Time flies when you are driving cars…so it is hard to believe that we’ve now been in the car news, views, and reviews business for just over two years.
In that time we’ve driven, reviewed, and tested cars from around the world. It would be pretty straightforward to compose a top ten list of the star cars, or the most improved cars, or the most technically advanced cars, but that’s sooooo boring.
Fun to Drive cars engage you in a way that goes well beyond just being a form of reliable transportation.
Sometimes they meet unknown needs and wants, and sometimes they just surprise with the way they grow on you over time.
Our straightforward criteria for selecting the TFLcar.com Top Ten Most Fun to Drive cars is that:
a) We drove the car
b) You can buy the car
c) And the car is fun to drive and will put a huge smile on your face when you drive it.
These cars may or may not be the fastest, the most powerful, or the most expensive, but they are certainly the most interesting cars that we’ve driven in the past year and that’s why we’re proud to announce they made our second annual Ten Most Fun to Drive Car Awards:
2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
We have never gotten so many thumbs up while driving a brand new car.
For those who know, the 2011 Subaru WRX STI sedan is a rock star of a automobile, especially if you happen to be driving the all new sedan with the over-sized rear wing in one of the bright “in your face” Subaru car colors.
It’s funny how a slight tweak here and a slight tuck there, and of course the addition of trunk (instead of a hatchback fifth door) turns an ugly ducking into a double take hottie to some.
Check out this video of the new new WRX and STI as we drive it up to Independence Pass in Aspen, Colorado, and as a pro Rally car drivers makes the most of the car’s iconic rally racing history.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive video review.
2011 Audi A8
The flagship 2011 Audi A8 is a technological tour de force that comes with every bit of German premium car technology that’s possible to stuff into a car.
In your next premium car do you want?
– all wheel drive
– heated and cooled seats
– messaging seats
– air suspension
– personalized dynamic ride, steering and handling
– LED headlamps all around
– 20 inch wheels
– an eight-speed automatic transmission
– and too much more to list?
Check, check, and check.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Scion tC
Once upon a time the Scion tC used to be the coolest kid on the block. But that was than and this is now, the Mini Cooper is the reigning cool kid in town.
So does the all new 2011 Scion tC have what it takes to be back in the cool game?
We recently found out when we had a chance to spend the day driving the Scion tC at Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Dodge Challenger
For 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 gets a bigger & badder HEMI 392.
If you do that math here is what that 392 means:
– About 6.4 liters instead of the old car’s 6.1 liter engine
– 470-hp with
– 470 pounds-feet of torque
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Ford Fiesta
Here’s an interesting question to ponder…will American car buyers warm to a small, economical, premium European, car?
Ford is betting, and betting big, that you will.
The Michigan based car maker recently introduced the diminutive Ford Fiesta to American car buyers. The American Fiesta, while made in Mexico, is almost identical to the European car which (as it happens) is now the best selling car in Europe.
Over on this side of the ocean we get basically the same car as the Europeans, as well as a sedan version of the 5-door hatchback.
Ford thinks that young urban types will take to the car which gets 30/40 mpg with a dual clutch automatic Ford calls a PowerShift and starts at $15,795.
But is this a car that you would put on your shopping list? Watch the video as we test drive the 2011 model in San Francisco, CA.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Someone shoved an afterburner up this horse’s wazoo!
We were told to never meet your heroes as the outcome is usually depressing and falls below your expectations. Bitterness usually follows and no matter how much the formally-idolized person has improved, you’ll never have the same high expectations again. The same can be said for driving your dream car.
Somehow, Ford and Shelby have mitigated that.
What we mean to say is this. The 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is every bit the badass we have been waiting for. Some might consider it a rich man’s Mustang or a poor man’s supercar – we think it straddles the line between muscle-car and supercar. Seriously – it has the chutzpah to be both!
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
Every-so-often a special car comes along that will be a classic in forty years.
The Mach 1 Mustang comes to mind as does the original Cuda.
You can now add 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe to that list of very special cars.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Volkswagen Jetta
Chances are that you probably know somebody who at one point in their lives has owned a Volkswagen Jetta.
And chances are pretty good that Jetta owner might even be you or someone in your family.
The German Jetta has become as American as Weiss (wheat) beer and pretzels.
In fact the American car buyer represents the lion’s share of Jetta customers around the world.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Dodge Charger
Here a just a few performance highlights of the all new 2011 Dodge Charger:
1. The new electric steering system provides better feedback while increasing MPG by not sapping engine RPMs to power it.
2. Suspension, shocks, springs, bump stops – pretty much everything has been recalibrated for better handling, feel and ride. Even the base model feels light on its toes.
3. They got rid of that friggin’ ugly, four-spoke steering wheel in favor of an all new, (good looking) three-spoke steering wheel.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
2011 Lexus CT200h
Are you a 30 to 40-year-old guy?
Do you care about sports luxury, economy, and the environment?
