(MONEY Magazine) – Most people know a good car when they drive it. Unfortunately, most people don't get to drive that many.

That's where MONEY comes in. We've revved up and dressed down every redesigned 2004 car and truck that you'll see in dealerships by December. Over the past year, our testing has taken us to racetracks and test facilities around the country. We've covered tens of thousands of miles, both on- and off-road, from twice-baked Texas hills to the mean streets of Manhattan.

These are the best of the truly new models (slapping on a new grille or tweaking a familiar engine isn't enough to merit consideration here). We've chosen a winner and two runners-up in both car and truck categories, the latter including pickups, SUVs and minivans.

We've excluded price-no-object cars that few actual humans care to buy, even if they can afford them. Ferrari fantasies are a beautiful thing, but we're talking the real world here. So bang for the buck counts big-time, along with criteria every smart consumer considers: quality, performance, design, comfort, features, technology, safety and long-term value.

But there's more to it than the practical stuff. As with a house, curb appeal remains a major reason that people fork over so much money for cars. That's less important, perhaps, to a minivan buyer than to a sports-car shopper, but it's still there: the emotional response. The love at first sight, or at least first drive.

So you may notice that some of our favorites are, well, pretty hot. Yet each of our winners and runners-up can also lay practical claim to being best-in-class in one or typically several areas. And some pull the neatest trick of all: besting their rivals in a slew of key categories while seriously undercutting their price.

Our six picks include a pair of sedans, a sports car, a pickup, a minivan and an SUV. So while they cover the full range of automotive styles and functions, in a crucial way they're the same: They all deserve every accolade--and every customer--headed their way.

BEST CARS

Acura TSX BASE PRICE $26,990

PROS Bargain luxury, posh interior, jewel-like engine, unflappable handling

CONS Smallish back seat, modest acceleration

BOTTOM LINE A designer sports sedan at an off-the-rack price

FIRST PLACE Auto writers learn to be careful with superlatives, but a too-short week in the Acura TSX dispelled all caution: As MONEY first suggested in September, the TSX is simply the best sedan in America for under $30,000.

Based on a smaller Honda Accord that until recently had been available only on foreign shores, the Acura TSX takes the Honda's proven virtues--its sterling quality, a diamond-solid chassis and peerless four-cylinder engines--and adds a big dose of sport and luxury.

The rich interior suggests a Lexus, Audi or other more expensive sedan. As with many Honda and Acura models, you could climb into the TSX for the first time, close your eyes and still find every control and switch, right where they should be. Those controls feel terrific, from the five-speed manual shifter to the smooth brakes and clutch.

Punching holes in the near-perfect Acura isn't easy, but here goes: Unlike pricier rivals, this is a front-wheel-drive car with a four-cylinder engine, not a rear driver with six-cylinder power. (Competitors such as BMW, Mercedes and Infiniti rely on rear-wheel drive to optimize handling in high-performance driving.) Yet the Acura is notably balanced and athletic for a front-drive car. On the torture track of Manhattan's FDR highway, the Acura's double-wishbone suspension soaked up every dip and bump and begged for more. It also delivered big-time driving fun--more than the Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4 or Jaguar X-Type, and nearly as much as the BMW 3-Series. Those models may offer more brand cachet, but each delivers less horsepower than the TSX in its base version and costs you $5,000 to $15,000 more when comparably equipped. (If you must have more room or power, the impressive new Acura TL delivers a larger back seat, a sweet 270-horsepower V-6 engine and a vast array of luxury--including a ground-breaking DVD surround-sound audio system that blows away conventional CD-based units. All for $33,200, loaded. Consider the TL the second half of a well-turned double play for Acura in 2004.)

The TSX's 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine is a 200-horsepower overachiever, thanks to Honda's variable-valve-timing technology. Its smoothness and flexibility mean you'll rarely miss the extra cylinders, especially when you're enjoying excellent fuel economy of 23 mpg city/32 mpg highway.

