MotorMouths

If the throttle and transmission were as good as the rest of the car, the E63 AMG wouldn’t just be the rarest car Mercedes-Benz makes—it would be the greatest.

The SLK 55 AMG is just solidly fun to drive. A key attribute for people in the market for a tiny, fast, and eco-friendly roadster with almost no luggage space that will probably set them back at least $75,000 — however many of them there are.

AMG recently told me that its cars are intended to perform well, but not to be the sharpest knife in the block. Speed and comfort are their dominant brand values. And while it may not julienne up a road, the SLK55 expertly dices. I’d love to own one. If only it didn’t cost so damn much.

The Maxima SV Sport is a roomy, nearly-luxurious, semi-athletic steed. If we woke up tomorrow and discovered we owned a copy, we’d be happy. But would we pay $38,000 for one? Short answer: No. There’s nothing really wrong with the car, save for its sticker.

Porsche has built a better Cayman. Louder, lighter, faster, brasher, and featuring what might just be the world’s finest steering mechanism, the Cayman R is a diminutive dream machine.

The GTS essentially contains all of the most sportive Panamera options in a single vehicle with a more powerful engine. If you really do need to take a sedan onto a racetrack, the Panamera GTS is the one to get the job done.

If I were in the market for a half-million-dollar car, I’d have the Phantom Coupe. The Phantom Coupe, for lack of a better term, is majestic. Gloriously so.

Whereas the old tC was simply a smartly styled, semi-sporty value proposition, the new car is actually quite an eye opener — as in, we weren’t expecting to like the 2011 Scion tC as much as we did. Luckily we like surprises.

The Prius V is a fine, well-thought-out vehicle. It’s much better to drive than any other Prius, and it can haul as much as a small CUV and get a combined 42 mpg while doing so.

The 2012 Beetle is one of those cars that was not simply built to move people, but rather because some people love cars. It will never command its own chapter in the big book of automotive history. But it’s not a bad footnote.

The 2010 Volkswagen GTI MkVI has a lot going for it. As far as hot hatches are concerned, none of the competition offers the same mix of refinement, sophistication and driving good times that the GTI does.