R8's interior under Walter de'Silva's overall design direction, has created a highly focused environment for the driver but a relaxed, more open space for the passenger in the R8's asymmetrical cockpit. The cabin is noticeably wider than that of a Porsche 911 and is far more comfortable than those of other cars with equal performance.

As with virtually all mid-engine cars, the layout forces compromises. There are two backlights, one immediately behind the heads of the occupants, the other following the surface of the top. This is not ideal for night driving, when the image reaching the driver's eyes from the center rearview mirror contacts no fewer than five glass surfaces. In the rain, at night, distortion is inevitable. Seeing the top of the engine is another dramatic pleasure for anyone walking up to the car, and we found ourselves enjoying it every time we approached the R8.

The one missing check mark is for beauty. This is a superbly good-looking car, massive and solid-looking, but it misses the exquisite purity of form most often found in Italian cars. The three large openings in the front end are impressive and no doubt necessary for air circulation, but they do dampen one's aesthetic ardor, as do the curious LED daytime running lights inside the headlamp module. One of the options for the R8 that will tell you a lot about the person who buys the car is his or her choice of finish for the side blades: silver, like those on the car we drove in Ohio; carbon fiber, as seen on the car pictured (but not available, alas, in the United States for 2008); and just plain body color. The last might help hide you from highway revenue agents, but to us, the only way to go for an R8 is shiny, shark-fin dramatic.

Automobile Magazine's 2008 Automobile of the Year is the Audi R8. Perhaps you could see this one coming, since the R8 has absolutely captivated the automotive world this past year. We'll admit to being more than a little turned on from the first time we saw it, at the 2006 Paris auto show. Technical editor Don Sherman's report after his initial drive of the R8 in the Nevada desert last winter confirmed our high expectations. When an R8 arrived in Ann Arbor in the spring, it set the whole office abuzz, such that we barely gave the car a chance to cool down over its four-day visit .

But the R8 was perhaps most impressive during our Automobile of the Year test drive over the deepest backcountry byways of southeastern Ohio. By turns thrilling, poised, comfortable, fast, fluid, composed, and enormously capable, the R8 absolutely captivated everyone who got behind its flat-bottomed steering wheel. On that drive, the R8 proved itself to be a great real-world sports car, in the vein of the Porsche 911 Turbo. At the same time, it's also an otherworldly exotic, with every bit as much presence as a Ferrari.

That's a pretty heady accomplishment for any automaker, particularly one entering the sports car arena for the first time. At this point you might ask, "Didn't Audi get a leg up from the Lamborghini Gallardo?" Yes, but perhaps not as much as you think. Obviously, both cars use a mid-mounted engine, all-wheel drive, and a spaceframe architecture on which are hung aluminum and composite body panels. But although they use similar blueprints, for the most part, they don't share components. There are two significant exceptions. The all-wheel-drive systems are largely the same, yet it's important to remember that the Gallardo was developed after Audi purchased Lamborghini, and so its AWD hardware is as much a product of Ingolstadt as it is Sant'Agata. The R8 does, however, take from Lamborghini its R tronic (Lamborghini's E-gear) paddleshift sequential manual transmission. But, frankly, the R tronic gearbox is the R8's least satisfying element, neither as quick nor as smooth as the similar gearbox from Ferrari. Our initial drive of the R8 was in an R tronic example, but the cars we drove in the spring and in Ohio, by contrast, had the much more enjoyable manual transmission. Its classic, gated shifter might not make for the fastest gear changes, but it makes each one an occasion.

The R8's engine, a 420-hp, 4.2-liter V-8, is pure Audi, of course--we've already seen it in the RS4. Here fortified with dry-sump lubrication, it sends the R8 rocketing forward in a surge of acceleration, sending a loud, cracking song across the countryside--it's a traditional Italian supercar noise, only tempered by bass and stainless steel. The direct-injected V-8 also looks pretty darned good--no wonder Audi puts it on display under glass, even lighting the engine compartment.

The interior is also characteristic Audi, which is another way of saying that it's stylish, comfortable, and beautifully put together. The exterior design speaks for itself, but we found that just walking up to the R8 gets your heart beating faster--and the effect it has on bystanders is electric.

The disappointing truth about the crowd-wowing exotics, however, is that these rocket ships can be pretty one-dimensional. The Audi, on the other hand, impressed us with its depth of abilities, whatever the speed, whatever the road, whatever the weather. This isn't just straight-line speed but rapid, over-the-road travel, in which deep reserves of power are buttressed by generous suspension travel, excellent damping, laserlike directional stability, an athlete's balance, and the sure-footedness of all-wheel drive (here with a default torque bias of 90 percent to the rear wheels).

The mid-engine R8 certainly takes Audi into a whole new league of driving dynamics. Even more significant, however, this car is also indicative of the company's broader achievement. The R8 emphatically caps Audi's long, steep ascent from near irrelevance. Back in the early 1990s, in the wake of the sudden-acceleration fiasco with 60 Minutes and the Audi 5000, the brand was on life support in the United States. Its renaissance, which started with the original A4 in 1996, has been entirely product-led. With each model changeover, Audi re-invigorated its sedan lineup, then established itself as a design leader with the addition of the sporty TT coupe/roadster, and finally branched out into crossovers with the Q7. The company also has reignited its motorsports program, garnering a string of endurance-racing victories. Audi has come a long way from its virtual obscurity of the early '90s.

Audi signaled its intention to build an ultra-high-performance, mid-engine sports car with its Le Mans Quattro concept back in 2003. That car proved to be a dead ringer for today's R8, and yet how many people took it seriously at the time? It's safe to say that no one would make that mistake today. The R8 is not only a thrilling new sports car, but it's a rolling testament to a company that's stronger than it's ever been, one that's entering its golden age right now.

General Motors' Two-Mode hybrid system is the most significant gasoline-electric propulsion advancement since the original Toyota Prius. Chevrolet Tahoes and GMC Yukons equipped with this technology can achieve 20 mpg or more, which is equivalent to that of a four-cylinder mid-size sedan in city driving.

With oil approaching $100 per barrel and a trip to the pumps capable of inflicting a like-size dent in your wallet, big trucks that don't guzzle gas on an ordinary commute seem like manna from the Middle East. To celebrate their arrival, we're saluting GM's Two-Mode as Automobile Magazine's 2008 Technology of the Year.

Like Honda's Integrated Motor Assist and Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive, Two-Mode blends the best attributes of internal combustion and battery-powered electric motors. But that's the only thing these three prevailing hybrid systems have in common.

GM's hybrid powertrain consists of a husky 332-hp, 6.0-liter V-8 bolted to what looks like an overgrown automatic transmission. Actually, that box (pictured above) is packed with the following hybrid components:

• two 80-hp AC motors;
• three planetary gear sets;
• four multiplate clutches;
• two hydraulic oil pumps.

A metal container located under the second-row seats contains the 300-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack. A second box mounted under the hood is loaded with power inverters and control circuits.

Because Two-Mode is a second-generation approach conceived by transmission experts instead of engine specialists, gasoline and electric power sources are more ingeniously combined with fixed and variable gear ratios to achieve higher efficiency over a broader range. Alterations to the vehicle--weight savings from aluminum body panels and wheels, elimination of the spare wheel and tire, and subtle aerodynamic tweaks--also contribute to heightened efficiency.

