2008 Cadillac CTS

It's time someone cheered for the home team. Cadillac has traipsed the path of righteousness for nearly a decade, systematically phasing out to its soft-riding, fat-laden cruisers in favor of cars and trucks that combine smart design with functional behavior. Clearly, Cadillac has dug fun-to-drive out of the advertising muck to make it a top engineering priority.

The 2008 CTS is Cadillac's best work. Building on the best attributes of the first generation sport sedan, the new edition is striking to behold, entertaining to drive, and a legitimate threat to the evil imports. With more than 300 horses in its arsenal, the CTS now has the firepower to counter the best Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, and Mercedes have to offer for $40,000.

I'm most impressed by the CTS's steering and handling gains. Thanks to a stiffer unibody, a new German-sourced rack-and-pinion steering system, and astute chassis tuning, this Cadillac is always game for an impromptu back-road chase.

After my dream garage was duly loaded with a sports car for each day of the week, I'd make room for a CTS, the Cadillac with an itch to smite the bluebloods.

2008 Audi A5/S5

I'm an Audi fan, maybe even a little nutty about Audis. My first All-Star thought after BMW 3-series was Audi S5. I had just driven the S5 test car, but it was in the office the week everyone - but Joe Lorio and I - was at the Frankfurt auto show. We had it to ourselves for five days. Actually, I think I drove it the entire week. That must have been the problem. No other editor or freelance contributor had driven it.

No one else had the sumptuous experience of slipping in behind the wheel and seeing the exquisitely sculpted dash for which Audi designers have become renowned. Every instrument binnacle, every gauge, every button, every knob is a work of art, a purposeful expression of luxury and precision. The buttons are not only beveled, but rows of buttons are beveled in sync, creating a single organic sweep across the dash. The simplicity of the MMI controller and the neat array of four buttons around it belie the complexity of the electronic functions (audio, navigation, climate control, other vehicle systems) it so naturally manages.

No one else had experienced the fantastically supportive drivers' seats, the perfectly placed foot pedals, the sublime gearing of the six-speed manual transmission, and the rush of power from the 345-hp, DOHC thirty-two-valve aluminum V-8 engine. Blessed with permanent four-wheel-drive (the sort of four-wheel drive that has nothing to do with dirt roads and everything to do with maximum high-performance tarmac traction), the S5 can manage sub-five-second 0-60 mph times despite its nearly two-ton curb weight. It's fast like a freight train, gorgeously sleek, and wears its strikingly large chrome grille more confidently, more perfectly than any Audi before it.

It feels like it's worth about 50% more than its sub-$60,000 (loaded) tag.

This is the car for which I long. My Private All-Star.

2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

How can our 2007 Design of the Year not be an All-Star now? Simple economics. A few of our readers (and you know who you are, even if we don't) can afford to buy any car on sale anywhere in the world, maybe even two or three of them. But most readers are pretty much like us; you have tastes that exceed your pocketbook's ability to transform desire to reality. We do not let vehicle pricing have undue influence on our decisions, but we do keep in mind that there is true value in attainability. It is not surprising that long-term dwellers on the All-Star list - early Mazda Miatas and perpetually desirable 3-series BMWs come to mind - are affordable to a wide range of our readers and ourselves.

So we love the Aston V8 less than we did last year? How could we? It is still a delight to the eye, a visceral pleasure to drive and a joy to hear in full cry.

But it is also very expensive, well beyond the means of all of us and most of you. Should the All-Star roster include only Ferrari FXX track cars, Bugatti Veyrons and Maybach limousines? We don't think so, and we believe that you don't think so either. We will never exclude a car because it costs a lot, but we will not keep it as an All-Star year after year when there are so many economically viable choices we can collectively embrace.

The Aston Martin V8 deserved its awards and accolades last year, and it merits our approval now. But it is not - it cannot be - an All-Star again this year. "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt" is a pretty profound philosophical statement if you really think about it.

All the same, we love the V8, we still want one, but we still can't have one. So it's not an All-Star this year. So there.

Nissan Altima Hybrid

Ann Arbor If the Accord Hybrid--Honda's quickest Accord--is the athlete of mid-size hybrid sedans and the Toyota Camry, with its technology-laden cabin and fuel-sipping efficiency, is the brainiac, then the new Altima Hybrid strives to be the multitalented golden child who pleases everyone. Everyone, that is, in the low-emissions states in which it will be sold: California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

Unlike the lavishly equipped Honda and Toyota, the Altima Hybrid sacrifices standard equipment to keep its base price at about $22,000. Since Nissan borrowed its hybrid components from Toyota, the Altima can accelerate to nearly 40 mph using only electricity (key words: pedal finesse), just like the Camry Hybrid. Yet the 2.5-liter gasoline four outpowers the Camry's, and an estimated EPA city rating of 41 mpg is tops in this class.

The Altima's chassis is compliant on smooth, winding roads, but with an extra306 pounds of hybrid equipment to carry, the suspension stumbles over rough pavement and sometimes floats on the freeway. After some initial harshness at low speeds, the engine and the electric motors work in harmony with the slick, silent, planetary-type CVT, culminating in a surge of impressive passing power.

The Altima continues to make ground on the Camry and the Accord, but with borrowed components and a limited distribution area, the Altima Hybrid isn't exactly a tour de force

Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG

You would think the ultra-lavish Mercedes Benz CL600, with all its bells, whistles, and 612 lb-ft of torque, would be enough to satisfy your average guy with a mild God complex and a grossly oversized bankroll. But is it?

For those fiends of power and decadence whose hankerings measure off the charts, Mercedes-Benz outright denigrates its top-tier two-door coupe with the new, scary-fast CL65. And adding those three, magical letters--AMG--the big rear-drive coupe catapults itself into a land of stratospheric power.

