Play Car of the Year Nominees
Best Car for Off Roaders
2009 Jeep Wrangler
The tight economy and high gas prices helped elevate last year's Best Deal in this category to our 2009 Top Pick. Serious offroad vehicles aren't the best choice if gas mileage is your first priority, but some are better than others. The Jeep Wrangler's offroad ability rivals that of last year's winner, the Hummer H2, but it burns less gas — and you can get two ultimate-offroad Rubicon models for the price of one H2. The highway ride might be noisy, but that doesn't bother true enthusiasts. The four-door Wrangler Unlimited's longer wheelbase isn't ideal for offroading, so stick with the two-door.
Best Car for Weekend Athletes
2009 Honda Element
If you do your playing in the great outdoors, this is the best car to take you there. It's got room for bikes, tents, fishing rods, picnic supplies and the stuffed head of the moose you just shot. Opt for the regular Element — not the wimpy, carpeted SC variant — and you get an easy-to-clean rear floor and stain-resistant seats. It's easy to park if you're an urban athlete, and if roughing it gets too rough you can fold the seats down to create a decent bed for a catnap.
Best Car for Sun Lovers
2009 Jaguar XK
The Jaguar XK isn't cheap, but it looks even richer than it is. Equally rich is the roar of its 300-horsepower V-8, which propels the all-aluminum body to 60 mph in about 6 seconds. The surprisingly athletic XK features one of the finest automatic transmissions around: a six-speed that reacts so quickly and intuitively the manual paddle shifters go untouched. Though the market is moving toward retractable hardtops, the XK's soft-top is thick and quiet, and the lines are clean when it's down. Let's see: Looks great, drives great, sounds great and you look great in it? Sounds like a winner.
Best Car for The Towing Crowd
2008 Toyota Tundra
Besides a slick cabin with big buttons for easy use, the Tundra CrewMax offers one of the largest backseats in the business. The 5.7-liter V-8 is incredibly fast when there's nothing attached to the hitch. Slap on a trailer, and that same engine turns into a towing monster that can handle more than 10,300 pounds. Some competitors can haul the same amount, but not in this nice of a package or with the same amount of gusto during non-towing duties. Stick with the two-wheel-drive Tundra. Not only does it have a higher towing capacity, its reliability has proved much better than its four-wheel-drive sibling's.
Best Car for Driving Fun
2009 BMW M3
We vowed not to fill this list with one super-powered trim after another, and we didn't, but BMW's latest M3 clearly wins this sub-category. For the past year, it's won our staff over as the ultimate performance car we all wanted to drive — or at least the one we felt we'd buy if we had the chance. In sedan, coupe and convertible body styles, the M3 is both fast and surprisingly civil. Compared to others in its class, the M3 doesn't punish drivers and passengers in everyday driving, but it will deliver thrills every day.