Since GM partnered with BMW and the former DaimlerChrysler to develop Two-Mode for front-, rear-, and four-wheel-drive applications with gasoline and diesel engines, you'll see it in more cars, pickups, SUVs, and crossover applications. And not a moment too soon.

Here's how it works

• In Auto Stop mode (engine switched off), motor B propels a lightly loaded vehicle up to 30 mph as long as the driver maintains gentle pressure on the accelerator pedal.

• In reverse, motor B supplies all of the drive torque.

• Motor A restarts the engine on cue.

• The engine and both motors combine forces to accelerate the vehicle and up to 6200 pounds of towed load from rest to cruising speed. Four fixed gear ratios and two variable-ratio modes optimize performance and efficiency.

• During light-load cruising in top gear, four of the engine's cylinders are shut down to conserve fuel. Electric motor B contributes up to 30 hp of assistance.

• During braking, one or both electric motors work as a generator to convert unwanted momentum to electricity for battery-pack recharging.

2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage - Robert Cumberford

How can our 2007 Design of the Year not be an All-Star now? Simple economics. A few of our readers (and you know who you are, even if we don't) can afford to buy any car on sale anywhere in the world, maybe even two or three of them. But most readers are pretty much like us; you have tastes that exceed your pocketbook's ability to transform desire to reality. We do not let vehicle pricing have undue influence on our decisions, but we do keep in mind that there is true value in attainability. It is not surprising that long-term dwellers on the All-Star list - early Mazda Miatas and perpetually desirable 3-series BMWs come to mind - are affordable to a wide range of our readers and ourselves.

So we love the Aston V8 less than we did last year? How could we? It is still a delight to the eye, a visceral pleasure to drive and a joy to hear in full cry. But it is also very expensive, well beyond the means of all of us and most of you. Should the All-Star roster include only Ferrari FXX track cars, Bugatti Veyrons and Maybach limousines? We don't think so, and we believe that you don't think so either. We will never exclude a car because it costs a lot, but we will not keep it as an All-Star year after year when there are so many economically viable choices we can collectively embrace. The Aston Martin V8 deserved its awards and accolades last year, and it merits our approval now. But it is not - it cannot be - an All-Star again this year. "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt" is a pretty profound philosophical statement if you really think about it.

All the same, we love the V8, we still want one, but we still can't have one. So it's not an All-Star this year. So there.

2008 Audi A5/S5 - Jean Jennings

I'm an Audi fan, maybe even a little nutty about Audis. My first All-Star thought after BMW 3-series was Audi S5. I had just driven the S5 test car, but it was in the office the week everyone - but Joe Lorio and I - was at the Frankfurt auto show. We had it to ourselves for five days. Actually, I think I drove it the entire week. That must have been the problem. No other editor or freelance contributor had driven it.

No one else had the sumptuous experience of slipping in behind the wheel and seeing the exquisitely sculpted dash for which Audi designers have become renowned. Every instrument binnacle, every gauge, every button, every knob is a work of art, a purposeful expression of luxury and precision. The buttons are not only beveled, but rows of buttons are beveled in sync, creating a single organic sweep across the dash. The simplicity of the MMI controller and the neat array of four buttons around it belie the complexity of the electronic functions (audio, navigation, climate control, other vehicle systems) it so naturally manages.

No one else had experienced the fantastically supportive drivers' seats, the perfectly placed foot pedals, the sublime gearing of the six-speed manual transmission, and the rush of power from the 345-hp, DOHC thirty-two-valve aluminum V-8 engine. Blessed with permanent four-wheel-drive (the sort of four-wheel drive that has nothing to do with dirt roads and everything to do with maximum high-performance tarmac traction), the S5 can manage sub-five-second 0-60 mph times despite its nearly two-ton curb weight. It's fast like a freight train, gorgeously sleek, and wears its strikingly large chrome grille more confidently, more perfectly than any Audi before it. It feels like it's worth about 50% more than its sub-$60,000 (loaded) tag.

This is the car for which I long. My Private All-Star.

2008 Cadillac CTS - Don Sherman

It's time someone cheered for the home team. Cadillac has traipsed the path of righteousness for nearly a decade, systematically phasing out to its soft-riding, fat-laden cruisers in favor of cars and trucks that combine smart design with functional behavior. Clearly, Cadillac has dug fun-to-drive out of the advertising muck to make it a top engineering priority.

The 2008 CTS is Cadillac's best work. Building on the best attributes of the first generation sport sedan, the new edition is striking to behold, entertaining to drive, and a legitimate threat to the evil imports. With more than 300 horses in its arsenal, the CTS now has the firepower to counter the best Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, and Mercedes have to offer for $40,000.

I'm most impressed by the CTS's steering and handling gains. Thanks to a stiffer unibody, a new German-sourced rack-and-pinion steering system, and astute chassis tuning, this Cadillac is always game for an impromptu back-road chase.

After my dream garage was duly loaded with a sports car for each day of the week, I'd make room for a CTS, the Cadillac with an itch to smite the bluebloods.

2008 Ferrari F430 - Joe Lorio

We've called the Ferrari F430 the best Ferrari ever, but it's not an All-Star? Seems like an oversight to me. Perhaps it's just a presumed All-Star, so we don't have to mention it. Everybody already knows it's great, so no point in piling on.

2008 Ford Taurus X - Ezra Dyer

When Ford killed the Taurus nameplate in favor of the Five Hundred and Freestyle, they acknowledged that years of neglect had tarnished a once mighty brand. By the time the last ovoid rental-fleet Taurus rolled off the line, it was hard to remember that there was a time when the Taurus was so cool and futuristic that it was the police car of choice in RoboCop. Upon the Taurus' demise, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" declared, "Ford canceled the Taurus this week, which means that thirtysomethings everywhere are going to need to find a new way to tell the world that they've given up on life." When SNL bothers to make fun of your car, it's probably a sign that it's best buried for good. Just ask the Dodge Stratus.

But Ford apparently put the Taurus in the pet cemetery, because it's back from the dead and stalking the streets looking for vengeance. The main problem with the Five Hundred/Freestyle was that its powertrain consisted of boiled turnips and rubber bands. Now there's a powerful 3.5-liter V6 hooked to a proper six-speed automatic. To my mind, this upgrade vaults the Taurus X into position as one of the most underrated cars on the road, and it's why I gave it an All-Stars vote-it's a fine car on merit alone, but it also offers crazy value. Think about it: A base Audi A6 Avant has 255 horsepower, all-wheel-drive and a six-speed automatic for $49,000. The top-of-the-line Taurus X AWD Limited has 263 horsepower, all-wheel-drive and a six-speed automatic for $32,185. Is it more amazing that a Taurus wagon compares favorably with an Audi, or that the Taurus is good enough to prompt that comparison in the first place?

The Taurus X also has useable third row seating. It's handsome, inside and out. It's quiet and refined. They call it a crossover, but the Taurus X is really the great American station wagon that nobody admits to making anymore. The Taurus' main problem is the jarring disconnect between its moniker and its virtues-it's a kindly philanthropist named Adolf, an angelic, brilliant valedictorian named Anna Nicole. If you really can't imagine driving a Taurus, then go buy some Freestyle badges. I'll bet they still fit.

2008 Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia/Saturn Outlook - Jason Cammisa

The world's greatest cars have no ambiguity in their purpose. Everybody knows what a 911's purpose is. Or a 3-series'. Or an Accord's.

