after four decades, our 10best award is still fit, vigorous, and full of automotive goodness. Our most enthusiastic readers will immediately notice that 2022 adds several new vehicles to our list of favorites, which means that some of last year’s winners have been beaten.
What makes our award different is that a vehicle can win and then maintain a position on the list year after year. a nod to 10best also ensures that the cars and trucks so honored are not just the best of new, but the best of what’s on sale for less than our $90,000 base price cutoff.
Reading: 2022 car reviews
for two full weeks, past winners take on brand new cars and trucks. After driving, testing, getting into the third row, opening the trunk, learning the infotainment systems, doing instrumented tests, and taking diligent notes, we rate each vehicle on a 100-point scale. The cars and trucks that emerge have something unique, a special power that makes them better than the rest. Read on for the top 10 heroes of 2022.
click on each individual car for the full story, or read on to learn more about the 10 best cars and trucks of 2022.
cadillac ct4-v black wings
You may be thinking that the 472-hp ct4-v blackwing is merely a companion to the 668-hp ct5-v blackwing. this notion, although apparently logical, is quite wrong. Even those staff members who prefer the larger Blackwing admit that the smaller Blackwing is a spectacular car in its own right. Now, the opinion of the staff is not unanimous on the subject, but at the end of the top 10 tests, the true believers stood up to claim that the CT4-V Blackwing is the better sports sedan of the two. —tony quiroga
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cadillac ct5-v black wings
To the best of our knowledge, bettors in Las Vegas do not accept bets on the winners of our Top 10 list. But if they did, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing would probably have been a favorite. his stats are certainly impressive. alright, they’re awesome: a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that makes 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque and pays just over two tons of curb weight, a standard six-speed manual transmission, and the purity of the rear. -wheel transmission. —joe lorio
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chevrolet corvette
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we love performance. but we also love to save money. That’s why the Corvette’s appeal, its superpower, what sets it apart from the hundreds of other cars, trucks and SUVs on the market today that didn’t get the votes, is something we appreciate: It’s the best performance offering. But if you think the Corvette is more about the deal than the business of going fast, it’s flat out quicker on a challenging track than anything else on the list, even the lighter, driving Porsche Boxster and Cayman. purer. —dave vanderwerp
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ford bronco
For decades, Jeep Wrangler buyers have settled for less because that’s the way it had to be if you wanted an off-road SUV with a removable roof and doors. While it can be argued that much of the Jeep’s appeal lies in its old-fashioned charm, Ford’s new Bronco proves there’s a much better way. —joey capparella
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sling deal
the supervillains of everyday life lack pizzazz. The commute to work and the last-minute carpool don’t cause the same fear as the Joker or Dr. doom, but just like an evil conspiracy, dull driving or a crowded car can lead to creeping despair. The Honda Accord may look similar to other boring sedans, but driving it is a revelation. —elana scherr
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kia telluride
Every superhero needs someone to help them behind the scenes, someone as discreet as they are invaluable. he thinks of pepper shakers, alfred, and whoever keeps aquaman’s trident sharp. that’s the kia tellurium. It can’t tow a 787 or win the Baja 1000 or do a wheelie, and yet it’s probably the vehicle we recommend most often, simply because its all-around excellence enlivens the proletarian tasks of daily driving. This is the SUV that makes it all happen, happily. —ezra dyer
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porsche 718 boxster/cayman
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the special gift of the porsche 718 is speed. The 718 looks fast and it’s fast. blur the landscape quickly. effortlessly fast. Doubled fast, actually, because the 718 lineup consists of fraternal mid-engined twins, the boxster convertible and fixed-roof Cayman, both of which we honor here once again. his heroic performance has been passed down through four generations; Clearly, it’s in its DNA, which seems to come from a place only the engineers at Zuffenhausen know about and have access to. In the 25 years since the Boxster went on sale in the United States, it and the Cayman, which arrived from Planet Porsche in the 2006 model year, have won our 10Best award 23 times. —rich ceppos
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ram 1500
When it comes to hero worship, we tend to revere sports cars and sports sedans. but circumstances often demand the space and capacity of a van. For too long, living the truck life meant putting up with a jarring ride, an interior with old-world charm, and frequent $100 fill-ups. And then came the current Ram 1500. In 2009, the coil spring revolution of this century began, the one involving trucks, a change that meant that an uncomfortable ride was no longer a given in trucks. In recognition of the people who drive a truck every day, Ram outfitted the cabin with materials good enough for a luxury sedan. Equipped with four-wheel drive and the optional turbodiesel 3.0-liter V-6, the latest Ram gets better fuel economy EPA than the Kia Telluride. Even a four-wheel-drive 3.6-liter V-6 version can match the four-wheel-drive Telluride’s EPA numbers. —k.c. colwell
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subaru brz/toyota gr86
every hero has a weakness, and the original subaru brz and scion fr-s (later toyota 86) had two: power delivery and grip. The rear-wheel-drive chassis was sublime, but the tires offered all the traction of bowling shoes, and the 2.0-liter flat-four had a death-valley torque curve around 3000 rpm. but, as the presence of the toyobaru twins on this list should tell you, they fixed it. big time —ezra dyer
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volkswagen golf gti
can normality be a superpower? it seems unlikely, like a superhero forgoing a cape or choosing not to wear his underwear on the outside. But the greatest strength of the Volkswagen Golf GTI has always been that it does everyday life so well that it’s special. Long before the new eighth-generation car arrived, the GTI was one of our top 10 most awarded cars, often alongside a Jetta or Golf sibling. This marks its 16th appearance since 1983. It’s never been hard to see its appeal: a bona fide German performance car with an affordable price (the base figure of $30,540 qualifies by today’s overwrought market standards), plus practicality. five-seat, good fuel economy, and more cabin volume than some compact crossovers. —mike duff
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Top 10 Contenders of 2022: The Cars That Missed the Cut
acura mdx advance sh-awd • acura tlx type-s • audi q5 45 tfsi sportback • bmw m3 competition • bmw m4 coupe • bmw m440i coupe • ford bronco sport • ford f-150 powerboost • ford f-150 raptor • ford mustang mach 1 • ford mustang mach-e awd • genesis g70 3.3t launch edition • genesis gv70 3.5t sport prestige awd • genesis gv80 3.5t prestige awd • honda civic 1.5t touring sedan • honda civic hatchback • honda civic type- r limited edition • hyundai elantra hybrid limited • hyundai kona electric ultimate • hyundai kona n-line awd • hyundai santa cruz limited awd • hyundai sonata n-line • hyundai tucson hybrid limited awd • hyundai tucson limited awd • jeep compass high altitude 4×4 • jeep grand cherokee l overland 4×4 • jeep grand cherokee l summit reserve 4×4 • jeep grand wagoneer series ii 4×4 • jeep wagoneer series ii 4×4 • jeep wrangler 392 rubicon • jeep wrangler unlimited rubicon 4xe • kia carnival sx prestige • kia sorento hybrid ex • kia sorento x-line awd • kia stinger • la nd rov er defender 90 • lexus nx • mazda cx-5 signature awd • mitsubishi outlander 2.5 sel s-awc • nissan frontier pro-4x • nissan pathfinder • porsche cayenne e-hybrid coupe • porsche macan gts • porsche taycan pbp • toyota corolla cross • toyota sienna xse awd • toyota supra 3.0 premium • toyota venza limited • volkswagen golf r • volkswagen id.4 pro s • volkswagen id.4 pro s awd • volkswagen jetta gli • volkswagen jetta se • volkswagen taos 1.5l sel • recharge volvo xc40
