bowersan

The Auto Spies 2004 “A” List- The Best of 2004

Direct from this week's Autospies newsletter.

Here is our "A" list of vehicles, that impress us for 2004.


If you're going to purchase a car we recommend giving these choices serious consideration.

If the car you want isn't on this list, you may want to reconsider your purchase...

Acura TL- The best designed exterior in the class

Acura TSX- The best designed exterior in the class and quite a value for the money...Also, you don't have to wait nine months for a navigation system



J.

larchmont

Cool!

BTW -- How hard is it to make the "A" list -- like, how many cars are there? (And what other cars made it?)

bowersan

2004 Auto Spies Awards-Auto Spies 2004 “A” List
The best of the best for 2004

The Auto Spies 2004 “A” List- The Best of 2004

Here is our "A" list of vehicles, that impress us for 2004.


If you're going to purchase a car we recommend giving these choices serious consideration.

If the car you want isn't on this list, you may want to reconsider your purchase...

Toyota Sienna Limited- The first Lexus in Toyata skin

Nissan Quest- Beautiful interior design, kicks up the world of minivans a notch or two!

Acura TL- The best designed exterior in the class

Acura TSX- The best designed exterior in the class and quite a value for the money...Also, you don't have to wait nine months for a navigation system

Range Rover- The best SUV, period

Chevy Tahoe/Suburban Z71- Best value for the money (With the huge discounts and 0%) and the best looking and bst highway riding GM SUV

Infiniti FX35/45- What the X, ML and Cayenne should be and should be priced at...

Nissan Murano- Best value for the money and we would not be ashamed to pick this over other cars at $20K more

MB E55-We love the torque and 0-60.

MB SLR- No explanation needed

Cadillac SRX- Soon to be the best selling Cadillac

Nissan 350z- Better than a Boxster, Z4 and SLK for a lot less. And, it's better looking

Infiniti G35 sedan/coupe- Better than a Boxster, Z4, 350z and SLK for a lot less. And, it's better looking

Mini cooper S- A lot of cachet and a great diving car

Volvo S60R- A bargain 4-door M3

VW Touareg V8- Finished nicer than most SUV's and better looking than the Cayenne

Porsche Carrera C4S- The best affordable Porsche

Subaru Legacy- Sexy and great bang for the buck

Subaru WRX/STi- Fast, inexpensive and AWD

Bentley Continental GT- This puts them back in the game. The best looking coupe out there

Lamborghini Gallardo- The numbers don't lie

Audi A4 cabriolet- Beautiful and AWD

Audi S4- We'd pick it over an M3

BMW 3-series performance- The traditionalists Beemer

Cadillac CTS-V- Finally, a REALLY good car from Cadillac!

Ferrari Modena- An instant classic

MB SL500/55/65- The best looking convertible under $150K

MB CL55- Fast and luxurious!!!!

MB S55- The best large European sedan

Lexus LS430- They just keep perfecting it and the customer service is the best

Lexus LX470- The second best SUV

Lexus RX330- We had to put it on the list...There isn't a lady on earth who doesn't love it!
Maserati quattroporte- What can I say? It appeals to my Sicilian heritage

Nissan Maxima- A great sedan for the money and you'll get it cheaper than an Acura

Toyota Camry Solara- Great redesign...more timeless design than the Lexus SC430

VW Jetta Diesel wagon- When you need to go far for CHEAP and not look like a homer

Saab 9 3 sedan/convertible- A better Saab than ever

Nissan Pathfinder Armada- Look out Sequioa!

Infiniti QX56- Look out X, ML, Cayenne, GX, LX!

Nissan Titan- Nissan gets serious with this one

Ford F-150- Finally, a nice interior in an american truck

Volvo XC90- The SUV for the "Magna cum laude" set

Acura MDX- Still one of the best for the $

Carrera GT- You won't have to get used to this design!

bowersan

Auto Spies picks the "Most overrated vehicles" of 2004


Auto Spies picks the most overrated vehicles for 2004



You don't want to be on this list!



Cadillac Escalade- No better and not worth the price difference from a Chevy Tahoe Z71

MB C-class- A mediocre effort by MB at best

Porsche Cayenne S/Turbo- The dumbest and least attractive SUV made

Audi A8- About as edgy as a midwest county fair

Bentley Arnage- No better way to buy some depreciation

Entire Jaguar product line- The mercury of luxury cars

Mercedes-Benz SLK- Just about every company should re-think the offerings in this segment. We think they've lost their relevance

Rolls-Royce Phantom- The choice of the outgoing head of the NYSE

Maybach- If it was $50K more than an S-class, they would have hit a home run

Scion XA/XB- The "Official" car of Japanese undertakers?