Too many SUVs have unclear goals. People buy them as tools to haul people around town, but they were actually designed to haul stuff off-road. You won't see shots of this big SUV crossing a stream in GM's advertising, and for good reason.

GM's Triplets (Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook) have no such ambiguity. Freed of the compromises of off-road prowess, they set a mission - to carry people and their belongings - and completely nail it.

You'll have a hard time finding a vehicle anywhere that can swallow as much stuff as the Triplets - and do it in style and comfort to boot. Forget about the complaints that their 3.6-liter V-6 isn't "up to task." That's true only if the "task" is racing a 911.

Unlike so many cars, the EnclAcadiOutlook's task is so clearly defined and so cleanly executed that it's a winner regardless of whether it's an All-Star.

2008 Honda Accord - Sam Smith

This - this, this, this - this is utter baloney. Horsehockey. Junk. (I'd be more explicit, but you're reading this on a family-oriented website.) If the Honda Accord isn't the most easily electable All-Star on the planet, then my name is Paris Q. Richie-Lohan-Fawcett-Majors the third. It's a good car; no, no, it's a very good car, one deserving of so much more. Leaving the Accord off Automobile Magazine's list of ten wonders of the automotive universe is like saying The Godfather is a lame little movie about some bickering Italians. It's just not right.

Why all the fuss? Simple: The Accord is a four-door family sedan that doesn't cost a gazillion dollars, it's roomy and spacious inside, it's got a decent amount of personality and a great engine, and it's actually somewhat entertaining to drive. (Take that, Toyota Camry.) Yes, the Accord is bigger than it used to be. (For reference, it's now closer in size to the bargelike Toyota Avalon than the original, first-generation Accord sedan.) And yes, interior quality - surprising for a Honda - isn't off-the-charts fantastic. But by and large, the Accord does what it does in a traditionally Hondaesque fashion: It seems indestructible, it revs like crazy, it's both comfy and a decent handler, and it's a relative bargain. Plus, it's deceptively fast. On our annual All-Stars drive through Ohio, the Accord was able to keep up with any number of faster, ostensibly "better" cars. (I'm looking at you, Volkswagen GTI.) I don't love the Accord, but I like it a lot. And, even though I'm only one of a handful of people who voted for it, it should have been an All-Star. There. I said it. Everyone else is wrong!

2008 Jaguar XK/XKR - Joe DeMatio

Oh, my. If there's a car that meets the needs of the Automobile Magazine fraternity, it would be the Jaguar XK and its supercharged sibling, the XKR. How my dear colleagues here failed to cast their ballots appropriately and bestow upon it the All-Star award it so richly deserves is beyond me. Stylish, sleek, powerful, and chic, it is the perfect grand tourer in the Jaguar tradition of pace and grace and all that business from Sir William Lyons.

What we have here is what the XJ should have been: a thoroughly modern Jaguar, not a throwback to the Twiggy era, one that takes the bonded and riveted aluminum construction that Jaguar pioneered four years ago with the old-looking XJ and wraps it in a contemporary and seductive package.

I will repeat here what I said in the logbook of our Four Seasons XK last summer: I came off a week when I drove the 2008 Dodge Viper, with 600 hp; a Lingenfelter Corvette, with 600-plus hp; and a Mercedes AMG V-12 coupe, with about 600 hp. Then I got into our Jaguar XK and feared that it would feel slow. Not a chance. It was as light and lithe and responsive as I had remembered. It's an All-Star in my book.

2008 Jeep Wrangler - Rusty Blackwell

Sports cars and luxury sedans are great; sure, fine, whatever. But most garages also require a utilitarian steed, a vehicle that can be depended on to take you places too rugged for your suave BMW 3-series while carrying things too bulky for your tiny Lotus Elise. The problem is that most pickups and SUVs that fit this bill - even the All-Star Mazda CX-9 to a lesser extent - aren't anywhere near as fun as the aforementioned sporty sweethearts. Enter the Jeep Wrangler.

For decades, the functionally fun Jeep has served everyone from soldier to Samaritan, hiker to homemaker. Heck, we even named its military forefather one of the twenty-five greatest cars of all-time in our September 2007 issue (page 120).

The newest generation of the basic Jeep, introduced in 2006, takes all of these talents and combines them in a package - the four-door Wrangler Unlimited - that's finally large enough to comfortably contain four adults and a weekend's worth of their gear for activities such as backwoods camping escapades, handyman construction projects, cross-country voyages . . . you name it. Meanwhile, Jeep purists can still buy a shorter-wheelbase, two-door model for less money.

The Jeep's updates haven't diminished the adventurous spirit of the versatile Wrangler. There's simply no other new vehicle in which you can tow your Jet Skis with the top down and the doors removed, all while rowing a satisfying, old-school stick shift.

I know, I know: the Wrangler isn't perfect. It's pricey, fuel economy is less than 20 mpg, the zippers-and-Velcro ragtop can be tricky to operate, and the primitive driving dynamics are - shall we say - exceptionally interactive. But the last two things are also part of what gives the Wrangler its charm. And when you're cruising through town or enjoying a moderate back-road blast, wind in your face, it doesn't get any better in SUV-land.

2008 Maserati Quattroporte - Marc Noordeloos

There I sat, looking over the giant list of cars that buyers can choose from when it comes time to pony up for new transportation. I had to pick ten cars from the pot that are better than the rest, not an easy task. Logic told me that I should balance the list with a mix-include a truck, an economy car, and some sort of SUV or crossover thing. As the lead in my pencil dulled and the eraser approached the level where the metal housing risked ripping my notepad I said screw it. I am going to pick ten cars that I love, that I want to own because they are fabulous.

Last year, senior web editor Jason Cammisa voted for the Maserati Quattroporte and most of the staff laughed at him. The last time the Italian sedan visited our office, its fiddly and temperamental sequential manual gearbox nearly forced copy editor Rusty Blackwell to abort his honeymoon road trip with his new bride. For the record, I was not one of the staff members who mocked our fearless web guy. I was actually angry that I didn't second his vote.

You see, in early 2007, the Quattroporte gained something that American cars have featured for ages, a proper automatic transmission. The rest of the car was already wonderful. It's graced with a stunning exterior design with aggressive tumblehome, an interior that looks like an Italian designer named Antonio ordered a leather bomb to be exploded in each car before it left the factory, and a glorious Italian V-8 engine that all result in a character that other luxury cars can only dream of. Yes, the Mercedes S-class is a better, more reasonable car. I even included it on my list All-Stars because, when the Maserati inevitably breaks down (they have not been known to be Honda-like in this regard), you need another car to motor on down to the country club. But the German lacks the exotic flare, the sonorous power plant, and the light, tactile handling of the Quattroporte. And that is why my heart ordered me to include the fabulous Italian luxury sedan on my list of All-Stars. Anyone know where I can pick up a good used example with a very long warranty?

2008 Mazda 3 - Jen Misaros

The Mazda 3 is in its fifth model year and, despite having only minor engine and transmission changes since its debut, is still one of the best small cars on the market. When it comes to the small car market, there are always compromises to be made. The cars in this category generally lack one or more of the things that make a car attractive: style, quality, affordability, and, most importantly, fun. The Mazda 3 has all of these in spades. Add the fact that Mazda offers the 3 in a hatch, and you've got a winner.