The back seat isn't up for dinner parties, but it is reasonably accommodating for two adults. You may not swoon over the car's low-key styling, but look again: The Acura's lines are clean and handsomely restrained. Mark your calendar to this date in 2008 because the Acura's design will be aging well while trendier cars look as dated as tattoos and navel rings.

Unlike so many bait-and-switch luxury models, the TSX includes everything that you could possibly want in an upscale sedan for the $26,990 base price. The sole option is Acura's first-rate navigation system with voice-activated controls ($2,000). So let's do the math: Even with the navigation system, $28,990 puts a loaded TSX in your garage, where it's likely to stay for a very long time.

BMW 5-Series BASE PRICE $39,995 to $58,295

PROS Otherworldly performance, slick interior, adventurous styling

CONS Styling provokes bar brawls; price climbs like Edmund Hillary; iDrive control knob still eludes control

BOTTOM LINE The freshest--and best--luxury sedan on the block

SECOND PLACE Mention the name Chris Bangle in a roomful of BMW purists. Then brace for an earful from the "Ultimate Whining Machine."

To Bangle's numerous detractors, the hot-button work of the BMW design chief--whose remade 7-Series sedan admittedly is saddled with a clumsy rear end--is an apocalyptic affront to all that is good in car design.

Now the new 5-Series sedan is here. It looks great. Get over it.

Like each successive art movement, greeted with unseemly hair pulling from the guardians of status quo, the new 5-Series signals that change--needed change--is afoot in car design. The 5-Series is initially challenging but also fresh, intriguing and, finally, quite lovely. As with the hot Z4 roadster when it parks alongside the Z3, the new 5-Series' bold modernity makes the outgoing model seem instantly dated.

Fortunately, even those indifferent to the styling will go ga-ga over the performance and the technology behind it. While the BMW has long been recognized as the world's best luxury sports sedan, the latest 5-Series dramatically improves on BMW's wizardly blend of a supple ride and racy handling. Message to Mercedes and anyone else closing in: The new 5-Series sprints to a comfortable lead.

Generous use of aluminum for its body and chassis has kept the 5-Series slim, despite a host of new performance, luxury and safety features. One example: adaptive headlights that pivot to peer around curves.

Three engines--BMW's renowned 2.5-and 3.0-liter inline sixes, and a top-shelf 5.4-liter V-8--produce 184, 225 and 325 horsepower, respectively. Three transmission choices include a new six-speed automatic, six-speed manual and BMW's sequential manual gearbox. The optional sport packages include computer-controlled anti-roll bars combined with a ground-breaking system called Active Steering (see "Best Technology" on page 156), which together let the 5-Series carve turns with impossible ease and stability for a car of this size. Inside, a beautiful, functional interior is marred by the inclusion of the 7-Series' iDrive. The not-so-magic knob that controls hundreds of vehicle functions has been simplified but continues to distract your attention from road and fun alike.

The 5-Series' many-layered lineup of models gets the icing in 2005, when a new M5 model arrives with a shocking 500 horsepower from a V-10 engine. Now that's apocalyptic.

Mazda RX-8 BASE PRICE $25,700 to $27,200

PROS Lightweight, rev-happy rotary engine, sparkling performance, usable back seat, striking interior

CONS Odd proportions, middling torque, automatic version dumbs down the power

BOTTOM LINE Light makes right for Mazda's quicksilver sports car

THIRD PLACE It's easy to get spoiled by today's sports cars, whose 300, 400, even 500 horsepower leaves any driver a twitch of the foot away from hyperspeed.

These Schwarzenegger rides make it easy to forget what sports cars used to be about: lightness over mass; finesse and agility over sheer muscle.

Mazda hasn't forgotten. Like the near-classic Miata and RX-7, the new RX-8 is a highway dancer, a sports car in its purest form.Well, almost: The RX-8 thumbs its nose at protocol with a set of rear-hinged back doors that access an honest-to-God back seat, one that's surprisingly comfortable for two adults.

The penalty for four-seat practicality is the car's awkward proportions, especially viewed from the side. Yet the RX-8's grinning snout and muscular fenders give it a feisty flair that makes most onlookers go wild.

