First glance: What a dog

The Subaru Impreza WRX gets our Most Improved Player Award for 2009. The WRX was actually all-new for 2008 -- and it was good enough to earn a spot on the 2008 list -- but the reception from the public at large was lukewarm. As a result, Subaru has fortified the '09 WRX with a serious power boost (41 horsepower and 18 lb-ft of torque), a stiffer suspension, and new summer performance tires. End result: The WRX is more fun than ever, especially in the curves. The WRX is a loveable car that's gotten a whole lot more loveable for 2009.
Among car fans, the term "dog" has a negative connotation. If someone says a car is a real dog, they usually mean that it's slow, sluggish, unresponsive, or otherwise unwilling to do whatever it is that would please its human masters.
How this use of the word dog came about is beyond me. Most dogs are anything but slow, sluggish, unresponsive and unwilling. A well-trained, well-treated dog is a model of happiness. They even have a part of the body which serves no purpose other than to express satisfaction. Sure, all dogs have some bad habits. Some drool on the furniture. Others bark at the neighbor's kids. My own dog will occasionally poop on the living room floor to express her dissatisfaction with my absence. But for the most part, dogs are fur-covered vessels of positive energy. Their primary goal in life is to please their owners, and their secondary goals, if they have any -- like barking when things seem even slightly amiss -- can be incredibly utilitarian.
And that's why I say the Subaru Impreza WRX is a dog: It's well behaved, well trained, and seems to have been engineered for no other purpose than to please its owner. The WRX isn't the fastest car on the road. It isn't even the fastest Impreza -- that would be the 305 horsepower STI, an evil cat of a car if there ever was one. But the WRX is the real dog of the lineup -- man's (and woman's) best friend, wrought in metal, plastic and glass.

2009 Porsche 911 Carrera

The 911 Carrera isn't all-new for 2009, though it has been significantly updated: Revised styling, new engines and a new twin-clutch automatic transmission. It's the last item -- which Porsche calls PDK -- that brings it to this list. PDK is what a twin-clutch transmission ought to be. It provides near-instant upshifts and downshifts with absolutely no interruption in power, and I mean none -- PDK can downshift from 7th gear directly to 2nd without even the slightest jolt. It's a truly amazing transmission -- and the 911 has the power and the handling to really put it to good use. I still prefer my Porsches with three pedals, but the 911 PDK is the best automatic-transmission-equipped sports car I've ever driven.
I just recently posted my 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera test drive, in which I gave you an earful (eyeful?) of how wonderful the 911 Carrera is. There are a lot of changes afoot for 2009, so I'll skip my usual drooling and get right to the nitty-gritty.
Inside the 2009 911, you'll find a new stereo with in-dash CD changer (finally! Last year's changer was in the trunk), Bluetooth phone compatibility, full (and extremely well-executed) iPod integration, and a new navigation system with a touch screen in place of last year's buttons. But that isn't the big news.
2009 Carreras get all-new engines with direct fuel injection. Though the engines entirely new, displacement is unchanged from last year; the Carrera's 3.6 liter flat-6 puts out 345 horsepower, up 20 from last year, while the Carrera S' 3.8 is up 30 hp to 385. But that isn't the big news, either.
No, the big news is Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe -- PDK to its friends -- which is Porsche's new 7-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission. Similar in operation to Volkswagen/Audi's DSG (explained in detail here), PDK is the best twin-clutch I've driven. Stomp the pedal and the transmission goes from 7th gear to 2nd in the blink of an eye -- and with no surge, no lurch, absolutely no interruption in power. Truly amazing. PDK can be shifted manually with steering-wheel buttons or the shift lever, but with two sport modes you can let the transmission pick the gears and never be left wanting for power. PDK is expensive ($4,080) but worth it for the performance it delivers. For purists, Porsche still offers a 6-speed manual.
Touch-screen nav, Bluetooth, iPod and in-dash CD player were much-needed updates, and the PDK transmission is a huge leap forward. The 911 Carrera is better than ever, and I'm disappointed -- not in the 911, but in the fact that I can't afford one. -- Aaron Gold

