There's a reason Ford didn't call their new small car the "Bummer." OK, there are probably several. But the one that makes the most sense: the 2011 Fiesta is actually a blast to drive. After beating on the manual-equipped five-speed hatchback like a piñata for three days, I can say that.

Unlike most of the rides that come through the Maxim Garage, the Fiesta's kicks don't come from raw power. Its feisty 1.6-liter inline-4 engine puts out 120hp: enough to collect a stack of school-zone speeding tickets, sure; not always enough to pull off harrowing high-speed passes on a two-lane highway (tried it).

It’s the handling. Without being rattle-your-teeth jarring, the thing’s stiffer than Ben Stein at a Juggalo gathering. The Fiesta’s steering feels almost predictive. Squirting through city traffic even becomes fun. It’s flat in the corners. And unlike its main competitor, the nearly-great Honda Fit, at highway speeds, the Fiesta doesn’t blow all over the road or suffer from ragged wind noise.

Even if its sculpted-space-egg styling doesn’t draw you in, you’ll immediately dig the available voice-operated SYNC infotainment system, the 40+mpg highway fuel mileage, and a surprising amount of usable space. We even packed three grown women in the backseat on a three-hour drive (hey, it's Maxim!), and heard no complaints.

Overall, the Fiesta’s a soulful little econobox, and lives up to its high expectations (it’s been available since 2008 in Europe, where it’s the best selling car). Now Ford: when will you put Ken Block’s 800hp rally version into production? We’re holding out for that.

THE GOOD: Driving dynamics to make even milk runs fun.
THE BAD: A cockpit with more plasticky parts than Heidi Montag.
BOTTOM LINE: It's a party in the U.S.A.!

We'd do almost anything to pocket the keys to these dream rides.

1. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
The lowdown: With its stretched hood, Merc’s front-engined supercar boasts a phallic look but near-perfect weight balance on the track. The SLS actually looks most badass at 0 mph, when its gull-wing doors open towards the sky.
Supercar secret: If you accidentally flip it over, explosive charges hidden in the hinges will literally blow the doors off the car.
Spec check:
Price: $200,000
Engine: DOHC 32-valve V-8
Horsepower: 563
0-60 mph: 3.5

2. Porsche 911 GT2 RS
The lowdown: In October, 500 lucky assholes will drive away with the most powerful production Porsche ever made, a lighter, tighter, track-ified version of the 911 Turbo. Even God can’t figure out how they’re getting 620hp out of a six-cylinder engine.
Supercar secret: Porsche ignitions have been placed to the left of the wheel since the ‘30s so that race drivers could more quickly put the car into first gear.
Spec check:
Price: $245,000
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter six-cylinder boxer
Horsepower: 620
0-60 mph: 4.4 sec

3. Corvette ZR1
The lowdown: This is THE all-American supercar, a blunt, fire-breathing beast that boasts Ferrari-beating figures at a fraction of the price. Its supercharged V-8 emits a heavy metal soundtrack that’s damn near perfect, and at 200mph, you don’t even notice the plasticky interior.
Supercar secret: The ZR-1’s clearcoat paint finish costs nearly $2000 a gallon.
Spec check:
Price: $106,000
Engine: supercharged, pushrod 16-valve V-8
Horsepower: 638
0-60 mph: 3.4 sec

4. Lexus LFA
The lowdown: For years, Lexus has churned out ultra-quiet, conservative rides—until blowing out the garage doors with the LFA, a stratospheric ride built around a V-10 assembled in Toyota’s F1 engine plant. Instead of gauges, its dashboard uses LCD projections.
Supercar secret: Lexus got some help tuning the LFA’s exhaust note from musical engineers at Yamaha. Yeah, the same guys that made your tuba!
Spec check:
Price: $350,000
Engine: DOHC 40-valve V-10
Horsepower: 553
0-60 mph: 3.5 sec

5. Aston-Martin Rapide
The lowdown: Simply put, this is the sexiest four door ride on the planet. Since the Rapide’s backseat is actually useable, you can pack three friends inside and scare the shit out of them in a white knuckle ride at 188mph.
Supercar secret: While other Le Mans racecars have single or double digit entry numbers, Aston-Martin’s cars wear the numbers 007, 008, and 009 as an homage to James Bond.
Spec check:
Price: $200,000
Engine: DOHC 48-valve V-12
Horsepower: 470
0-60 mph: 4.7 sec

