Chevrolet Malibu LTZ

While the town of Malibu seems to be a magnet for natural disasters—wildfires, mudslides, beach erosion, Hollywood A-lisiers in rehab Malibu, the car, seems to radiate mostly positive energy (see our First Drive, February 2008). And the praise is well deserved for this new front-drive midsize sedan whose styling reflects a certain European sensibility and whose chassis, based on the Epsilon architecture found in the Saturn Aura, Saab 9-3, etc., is a no-excuses improvement over the outgoing model's.

Saturn Astra XR

The most striking aspect that people will notice will be in the interior. The Astra exudes an aura that is definitely not of this continent. The font used on the gauge text isn't traditional, nor is the radio stack. It takes but a few seconds to adjust to the unique layout, but it's certainly not 'Murican. The tilt and telescoping steering wheel has audio controls (standard on XR variants), and the turn-signal and windshield-wiper control stalks have nothing in common with any other domestic product. The turn signals are of the "smart" type, which means a momentary application of the stalk causes the blinker to (lash three times before resetting itself. At the very end of the turn-signal stalk are the controls for the standard cruise-control system.

Porsche Cayenne GTS

ALgarve, Portugal—Porsche a marque distinguished for setting sports-car standards throlighoul the automotive realm, decided in 2002 that it would inch out on a limb and launch its own line of Sport Utility Vehicles. The birth of the Cayenne proved a smart move and arrived in multiple trim levels from a base V-6 model to the Iop-of-the-line turbocharged V-8 juggernaut Cayennes are competent on-road performers and yet fairly capable off-road explorers, but therein lies the compromise. Porsche's desire to keep its brand identity prominent within each model line has inspired the most road-focused Cayenne yet. the GTS.

Nissan Murano

NISSAN'S strange place with the Murano. It sells more every year—annual sales are nearly double what they were after the Murano came out for the 2004 model year—but the Murano was getting stale. Plus, fresh new entries are overwhelming the segment: There were only a handful of crossovers five years ago; now there are more than 25, and that number could go up to 35 by the end of 2008. How does Nissan make the Murano better without changing what makes it sell?
The new model adheres to the basic Murano theme—sporty drive, functional yet stylish cabin, wrapped in a unique-looking shell.

Audi Cross Coupe Quattro

AFTER FINALLY entering the SUV segment with the Q7, Audi is preparing to slice it up with an A4-based Q5 hinted by the Roadjet concept and a smaller Q3 hinted by the Cross Coupe quattro. The Q3 will slot below the Q5 as a response to tighter European Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations, like proposed U.S. CAFE regulations.

Honda FCX Clarity

HOOFING it out of the convention hall after Chevrolet's press update on the Volt at the Los Angeles auto show, I came away feeling that I, finally, once-and-for-all, absolutely, had the future of the automobile figured out. Mo question about it: Plug-in hybrids like the Volt [or as GM prefers to call it, an extended-range electric vehicle) will be how we and our kids will get around in our looming SIOO-plus per-barrel-oil and climate-changing world. "The Volt's on schedule," they confidently stated, and its first set of development batteries—which arrived on Halloween at GM's research center in Warren, Michigan—"turned out to be a treat not a trick,"their battery czar quipped. It's nice when the light above the road to tomorrow is suddenly so brightly illuminated like this.

Ford Interceptor

PRESS THE electrically triggered chrome door handle and the door pops open. The sculpted one-piece leather seats are as stiff as the suspension, and you slide onto them as into a Barcelona chair. A 21st-century "shaker "looms in your view, and the rest of the hood is long and upright.. .you're overlooking a similar expanse of sheetmetal as in a Chrysler 300.Hit the electronic ignition button on the headliner just aft of the header, and the 5.4-literV-8 fires up with a rumble.

Jaguar XF Supercharged

YOU'LL notice the heartbeat every time you enter the driver's seat of the new 2009 Jaguar XF sedan. Not just your ticker—the car's, too.
Slide into the cockpit, and immediately your eyes are drawn to the keyless start/stop button on the center console: It's beating a rhythmic red, as if theXF is coming alive. Press it, and the supercharged 4.2-liter V-8 twists into a muted whir, concealed air vents in the dash glide open, an innovative rotary shift knob—the so-called JaguarDrive Selector— rises out of the transmission tunnel. You've just witnessed "the Jaguar handshake,"the first of several servings of pizzazz that differentiate this striking new four-door from such classmates as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the BMW 5 Series.

Ford Fusion SeL

This wasn't the Fusion we wanted. Its as-tested price was far too high, due mostly to its optional sunroof, nav system, andseveral other gratuitous gewgaws—all of which we tried to ignore. Still, if you specify just the five-speed automatic ($875), the sport-tuned suspension ($895), and the leather skins ($895), you'll wind up with a quite luxurious little sedan fetching just over 23 grand.

Dodge Avenger SXT

It may looklikea seven-eighths-scale Dodge Charger, but any other claim the Avenger may lay to its big brother's well-earned reputation is a stretch.
What most damages the Avenger is its 173-hp, 2.4-liter "world engine," built just down the road from us in Dundee, Michigan. It produces way too much racket—the noisiest in our group at full throttle and at 70-mph cruise. And the sound quality was alternately described as "walnuts in a Cui-sinart," "a weed whip with a loose spool," and "four shot wheel bearings,".

Toyota Camry LE

There's a scene in a Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza's father, played by Jerry Stiller, screams, "Serenity now!" He should have been driving a Camry.
This Toyota goes about its business with regal deliberation and narcotic tranquillity, offering the sort of ride you'd expect from a limousine. It was also the quietest at idle, and no other contestant was quieter at a 70-mph cruise. "An engine like a cage full of finches," wrote an editor.