If so, Lexus has a new car for you.
It’s called the Lexus CT 200h, and you might consider this newest and least expensive Lexus an entry level baby Lexus for generation Y and Z and eventually Z.
You might also consider it small European(ish) hatchback sedan with the hybrid drive train out of the Prius.
Lexus says the sporty 2011 CT 200h is not about power, but more about handling. Of course they probably have to say that as the CT 200h doesn’t have a lot of power, instead focusing on economy as it’s trump card.
Click HERE for the TFLcar video first drive review.
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The Most Fun to Drive Cars of 2010
The Land Rover LR4
The 2010 Land Rover LR4 may be the perfect compromise between on-road comfort and off-road prowess.
With 375 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque, instead of the old LR3’s, 300 and 315, the new Rover bristles with go anywhere power. Of course the down side to all of the new found ponies is an unchanged yet still not wallet friendly 12/17 mpg.
But you’d be hard pressed to find a better and more fun car you can take to work during the week and into the deep woods over the weekend.
Check out the video review HERE.
Lamborghini Gallardo
You might just have to agree that there are very few moods that spending money frivolously won’t improve.
In the same way there are very few moods that driving a 500 plus horsepower all-wheel-drive convertible Lamborghini Gallardo in Italy won’t make much much better.
Check out the video drive HERE.
Ford F-150 Raptor
The 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is an F-150 pickup adapted and factory-built to actually perform what standard pickups are shown doing in TV commercials, the leaping, the rock flinging, the barreling through water like the Titanic in search of an iceberg, the stuff that if done by actual owners would have the truck suffering a fate equivalent to that of the big ship, and not covered by the warranty either.
Read the full review HERE.
Cadillac CTS-V
“Oh-my-god, OH-My-god – OH-MY-GOD!!!”
Once we got used to the massive thrust, the aforementioned statement came out of more than a few passengers. Speed and pressure pull you into the Recaro seats progressively. You know when a ship hits light-speed in “Star Wars?”
Yup, it’s a lot like that.
Read the full review HERE.
2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
Volkswagen has just completely redesigned their premium SUV the 2011 Touareg.
The next generation of the VW goes on sale in the U.S. in the fall and unlike the current version it will feature Volkswagen’s first ever Hybrid powertrain.
We had the chance to test the new chance to test drive the new 2011 Touareg on the cobblestone streets of Florence, Italy and in the surrounding Tuscany hills.
Check out the video review HERE.
Jaguar XF
Jaguar bet the farm on the newest XF.
After a 10-years-of building cars like the S and X types that were the equivalent of a bad copy of a copy of a copy, the well regarded car manufacturer had to do something special to put the growl back in the cat.
Check out the video review HERE.
Tesla Roadster
If you ever want the sensation of flying a jet fighter without leaving the earth, the Tesla Roadster may be the car for you… if you have well over 100K. Like any sports car, the Tesla has its limitations, notably a tight cockpit, harsh ride and an amazingly thick pillar that require a driver over 6-feet to remove their lower torso and re-attach after egress/ingress.
Okay, so it’s expensive and has a somewhat limited range too.
We took a round-trip from Boulder, Colorado to Estes Park and back. We did what few have the guts or stupidity to do: we took a $158,000 sports car (wearing performance tires) through the mountains, snow, ice and elk during a proper performance shake-down.
We had a blast!
Check out that road trip video HERE.
Chrysler 300c SRT8
In California the Chrysler 300C SRT8 is considered the poor man’s Bentley because like the Bentley it has the size, speed, and serious power to very quickly transport four adults from point A to point B in comfort and style.
In Europe the 300C has earned the reputation as the quintessence large American sedan with broad shoulders and the larger than life swagger and attitude of the early classic American big boy sedans.
In America this car is underrated and sure future classic muscle car.
Check out that road trip video HERE.
Volkswagen GTI
A very few chromosomes make the difference between two very different species of animals. Likewise, there are very few parts that change an ordinary 2010 Volkswagen Golf into a 2010 Volkswagen GTI, enough so that although the Golf and the GTI share body, suspension layout and other major elements–and from a far enough distance the two look the same–Volkswagen doesn’t refer to the GTI a high performance version of the Golf. It’s just “GTI”.
Read the full review HERE.
Check out the video as we compare it to the Mazda Speed3 HERE.
Dodge Power Wagon
There are just some places that a full sized pick up should never go.
Here’s one that comes to mind almost immediately…Wipe Out Hill in Moab, Utah.
As part of the 44th annual Jeep Moab Safari we had the chance to rock crawl a brand new Ram Power Wagon up Wipe Out Hill and experience first hand what it must be like to take off in the space shuttle as we pointed the pick-up skyward to climb up the hill.
Check out the Ram Power Wagon in Moab, Utah as it climbs up a hill like a mountain goat on steroids HERE.
Whether you enjoy luxury or going off road, get the right car insurance that suit your need.