2008 Nissan Versa - Jamie Kitman

The Nissan Versa may have been an Automobile Magazine All-Star loser this time around, but it's the winner among losers in my Losers' Winners Circle, for it ably answers the question, "Hey, wait a second. Renault is French and they bought Nissan and they cross-pollinated to get themselves both back on their feet, but where did all that Frenchiness go?"

You don't normally think French when you drive a Nissan. But sharing a chassis with the French-designed Renault Clio (and Nissan's European Micra,) and bits with Renault's defiantly French Megane, the Versa is clearly different; it doesn't really fit logically in the Nissan "Japanese modern" sedan progression (Sentra to Altima to Maxima.) Instead, the Versa all but shrieks "Bonjours!," admirably showcasing the uniquely French side of the merged companies and the venerable Gallic habit of elevating one's humblest products by giving them not just a decent ride, but a great ride, thanks to the classical expedient of providing substantial amounts of wheel travel.

Once you get past the big-car smooth and vast accommodation for what appears to be a small car, you are left with the safety and plushness of the Versa's interior as well as its ridiculously low price ... a hair over $13,000. Making it an excellent value in a 35 mile per gallon, five-seater with loads of space. The Versa looks like the avant garde Renault Megane, with which it also shares some of its design elements and chassis pieces. The five-door hatchback is the definitive model in our view, though it is also available as a sedan, with a trunk, looking even more wackadoodle than the oddball Versa hatch despite the nod to convention.

So here, we've discovered, is where the French character in Nissan went. Overstuffed seating for driver and passenger, arm chairs, practically, ring more French bells than Notre Dame, and remind one of nothing so much as an old Citroen or Peugeot.

The Versa handles well and it holds the road like the French hoofer it is. Like many Gallic predecessors, it could stand livelier steering, with more feel. We could also imagine a version sportif with some sporty Michelins, a little more je ne sais quoi under the hood, and a special paintjob -- Gordini blue with the stripes in French racing white -- but now we're just dreaming.

This is as close as French car fans in America can get to a new, French car, and, as a bonus, it's not even French. The really important stuff is Japanese. C'est bon!

2008 Toyota Tundra - Preston Lerner

Maybe it's escaped the attention of the college-town weenies living in Ann Arbor and its effete environs, but Americans love trucks, the bigger and brawnier, the better. The irony, of course, is that the best full-size pickup on the market comes not from Detroit but from Japan - the all-new Toyota Tundra.

What we're talking about here is a half-ton truck that's able to administer simultaneous beatdowns to several our of All-Stars. Equipped with an optional 5.7-liter V-8 that makes 381 horsepower and tows more than 10,000 pounds, the Tundra can go monster-trucking over an Elise while ferrying a C30 across its bed. It carries more passengers than a Corvette and a Boxster put together, and it hauls from 0 to 60 mph faster than a GTI or a Malibu.

You want utility? Don't talk to me about the CX-9. Mazda calls it a crossover vehicle. I say it's a minivan in stealth mode, and minivans don't pass the no-boring-cars test. Pickups, on the other hand, are loaded with character, and they're equally adept at work and play. I'm the first to admit that the full-size trucks from Ford, Chevy and Dodge are damn fine vehicles, but none of them embody more All-American virtues than the Tundra.

It's big, honest, robust, ingenious, bulletproof, trustworthy and fully capable of opening a can of whup ass on anything that gets in its way. If that's not All-Stars material, then I don't know what is.

The Infiniti G is yin to the BMW 3-series' yang, and picking a winner between them - which is to say, choosing the best sport coupe/sedan in the world - is less about what the cars can do than it is about what their drivers want. For those partial to instant gratification, the Infiniti reigns supreme. The steering is sharper, the shift throws shorter, the suspension tauter, the engine peakier. The BMW is slightly more capable at the limit, but the G37 coupe and the G35 sedan feel a lot sportier getting there. Oh, and Teutonic cachet aside, these Japanese delicacies are the best bargains this side of all-you-can-eat sushi at Nobu.

The interior of the Infiniti is a pleasure dome featuring stylish aluminum trim, violet mood lighting, and French-stitched leather seats. But the car's willingness to get with the program is obvious the instant you punch the push-button starter and hear the feral growl pulsing out the bad-boy tailpipes. Nissan's VQ V-6 engine makes an impressive 306 hp in 3.5-liter sedan form and 330 ponies when stroked to 3.7 liters in the coupe.

Both cars ride on a new, stiffer version of the FM platform that underpinned the original G35 five years ago. Toss in the Sport package, with bolder wheels and tires, brawnier brakes, and an eager six-speed manual transmission, and you get a sexy beast that slices apexes like a sashimi knife and powers out of them like a typhoon.

Although the G37 is more powerful than the G35, it's heavier, too, so the difference in performance is negligible. Also, the revised sheetmetal has rejuvenated the once-dowdy sedan, which is now nearly as shapely as the coupe. So the toughest choice may no longer be between the Infiniti and the BMW. It's between the G37 and the G35.

It's called the law of diminishing returns: the idea that, after you pass a certain threshold, your investment no longer corresponds to your reward. It also applies to sports cars. There's a kink in the price/performance graph where you begin spending a lot more money for not much more performance. There's an easily definable point after which come diminishing returns, and that point is the Chevy Corvette.

Certainly, there are faster new cars than the Corvette. But all of them, without exception, cost a lot more money. The base Corvette handily outguns the Porsche 911; the Z06 can hang with the Ferrari F430s of the world. And for 2008, the Corvette got a comprehensive overhaul, with up to 436 hp available from the 6.2-liter LS3 V-8. The revised car does the 0-to-60-mph sprint in 4.3 seconds - with an automatic transmission.

At this point, Chevy could probably say, "Here's a car that goes 190 miles per hour and costs forty-six grand. You don't like the steering? Bite me." Instead, it rolled out a car that does 190 mph while also addressing the subjective aspects of the driving experience. The steering got a new machining process for its internal components, in the name of improved feel. The shifter was revised, in search of more direct throws. The interior, long a Corvette weak point, got a new option that can be best surmised as "cover everything in leather." The 2008 Corvette is like a prodigal athlete who's not content to merely destroy the competition - now he wants to do it with style.

When you think about it, elite performance cars tend to remain essentially unchanged throughout their lives, maybe because they're already as high-strung as their manufacturers can make them without starting over from scratch. A BMW M-car, for instance, gets only minor changes over the course of its life. But Chevy tore down the Vette and found meaningful improvements halfway through the C6 production run, when it could've easily said, "You know what? We'll fix that stuff in the C7."

It's not like there's a car waiting in the wings to usurp the Corvette's title of Supreme Sports Car Bang for the Buck, but Chevy acts as if there is. And that's why the Corvette is, once again, an unequivocal All-Star.

Trucks seldom earn a berth on our All-Stars list, because most of them are preoccupied with the banal side of motoring: toting cargo, towing boats, transporting brood to tap lessons and soccer practice. But every now and then, there's a deviant, an outlier that ventures beyond the obligatory nine-to-five routine to play party animal in the off-hours.

Chief designer Hideki Suzuki made this full-figured family hauler appear almost svelte, with a sleek windshield, a sinuous waistline, and buff haunches. The interior provides a wealth of split-folding seats and storage spots, lifting the mood with plush leather, slack-free controls, and cool blue lighting.