VW Phaeton- A VW Quantum on steroids

Lincoln Navigator- On a scale of A to F, it's a "C"

Ford Expedition- One of the worst bumpy highway rides, you'll ever take. Unless you're driving an old one

Land Rover Discovery- The reason they don't make watches is because they haven't figured out how to make them leak yet!

Cadillac XLR- Better than the Allante and not a bad car, but we think there is very little market for an $75K american ragtop

larchmont

Thanks for the complete list, Bowersan!

OK, I see the deal -- It's like, everybody wins a prize.

These two things jumped out:

-- They single out TSX's exterior, of all things -- quite a change from all those reviews that loved everything except the "bland" styling.

-- They almost say the Maxima is a better buy than the TSX! -- "Great sedan for the money and you'll get it cheaper than an Acura."

jcg878

...and they call the Subaru Legacy sexy.

Not a bad looking car IMO, but sexy?? Such a word has never been used on a Subaru before, even by Paul Hogan or Lance Armstrong.

bowersan

"The colouration on that croc is amazing!! Its beauuuuuutiful."

J.

larchmont

And how about this one:

Mini cooper S- A lot of cachet and a great diving car

Gonna try and rent one on my next Caribbean vacation.

Brad

On the highway, the butt ugly SUV was ahead of me by about 1/8th a mile. It looked like a small model with grossly oversized plastic cladding bulging out near the wheel wells and bumper area. (For those who know Russian, it looked like a Cyrillic "D". )

I wondered if someone had out-done MisterBitchy's bulgy plastic SUVs, and the answer is a resounding YES. It looked like a small Toyota Forerunner with a fat donut around the bottom. Ugly Mama. Toyota Lexus 430 or something.

(Cyrillic doesn't work on this forum after I submit it.)

darth62

That list was pretty bad. The new Maxima is not particularly impressive (can you say torque steer?), for example.

adam fiooz

mini cooper will pretty much out handle any car on the road under 60 grand.its amazing!!

adam fiooz

Auto Spies is a joke.

jackspat2

http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...ighlight=fiooz

fookie

Even a e46 M3? A Corvette Z06? Audi S4? Volvo S60R? STi? Evo8? MB C32? ....

larchmont

I want this dude on my side.

Even though I do think the Mini's cool.

fookie

...thanks bro....I got your back

adam fiooz

Yes ive driven almost all of the cars you have listed and the mini is so small and low to the ground that it has amzing handles.

fdl

LOL ... This is my first nomination for post of the year.

fookie

Oh, BTW.....Playstation doesn't count as real test drives.....

teombe

I've driven an STi. Ain't no Mini outhandling a damn STi. Sorry, bud.

fdl

In all seriousness guys...the term "handling" is a little too general. On a very tight course with slow tight turns like....auto-x or something liek that...the mini will kick serious ass. better than an sti or m3? i dont know...but i wouldnt put it out of reach. But on a race circuit..we are talking about a different kind of handling..and I dont think there is any way a mini could keep up with the other cars mentioned (even if it was as fast). Anyways....the point being handling can mean different things so its hard to make a blanket statement.

fookie

i agree wholeheartedly.....i mean the mini cooper s is a wonderful car for what it is.....but to place the under $60k handling champ title on something like that is rediculous! under $25k maybe, but under $60k, you've got a world of options.

dnb

Sorry, Adam, but when I read the above phrase I immediately thought of the following.

fdl

LOL...adam was sitting in one of those only 8 years ago. Sitting in the mini brings back nice warm memories for him.

fookie

Hahaha!!!! I love the "pee-guard" feature!

dom

"It has amazing handles"



Thats the second unbelivable post from him in a week.

dnb

In all seriousness, though, I find Adam to be quite entertaining. His posts are very well-timed. One of my favorites got lost in the middle of the Automobile mag-related fracas.

larchmont

I think Adam's getting a bit of a bum rap here (does that phrase still exist???) -- I don't think his "Mini" assertion was outrageous, especially since "handling" can mean different things, as FDL said.

It sure is fun though.

jackspat2

dnb

Agreed; I think his comment regarding the Mini is understandable and defensible.

For a counterpoint, i.e., Adam at his head-scratching best, it's hard to beat this.

larchmont

This is becoming kind of an anthology, "The Best of Floozy."

Kind of like, "Sayings of Dan Quayle."

Or, for you other old-timers, "The Wit and Wisdom of Spiro Agnew."


Prediction: Adam Flooz someday will be Vice President of the United States.

jackspat2

Or Governor of California.



Whoops, did I say that?