Monday, June 1, 2015

2015 10Best Cars in Pictures: The Best Cars Available Today

-There are roughly 150 new car models on the market today, many of them only narrowly distinguishable from each other. The sedans are flame-surfaced affairs with elongated rooflines, and even the sporty coupes rely on huge grilles to trumpet their brand lineage. Most emit the same muffled calls, so you can't reliably classify them by sound, either. This guide is intended to help you identify the 10 cars that, through a rare combination of strengths, stand apart. They reward close observation. We hope the following pages will tune you in to the attributes that mark the differentiation. Individual areas of noteworthiness are called out, but the assembled cars share the following traits: They cost less than $80,000, they excel at delivering value for the money, they have a strong mastery of their segment, and they are graceful in motion. These 10 will entertain and delight any driver, but only if you know how and where to spot them. ---These awards were originally announced in November 2014.-I once had a tail attached to the bottom of my spinal column. Don't judge me; you had one, too. I lost mine a little more than a month into my embryonic development. And, I presume, you did as well. Not all of us lose ours, though. While vanishingly rare, some babies are born with an honest-to-goodness cartilage-, nerve-, and muscle-filled tail. These people have what's known as an atavism. It's a physical trait from deep evolutionary time that occasionally pops back up and, in this case, means that the affected person will forever be referred to by the unsympathetic as -Have a look at the two specimens. The M235i is within an inch and a half of the 2003 M3 in almost every exterior dimension. The M235i carries an inline six-cylinder engine pushing out 320 horsepower, compared with the M3's 333. Of course, the new car uses a turbocharger to maximize horsepower, where the old engine used stratospheric revs to achieve its numbers. The M235i wears staggered tires on its 18-inch wheels, just like the old M3's standard setup. When both are equipped with six-speed manual transmissions, the M235i trails the M3 to 60 mph by a tenth of a second (4.9 seconds to 4.8) but is two-tenths quicker through the quarter-mile (13.4 seconds to 13.6). Because automatic transmissions have improved so much over the last decade or so, the M235i with its eight-speed automatic sprints to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and covers the quarter in 12.9. The M235i also stops shorter and corners harder than the old M car; tire technology has also advanced.-As its convoluted name implies, the M235i is neither a fully aggro M car nor just a day-to-day standard sports coupe. Its character is in between the two. And that's . . . well, that's perfect. The M235i is easy to drive slowly and rewarding to drive quickly. It is, in fact, just about everything we want a modern 3-series to be: quick, confident, and sexy, with decent fuel economy, a close-coupled cockpit, and an eagerness to romp that's been suppressed in the current 3. And like BMWs of old, the tall greenhouse allows for excellent outward visibility. The car is a manifestation of nostalgic impulses.-The M235i proves that BMW still has the code to driving excellence. This makes us both relieved and slightly annoyed that it's not used on a broader range of the company's products. The M235i might be a throwback, but it's also a decidedly positive step up the evolutionary ladder. Long live the tail. —Dan Pund-Cadillac's CTS fended off multiple Audis, Benzes, and BMWs to win its 10Best berth. While we are (still) big fans of the twin-turbocharged, 420-hp V-6 that powers the Vsport model, it's the handling that sets the CTS apart from the competition. To determine how GM sharpened the CTS's reflexes to cuff the Germans, we returned to the scene with Cadillac's executive chief engineer, Dave Leone.Turns out that Leone and his development team know these byways—located only 30 miles from GM's proving grounds—as well as we do. -Leone's strategic weapon, the electronically controlled magnetorheological (MR) dampers that GM developed years ago, has seen use in several sporty European cars. As we sail over a crest, he notes: -When the first Corvettes rolled out of the primordial postwar haze in 1953, they were far from fully evolved. By all accounts, the shoddy, fiberglass-bodied -When you do, it becomes evident that chassis resources were not begrudgingly allocated in designing this seventh generation of Corvette. Grip is far beyond the limits of daily driving. The steering wheel, brakes, and seat bottom tell you more about current events than CNN. Power delivery is immediate, at any sane speed, in any of the first four gears. There is still raw aggression in the Corvette's acceleration, but the chassis is no understudy to the powertrain.While the rev-matching seven-speed manual transaxle is our obvious preference, an eight-speed automatic is new for 2015. It offers crisp, quick shifts via steering-wheel-mounted paddles and makes two-pedal Corvettes more than just tolerable. Also new: the Perform­ance Data Recorder, an onboard video technology serious enough that its full capabilities are not entirely legal in some states. Criticisms of Corvettes past have been addressed: A modern cockpit and supportive and comfortable seats testify to the thoroughness of Chevrolet's mission (accomplished) in remaking the car. The C7 is the best-ever Corvette.