This week we are running our annual 10Best test, evaluating 59 cars and winnowing them down to ten winners. All week we’ll be bringing you thoughts from our notepads. Here’s the first from today:
It’s funny how I go through the same thing every year during our 10Best testing. I get behind the wheel of all the new contenders and find that there’s hardly a bad car in the bunch. Some of the new models are so good that I start to wonder if there’s a new benchmark. Then I get into the Porsche sports cars (see yesterday’s blog post) and the BMW 3-series and I realize just how far the competition has to go. These long-time benchmarks are still head and shoulders above the rest.
We have a 328i at 10Best with the sport package and virtually no other options. On its face, it’s a $37,000 compact sedan with manually adjustable vinyl seats. So what makes it so great? It’s unflappable. Throw it into a badly pot-holed sweeper at speed and it sails through without any drama. You hear the bumps and they register as pulses through the steering wheel, but your course never changes. Try that in just about anything else at the same speed, and it will bounce and sidestep its way into the next lane. There’s still no other sedan under $40,000 that can rival the 328i’s steering feel and handling poise, and that’s why I find it one of the most rewarding driver’s cars on the planet.
Our 10Best winners will be announced in our January 2010 issue. Please check for it on newsstands on December 5.