With its freewheeling rotary engine, the Mazda produces 238 horsepower with its six-speed manual transmission--but 197 horsepower if you decide on the four-speed automatic. (Mazda has no automatic durable enough to handle the engine's lofty 9,000-rpm redline.) And there's a measly 159 pound-feet of torque.

Ah, but the RX-8 has no pork, and that's the gravy. Weighing in at just over 3,000 pounds, it's almost 10% lighter than the powerful but portly Nissan 350Z. The zero-to-60-mph run takes a scant 5.9 seconds, still a few tenths behind the Nissan. But while the Mazda isn't the mightiest stoplight stallion, it hits its stride on twisty roads, where it's much friskier and more involving than the Z. (Credit in part the RX-8's ideal fifty-fifty weight balance between front and rear.) Rowing the gears and hearing the rotary engine sing its high-revving song only adds to the thrills.

Inside, it's no contest. The RX-8's rich, expressively detailed cockpit makes the Z's look like the emperor's cheap suit. Laser-sharp instrument readouts are stunning. The intimate relationship between driver, seat and controls feels like an exercise in perfect feng shui.

Starting at just $27,200 with the six-speed manual transmission, the RX's well-equipped price of about $31,000 undercuts anything in its category. Once again, brains win over brawn--the year's best sports car is also its best bargain. Four doors and all.

BEST TRUCKS

Ford F-150 BASE PRICE $19,920 to $36,365

PROS Opulent interiors, confident handling, a zillion choices in models and options

CONS Firm ride, massive curb weight

BOTTOM LINE A kinder, gentler pickup that can still get down and dirty

FIRST PLACE For a bruised and battered Ford, the F-150 pickup arrives like a two-ton aspirin. With big pickups the last remaining vehicle category where U.S. makes are still indisputably the best, it's nice to see the all-new F-Series--America's top-selling vehicle (car or truck) for 21 consecutive years--assert some superiority in a talented division that includes Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota and now Nissan.

Pickup owners traditionally are as loyal as a front-porch hound. But Ford knew its aging F-Series could no longer coast on the Ford-Chevy feud. Especially not with the Nissan clan moving in with its Titan. So Ford spent billions developing the new model, and the company got its money's worth.

So will you. More than any other pickup, the F-Series manages to be both tough and tender. It delivers the biggest payload (3,000 pounds) and towing capacity (9,900 pounds) in its class. Its reworked 5.4-liter V-8 produces 300 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of load-lugging torque. Huge anti-lock brakes deliver confident stops.

Honestly, other pickups can handle chores or tow boats about as well. One or two approach the effortless precision of Ford's new rack-and-pinion steering or the roomy back seat of its stretched SuperCrew version. Then you climb inside and discover what separates the Ford from everyone else: Um, who stole the insides from a luxury car and stuck them in a pickup truck?

The knockout interiors suggest Milan or Munich more than Detroit, especially in the upscale FX4 and Lariat versions. Inside, the Ford is serene, quieter than any other pickup. And the toughened-up body style is just about perfect--beefy but not a braggart.

Ford's revamp hasn't overlooked what's under the skin. Where the old model's creaky structure was flunking out, the new chassis and suspension move to the front of the class--no squeaks or rattles, far less trucky jiggling over washboard roads, far less head tossing when you clamber off-road.

The F-150 also cooks up one of those great ideas that seems so simple in hindsight: The heavy steel tailgate, always a burden to lift, now has a mechanical helper that makes you think you sprouted extra muscles.

Five models range from the affordable, no-nonsense XL to the sumptuous Lariat swathed in leather and all the toys, including a power-sliding rear cab window. Even with its stem-to-stern redesign, the new F-150 costs only about $250 to $650 more than the old one. That's a deal worth hauling home.

Toyota Sienna BASE PRICE $23,440 to $37,445

PROS Toyota-thoughtful, Toyota-thorough, Toyota-quality

CONS Toyota-conservative

BOTTOM LINE Did we mention it's a Toyota?

