MotorMouths

The Focus ST impresses. Its chassis dynamics and throttle response sharpen the car’s dull points. And if you need or want the practicality of a four-door hatch with a useable rear seat, you’ll need to add the Ford Focus ST to your consideration list.

With 10 airbags, a sufficiently solid feel, and a cheap and cheerful interior, the Chevy Spark is plenty of car for used car money. Its ride, handling, and steering aren’t unlike that in the soft and springy Fiat 500.

This is a handsome, well-designed compact that enters a crowded segment full of good cars, including suddenly competent domestic compacts. The segment is desperately in search of a standout, though, and the new Dart may be it.

For the enthusiasts who dream of coming up with the kind of sports-celebrity scratch for a car that can carry the family in comfort while carving up on-ramps, there is the Audi S8.

The 2012 Camry fits all the criteria, including improved fuel efficiency and an ever-higher level of safety, that most buyers expect of such cars.

Hyundai has redesigned its subcompact with stylish sheetmetal. Until the 2012 model year, the Accent’s most attractive styling came from the window stickers listing the manufacturer’s suggested list price and the EPA fuel mileage. Those labels still look good too.

Excepting its sub-standard brakes, the new 2011 Ford Edge is a much-improved model. It’s not improved to the level of the Fusion, though, and it might not be sustainable as a ’tweener with a little more interior utility than the Escape and nearly the heft of the new Explorer.

Even if the ’11 VW Jetta seems a retrograde step from the previous model, VW figures that Americans, Canadians and Mexicans still respond to the words “large economy size.”

The QX56 is a handsome, distinctive choice in its class, and Infiniti is very confident the segment’s sales will remain healthy. It looks much better on the street than in photographs.

The E 350 Cabrio is, in case you haven’t picked up on it, a relaxed convertible. It’s for you three friends. Open-air views of sunrises and starry nights make up for a lot in this sort of car.

It’s refreshing to come across a mid-size family sedan that delivers the goods. Subaru’s new Legacy GT, delineated from quotidian naturally aspirated H-4 and H-6 Legacys, is a WRX for grownups

It’s hard to not think of the X6 ActiveHybrid as BMW’s argument in favor of turbodiesels. Its 17/19-mpg EPA rating falls shy of the X5 xDrive 35d’s 19/26 mpg.