-Even in this, its second year on our list, C7s hypnotize, the convertible and coupe equally. Sitting in the lot among the other contenders, they stand out as if rendered on a Retina display while others are appearing on a CRT. You might think that our familiarity with its many facets and creases has bred boredom, and certainly other beguiling shapes, even a real Italian demi-supercar, vied for our attention this year. But the Stingray looks transplanted from childhood fantasy, an interstellar dragon. We hear it roar, smell the heat of the LT1 cooking its own polymer skin, and the Corvette turns such imaginings into reality. —Jeff Sabatini-Imagine an enormous pyramid of glass spheres, perfectly balanced. Pull just one of those interdependent orbs from the base of that pyramid and the entire thing comes crashing down. In any complex system, a ­single change can have devastating consequences.Or it can send things in the opposite direction. During the development of the 2015 Mustang one move set off a chain reaction that irreversibly altered the Mustang for the better. Granted, it was a big change: swapping out the old solid rear axle for an independent one. Partially derived from the ­­aluminum and steel components supporting the tail of Ford's Fusion sedan, the Mustang's new inde­pendent suspension brings unprecedented refinement—unprecedented for a Mustang, anyway. Chief engineer Dave Pericak swears that a new front suspension wasn't part of the initial plan for this sixth-generation Mustang, but after it had fitted the new independent rear, his team realized that the front suspension it had been working with was now outmatched. And once the team started down that rabbit hole, the result was a complete chassis tear-up. In went a new design with a completely different geometry and a new subframe, which just happens to be lighter and stiffer than the individual crossmembers on the old car. Pericak calls it a -Atop the new suspension, Ford placed a new body that is also lighter and stiffer than the outgoing one. It is a beguiling design, too, inviting long stares and walkarounds, and devoid of the bloat that makes other retro designs look like old cars wearing fat suits. The result is a decisive abolition of the distinction between pony car and sports car. In spite of an increase of about 150 pounds in curb weight—the inevitable result of safety and electronic gear, as well as the independent suspension and bigger brakes—the Mustang doesn't feel fat.Thanks to the stiffened front end, the steering wheel twitches in your hands, communicating textures, undulations, and grip levels as you drive down the road. Turn the wheel and the car responds as quickly as if you'd poked it with a needle. Wheel and body control are just as tight. Dive into a series of challenging turns in the Mustang and you're not driving a car, you're wearing wheels. -That connection is furthered by the GT's smooth, responsive V-8. Five liters is small for the Mustang's class, but the 5.0's 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque aren't inadequate by any measure. Snappy throttle calibration makes slight output adjustments easy, and the six-speed's closely spaced ratios keep the driver engaged. Refinement has also come, finally, to the clutch and shift linkage, neither of which requires as much muscle to operate as in last year's car. We do wish that Ford would have left the exhaust alone, although the polite factory-fitted stranglers will make those working in the aftermarket overjoyed.Oddly but happily enough for us, amidst all this urbanity, Ford somehow decided that it would offer the first production car with line lock. Engage the system while stopped and the front brakes hold the Mustang stationary as burnouts not even your 16-year-old self could have imagined boil off the un-braked rear tires. We can't figure out how that made it past the lawyers.However they were distracted, the bean counters must have been with the legal team, because every detail in the cabin seems fussed over. With its stitched leather, matte-silver toggle switches, and faux turned-aluminum trim, this in­teri­or boasts meticulousness heretofore absent from mainstream American cars. There's an element of toyishness in the sheen of some of the plastics and the Duplo-scale toggle switches, but that puerile charm gets to the heart of what we love about the Mustang. It reminds us that driving a great car can be play, something that even grownups enjoy. —Jared Gall-There is a veil of sameness draped over the Accord that comes from racking up 300,000 to 400,000 annual sales, year after year. Who would imagine that such an exceptional car could be hiding in plain