McLaren MP4 12C: Supercar of your dreams

It's also ferociously quick. This car does not have all-wheel-drive. That would add that dreaded extra weight that McLaren engineers avoid as if each ounce were taken out of their own flesh. Push the gas pedal hard and the back wheels skip and skitter. Electronic traction control helps the car race toward 60 or 100 miles per hour and your organs snuggle up against your spine. Top speed is over 200 miles per hour.

The engine, meanwhile, is roaring and the transmission is running through its melody of whirring and ticking noises as it flicks through the gears. It's a dry clutch system, meaning that it works like a manual transmission except that it has two clutches that switch seamlessly back and forth. That means that, even as it changes gears, the engine is almost continuously connected to the back wheels.

In the McLaren 12C, it works very, very, well. It helps to give this car its fantastically connected feel.