2000 Bentley Continental T

The real beauty of this car is its simplicity. Simplicity? Yes, relatively so with its gutsy V-8, six-speed manual, and live rear axle. But all three work with a remarkable level of polish. Indeed, the SLP-tuned Firehawk, which can be ordered directly from a Pontiac dealer, proved far more than a great motor in search of a chassis. It soared though the slalom test at a crisp 66.0 mph and pulled a strong 0.89 on the skidpad. In fact, if the road is smooth, high-speed long-distance driving is downright comfortable.

That's right, the Firehawk doesn't beat you up like Detroit's performance cars of yore. But it does step on expansion joints and pot holes with an authoritative thunk from the meaty P275/40ZR17 Firestones and heavy-duty live axle. Still, what these underpinnings give up in ride quiet and rolling refinement they more than make up for with neck-straining grip on long sweepers and exit ramps. And piloted smoothly, this is a rewarding car to push hard on twisting blacktop.

And that gets us back to its fabulously torquey, all-American V-8. I love dropping the hammer on an entrance ramp for a swooping, effortless merge. Thank the LS1's 345 honking pound-feet of tread-blistering torque. Any car that'll jump to 60 in 5.3 seconds is way good with me. Helping to secure the hot numbers is a stout Borg-Warner T-56 six-speed manual transmission, which sounds a bit gear noisy at lower speeds, but its clutch action is linear with reasonable pedal-spring effort, and the shift lever slips in and out of the gates with just a finger flick.

People we surveyed loved or hated the Trans Am Firehawk styling. Call its fender lines arrogantly graceful. Call its ported hood bulges bombastic. The bottom line is that it sure is hard to travel unnoticed. So we stayed out of the fastlane and often slid discreetly into the center of a fast-moving covey of sedate sedans. Stealthy it is not. Fast and fun it most certainly is. And that's what a musclecar is all about.
-Jack Keebler

{{{Chevrolet Corvette}}} hardtop 350 lb/ft @ 4400 rpm
Tire-smoking, sideways-driving fun for under $40,000
Corvettes were never designed to be people movers. They were designed to be fun-to-drive, all-American sports cars that can lay a patch of rubber longer than the buffet line at a cheap Vegas hotel. One of the biggest pleasures in life is jumping into a Vette and doing a big, smoky burnout. Every new Vette owner should try it at least once. Switch off the Electronic Traction Control, mash the throttle to the floor, and hang on. Do this in an automatic-equipped Vette and the initial lunge of torque feels strong enough to induce whiplash.

All fifth-generation Vettes feature world-class electronics, near-perfect suspension, and a rigid structure made possible by the twin, hydroformed side rails. However, none of this matters when it comes to peeling out from a stop light like a crazed teenager. The tire-twisting force is made possible by the 350 pound-feet of torque produced by one of the best OHV V-8 powerplants in the world-Chevrolet's 5.7-liter LS1. Even though the new design and its predecessor, the LT4, share very little in the way of actual hardware, the LS1 is an extension of previous Chevy small-block V-8s. Everything from the deep-skirted block to the lightweight pistons to the high-flowing aluminum cylinder heads were designed to fix the flaws suffered by previous engines. The stiffer block reduces flex, noise, and vibration. The lightweight pistons allow the engine to rev faster and higher. The cylinder heads provide for better combustion, which leads to more power and lower emissions. When assembled with other trick bits like a composite intake manifold and dual-wall exhaust manifolds, the engine cranks out a fiery 345 horsepower at 5600 rpm and 350 pound-feet of twist at 4400 revs. Even out of the gate, the LS1 makes 300 pound-feet at just 1500 rpm for a torque curve that's flat and wide.