NEW YORK (Money Magazine) - A lot of cars today are like toasters. They are appliances. They are simple, unobtrusive pieces of technology that require little from their owners -
just put the thing in D, step on the gas and you're on your way.
And, like toasters, these cars are safe, reliable and reasonably efficient -- which is great, except that, like toasters, they're also kind of boring. In many cases, it seems that automakers have engineered the soul out of cars to score points with J.D. Power & Associates. Engines are so quiet and smooth that you think your car is electric; suspensions are designed so much for comfort's sake that you can barely feel the road. This isn't so great if you like cars.
I like cars. I like the way they sound. I like the way they corner. I like the way they accelerate. More important, I like it when my car lets me know it's doing those things. There are fabulous vehicles out there that do a miraculous job of insulating you in cocoonlike luxury, and while I salute their engineering achievements, they're not for me. I like the mechanical-ness of a car, and I want to be a part of it.
Fortunately, some car makers still understand that there's more to driving than just going from point A to point B. These engineers have been working pretty hard lately and, as a result, we're now blessed with more cars that put driving first than at any time in recent memory.
For what you'll pay for any of these five cars, you'll get more smiles than you would from any similarly priced model. Some are more practical than others, some more frivolous, but all are well-made and reliable.
Mini Cooper
List price: $18,200
Mini Cooper hysteria is such that people are willing to wait months and pay full retail for the privilege of owning one. It's entirely justified.
The new Mini is one of the first great cars of the 21st century. Even without its stylish design, the Mini will win you over with its eager four-cylinder engine that begs you to drive it faster. The whole package is a bit more refined than the boy-racer Ford SVT Focus -- the other sub-$20,000 new fun car I like -- but that doesn't mean the Mini's any less capable. The suspension, a corporate cousin of what goes into BMW's sedans, is taut and does its best to keep the Mini composed, but not so much that you can't have a little fun with it. I've never been in a car that was so go-cart-like -- the suspension and the light steering kept the Mini pointed wherever I wanted it -- yet so solid. The whimsical interior, with its center-mounted speedometer and metallic-finish accents (a $400 extra), is gravy: With that drivetrain and suspension, I would have taken the Mini with a plywood dash and seats made out of oily rags.
BMW M3 convertible
List price: $55,920
I'm an OK driver, I'm not a great driver. I'm probably the worst kind of driver, because I'm just good enough to get myself into trouble. This made me a bit nervous about driving the M3 because it is one of the greats, a sports sedan so dominant in international competition that it was ultimately banned.
Of all the models in this article, the M3 is the most serious performance car -- in the right hands, it can give a Porsche 911 a run for the money. That BMW and I are still on good terms is testament to the M3's surprisingly forgiving nature. The 333-horsepower engine has more power than most anyone ever needs, and that power is only an ankle flex away at any given time. The multilink suspension keeps you in a straight line, even if you do something silly like take a corner too fast and slow down in mid-turn. The SMG (sequential manual gearbox) dispenses with a clutch and instead makes you change gears, Formula 1-style, by flipping a set of paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. Even better, you can switch the transmission to automatic when you're slogging through downtown traffic. Fantastic. By the time I gave the M3 back, I'd remembered that I'm often initially intimidated by people who turn out to be my closest friends.
Jaguar S-type R
List price: $62,400
When I was a kid, my dad had an Oldsmobile Cutlass. It was an ordinary enough car, except that he managed to buy the "special police package," which meant that the standard engine and shocks had been swapped for more heavy-duty equipment (this included a big-block V-8 that put out something like 400 hp). To the naked eye, however, my dad's car looked like every other regular American sedan. Today my dad would probably want to buy a Jaguar S-type R.
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The new Jag looks just like its mid-size stablemate, but the R badge indicates that everything (namely, the engine, now rated at 400 hp) has been upgraded for some serious law-breaking speed. Of course, this being a Jaguar, such performance never comes at the expense of comfort or civility. It's a different interpretation of performance: All the other cars in this piece lay their cards on the table when it comes to what you can expect from them, but the Jag likes to play it close to the vest. You know those little races on the Interstate that crop up between you and another driver? You can win those in the S-type R. Moreover, they'll never see you coming. You can even do this with three other people in your car. And they could all be asleep.
Mercedes-Benz SL 500
List price: $89,385
Some of the most fun I had in this car was when it wasn't even moving. The new SL features a crowd-pleasing, folding steel roof that can be activated remotely from the key. Trust me, there's nothing better than approaching your parked SL, which inevitably has drawn a few onlookers, and startling them when the roof begins to do origami and disappear into the trunk.
And unlike previous SL models -- some of which were driven more by valet parking attendants than by their owners -- this latest number is a hoot to drive. This SL can be described only in superlatives. Nothing comes close to its engineering, quality and technology (and at these prices, nothing should). The suspension constantly adjusts to provide optimum handling and comfort; the brakes are electronically actuated (as opposed to the old-fashioned mechanical linkages) to improve control and shorten stopping distances; the transmission learns your driving style (lead foot or grandma) and adapts accordingly. And even at high speeds with the top down, the cabin is serene enough to prune a bonsai tree. You don't normally think of a roadster as a daily driver -- but after some time behind the SL's wheel, you wouldn't want anything else.
Ford SVT Focus
List price: $19,490
The Mercedes SL may represent the ultimate in fun, but you don't have to spend nearly $90,000 to have a great time behind the wheel if you're willing to forgo some performance. This Focus proves that. I liked the original Focus hatchback when it came out in 1999. It didn't look like so many other three-doors, with its sharp, angular lines and bizarrely placed tail lamps, and it had one of the best chassis around: superstiff and ready to handle whatever you could throw at it.
Unfortunately, the original Focus' engine wasn't really up to the task, so let me thank Ford's in-house tuner division, the special vehicle team (SVT), for turning the Focus into the car it always should have been. The SVT Focus is a genuine hot hatch: You can drive it as if you were in the Monte Carlo Rally, and it will plant itself on the tarmac as if it were made out of Elmer's. Grip like this is hard to come by at three times the price.
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