Car and driver best car

Mazda MX-5 Miata

Base Price: $24, 515
Popularity doesn’t always equal greatness—we’re looking at you, Toyota Camry—but the Miata is practically the Beatles of mainstream automotive excellence. While other droptops occasionally outsold it, few have been as enduringly endearing as the Miata, which claims more than 385, 000 U.S. sales since 1989.

Chevrolet Camaro V-6

Base Price: $26, 850
We could fill this space with AC/DC lyrics because, let’s face it, Camaro people will buy Camaros regardless of what we write. But if you’re looking for affirmation, know that since the Camaro’s 2010 revival, Chevrolet has improved the V-6 pony car with a new steering wheel, legible gauges, and an extra 19 horsepower. For 2014, new fascias beget a more modern look for the sinister chopped-top ’Maro.

2015 Volkswagen GTI: A Stickler for Details

Base Price: , 215
Cars are nothing more and nothing less than 30, 000 inanimate pieces joined together to make something kinetic, which means 30, 000 opportunities for something to go wrong. The people who engineered the new, seventh-generation Volkswagen GTI understand this. The car feels as if it were conceived by people kept up at night by the terror of imperfection. Every stalk, every knob, every cubic inch of interior space seems optimized and worried over. Get in the GTI and you will be tempted to focus on these details—the stitching on the steering wheel, the knurled rubber surfaces, the maximized cargo hold. But bend it into a corner, and all those parts meld into something fluid and cohesive as the car comes charging to life. The new GTI is more than the sum of its 30, 000 parts, each of which is something unto itself. —Eddie Alterman

Chevrolet Spark EV

Base Price: $27, 495
Think of Chevy’s battery-powered Spark EV as a millennial muscle car, an electro-GTO, if you will. While a regular Spark ambles along with a gutless 84-hp 1.2-liter engine delivering 83 pound-feet of torque, the EV version drops in a creamy and effortless 141-hp electric motor with 400 pound-feet, zapping the car to 60 mph in 7.9 seconds.

Electrification transforms the Spark into a car that proudly celebrates its smallness. Immediate power and fun-size dimensions transform city corners into apexes and Elantras into back markers. And yet, no matter how hard you’re running it, the electric motor is strong and silent, providing luxury-car levels of quiet. Gone are the coarse toilings of the normal Spark's four-cylinder engine whipping itself toward 6500 rpm.

A relatively large 21-kWh battery provides a real-world 66 miles of range, and the price undercuts the competition. It’s a comfortable little car, too, with a supple ride and an airy cabin. An LCD display borrowed from the Volt keeps you aware of how much energy you’re using. What we like most about the electrified Spark is this: EVs that encourage bad behavior are few and far between, but this little Chevy could practically be your Vegas wingman. —Tony Quiroga

Honda Accord Sport

Price: $24, 505
The 2.4-liter four sounds refined and returns an estimated 34 mpg on the highway. The six-speed manual is more satisfying than the sticks you’ll find in many sports cars. And the handling balance is completely unexpected in such a cavernous and practical family sedan—unless you’ve owned Hondas before. The Accord is just about perfect.

Volkswagen Beetle R-Line

Base Price: $25, 815
“R-Line” is VW’s way of saying “2.0-liter turbocharged.” And “Beetle R-Line” is its way of saying “Jetta GLI coupe.” With 210 horses, a multilink rear suspension like that on the top-spec Jetta, and the current-gen car’s funky, less feminine shape, the Beetle R-Line is the iconoclast’s budget sports coupe.

Chevy Sonic RS hatchback

Base Price: $21, 150
Any Sonic is unexpectedly satisfying, but upgrading to the RS gets you a lower, stiffer suspension; a close-ratio six-speed manual; and a bunch of body add-ons. The spoiler, fascias, and 17-inch wheels give the hatch more visual punch. You can get it as a sedan, too, but there’s an adolescent awkwardness to the four-door’s look.

VW Tiguan

Base Price: $24, 170
This is what happens when a GTI sucks on an air hose. Many GTI traits carry over, and the torquey 2.0-liter brings a level of refinement absent from most of the Tiguan’s classmates.

Mini Paceman

Base Price: $24, 095
This is the three-door version of the larger five-door version of a standard three-door Cooper. (Confused yet?) Mini’s spunky chassis is slightly softened here, which is a good thing if your commute includes potholes.