sight, mimicking a lowest-common-denominator family appliance? Many Accord owners are unable, or do not care, to spot what makes their car better than the rest. Most just get in and drive. But that hasn't stopped Honda from treating its bestseller like a flagship. Indeed, they are one and the same.Accords are not pimped out to shabby rental fleets, so the cars go home with real customers, those who ran a gantlet of salespeople and dealership-finance goons to get their cars. Buying or leasing the car, even if you have a good experience, will certainly be the worst part of Accord ownership. Once home, owners will find that their Accords are dependable, no-fuss devices. Whether sedan, coupe, or hybrid, an Accord ingratiates itself first by delivering on its family-car promise: Five humans fit comfortably, it's easy on fuel, and the trunk is ready for Costco. There is more, however.The seduction is a subtle, two-pronged lure. The first is that the Accord combines thousands of parts into one as if they weren't bolted, welded, snapped, or glued together but molded to form a single, one-piece device. Parse each piece, though, and here's what you get: the harmonious hum of hundreds of engine components, slicing throws of the six-speed manual or fast responses from the continuously variable transmission (yes, even it), satisfying weight in the steering, an absorbent yet playful suspension, and a driving position that seems to have been custom tailored with an emphasis on great outward visibility. Accords are better cars than they have to be, better than their owners might demand, a rarity in our consumer economy.-The second trick is another kind of camouflage: These cars have the ability to transcend, to fade from attention on dull drives and then reappear when you're fully engaged. Even to the initiated, the Accord is a chameleon. Whether you choose to partake of it or not, a percentage of amusement is built into each car. Most of the Accord's competitors don't even offer driving joy on their options list. But the Accord is always ready when you are. As with old friends who haven't spoken in a long time, there is an ease to picking up where things left off.It should come as no surprise that the Accord is a bestseller. And yet, someone who has never driven one might think that giving it a 10Best award is akin to Michelin (the restaurant-guide part of the operation) giving three stars to the local McDonald's. But the Accord is proof that millions can be served, and still be served, the best. —Tony Quiroga-The Mazda 3 is as humble a pigeon as you could imagine, part of the cityscape, nothing apparently fascinating or flamboyant about it. But did you know that the pigeon is one of just six species that can recognize its reflection in a mirror?The 3 likewise harbors hidden talents, including its ability to illustrate the difference between style and design. Style is how something looks. Design speaks to how something works. Unlike most small cars, the 3's interior is not simply in thrall to the former.Underneath the cabin's carefully trimmed sculpting lies a functional integrity that goes beyond how smoothly the vents move or how precisely the central-command knob clicks under your right hand. The 3's interior is designed to manage distractions visual, cognitive, and manual—interruptions that have infiltrated the modern driver's car, turning what should be at-the-wheel joy into a long, punctuated stream of annoyance.To overcome visual distraction, Mazda placed its information array—a seven-inch screen on the center console and a flip-up -The car metes out relevant information in a way that keeps cognitive distraction at bay, too. The central screen shows just seven pieces of information at a time, and they are spaced so that drivers don't have to stare at the screen. Making or taking calls, for example, doesn't cause a mental scramble.This is enabled by the way the interior eliminates manual distraction. The driver sits with his elbow planted on the armrest, his hand controlling a dial that obviates the need for confusing touch screens or frustrating voice commands.You usually only find this sort of haptic virtue in European luxury cars. But shouldn't every manufacturer be thinking like this? With an unprecedented amount of information coming through to today's driver, Mazda makes the orderly coordination of tasks a priority, not a luxury.That said, if the 3 had only a well-thought-out interior, it wouldn't have made it onto this list. The cabin's true function is to allow the driver to focus on the chassis and powertrain, and what a combo they are. Take the steering; most modern electric-assist systems are failed attempts to replicate the sensations of hydraulic pumps, which are familiar but generally nonlinear and numb. But the 3's electrically assisted wheel is set up to mimic the directness and response of manual steering. By changing suspension geometry—nearly doubling caster angle and trail—Mazda matches the rise in steering effort to rising g-loads in the tires.The result is a car that makes full use of its engines. Our favorite powertrain