First Glance: My forbidden love

The diesel-powered car is one of those great ideas that Americans just haven't latched onto yet -- but the VW Jetta TDI is certainly doing its part to help. Its all-new 2-liter turbodiesel engine produces near-hybrid fuel economy with stronger acceleration and less electro-mechanical complexity, plus it runs on low-sulfur "clean" diesel fuel and meets 50-state emissions standards without the need for any sort of AdBlue-type fluid. VW has wrapped this engine it in the Jetta, one of my favorite family sedans. Thanks to a $1,300 federal tax credit, the Jetta TDI actually costs less than a comparably-equipped gasoline-powered Jetta -- and it gets double the fuel economy.
Telling car fans that you like diesels is a bit like telling football fans that you like watching men in tight clothing jump all over each other. Even so, I will freely admit that I am a huge fan of diesel cars like the Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Why do I love diesels? Because they keep their promises: Decent power, outstanding fuel economy, and eternal longevity. Contrast that to hybrids, with all the accompanying debate about real world fuel economy vs. EPA estimates, hypermiling, battery life and recyclability, etc., etc., etc. Diesels are simple: Drive all day, get great fuel economy. Repeat the next day, and the next, and the next, and onwards for the next two or three hundred thousand miles.
For those unfamiliar with diesel cars, the Volkswagen Jetta TDI almost sounds too good to be true. According to Volkswagen, the Jetta TDI is quicker to 60 MPH than a gasoline-powered Jetta, plus it's 50% more fuel-efficient and (when comparably equipped) costs just $1300 more. My real-world test drive experience shows that isn't entirely true: The Jetta TDI is closer to 100% more fuel-efficient as the gas-powered Jetta, and thanks to the Advanced Lean Burn Technology Tax Credit, the TDI actually costs as much as $550 less than a similarly-equipped gas-powered Jetta.
"Yeah, but who wants to drive a diesel?" If that's what you're thinking, stop reading now, head on down to your local Volkswagen dealership, and take a test drive. I've been a member of the diesel cheering section for years, and even I was pleasantly surprised by the Jetta TDI.

First Glance: Pontiac gets the better deal

There are a lot of reasons to love the Pontiac Vibe. First, it's versatile, with a tall, roomy interior, mini-wagon body, and a hard-plastic-lined cargo bay. Second, it's safe -- all versions of the Vibe have electronic stability control as standard, and all-wheel-drive is optional. And third, it's a Toyota. Okay, it's not actually a Toyota -- the Pontiac Vibe is a joint collaboration between Toyota and General Motors, but the mechanical bits are Toyota-sourced and the car is built at the joint GM-Toyota NUMMI plant in California, which has been turning out high-quality cars (including the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma pickup) for over twenty years. Toyota has their own version -- the also-new-for-2009 Matrix -- but the Pontiac Vibe is better.
The all-new 2009 Pontiac Vibe is the latest product of General Motors' 20+ year joint venture with Japanese automaker Toyota. Like the first-generation Vibe, which made its debut in 2002 as a 2003 model, the new Vibe is mechanically identical to Toyota's Matrix. Both cars are based on Toyota's compact Corolla platform and both use Toyota-sourced engines. The Vibe is built alongside other Toyotas at GM/Toyota's NUMMI plant in California. (The Matrix is built in Canada.)
Like the original Vibe, the new car is differentiated from its Toyota-branded cousin primarily by styling. This time, Toyota and Pontiac tried to further separate the two cars visually, and I think Pontiac got the better end of the deal -- I prefer the Vibe's smooth, simple lines to the awkward angles of the Matrix. The Vibe lacks the wrap-around rear glass and small rear-side windows of the Matrix, which makes for a good-sized blind spot (link goes to photo) over the driver's right shoulder, but this doesn't present any real-world difficulties thanks to the Vibe's big side-view mirrors.
Pontiac offers the Vibe in three models: Base, AWD (all-wheel-drive), and GT. All come with six airbags, antilock brakes and electronic stability control as standard, though must-haves like power windows and locks are optional on the Base and AWD models, while air conditioning is a $950 option on the Base. These goodies come standard on the sport-themed Vibe GT, which also gets leather-trimmed seats, Monsoon stereo, 18" alloy wheels and unique front-end styling.