Gadgetory

I check out a lot of new cars every year about a hundred that we shoot here it's seen that almost that many of the world's big auto shows but if you think I look at everyone and want it you're very wrong I'm Brian Cooley with the top five well really the only five cars that I shot in 2011 that I ever looked into buying for myself number five the Ford Transit Connect yeah I see you there looking at me like I have two heads but I love the idea of a stand up height van that isn't some huge ponderous pain-in-the-ass to drive and keep fueled it's based on the Ford Focus so things begin economical and stay that way it has basically no tech which is fine by me in something like this I've got a smart phone a window mount and an aux cable we're good let's go haul some stuff number four was another Ford the Mustang GT I would have ranked it higher if it was the model with the v6 which I think is the sweet spot of the Mustang line since that's a powertrain you can actually drive it 7/10 in the real world unlike this affordable v8 monster which has a superb new 5 liter engine one of the best interiors in the US car business great lines I think and Ford Sync though the interface on that needs a refresh number 3 the Kia Optima this is actually my go-to car right now all this year really when anyone asks me what car they should buy it has handsome lines courtesy of ex outtie designer Peter Schreyer an interior no car in this price class has a right to offer plentiful and usable center stack technology and real responsive drivability which is often overlooked in favor of performance stuff like horsepower and zero-to-sixty stuff that you don't really care about number two the Fiat 500c now I'm a Fiat partisan from way back as you may know but that notwithstanding I love how the Fiat leads that brands return to the US with stylish looks a great modern version of the old retro ragtop quit tech and fun if underpowered drivability and all that under 20 grand for a convertible step up to the more powerful a Barth version will be testing soon and this cars story comes full circle before I get you to the number one car that I thought about for me this year here are the three cars that I recall hating without having to even look back at my notes the MINI Countryman it costs too much the shtick is tired and the one they sent us died and had to be hauled away the smart fortwo I had such high hopes for this little piece of crap but Mercedes is going to relaunch it in 2012 and I think it has about one more chance to come up a winner and the Volkswagen Eos first car we ever rebadged enough said okay the number one car I configured and penciled out for myself in a long lovely what-if was the 911 Carrera GTS believe me I'm as allergic to the whole 911 cliche as I bet you are and they even sent us a yellow one gasps but on the road the GTS reminds you why this car is a classic it's maybe the only car this year maybe in the history of CNET Car Tech that I can say feels like an extension of the driver and keep a straight face it's light it's responsive it's built like an ingot of steel but it's got serious power right now power but it's totally livable day to day lots of tech yes but they still trail BMW and Audi in that respect but that isn't the point no car I drove all of 2011 succeeded so well at delivering what it's set out to do okay you can find all my car videos including those of cars you love and I don't at CNET tv.com just pull down car tech under the tech shows tab and find more top 5s like this at top-five cnet.com i'm brian coulis thanks for watching you