When Mazda says that there's the soul of a sports car built into the CX-9, what they mean is that the driver isn't demoted to a chauffeur. The development team taught the CX-9 proper road etiquette. Adhesives were used to maximize the unibody's structural stiffness. Stout antiroll bars and dampers keep body motion in check. Rubber-isolated crossmembers support both ends so that ride and handling can peacefully coexist.

The effort invested in the CX-9's driving dynamics paid off. Hard-to-please Automobile Magazine critics have been moved to paroxysms of joy when discussing the CX-9. One called the V-6 engine charming, the six-speed manu-matic transmission silky. Another praised the way the powertrain hustles the 4620-pound curb weight. But the ultimate kudos came from the editor who rated the steering feedback and feel superior to that of BMW's new M3. After a bouquet like that, it's amazing that the CX-9's tires still maintain touch with the pavement.

Go ahead, laugh. Laugh at the little German car that wears its heart on its sleeve. Laugh at its plaid-covered seats, laugh at its abundance of cheekiness, laugh at its utter lack of displacement. Tell us how your supercharged nine-liter Vettebirdamino will eat it alive, all while you suck down a milk shake and make out with your girlfriend and read War and Peace with one eye shut. We will listen. We will nod politely. And then we will find some winding, twisty road, and we will blow your doors off.

Volkswagen's GTI is magic. What else do you call a diminutive hatchback that can shame supercars? The latest version of VW's iconic hot bunny may offer only 200 horses under the hood, but a fantastically usable, abusable, and forgiving chassis makes the best of each and every one of them. Steering feel, long a GTI hallmark, is remarkably direct and unfettered. The turbo four that drives the front wheels does its job with minimal lag and a cheery brup! out the tailpipe. The whole package turns every off-camber, back-road yump session into a flat-footed exercise in giggles. Porsches, BMWs, and the like struggle to keep up.

The icing on the cake, though, is the sticker price. (Less than twenty-three grand.) Or maybe it's the practicality. (Four adult-sized seats hold - get this - four adults. In comfort.) Or maybe it's the fuel economy. (Nearly 30 mpg on the highway.) Wait. No. Scratch that. Everything is icing. The GTI eclipses even the class-clown Mini Cooper for sheer spark and verve, it makes sense for real people who actually have to lead real lives, and it does it all without breaking the bank. If that doesn't make for All-Star status, we don't know what does.

Here we go again. The BMW 3-series is getting another award, garnering still more praise, waltzing across the stage one more time. Are you tired of it already? We know how you feel. Believe it - no one here likes seeing the same winners over and over. So we didn't set out hoping to give the 3-series another All-Star award (its thirteenth!). But then we got in the car and started driving. And, just like always, it was good, very good. The hills, crests, dips, curves, lumps, and bumps of our rural route through southeast Ohio create an environment that would bring most cars to their knees, but the 3-series just reveled in it. After each leg of our daylong drive, another driver would get out and deliver some variation of the same verdict: This one's on my list. Again.

Despite BMW's recent missteps (iDrive, active steering, misshapen styling), the company still does chassis tuning like no other carmaker. That's particularly true of the 3-series, which is incredibly smooth and fluid. It's a car that instantly makes any mope who slides behind its wheel a better driver.

This year, we had a 335i on hand, with the turbocharged version of BMW's awesome straight six. Two turbos bump the power output up to a hale and hearty 300 hp - a figure that provides nearly M-car thrust without exhibiting the Dean-Martin-on-a-bender drinking habit that afflicts so many performance cars. The 335i achieves an EPA-estimated 26 mpg on the highway (its nonturbocharged sibling manages an even more abstemious 28 mpg). Better still, BMW offers 3-series sweetness in four different flavors - coupe, sedan, wagon, and hardtop convertible - the better to ensure its ubiquity.

You may be sick of reading it. We may be sick of writing it. But there's no denying it: the BMW 3-series is an All-Star. Again.

Like goldilocks, we know when something is just right. We complain when a car is too big or too small, too hard or too soft, and we don't hide our displeasure. But when a car is right, we're moved to celebrate it. And so today, we celebrate the Mercedes-Benz S-class.

Two iterations ago, we lamented that the S-class had become too heavy, too complex, and too expensive. Mercedes answered those complaints with the next-generation car by scaling down the size and scaling back the price. So what did we do? We judged the car guilty of moving too far downmarket; it showed obvious signs of cost-cutting and had lost some of its Germanic solidity. So Mercedes went back to the drawing board and in 2006 introduced the current-generation luxury sedan. And this time, they got it just right.

Today's S-class is dripping with luxury accoutrements and high-tech accessories, from a full-leather interior to a hands-free communication system to a fourteen-speaker stereo. It has power everything, radar-guided cruise control, adaptive damping, and more comfort and convenience features than the presidential suite at the Waldorf.

But the S-class is more than just the sum of its equipment list. The S-class rides and handles in a way that belies its size, with taut steering, perfect driver feedback, and an athletic demeanor when the going gets curvy. Available with a quartet of engines that range in ability from supremely competent to mind-blowing, the S-class is the world's most versatile luxury car. In a segment with no shortage of excellent competitors, from the Lexus LS460 to the BMW 7-series, the Mercedes-Benz S-class stands out, because pretty much everything about it is just right.

"This is the best Chevrolet family sedan I've ever driven." No, that's not from a Chevy TV ad; it was uttered spontaneously by one of our drivers after a twenty-mile thrash on challenging roads. Enough of us agree with that assessment to put the good-looking new sedan on the All-Star list with cars costing several times more. The Malibu might not be quite as good as Bob Lutz claimed after the car's Detroit show introduction, but it's not far off. Smooth, quiet, very well-finished, and more than able to keep up with more powerful cars, it represents a true sea change in what GM is offering the public.

This is not a sedan of extremes. It's not the quickest Chevy sedan ever - that would be a 1960s big-block bruiser. But no big V-8 Chevrolet ever provided a ride as supple and well-controlled as this, nor did any of them answer to the helm with the alacrity and accuracy that the Malibu offers. The Malibu isn't as flashy as some past Chevrolets, but buyers will decide whether that's important. We like the understated exterior but would welcome a bit more style in the cabin. That everything fits well is far more important than the fact that it's a touch plain. Even the supportive seats are excellent.

Substance, not appearance, is what makes the Malibu an All-Star. Its six-speed automatic is worlds away from the two-speed Powerglides of yore, and it contributes to the relaxed feel of the car. The Malibu's V-6 gives away sixteen horses to the Honda Accord yet kept up with it effortlessly. This is the kind of car Americans have wanted from Detroit for years. Now it's here, an Automobile Magazine All-Star.

In almost sixty years in business, Lotus Cars has never sold more than a few thousand units in a year, even its best ones. Sales booms, if you could call them that, have typically been followed by busts. The carmaker ramps up to build some exciting new confection, and then the market is quickly saturated, as everyone who felt they'd been born to own the new Lotus and would die if they didn't, had now bought one.

This historic pattern is relevant because it makes the continuing sales success of the Elise (now in its fourth year in America) certain proof of Lotus's changed and extraordinary nature, as well as offering ringing confirmation of the Elise's repeat All-Star stature. This car remains for the committed, but seeing as Lotus is poised to have its best American sales year ever, it seems there's a growing pool of those ready to commit.

And so it should be. The mid-engine sportster is a bravura engineering performance that reprises the truest Lotus virtues, namely light weight (1984 pounds) and fealty to handling excellence. These endearing traits profit from the car's technically elegant bonded-aluminum chassis. Add reliability, courtesy of a Toyota/Yamaha engine good for 190 rev-happy horsepower, and you have a for-real, serious machine. (A new supercharged Elise is scheduled for 2008, too.)

