What the
Boss 302 did for the Mustang GT is not too dissimilar from what the
Stradivari family did for the violin. The basic instrument (the violin,
the Mustang GT) was already pretty great. Near perfection. Then someone
(a Stradivari, Ford Mustang engineers) managed to create a new standard
for all other luthiers and/or muscle-car makers. Which are kind of the
same people. Okay, they’re not, but the point is that nothing can touch
the Boss at $41,105. With its screaming 7500-rpm, 444-hp, 5.0-liter V-8,
it’ll rip off 60 mph in four seconds flat, break the quarter-mile in
12.4 seconds at 117 mph, stop from 70 in 155 feet, and hold the road at
0.95 g. If you are wondering, those numbers are on par with the
$20,970-pricier BMW M3 coupe. And don’t forget the Boss 302 Laguna Seca
edition, good for one second around its namesake track. Our biggest
complaints are that the steering wheel lacks a telescoping feature and
that steering feedback is, at best, vague. We got over it, and so can
you. Also, as one of us found out, your significant other may have a
problem riding around in a car that has “Boss” emblazoned on its side.
Then again, if 40 large is too rich, the Stang GT doesn’t disappoint.
It’s short 32 horses and lacks the track-ready suspension of the Boss,
but it’s an astounding instrument in its own right.
The four-cylinder Accord proves that when Honda plays to its strengths,
it is better than anyone at producing vehicles with a supernaturally
fine balance of attributes. That this is still true while Honda is
widely acknowledged to have lost some of its product magic puts the
all-around excellence of the four-cylinder Accord in stark relief. This
is a big sedan (without a sunroof, roomy enough to reside in the EPA’s
Large Sedan category) that’s lighter on its feet than many sports coupes
you could mention. The primary controls are so perfectly matched to
each other that this not-exactly-sporty-looking sedan can traipse along
the tightrope of your favorite back road with precision and utter
predictability. It will return 33 mpg on the highway; a well-equipped EX
version costs just one nice dinner more than $25,000 (a little more for
the coupe); and it’s a more natural heel-and-toe enabler than most
sports cars. That’s an unparalleled breadth of talent and goodness.
Unlike in years past, the V-6–powered Accords do not share in this
10Best prize. Competitors, notably the V-6 VW Passat, play a more
convincing premium-family-car riff. Whether this Accord becomes the
guiding light for the future of ?Honda or is simply a star that hasn’t
quite extinguished yet, we don’t know. For now, it shines as brilliantly
as ever.
Excellence comes in many sizes, but when the Fit first earned its way
onto our 10Best list in 2007, it alone offered that quality in the
B-segment, a size class that was largely an afterthought in the go-go
Aughts. Now, the class is bursting with legitimate pint-sized threats
from Hyundai, Mazda, Ford, and Chevy, but Honda still wins with
best-in-class passenger space and cargo capacity. It also offers the
most flingable chassis and a five-speed manual that is among the great
ambassadors to the stick. That transmission would no doubt sway even
more converts if it had a sixth gear to calm the engine on the highway.
Overall, though, the Fit is not just a triumph over other small cars,
it’s a triumph of engineering. It makes the minds behind other cars seem
lazy. There are so few intrusions into the capacious interior that
you’d think the structure consists of a thin layer of aluminum foil
stretched over some toothpicks, even though this body shell is
astoundingly rigid. All hatchbacks offer folding seats, but the Fit’s
create a completely flat load floor and open up 57 cubic feet of cargo
volume—13 more than you’ll get if you flop the back row in a Ford
Explorer. In other markets, this tiny Honda is sold as the Jazz, which
is appropriate: It exudes all the unflappable cool and versatility of a
session drummer.
In 1962, Lotus launched a diminutive, 1515-pound roadster called the
Elan. It was equal parts rapture (light, fast, deliciously nimble) and
nightmare (leaky, fragile, often caught fire). That impractical dream
was so captivating that when Mazda launched the first Miata in 1989 (as a
’90)—essentially a note-for-note Elan tribute, albeit with Japanese
build quality and a top that didn’t douse your knickers—the world beat a
path to its door. Here was an affordable roadster without drawback, a
compact slingshot more fun than many cars costing twice as much. The
2450-pound, $23,985 MX-5 reminds you equally of that first Miata and of
Lotus’s flammable little heartbreaker, as evolution hasn’t dimmed the
car’s genius. Rear-wheel drive is standard, along with brake feel that
won’t quit and blissfully alive steering. The 2.0-liter, 7200-rpm four
offers 167 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque, or just enough
thrust to get you into trouble. Racers love the MX-5’s balanced,
endlessly forgiving chassis; little old ladies dig its spunky charm and
Maytag reliability. Like the BMW 3-series, the MX-5 is a virtually
perfect answer to a very simple question. Unlike the BMW, however, the
Mazda isn’t surrounded by imitators—in 22 years, no one else has gotten
the ingredients this right, and most have simply given up trying. Who
can blame them?
2012 Porsche Boxster / Cayman
A sports car should be transportation for the spirit as well as the
body, and few sports cars offer a more transcendent driving experience
than these mid-engined fraternal twins. In either roadster or hatchback
form, they’re distinguished by exceptional balance, eager responses, and
a link between car and driver that’s free of excessive filtration.
Civilized, yes. But not at the expense of purity. Over the years, the
sinews of Porsche’s entry-level twosome have grown stronger and more
flexible; the output of their flat-six engines has climbed as high as
330 horsepower in the new Cayman R; and their styling has become less
911-derivative. Another trait that upstages the 911 is the twins’
practicality: Yes, they give up two only grocery- or
small-dog-appropriate seats to their big brother but in return offer
covered storage fore and aft. There was a time when we also used the
word “affordable” in connection with these two. But with the
least-expensive roadster starting at $49,050, that no longer tracks. On
the other hand, it’s the most attainable of Porsches, almost $31K less
than a basic 911. The Boxster has now made 12 10Best appearances since
its 1998 debut, and this will be the sixth straight for the Cayman.
Porsche will unveil a new Boxster in the spring; we can’t wait to meet
it.
2012 Volkswagen Golf / GTI
In its quest for sales, Volkswagen is poised to “pull a Porsche” and
sell vehicles that aren’t quite in step with the kinds of
driver-focused, airtight machines that made enthusiasts fall in love
with the brand in the first place. The Volkswagens we love aren’t gone,
but we thought we’d take a moment and raise a glass to two VWs that
refuse to pander to the lowest common denominator, the 10Best-winning
Golf and GTI. To you, Golf, we’d like to give thanks for your
unwillingness to associate affordable with boring, for sporty steering
feel, for an odd number of cylinders that thrum, and for diesel engines
that hum. We celebrate your expensive and refined demeanor, your taut
structure, your rich and comfortable interior, and your gift for
carrying large pieces of furniture back from megastores. And then
there’s the GTI. You might be a Golf in a muscle T, but you pull it off.
Actually, you look better than any two-box shape has any right to.
Highly adaptable, you entertain people who love driving and convert
those who don’t. You might start your day as a fuel-sipping kid hauler,
but you become a turbocharged hellion on the way home. You take
punishment without ever dishing it out. You are the car that every
hatchback would like to be when it grows up.
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