MotorMouths

The 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport is just as grip-point-and-go as the standard Roadster, simply doing it all faster, more quietly, and with more choices on comfort. Silicon Valley building cars isn’t such a soulless idea after all.

Does it drive like a go-kart? No. But it gets as close as possible in anything resembling this style of taller, and more spacious, and heavier vehicle. The Mini Countryman Cooper S ALL4 is the funnest SUVXover yet built for sale by anyone.

Saab has a success on its hands, so long as it doesn’t get all screwed up. The 2011 Saab 9-5 is a dynamic driver and looker, very well built, laced with that sturdy Scandinavian alternativeness that we’ve been missing in Saabs for some time now.

In rough terms, the 2012 BMW X3 looks exactly like the new X5, and is only a tad smaller than the original X5. Inside, the room for more American-size bodies should immediately put this X3 on more shopping lists than the outgoing model managed.

All the powertrain engineering packed into the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid largely goes unnoticed, even though there is always a lot going on.

The VW Golf R smothers the overrated old 247-hp VW R32 V6 in all ways but exhaust sound satisfaction, and we think it feels more a premium effort than the 263-hp Mazdaspeed.

Audi has been listening to those who have requested a lighter car, a better-looking car, and a car with superior dynamics in the class. From our drives of various trims and engines recently in Sicily, the new A6 is, in fact, now the best in its very challenging class.

Once you make the sharp-looking 2011 Audi A8 lose its confounded German cool, then you can appreciate just how good it is. It’s a very big leap ahead versus its predecessor. As an all-around effort, it is at least the equal to its competition from BMW and Mercedes.

The 2012 BMW 6 Series is perhaps the best overall package in the small segment of near-millionaire large convertibles and coupes (i.e. sub Bentley/Aston Martin).

The new 5 Series feels damned near ideal and not boatlike in the least. The combination of BMW’s new four-wheel-steer tech with electric-assist steering felt superb.

While the C Coupe’s typical premium/sport/cush Mercedes cabin treatment might not be your personal cup o’ tea, the execution here is supreme, nay, divine. And it drives more finely than any other V6-equipped model offered by Stuttgart.

The Cayman is brilliant — arguably a better performance car than the 911. Yet in 2010, Porsche sold only 675 Caymans and 647 Cayman S models. Is the Cayman doomed to be the hairdresser’s car with a roof? We hope not, because the Cayman R is stunning to drive.