At $46,270, the Elise might seem expensive for a fiberglass car that has two seats and a tiny trunk. But for the best-handling sports car we know, an audacious-looking thing that goes from 0 to 60 mph in less than five seconds, we think it's not, really. The Lotus Elise is a commitment worth committing to.

We've combined the Boxster and the Cayman into one All-Star this year because, frankly, we couldn't decide between the two. Whether you prefer your sports car in convertible (Boxster) or hardtop (Cayman) flavor, no one will question your judgment if you arrive at their front door in either mid-engine Porsche.

What's that, you say? You're afraid people will think your Boxster isn't a real Porsche? Worried they'll think you bought a Cayman because you can't afford a 911? The staff of Automobile Magazine hereby informs you that those people are fools, and their opinions don't count.

The Boxster and the Cayman received more votes than any other car on this list, and it's no wonder: every time one arrives at our editorial office, we fight like adolescent siblings for the privilege of driving it home. The reason for that is simple: they are exquisite to drive. Their steering is so communicative, you'll feel more of the road's surface only if you crawl along it on your hands and knees. Brake feel is the stuff legends are made of, and the mechanical symphony created by the six horizontally opposed cylinders is more addictive than a reality TV show.

Neither the base 245-hp 2.7-liter nor the S-models' 295-hp 3.4-liter engine produces sufficient grunt for a sub-five-second 0-to-60-mph time, but straight-line acceleration is rarely a Porsche's primary goal. The fact is, when the road goes squiggly, there are few cars on this planet that can keep up.

At the same time, few cars are as entertaining to drive at school-zone speeds. And with two trunks and rich interior appointments, the Boxster and the Cayman make terrific daily drivers.

The whole point of owning a sports car is to put a smile on your face. And few can do that every day as well as these sultry twins from Stuttgart.

Click the links below to read about this year's winners!

The C30 had us from the first view of its cute little 1800ES-esque butt at the 2006 Detroit show, where it launched as the C30 Design Concept. Since then, we've been waiting patiently for the hipster Volvo four-seat hatchback to wind its way through the long productionization process, to introduce itself to everyone in Europe (where it was greeted with much fanfare, as in 32,000 sales as of November 2007), to roll onto a transatlantic steamer, and to finally make its way into our eager hands.

Such is the impact of striking design. You see it, you just want it. Never mind that the C30 has the underpinnings, the 227-hp turbocharged five-cylinder engine, and virtually the entire interior of the S40. We like the S40, too. But this is just the cutest thing, with its nipped-in rear cabin and frameless pane of hatch glass. Sweet.

Never mind that it's only a couple hundred pounds lighter than the base S40 (despite being 8.8 inches shorter) and therefore a bit pokier than we expected. And the Volvo doesn't feel as sporting as the Volkswagen GTI, although (according to Volvo and VW) the C30 is both faster and quicker. The Volvo is whisper-quiet, perfectly composed, and has a six-speed manual that you could teach your grandma to row flawlessly in fifteen minutes. You can add a little flip of roof spoiler and larger tailpipes; lower it; go with stiffer springs, dampers, and antiroll bars; jack it onto eighteen-inch rims; rock out the 650-watt, ten-speaker Dynaudio system; add a cool two-tone option dialed up from a palette of seventeen different exterior colors; and still party on out the door for less than $30,000.

It is madly, Scandinavianly mod inside to go with its fresh exterior. And any one of us would have it - the one perfect criterion for All-Stardom.

Every year, awards are given for the best in automotive media. Our winners are listed below. Congratulations, everyone!

More cars with earth-shattering performance have been launched in the new century than we can shake a multiprofiled camshaft at. Yet, too often, supercars aren't the most super cars. Automobile Magazine's Automobile of the Year, the delightful 2007 Volkswagen GTI, reminds us why.

Don't get us wrong. We'll never look down our noses at 500-hp screamers with roofs so low you can slip in and out from under semitrailers without a scratch. But if the last year has shown us anything--with its punishing fuel prices and growing recognition of the dire effects of global warming--it's that what the world really needs now is not cars that are fast, but cars that are practical, fuel-efficient, and fast. And that's where the new GTI, reborn for the Volkswagen Golf's--excuse us, Rabbit's--fifth generation and once again immensely fun to drive, comes in. It's the right car for our times. Hell, it's the right car for any time.

A star when Volkswagen conjured the hot hatch segment out of thin air nearly twenty-five years ago, the GTI infamously became--in later generations--if not exactly obese and clumsy then no longer the crazy funster it had been, the one that wanted to tear up tarmac just as much as it wanted to haul you to work and your laundry to the cleaner.

Keys to the reborn GTI's success are numerous, but the combined effect is to recall the glory of GTIs long gone. First credit goes to VW's superb 200-hp, 2.0-liter turbo four, a modern case study of successful internal combustion marriage, hitching exemplary, almost lag-free drivability and superior economy--more than 30 mpg on the highway--to ample urge for when the going gets frisky. The well-chosen ratios of its standard six-speed manual suit it well, but we're here to tell you, for perhaps the first time ever, that you might want to consider the self-shifting option. Volkswagen's DSG gearbox--an electronically controlled, twin-clutch device--is simply the best automatic-type transmission we've ever driven, and it posts better performance and around-town fuel-economy numbers than the manual.

Steering that translates the language of the road with maximum fluency and a minimum of the dreaded front-wheel-drive torque steer, an absorbent yet buttoned-down suspension, and in-it-to-win-it brakes make back-road flying one's preferred mode of conduct, although this is also a grown-up, five-passenger machine with impeccable long-distance and highway credentials. While, in theory, we ought to bemoan its size--about 1000 pounds heavier than the first GTI--in practice we have to say it's safer, quieter, more refined, and less polluting than any GTI that has gone before. The newly available four-door version only enhances what is already a supremely practical proposition.

We marvel, like everyone else, at the excellent fit and finish of the GTI's Japanese competition. But while Volkswagen reliability has often failed to prove out, this GTI feels like it has more build quality than anything within miles of its price point. It exudes substance in ways that worthy, sometimes faster speed machines from the Far East--the Subaru Impreza WRX, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and the Mazdaspeed 3, for instance--just don't. We hope that this feeling of quality is a gift that will keep on giving. Because that would make this super car for our times even superer.