Its heartblood is pumped via a colossal 6.0-liter, twin-turbo V-12 yielding 604 horsepower and a frightening 738 lb-ft of torque. Good luck to the asphalt under its wheels--much less the wheels themselves--when peak torque hits at 2000 rpm and doesn't show mercy until about 4000.
With that, Benz claims this 5000-lb behemoth thrusts itself from zero to sixty mph in 4.2 seconds, making the CL65 AMG the automotive equivalent of a Defensive Tackle with the speed of a Cornerback.

Naturally, you have to ask yourself: Should something this large be able to move this fast? Regardless of your answer, momentum such as this must be handled with the utmost respect. And for that respect, the CL65 will pay you back big time, starting with the low, guttural hum of churning pistons--a sign of things to come.

That's when we enter the freeway, where vast stretches can, if you choose, be covered in an unreasonably short measurement of time. Passing is like taking candy from a baby: stab the pedal with your right foot and you go from being a blur in someone's periphery to an ink dot on the horizon quicker than you can say "Aufrecht! Melcher! Grossaspach!"

In a flat out, unrestricted run, the CL65 is geared to reach a harrowing 212 mph. But that point remains moot as all AMGs, including this one, are electronically limited to 155 mph.All of this energy feeds to an older five-speed automatic instead of the CL's more familiar seven-speed transmission. The 65's enormous torque output renders the two additional gears, for the most part, needless.

But it was driving this CL on the twisty canyon roads north of Los Angeles that revealed an interesting dichotomy of form and function. What you have is an agile, sport-like ride with spot-on steering and virtually no body roll. In short, it handles like a $200,000 super coupe should, thanks primarily to a revised suspension consisting of firm AMG struts and Benz's Active Body Control.

2008 BMW M3 Convertible

Just when we thought we'd heard all that BMW had to say during the 2008 Detroit auto show, the company confirmed that a convertible will be joining the M3 lineup. The car's official unveiling will take place at the Geneva show in early March.

A convertible M3 is nothing new, nor are we surprised that one will be arriving on the E93 platform. All three previous M3 generations have been available topless, two of which were brought to the U.S. market. This is, however, the first M3 to get a retractable hardtop in its convertible form.

Based on the 3-series hardtop convertible, the droptop M3 features the same 414-hp V-8 engine as the coupe and sedan. The M team has made improvements to the convertible to improve torsional stiffness, and they've fitted the car with unique suspension tuning.

Convertible-specific features include the same special leather that debuted on the 3-series hardtop convertible. The seats resist heating from the sun's rays when the car is in direct sunlight with the top down. An automatic climate control system that monitors outdoor temperature and sunlight is also standard.

But wait, that's not all. BMW also took the opportunity to tell us about the long-rumored dual-clutch automated manual transmission that will be an option on all three M3 variants. It's called M DCT (for dual-clutch transmission) and has seven speeds like BMW's single-clutch SMG that's an option on the M5 and M6. The M DCT should fix the jerkiness problems seen with the SMG and not only improve everyday comfort but performance as well.

The new gearbox has a system called Drivelogic that allows drivers to select from eleven different shift programs. There are five automatic and six manual programs, including one with launch control that takes advantage of all of the onboard electronics to make you look good in front of your friends.

To keep things smooth - and to hear the roar of the 8400-rpm engine - the transmission will blip the throttle between downshifts if necessary. When a manual program is selected, race-style shift lights illuminate above the tachometer to inform the driver of the optimum shift point. Gears can be selected either by the console-mounted shift lever or paddles behind the steering wheel.

So how quickly does this thing shift? There is a consistent two tenths of a second improvement on 0-to-62 mph times over the standard six-speed manual on all three M3 body styles. The convertible makes the dash in 5.1 seconds (versus 5.3 for the manual) and the coupe - the quickest of the M3 range - gets to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds when equipped with the M DCT.

If you must have all-out speed and wind in your hair, this may be the car for you. Since the convertible adds weight and becomes more flexy, we'll stick with the fixed-roof coupe or sedan M3s. Just make sure it has the slick new transmission.

2008 Saleen S302E Sterling Edition

Saleen Automotive is celebrating its twenty-fifth year in business by offering the first $100,000 new, nonracing Ford Mustang - the Sterling Edition S302E. The "302" refers to the 5.0-liter V-8's cubic-inch displacement, which was achieved by stroking the Mustang's stock twenty-four valve, 4.6-liter mill. An intercooled, twin-screw supercharger and reinforced internal components help the revised engine produce a mind-blowing 620 hp at an enhanced 6400 rpm and 600 lb-ft of torque at 4400 rpm. Saleen reports a 0-to-60-mph time of less than four seconds - about a second quicker than the 500-hp Ford Shelby GT500.

All S302Es will feature a six-speed manual transmission, twenty-inch wheels, and we-mean-business brakes. All those Benjamins also get you a custom-trimmed interior with nicely done leather and Alcantara seats, a sterling silver (yet tacky) serial-number badge, and a push-button starter. Unique touches on the exterior include beautiful silver paint, carbon-fiber front and rear diffusers, a Gone in 60 Seconds Eleanor-like face, and an aluminum hood.

Still, this Saleen doesn't feel or look like a $100,000 car. Exclusivity is a big part of the equation, though, since only twenty-five S302Es will be built. Buyers also receive a custom leather jacket (probably not Members Only, but it'll do) and a first-class plane ticket to Detroit, where they'll tour the factory (where the car was unveiled in January 2008) and dine with a Saleen executive.

For the man or woman who has everything, perhaps a six-figure Mustang makes sense. But we can think of a lot of other cars on which we'd rather blow $100 grand