By Jeff Glucker
Yes, I know that the cost of a vehicle is an important factor to consider. But I’m asking you to remove that for a moment. Because I want to see some interesting answers in the comments. The question being what is the best car on sale right now if you remove money from the equation? For me, it’s the Porsche Taycan. I’ve spent the past week with a lovely blue Turbo S model, and I’m fully smitten. Yes, even with that dumb Turbo moniker applied to it. And yes, even with a price tag of $201,000 as-tested.
That’s a colossal sum of money for a car. It would typically disqualify such a vehicle from any sort of recommendations I could provide to a person out there shopping for a new car or truck. But the Porsche Taycan is that good. The ride and handling dynamics are excellent. I find the interior quite comfortable though a little on the snug side for the back seat, but it does work. And the power delivery is insane.
This past weekend I took the Taycan on a long-distance beer run as part two of a video I made with the Porsche Taycan 4S awhile back. I wanted to go further and force myself to need to use a charging station. And I did just that, pulling into an Electrify America setup with 4% remaining on the battery. Thirty minutes later I was at 81% and off again. This was on a 150kW charging station. If I could’ve found a 350kW station, the Taycan and I would’ve been on our way even more quickly. While sitting there, I read some emails, posted some pics on Instagram, and enjoyed a moment of solitude in my day.
It’s rare that I’m bummed to give a car back after spending a few days or a week with it. But both times now with the Taycan, I know I’m going to be thinking about the car long after it leaves. It’s simply an amazing machine. And when Porsche eventually builds the Sport Turismo wagon version, the want and desire to own one will only grow ever stronger.
Now, I know you will likely have a different answer here. So what’s your pick for the best car on sale right now if you exclude the money factor?
E63s wagon
Hitting it out of the park with the first response. Unless you’re an overlander and nominate the 200-series Land Cruiser, the E63 is the best answer for everything.
In my mind, the king of sleek wagons is the Volvo V90. I’d take that one over the BMW.
Hard to argue there. Though I find myself bouncing back and forth between the Panamera Sport Turismo and the E63S. Both are amazing… the Benz makes better noise but the Porsche drives better.
If you don’t have kids, probably the Toyota 86 – yes, it’s long in the tooth, yes it’s getting replaced soon, yes it’s not an “all rounder” that fits into your life easily, but in the post Covid, work from home world, and hopefully the end of commuter culture, where people deliver all your shopping, and you drive for leisure – road trips and track days, it’s kinda hard to think of a more relevant car, and stuff like this is only going to get rarer. Get something simple, fun and RWD while you can. There will be plenty of time to buy into EVs, and probably at half the price.
If you live somewhere like me, where the roads are mostly straight, I find the modern Mustang to be a great all-rounder in a similar vein, if not quite so focused on absolute purity. Not that it can’t handle, just that I’m willing to compromise a little on engagement for not having to sit at 3500 RPM for the hours it takes to get to good roads.
I drove a rental Mustang ragtop from Roswell to Tombstone two years ago. Quiet and comfortable at 80 on the highway, zippy in the curves. Money no object I’d get the GT Convertible and add parts to Mach 1 it or maybe even Shelby-ize it. I’ve spent a little time in a GT350 and damn that Voodoo is sweet. Yeah, yeah, flexy ragtop can’t use potential. I wouldn’t be able to either.
I find myself more and more disillusioned with new cars. Performance capabilities are through the roof, but less driving skill than ever is needed to handle them, with all of the computer-controlled shift points, stability controls, and traction nannies to keep things in check. Then there are the EVs, which keep getting better and better, but the driving experience seems so remote and uninspiring to me. And the styling: everything looks so banal, and so similar to everything else on the road.
It may just be my age showing, but I feel that I’m looking backward more often than forward these days. I’ve always been an “old soul” with regard to cars, always with a strong appreciation for the classics, but I also kept a significant interest in new models. Not so much any more.
I’ve found that whenever I “step up” to a newer, faster vehicle, I’m thrilled at first, but eventually it just becomes normal to me. It resets my baseline, and then what’s remaining is everything except for the objective performance, which is sometimes a letdown. What I think is lacking in today’s cars is subjective performance. The unmeasurable “how it feels and how it makes me feel” qualities are what really makes or breaks a vehicle for me. And I think that car making has become so much of a science and so little of an art, that it’s these subjective qualities that are lacking.
I get where you’re coming from, but which EVs have you tried? The baseline keeps moving up, but driving a 100% analog car will give you the same thrills still. It’s loud, rattling, you can hear the brake pads touch the disks and feel every linkage while driving.
It is funny though how perception can vary. Imho, we live in a golden age for cars. Performance and safety are through the roof, but there’s also a lot of great design around. Mazda, Volvo, Suzuki, Honda – lots of brand names come to mind which have revitalized their appearances without smashing their practicality to pieces. My newest car is at the shop, again, but the small van I got is quite silent, firm and quick, as well as efficient and equipped with cruise control and snake seats. And that’s a lowest rung commercial vehicle. Hooray for progress, my friend Zentropy!
It’s called soul…new cars don’t have one.
That’s one thing that the Aussie hot Holders and Fords had to deal with; how to give an entertaining driving experience in a fast car, in a land of 110km/h max speed limits and strict enforcement (uet still be able to go on the track)
Easy. The T.50. It’s the best, truest representation of “a car” that ever has been.
You said money is no object, so I have a daily driver, a truck, several motorcycles, a fabulous warehouse in which to store the car, a nearby racetrack to drive it … 😀
In my opinion, it the Toyota Yaris GR. 257hp and awd in a car the size of a shoe? Yes please.
I want to drive one so bad…
I just drove the standard Yaris the other day. What a colossal improvement over the outgoing model! The design constricts interior space a bit though.
The RS6 Avant looks pretty friggin awesome, if Elon told me to go buy a car and he’d pay for it no matter what, I’d do that and risk looking like a jerk for not buying one of his.
Caterham Super 7 (still available as a build yourself kit in the US).
Practical? Safe? No, but who cares? This is, to me, the best car available, and has been for over 60 years.