What we said then:

Mk 1 Rabbit GTi
Output: 90 hp @ 5500 rpm
105 lb-ft @ 3250 rpm
Weight: 2100 lb
"The GTI isn't another one of those dumb boy racers that ride like produce wagons and make power like blenders stuck on pure. It's a fast little car without the nonsense."
Michael Jordan
November 1982
Car and Driver

Mk 2 GTi 16v 1.8L
Output: 123 hp @ 5800 rpm
120 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm
Weight: 2267 lb
"Even at heart-quickening velocities, driving the GTI through tight ess-bends is a routine operation. Push hard and the car won't bite back."
September 1987
Automobile Magazine

Mk 3 GTi VR6
Output: 172 hp @ 5400 rpm
173 lb-ft @ 4200 rpm
Weight: 2780 lb
"The new GTI feels tuned more for comfort than for twisted stretch of blacktop . . . the engine and the transmission are willing, but the chassis won't play. The GTI an excellent sedan, not the hot-rod hatchback we were expecting."
November 1994
Automobile Magazine

Mk 4 GTi 1.8T
Output: 180 hp @ 5500 rpm
174 lb-ft @ 1950 rpm
Weight: 2920 lb
"If the GTI works well on the track and brilliantly on the highway, it falls all over itself on twisty back roads. There is too much weight shifting around for this car to feel controllable."
January 2002
Automobile Magazine

This nutty truck is the perfect choice for that one useful vehicle in the automotive connoisseur's dream garage. We're sure Honda's design team wasn't thinking nutty when they penned the Ridgeline's oddly carved front flanks, but then, we're not sure what they were thinking. Styling remains a weak point, but clever design reigns. Show anyone in the heartland who hasn't seen the Ridgeline's locking underbed trunk/ice chest (and we're convinced that most of the heartland has not seen it), and they'll go positively giddy. What took so long? And why doesn't every other pickup truck on the planet have one, too? That and the two-way tailgate that opens down or out as you choose.

There are Home Depot truck people among us as well as the sort who need serious ground clearance and towing capability. Though it's no contractor's super-duty brick hauler, the Ridgeline has a respectable 8.2 inches of ground clearance and a towing capacity good for 5000 pounds worth of boat and trailer. With the tailgate down, you can add an optional $259 extender (adding sixteen inches) to the five-foot bed, allowing you to easily haul any outdoor sporting machine from snowmobile to motorcycle in the back.

The 60/40-split back seat, when not comfortably holding a row of oversize men, can be flipped up on either side with one finger and locked away with a push and a click, opening up more storage space. With the seats up, you can stick a bicycle's tires in the slot that runs east-west on the floor for quick and secure transport.

The Ridgeline has won over all of us. It's in line to be one of the most popular vehicles in twenty years of our Four Seasons long-term tests. Its high mileage attests not only to its great usefulness but also to its long-distance comfort. We have loaded it, thrashed it, hill-climbed it, and driven it on a few fancy dates. Women are relieved by its Honda-ness in terms of storage spaces all over the cabin and the carlike refinement of that environment.

Being the only mid-size pickup truck out there with unibody construction gives the Ridgeline a tight, rattle-free structure and the ride quality of a big car. That and the clever trunk is all most of us really need.

There's typically quite a bit of turnover on annual lists of automotive favorites, for the simple reason that cars are always getting better and last year's star might be this year's incentive-laden also-ran. But the Chrysler 300C, three years into production, has maintained its unchallenged domination for the title of Signature American Sedan. While Ford pushes Crown Vics designed by the ancient Sumerians and Chevy serves up anonymous front-wheel-drive Impalas, Chrysler offers Hemi madness in 340-hp or 425-hp flavors. For entry-level BMW or Mercedes-Benz money, you get a serious big-boy car with a tugboat torque curve and styling that still draws stares. And speaking of Mercedes, shared Merc parts baked into the 300C make it a better (and less expensive) car--check out the cruise-control stalk, pretty much straight out of Lindsay Lohan's $185,000 SL65 AMG.

Nearly every car has an Achilles heel, some downfall that causes people to say, "Yes, it's a great car, but . . . " You're hard-pressed to find a major fault with the 300C. It's fast. It looks cool. It rides nicely, yet, thanks to its Mercedes-derived independent rear suspension and rear-wheel drive, doesn't mind getting chucked into a corner. Ah, but surely this is a gas-guzzler, right? Nope. In 5.7-liter Hemi guise, even with the all-wheel-drive option, the V-8's Multi-Displacement System allows the 300C to manage24 mpg on the highway.

While the price is right (about $35,000 for a 300C or $43,195 for the SRT8, pictured above), the 300's appeal transcends its sticker. With apologies to the Cadillac STS-V, this is the best expression of the American muscle sedan that you can buy--at any price. To wit: Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez has career earnings in the neighborhood of $126 million. It's safe to say, then, that he can fill his garage with anything he pleases. Among his toys is a silver 300C SRT8.

Except, by dint of its four-door body, the 300 isn't a toy. It's a practical, roomy daily driver that just happens to stick out of the entry-luxury family sedan blandscape like Pink at a meeting for Oprah's Book Club. You should want one.

Why are 3-series BMWs so well loved? They are not the best in any single attribute, whether speed, acceleration, fuel economy, space, comfort, quality, or appearance. But they are better than all others at doing everything extremely well, because they've been honed over the years to provide the absolute best combination of all pertinent characteristics, making them wonderfully agreeable to drive and own.

Walk up to a 3-series--whether coupe, sedan, wagon, or convertible--and you'll be impressed by the attention to detail in both design and quality. The door handles feel good, the latch and hinge actions are smooth and solid, and the doors open wide. The seats are very comfortable. These are cars developed by people who like to drive and who know what a driver needs. Usually. They forgot that extraneous controls involving another step--like the plastic key that is not a key and a stupid start/stop button so beloved of supercar designers--simply interfere with driving enjoyment. But that lapse aside, they get the basics right.

As a result, you are not only made to feel like a better driver, you become better in fact. The 3-series is easy and satisfying to drive. Smooth clutch and brake actions help, and the steering is linear and precise, but changing gears in the six-speed manual box leaves something to be desired. The new twin-turbo engine in the 335i takes care of that by offering massive torque from just off idle to near the redline. Shifting becomes optional, which, with the long-travel clutch pedal, is a boon in heavy traffic.

In the early 1970s, BMW was the first in Europe with turbocharged engines in production, but it shelved the technology a decade later on grounds of reliability and refinement. The 335i represents a return to the idea of a small engine delivering big-engine performance. The 3.0-liter six delivers the power and torque of a 4.0-liter and the fuel economy of a four-cylinder--better economy than was ever possible with air-cooled Volkswagen Beetles. BMWs are expensive, and their multiple options are even more so. But overall, 3-series cars deliver amazing qualities, both dynamically and in terms of residual value.

BMW offers a huge range of engines for the 3-series on the world market, from four-cylinder gasoline and diesel units through the turbocharged sixes for both fuels and a V-8 yet to come. Careful study of the options list lets customers choose the exact car they need or want (if they can afford it). For all the worldwide uproar over Chris Bangle's styling, some of us believe the relatively conventional 3-series is a touch plain. It could quite easily be more in-your-face, but if milder styling maintains sales levels while keeping the technological base of the 3-series, we're all for it. If you owned all ten of our All-Stars, we think your BMW 3-series would rack up the most mileage in four seasons. It really is a great car.

We love the way that the Corvette Z06 cocks its blue collar and thumbs its NACA duct to run with blue-blood sports cars that cost up to four times as much. Skipping an exotic layout, overhead camshafts, induction boosters, and ground-effect bodywork clarifies the Corvette's focus and sharpens its intent. With raw speed as the mission, the Z06 hustles to 150 mph ahead of a raving pack of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. To beat it, you'll need turbos: four boosting a Bugatti Veyron or only two if you have a Saleen S7 handy.

To exploit all this speed and agility, bring your best driving skills. Those inclined to flick off the Active Handling system do so at the risk of seat stains and Corvette-shaped guardrail dents. Like an F-16 fighter jet, the Z06 is a fly-by-computer craft that works best with all its faculties--electronic and otherwise--up and running. What the government calls "relaxed static stability" means that an F-16 constantly flies at the outer limits of control for optimum maneuverability. The same can be said of the Z06. Powering out of a bend with the throttle down seriously strains the rear Goodyears. As the revs climb and the power swells, timely steering corrections are necessary to manage drift angles. Active Handling's competition mode disables fun-inhibiting traction control while maintaining the bacon-saving stability control.