SECOND PLACE It's hard to get excited about a minivan. The most useful of all family vehicles is also big, boxy and boring, so much so that Nissan is peddling its Quest as the anti-minivan, the one for "hipster moms." Well, Toyota is many things, but hip ain't one of them. So it has attacked the minivan conundrum the old-fashioned way: by building possibly the best in the business.

Now seeing the new Sienna for the first time may not leave that impression. The exterior is so traditional and inoffensive that Norman Rockwell should get styling credit.

But with all respect to Nissan's bid to jazz up the minivan's styling Muzak, most people buy minivans for what's inside--cavernous space, comfortable and useful seats, smooth operation, the perception of safety and quality. They want to pack in the kids, keep an eye on them and not give the vehicle a second thought.

Sounds like Toyota territory. And it is. Driving the Sienna can indeed get you excited, if you're focusing on how everything's been thought of and everything works. Perfectly.

With a huge 45 cubic feet more space than the old model, the Sienna can swallow 4-by-8 sheets of plywood with the seats folded. There's seating for seven or eight passengers; opt for the second-row bench, and its center section slides forward to give parents an easy reach to a child seat in back. There are 10--count 'em, 10--cupholders. A clever "conversation mirror" in the overhead console lets you referee any back-seat action.

Toyota claims the lowest levels of interior sound and NVH (as in noise, vibration and harshness) of any minivan. And in the never-ending war of the third-row seats, the Sienna's tops even the Honda Odyssey's. The split-folding third row is lighter and more versatile than the Honda's bench, and you don't have to remove the headrests to fold it flat into the floor.

A 3.3-liter, 230-horsepower V-6 delivers zippy grocery runs of 8.3 seconds from zero to 60 mph. It's mated to a wonderful five-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy is up slightly, to 19 mpg city/27 highway for front-drive models. All-wheel-drive models add standard electronic stability control.

The top-shelf XLE Limited throws in everything from side-curtain air bags for all three rows to a laser-based adaptive cruise-control system that maintains a set distance from cars ahead of you. Options include DVD entertainment with wireless headphones and a navigation system with a rearview camera.

With all that, the new Sienna actually can cost less than the old one--the popular LE version starts at $24,745, nearly $1,500 less than the '03. An XLE starts at $28,745, up $150 from last year.

Saving money on a top family hauler? Nothing boring about that.

Infiniti FX BASE PRICE $34,895 to $44,920

PROS Sinister styling, just enough luxury, the sheer fun of dusting snob cars with an SUV

CONS Granite-hard ride, so-so utility, price heads north in a hurry

BOTTOM LINE What the Porsche SUV could've, should've been

THIRD PLACE Beyond the realm of auto-show fantasy, it would have been hard to imagine the FX only a few years ago. Tall like a truck, agile like a sports sedan, styled like some lunar drag racer, the FX is the most eye-catching of all car-truck crossovers. Expect similar models to follow in its speedy wake, from Lexus, Audi, maybe even Maserati.

Underneath its bodacious bod lies not a truck platform but the bones of the terrific Infiniti G35 sedan and Nissan 350Z sports car. Under the hood: for the FX45, a 315-horsepower, 4.5-liter V-8; for the FX35, the familiar 3.5-liter V-6, here with 280 horsepower. Both mate to a five-speed automatic with a useful "manumatic" hybrid function.

The FX45 is mighty fast, moving from zero to 60 in a blistering 6.3 seconds. More surprising: the precise steering and pancake-flat handling, which deliver more fun for the dollar than costlier SUVs from BMW and Porsche.

Utility isn't the FX's forte, but folding the rear seats does open decent cargo space, more than in a BMW X5, less than in an Acura MDX. A clever release handle in the cargo area flips down the seats without your having to lean and stretch inside.

Buyers who live near battle-scarred roads should be warned that the FX45, especially, delivers a rocky ride with its stiff suspension and 20-inch wheels. The FX35 has less power and only 18-inch wheels, but its smoother ride and lower price make it a saner choice for most people. One FX35 I drove cost $38,000, compared with well-stuffed FX45s that ranged from $47,000 to $52,000.

That's a whole lot of money. But still a whole lot less than any other SUV with this much performance and panache.