is new for 2015, a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four making 184 horsepower and driving the front wheels through Mazda's tidy six-speed manual. The four is as forthright and linear as the steering, which makes the whole car feel harmonious, matched, and smooth, and not like some intemperate hot hatch. But a hot hatch is what it is. Fun fact: Pigeons can hit 90 mph. —Eddie Alterman-2015 Mazda 6 with i-eLOOP Energy Recuperation-2015 Mazda 6 with i-eLOOP Energy Recuperation-2014 Porsche Cayman S-But mid-engine greatness is more than simple physics. When a company mounts an engine in the middle of a car, it implies that chassis dynamics are paramount. It's no surprise then that quick corners in the Porsche are led by tight steering, met with deliberate body control, and matched by dogged grip. The steering in the Boxster and Cayman is exceptional, benefiting from the absence of weight on the nose of the car and the electrical assist's ability to tailor effort to g's.Both flat-sixes swell enthrallingly to 7800 free-breathing rpm. With the intake positioned behind the driver's left ear, there is no ­better case to be made for doing without turbocharging. You row through six sweet-shifting gates or click off gears with the prescient PDK dual-clutch automatic. One is the purest way to experience sports-car nirvana, the other is both its greatest threat and most worthy successor.The Boxster and Cayman demonstrate immense mutability. They are daily drivers, luxury coupes, and sports cars. Scouring our notes on the pair, we find complaints only about the cup holders. The third generation of Porsche's mid-engine platform has also widened the gap between base and S models. If you're expecting straight-line perform­ance from these corner hunters, the base cars can be uncomfortably slow. The extra power of the S and GTS trims, however, transforms these cars into well-rounded athletes.Finally, here's the real-world application of your college physics class: Have $65,000 to spend on something fun? Buy yourself a low polar moment of inertia. —Eric Tingwall-2014 Tesla Model S 60-So yes, the battery architecture enables a level of performance, of over-the-road mastery, that is thus far unmatched by any other electric, and the S even betters many conventionally fueled cars. It also opens up new possibilities for creative packaging and design. Consider the airiness of the interior, unsullied by a driveshaft or transmission tunnel, and where a vast, showstopping touch screen somehow doesn't overwhelm the dash. It turns out that touch screens are really easy to use when they're huge and right in front of you.The compact drivetrain opens up room for both front and rear trunks, with optional rear-facing third-row seats turning the Model S into the only seven-passenger sedan on the market. The modular powertrain also allows Tesla to make easy hardware upgrades. Want four-wheel drive? Simply add a second electric motor at the front axle, as Tesla is doing for a new four-wheel-drive model. Because the Model S is part car and part electronic device, updates can be downloaded as soon as they're available—no trip to the dealer. And that's key, because there are no dealers in the conventional sense.It's rightly amazing that Tesla, only a few years removed from startup, can mass-manufacture a car this good, while also fighting state-by-state franchise battles, building out its network of Supercharger stations, planning its -Switzerland may be neutral, but its government still insists that its soldiers carry a Swiss Army knife. Maybe it's because a Swiss soldier, having such intense non-action on his hands, requires a corkscrew for decanting that '95 Moulin-à-Vent. And maybe those puny scissors are perfect for trimming curds at competitive fondue festivals. And that nifty can opener is surely what Colonel Nestlé needs to pry open a tax-free account in Geneva. By the way, Geneva is home to the Large Hadron Collider, which—few people realize this—was built entirely by four Swiss soldiers with very sharp Swiss Army knives.Which brings us rather indirectly to the Volkswagen Golf, the correlative tool for enthusiast transport. No matter your preferences in price, practicality, and performance, there's a Golf that will take your money without giving up much in any other direction. The gasoline TSI models perhaps represent the paring knife. The practical diesel TDI models represent the screwdriver. And that spearlike awl, always blood-encrusted, is the sharp-edged GTI.Also like a Swiss Army knife, the Golf—now in its seventh generation—is a historically mellifluous integration of mechanical functions into a hamster wheel of usefulness. It doesn't look much different, which is just fine. It doesn't feel much different, which is just fine, too. We say that because this is the ninth consecutive year that the whole Golf family, the lone GTI, or, as is the case here, both have accumulated 10Best plaudits. Not even a U.S. president gets to walk on blue carpeting for that long.-2015-Volkswagen-GTI--

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