6. 2011 Ford Shelby GT500
The lowdown: This is the ultimate new-school muscle car, a tire-killing smoke machine that, thanks to a boatload of engineering upgrades, can slay ‘em in the twisties too. And that sound—we’re inclined to agree with Jeremy Clarkson, who once called the Mustang’s engine note the “roar of God.”
Supercar secret: Ford engineers dropped over a hundred pounds off the 2011 GT500’s weight by casting it in aluminum instead of iron.
Spec check:
Price: $48,175
Engine: supercharged DOHC 32-valve V-8
Horsepower: 540
0-60 mph: 4.6 sec

7. Nissan GT-R
The lowdown: Godzilla arrived on American shores in 2008, a Japanese supercar that pairs epic performance with tons of driver-friendly digital smarts. Even if you suck at the go-kart track, you can slay ‘em in the GT-R, thanks to its unfailing grip and an idiot-proof seven-speed paddle-shifted transmission.
Supercar secret: The GT-R has videogame roots: its digital interface was designed in part by Polyphony Digital, who also worked on PS3’s Gran Turismo.
Spec check:
Price: $85,060
Engine: Twin turbocharged 3.8-liter DOHC V-6
Horsepower: 480
0-60 mph: 3.2 sec

8. Audi R8 5.2
The lowdown: This stealthy supercar gets a heart transplant for 2010, as Audi is borrowing corporate partner Lamborghini’s V10 powerplant to make the R8 even super-er for those who check the “upgrade” box. Thankfully, the awesomely-named carbon fiber “sideblades” remain unchanged.
Supercar secret: What Aston-Martin is to Bond, Audi is to Tony Stark. Yep, that’s an R8 Spyder Iron Man is driving in this summer’s sequel.
Spec check:
Price: $162,500
Engine: DOHC 40-valve V-10
Horsepower: 525
0-60 mph: 3.7 sec

9. Ferrari 458 Italia
The lowdown: The latest prancing pony in the Maranello stable is a mid-engined beauty with a cabin that takes design cues from the F-16. It boasts a ton of tech smarts kicked down from Ferrari’s F1 team, including a dual-clutch automatic transmission that upshifts in an insane .4 seconds. We like.
Supercar secret: Like its rival Lamborghini, Ferrari has pretty much stopped making manual gearboxes. You can’t get one on the 458.
Spec check:
Price: $226,000
Engine: DOHC 32-valve V-8
Horsepower: 562
0-60 mph: 3.3 sec

10. Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera
The lowdown: Lambo’s new track star is a hard-handling version of the almighty Gallardo, stiffer and lighter and filled with carbon fiber everything. Superleggera means “ultra light” in Italian, and that’s what your wallet will feel like after you’ve sprung for one. You won’t care. It’s that fun.
Supercar secret: Cup holders aren’t an option for the Superleggera, and if you ask for them, armed guards will escort you out of the dealership.
Spec check:
Price: $237,600
Engine: DOHC 40-valve V-10
Horsepower: 562
0-60 mph: 3.4 sec

SPEC CHECK
Porsche 2010 911 Turbo Coupe

Price: $132,800
Engine: 3.8-liter flat six
Torque: 516 lb.-ft. at 5,000 rpm
Horsepower: 500
0–60: 3.2 seconds

When I e-mail my gearhead pal Jason to tell him I’m test-driving a 2010 911 Turbo Coupe, this is the terse reply I receive: “New ones are sick but way too automated. I want a real sports car.” Dude is still surly because he recently wrapped his notoriously tough-to-pilot ’86 911 Turbo around a tree. But I catch his drift: If you get your kicks reining in wild road beasts, the new Porsche flagship isn’t for you. It’s just too damn easy. Now 36 years in production, the rear-engine design’s kinks and quirks have been ironed out with digital smarts. On my two-day joyride over rain-soaked Portuguese roads, the seven-speed floppy-paddle auto gearbox made calling up the revs instant and effortless; an idiotproof launch-control program produced simple three-second jaunts to 60 mph, and tech tweaks like torque vectoring allowed me to careen inches away from rocky coastal walls with zero drama. So all that digital stuff my buddy hates? It made this driver feel like Jimmie Johnson out there. And it might have helped Jason keep his 911 on the road, too—if only they had this stuff in 1986.

You’re a Harley guy. How many you got?