When your skills are finally worthy of operating this 505-hp, 3147-pound driver-guided missile, you can switch off Active Handling to enjoy the boy-racer mode with nothing but ABS and your preservation instincts to keep you and the Z06 whole. That switch makes this Corvette a true dual-purpose machine--a sports car as well suited to daily commuting as it is to trouncing those expensive blue bloods on track day.

Double-barreled fun for the price of a base Porsche 911 is what has earned the Z06 its second consecutive Automobile Magazine All-Star award.

It is, for all intents and purposes, a Boxster with a roof welded on it--albeit a Boxster claimed to be twice as torsionally stiff as before and whose engine resides behind an interior bulkhead, making it seem even closer to the driver. Those differences alone shouldn't matter much. Based purely on the sum of its parts, the Porsche Cayman should be little more than a quieter, calmer, comfier version of Stuttgart's iconic roadster.

It is not. And that's why we love it.

The Porsche Cayman is more than the sum of its Boxster parts, just as a Steinway is more than an assembly of wood and strings and a Formula Ford is more than a pile of steel tubes with a Pinto four-cylinder. Make no mistake: the Boxster is a fine car. But as brilliant, as intuitive, and as natural as it feels, it's still missing a tiny bit of soul. The Boxster is one of the most balanced and forgiving sports cars on the planet--more so, even, than Porsche's own celebrated 911--and yet, there are times when it feels like a cold, distant tool.

Somehow, the Cayman feels different. The gruff wail of that stonking, mid-mounted flat six; the swoop of the C-pillar; the roof that keeps out the weather and keeps in all the sound; the shape of those curved, rising haunches. Taken separately, those details aren't magical--but when you're hustling down some deserted section of country road, everything comes together and the Cayman begins to blow your mind. It's fantastically controllable. It's amazingly flattering. It's as rewarding to drive as the Boxster, and yet, in some intangible, tip-of-the-knife fashion, it's better.

The Cayman may not be supercar fast--even the S model pulls off only a 5.1-second run to 60 mph--but in true old-school Porsche style, it does more with less. Both of the available sixes (2.7 liters and 245 hp in the Cayman, 3.4 liters and 295 hp in the Cayman S) are 7000-rpm screamers that work--and sound--best when you're caning them relentlessly. The higher rigidity of the Cayman's chassis allowed Porsche's suspension engineers to focus almost diabolically on stability and absolute grip in their damper tuning, with little of the usual loss in ride quality. The result is a no-bones-about-it sportscar that fills the hole left in the Porsche lineup as the 911 strives to be all things to all people.

Of course, the Cayman isn't perfect. A base Cayman costs almost four grand more than a base Boxster, yet it feels little different in day-to-day driving. Which leads us to one inevitable conclusion: where the Cayman is concerned, thousands of people will never, ever see the point. Poor them.

If the BMW 3-series is the Goliath of entry-luxury sport sedans--and who would argue that it is not?--then the latest Infiniti G35 is the closest thing to a David that BMW's competitors have yet produced. Many stones have been slung at the giant Philistine's forehead, but Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Cadillac, and Lexus have barely managed to so much as slow its footsteps. We're not here to tell you that the new G35 is going to smite the BMW beast, but the Japanese sport sedan is at least going to give it amassive headache.

That's because the G35 is the first BMW competitor that doesn't feel like it's targeted at the last-generation 3-series. Instead, it is neck-and-neck with the current (quite brilliant) 3-series, a truth that emerged during our spirited drive of a G35 Sport in southeast Ohio. With 306 hp and 268 lb-ft of torque from the latest version of Nissan/Infiniti's 3.5-liter DOHC V-6, the G35 had more than enough power to gobble up long, high-speed sections of Morgan County's picturesque Routes 284 and 78 with ease.

But anybody can shove a powerful engine under a car hood. What really impressed us was the G35's chassis composure. "The G35 is extraordinarily well balanced," remarked L.A. bureau chief Michael Jordan, "with swift, predictable responses and always-there sure-footedness.""It has surprising reserves of grip," added assistant editor Sam Smith, "fade-free brakes, and nicely weighted steering." And we found that the optional six-speed manual transmission is easier to use than the BMW's, with short, precise throws and crisply efficient clutch action.

If, overall, the G35 is not as sublimely refined as the 3-series--its V-6 hits a coarse note at very high revs, and the car suffers a few minor NVH issues--the Infiniti is every bit as good to drive hard as the BMW. That, alone, is an achievement in this ultracompetitive segment. And the Infiniti is a performance bargain, with the G35 Sport six-speed starting at only $32,950.

With its worldwide marketplace momentum and history behind it (see "The Balance Point," page 64), the 3-series Goliath is hardly going to suffer the same fate as did the biblical Goliath. But with the new G35 on the battlefield, the big guy ought to lay in a good supply of aspirin.

Ever since interest in front-engine, exotic sports cars revived, we've been waiting for a truly memorable automobile, something that would capture the spirit of our time, just as the Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona did in its time. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is that car.

Ironically, the V8 Vantage comes from a company that has reinvented itself expressly in Ferrari's image. Sometimes we all forget that Aston Martin skittered on the brink of bankruptcy for much of the last sixty years and survived only thanks to the support of wealthy enthusiasts such as David Brown and Victor Gauntlett. But when Ford took full ownership of Aston Martin in the early 1990s, things began to change.

Like Ferrari, Aston Martin embraced its heritage and cherished the cars of its past. Like Ferrari, Aston Martin developed a V-12 engine and a bold styling philosophy. And like Ferrari, Aston Martin proved itself through racing.

All of this might seem like nothing more than a cynical marketing plan, but it has been perfectly executed in virtually every detail. The reward is reflected in the skyrocketing values of Astons on the classic-car market.

Yet the real success of the marque is best measured in the V8 Vantage. It takes the Aston Martin design vocabulary and strips it down to a taut, athletic core. When you take a seat behind the wheel, you find yourself in the kind of sensible, relaxed driving position that only front-engine cars seem to have, and even Aston's characteristic slitlike windshield and fussy, wristwatchlike instrument display can't annoy you. You spin the Vantage's 4.3-liter V-8 to 7300 rpm to reach its comparatively modest peak of 380 hp, yet this engine has both a sharp exhaust bark and a crisp bite of throttle response that together deliver far more soul than you'll find in the DB9's elaborate, 450-hp V-12. Meanwhile, the high-tech aluminum skin and spaceframe make the car rigid but not too heavy, and the position of the dry-sump V-8 behind the front axle line combined with the rear-mounted transaxle helps deliver a package that has both delicious balance and quick responses.

Truth to tell, most exotic sports cars such as the Vantage are terrifying on the kinds of roads we drove in southeastern Ohio, so large and overpowered that they're best suited only to short, top-speed blasts on deserted freeways. In contrast, this Aston Martin is a real car meant for real driving by real people. It carves through corners with such precision and confidence that you become a more precise, confident driver.Although Aston Martin is about to find new ownership because of Ford's financial difficulties, Ford deserves credit for transforming Aston into a brand that is capable of designing and building a car like the V8 Vantage.