The 2019 Best Driver’s Car Rankings

One of the hardest tasks the judges face every year at Best Driver’s Car is ranking the contenders—not just naming the winner, but determining the rest of the finishing order from second- to last-place. With so many worthy contenders, the 2019 Best Driver’s Car field was one of the toughest we’ve had to rank yet. Keep reading to find out where our 12 competitors landed in the rankings.

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Say what? We can only review the vehicle we drive. And this early fifth-gen Supra still needs some development work. Rear-end oscillations, nervous steering, and overactive stability control. On a velvet-smooth road, the Supra has great power and predictability, but the rigors of Highway 198 sussed out this car’s flaws. Still needs work.

An absolute hoot when blasting exhaust notes with your friends, doing stoplight-to-stoplight drags, impressing/appalling neighbors with apocalyptic burnouts, and driving a sweeping country road at 70 percent. But ask it to lay waste to a racetrack or take a narrow twisty road at full chat, and the Challenger is found wanting.

The Bimmer delivers a great engine note, it drives small for a big car, and it has fantastic predictability around Laguna Seca. But its steering feel is distant and synthetic, the suspension sometimes struggles to keep pace with the engine’s performance, and the agility afforded by the rear-steer system makes the back end twitchy.

A supercar that can haul your friends, their stuff, and a couple cases of wine. Nothing this big and heavy should corner like this; the Urus’ body control almost defies the laws of physics. Perfect shift timing, every time, saves the (relatively speaking) down-on-power Lambo. Plus, loads of drama and street presence.

The best thing about this beefy Bentley was Porsche developing the chassis. And engine. And transmission. So silent, so controlled, so competent, so nondramatic yet fun. The shock and awe isn’t how fast you’re going but the calm inside the cabin. But the design is staid when parked next to the Aston.

Ludicrously powerful, spellbinding to look at, slightly scary at full flight, and capable of giving you goose bumps even at 5 mph. The explosion of power off corners is nothing short of lyrical, majestic, and exhilarating. Deserves a much better gearbox, traction control software that listens, more rear tire, sharper brakes at the limit, and fewer plastic bits inside.

A four-door that genuinely feels like a sports car, the AMG is clinical and technically competent. A snarling linebacker of a sedan. Launches like a beast with measured body control that makes it feel like you’re flowing through the corners. Although it’s  fast and capable, it’s nervously braked, flatly designed, and frankly not very engaging.

The fastest-ever street car around Laguna Seca left us breathless. It’s a driving epiphany. Insane downforce guarantees you’ll hit the brakes too early. Daily life with this function-over-form supercar would be hell: It’s temperamental and has an uninspiring around-town engine note and rickety ride.

So focused, so mental, and so much torque, straight to the pavement. Superb brake feel and power. As stiff and darty as a go-kart, ready to dive for the apex the moment you breathe the steering off-center. There’s zero slop to cover mistakes. However, this self-professed track car didn’t really justify its tag on the circuit. Interior is dated, too.

Frolicky, pointy, planted, and confident, this is the perfect first-timer’s track car. You can tailor throttle response, shift firmness, and steering feel. The Bimmer prefers fast sweepers to tight twisties, but it can live all day at the on-limit nirvana. It’s down on power compared to the competition, and it’s oddly slower than the Supra at Laguna Seca.

It feels glued to the road, absolutely predictable, and that fabulous V-8 revs forever. Brakes have great bite and stopping power with zero fade. Starchy suspension returns a lot of vertical motion but never at the expense of grip. Be ready for heavy steering and skinny seats, but it’s still one of the finest driver’s cars on the planet. A fantastic value.

… And the winner is …