I have a couple in the garage right now. This Cross Bones Softail is my laid-back kind of bike—it’s a relaxed cruiser. And I have an all-black Night Rod I zip around on for shorter rides.

Is it a family thing?

Hell, yeah. My dad and stepdad both ride. They’re in Seattle, but whenever they come down we ride the PCH and up and down Malibu or Topanga canyons.

How’d you get hooked?

There’s just something about getting up in the morning and getting on my bike and heading off with no real destination in mind. I spend enough time in my own head. When I get on a bike, I get out of that space. It’s a good deal.

Do you ever ride with other actors?

Nope. But back in the day I did ride with my dog, a Rottweiler mix. She would ride on my legs and put her head on my arm or on the handlebar and fall asleep. Not these days! I need a bike with a sidecar for that.

Do people recognize you when you’re riding the bike?

Yeah. And when this story comes out I won’t be able to wear my sparkly orange helmet anymore, man, that’s for sure!

Ever get to ride on-screen?

No, I’m still waiting to land that role! But while we filmed The Losers, there was a Ducati on set that one of the other actors rode. In between every setup, I would take off on the thing. Everybody was like, “Where’d Jeff go? Shit! We left the Ducati out! He’s gone!” I’d be out cruising all over Puerto Rico.

Check out Jeffrey Dean Morgan's collection of Harleys in his Maxim video.

The Losers hits theaters April 23.

Think about the station wagon, and Clark Griswold's huffing, puffing, wood paneled beast comes to mind. Us 'murcans don't associate station wagons with cool. Take a wheel of the CTS Sport Wagon, though, like I did last weekend, and you'll think, why not?

Out on the road, it gets the looks. Not many people movers manage to grab eyeballs, but during my test drive, I got a bunch of double takes. (I confess not all of them were from the hot moms I was hoping for.) I'm sure the gawkers were probably just reflecting on the Sport Wagon's added sheet metal in the rear, which makes it an even better expression of Caddy's angular, cuts-and-curves design language than the CTS sedan that it's based on. I'm sure that's what they were thinking. 

I drove the six-speed automatic, which is mated to a 304-hp V6. Even packed with four adults, the Sport Wagon had enough kick to freak out my passengers during a high speed run down Manhattan's West Side Highway. Grabby Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 summer tires, a stiff suspension, and even weight distribution (51% up front, 49% in back) all help make it a surprisingly thrilling drive.

Inside, there's tons of room for sexy fun. Ninety-eight cubic feet of passenger space to be exact. Lots of hand sewn leather. Seats that fold flat. Dimmable LED lighting. Just saying. 

My only beef with the Sport Wagon is a byproduct of the CTS's aggressive design: both the high beltline and the massive D-pillars in back limit your visibility from the driver's seat, though it's nothing like the slim gun-turret view you get in a Camaro.  

Radical dads might want to wait til next year to pull the trigger. Cadillac will launch a "V" series performance version of the Sport Wagon, powered by a 556-hp supercharged V-8. Put Clark Griswold in one and he'd be right on pace with Christy Brinkley's Ferrari. Awesome.

In the simplest terms, BMW’s new sexily named “Grand Turismo” is a hatchback. But it is no budget hauler, as most of those tend to be, nor is it a gnarly hot hatch in which you could trash roads like Travis Pastrana. The 550i GT is a space wagon, a tech-loaded long hauler that provides a posh ride but unleashes a powerful kick on command. Buy one if you’re a classy dude with bank to burn and kids to drive to soccer practice at 130 mph…and there’s no way you’d be caught in a clearly less-cool crossover.

The 550i GT is a rear-drive BMW, so of course the driving dynamics are dialed in. Right out of the driveway it’s clear that this is one connected ride, with steering that’s predictive and a road feel that’s direct. A super-smooth 8-speed automatic is paired to the twin turbo’d V8, and on the open road the thing’s downright athletic. 100 mph arrives startlingly easy.

The exterior design? It’s not a wagon, it’s not an SUV or a crossover. It’s a…thing. We kind of like its look, actually, less staid than a sedan, and definitely cooler looking than recent “it’s-not-quite-a-wagon” attempts by other manufacturers (see the Honda Accord Crosstour.)

What’s really cool about the 550i GT is its total embrace of technology. Its console is stacked with digital smarts that are crap-your-pants cool. Here are just two of 'em:

We hope this gets kicked down to other cars, soon: the 550i GT’s heads up display. Chevy has had a pretty simplified version of heads-up on the Corvette for years, but BMW’s system takes the idea a step further, by blasting not only your current speed up on the windshield (only the driver can see it), but any upcoming turns—with street names and distances—if you’ve got a destination locked in on your GPS (see photo). That feature is really helpful if you’re navigating a complex web of interchanges in the midst of high-speed traffic (read: driving in any of NYC’s outer boroughs), since it prevents you from having to take your eyes off both the road and the asshole darting in from the slow lane to cut you off.

And a cool option on the 550i GT that probably won’t catch on for quite a while: night vision. A camera mounted at the front of the car uses thermal imaging to ID humans and animals in your path, from as far as 900 feet out, and live video is displayed on the center console (see photo). The idea here is that if you’re driving out in the countryside and an animal (or wayward drunk) stumbles into your path, the system will alert you (via heads up display) so you have time to pull over and shoot them. I think.    

In the city, stuff like night vision’s not as useful (X-Ray vision, on the other hand, would be very, er, useful). But half the point of this bleeding edge tech is the fact that you can wow your neighbors with it. Or your dates. And if you don’t have dates, the teenager that’s helping you haul groceries back to your sweet, under-the-radar ride.

Most car manufacturers have taken their SUVS “crossover,” instilling them with car-like driving manners (and car-like mpg’s) while crafting them with curves softer than a bar of Ivory melting in the bathtub. But the new LR4, Land Rover’s entry-level five seat SUV, sets itself apart with a defiantly squared-off design and even more defiantly truck-like road manners. In design and performance, the LR4 is refreshingly rugged.

Given the opportunity to take one for a spin on a January weekend, I set out from Manhattan to World’s End State Park in Northeast Pennsylvania, a nearly 200-mile drive over sleet, snow, and rain-slicked highways. The LR4’s clubby wood and leather interior—along with heated seats and a heated wheel—made me feel far removed from the awful weather. Or maybe it was from playing “Margaritaville” on repeat. (I’m kidding.)

Regardless, driving the LR4 is a guilty pleasure. The view from the high-up driver’s seat is commanding, and opening up the throttle of its 5.0-liter V-8 unleashes a satisfying jolt. That 375-hp, 375 lb.-ft of torque-producing powerplant—and some pretty good brakes—make it easy to forget that you’re piloting a nearly-6,000lb monster.

What makes you remember, though, is a trip to the gas station. The LR4 goes through gasoline like the Jersey Shore’s Pauly D goes through hair gel. It’s rated at 12city/17hwy, or a combined 14mpg. I had to fill up just 250 miles into the trip. That fuel economy is pretty dismal, but then again, those who have the bennies to buy this nearly $60K ride are likely numb to any pain at the pump.

One place LR4 drivers won’t feel any pain: off the beaten track. While a majority of the British-built brutes won’t leave the pavement, Land Rover has maintained a serious commitment to building beastly off-road capabilities into its vehicles. The LR4’s can be dialed up with its terrain response system, a switch that adjusts the chassis, throttle response, and drivetrain to suit grass/gravel/snow, sand, mud, ruts, and rocks when you’re off the highway. I kept the LR4’s terrain response system on its “snow” setting for much of the weekend, and drove with confidence, but I surely didn’t come close to approaching the vehicle’s off road limits. (There are driving schools to teach you how to do that.) Some of the LR4’s underpinnings are even waterproof. You know, for when you have to ford a creek on the way to work.

A couple of weeks after my visit to World’s End (pictured above), melted snowpack wreaked havoc on the park, destroying roads and bridges in a flash flood (nobody was hurt.) I’ll admit I have a perverse wish that I was there during the flood—I’m sure the LR4 would have got us out of that mess just fine.

SPEC CHECK
2010 Land Rover LR4
Price: from $47,250
Engine: 5.0-liter V-8
Torque: 375 lb.-ft @ 3,500rpm
Horsepower: 375
0-60: 7.5 seconds

When VW invited a bunch of U.K. car club enthusiasts to test out their new Golf GTI Mk6 last year, the company also surprised the attendees with an appearance by drift-parking Guinness World Record holder (hey, it's real certification) Russ Swift to show off the auto's handling capabilities. We're pretty sure there were some sweaty VW execs present when they saw just how close Swift was taking some of these sharp turns...