Chevy Malibu — The car that proves Detroit can slay the import dragon. My personal pick for “Car Of The Year.”

Best Family Sedans? The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord consistently battle for the top selling — and stolen — spot. There’s a reason for that. But don’t make the mistake of overlooking the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan or Lincoln MKX, depending on your preferred level of luxury. Also consider the Nissan Altima, Ford Taurus and sibling Mercury Sable. For a lot less money, check out the Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata. But my new favorite in this group is the all-new Chevy Malibu.

Best Luxury Sedans? Mercedes E550, Lexus LS600h, Infiniti Q45, Volvo S80, Cadillac DTS, and my old favorite, the Jaguar XJ. However, I’m looking forward to driving the new Jag XF, which wasn’t available at presstime. For way less money, and a lesser, but acceptable, level of luxury, check out the Kia Amanti and Hyundai Azera.

Best Performance Sports Sedans? There are so many good ones it’s hard to choose because the nuances are so subtle, and it’s often as much about personal style as performance. In the compact class it’s easily the Subaru WRX STI, Acura TL and TSX and BMW 3-Series. But the absolute baddest of the bad is hands down, the redesigned Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Mid-size sedans include the Infiniti G35 and G35X Lexus IS350, Cadillac CTS-V, Volvo S60R, Jaguar S-Type-R, Audi A6, and the Acura RL. Among the very best in the large luxury/performance category in my opinion, are the Mercedes S600, Audi A8, and based on my own personal sense of style, as well as all-around comfort and performance I’m particularly fond of the medium-sized Infiniti M35X and full-size Jaguar XJR.

Best SUVs? This is perhaps the most competitive market segment of all, with lots of choices in all price ranges and sizes — with more in the pipeline. There is also a distinction between crossover SUVs — those built on automobile platforms with no low-range gearing — and true, truck-based body-on-frame SUVs, where the choices narrow considerably.

Nissan Titan. My personal choice for the best full-size pickup. A confimed Ford man my entire life, I liked the Titan so much, I bought one.

In the mid-size crossover range, my winners include the Ford Edge, Mazda CX7, Toyota Highlander (also available as a hybrid), Honda Pilot, Subaru Outback, Acura RDX, and the redesigned Volvo XC70. I’m also looking forward to driving the new Volvo XC60 and Kia Borrego.

At the luxury crossover level, my first choice remains the Volvo XC90, which won SUV of the Year honors hands down at Mudfest three years running and its class every year since. It’s still being recognized by auto writers everywhere as one of the best all-around SUVs in terms of luxury, performance, everyday utility, drivability and value. Honorable mentions: the Mercedes GL Class, Acura MDX. VW Touareg, Lexus RX400 and RX400h and Infiniti FX35 and 45.

Body–On-Frame SUVs: In the small body-on-frame class, it’s the Nissan Xterra, hands down. In the mid-sized range it’s easily the Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Land Rover LR3, Hummer H3, and Porsche Cayenne. But my personal favorite in this group continues to be the Toyota FJ Cruiser.

Best Full-size body-on-frame SUVs? Hummer H2, Nissan Armada. Infiniti Q56, GMC Denali and its siblings, the Chevy Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade, as well as the Chevy-GMC Suburban. The Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen are also worth a look, but my personal favorite in this group is the Range Rover HSE.

Best Full-Size Pickups? For my money the Nissan Titan is still about the best after dethroning longtime champ, the Ford F150 three years ago. But the Toyota Tundra is a very strong contender. Next are the GMC Sierra, and Chevy Silverado, which offer the most serious competition for the imports and have also gained an edge over the F-150, which is getting seriously long in the tooth. I’m lukewarm about the Dodge Ram. Although I like its looks, I dislike the fact that as with most Diamler Chrysler products, things that are standard on most other brands, are options.

Best Mid-Size Pickup? Nissan Frontier, followed closely by the Toyota Tacoma.

Best American Cars? It’s about a toss up between the Chrysler 300C and the Cadillac STS. The Ford Taurus, and its Mercury Sable sibling deserve kudos here as well as the new Saturn Aura, and again, the all-new Chevy Malibu.

Best Hybrid? Toyota/Lexus wins hands down in all segments — again — from the Lexus RX400h SUV, to the luxurious LS600h sedan, right down to the Highlander and Camry hybrids, as well as the Prius. Honda has discontinued its gas-electric hybrid powertrains, which actually offered more combined horsepower than Toyota. Ford has a hybrid in its small Escape and Mariner SUV, but Toyota’s is still the gold standard.

Most Underrated Car? As usual, the Mitsubishi Gallant — the Rodney Dangerfield of the mid-sized sedan segment. The Gallant is as good as the Accord, Camry or Malibu — and cheaper to boot.

Best Small Car? I really like the Nissan Versa — it’s roomy, powerful for this segment and has lots of thoughtful features not found on most others at this price point. The Toyota Yaris is also a serious contender here. However, Hyundai and Kia still offer the best warranty — 100,000 miles — and the lowest price.

Vehicles I Just Like… Because...??? Nissan Murano — very stylish; Mini — just plain fun; Honda Element — funky but fun, with lots of utility; Dodge Magnum — cool like the old Nomad — too bad it’s going away; Cadillac Escalade EXT — luxurious and a real truck to boot; Dodge Daytona SRT10, Dodge Charger SRT8, and Chrysler 300 SRT — all are hemi-powered and fast — very, very fast; Chevy HHR, both the panel and standard versions — cool and functional; Infiniti FX35 and 45 — highly stylish, very comfortable, fast and practical; and the Cadillac XLR —a Corvette in Caddy trim, which means all the speed and handling, as well as all the Cadillac comfort.

	Dodge Viper: It’s all about the mystique.

My Personal Vehicle? I have always been a Ford truck guy. But I sold my 10-mpg, big-block, 1989 Ford F250 4X4 (with only 84,000 original miles) last year, and bought a 4X4 Nissan Titan LE Crew Cab. My wife drives a Volvo XC90 AWD T6 — although we are seriously considering upgrading to the V8 version of the XC90.

My Personal Vote For “Car Of The Year?” Chevy Malibu. This car screams that “America is Back!” Like the Cadillac CTS, the Malibu proves Detroit iron can compete head-to-head with the Japanese and European imports.

A couple of quick notes: In past compilations of this list, I’ve had some feedback about specific vehicles — and why I don’t mention them. Most questioned is my lack of affinity for BMW, which stems from two things: I believe BMW has overloaded its vehicles — especially at the higher end — with high-tech gadgetry to the point of near absurdity. Its electronic wizardry can be very intimating for a non-techie. While I consider myself technically savvy, I find BMW’s electronics to be highly non-intuitive for the most part. It shouldn’t take reading a 200-page instruction manual to figure out the radio — or anything else.

The other vehicle I get the most inquiries about is the Dodge Viper. Not surprising is the fact most of these come from people who have never actually driven a Viper, but love its looks and mystique.

The Viper is one of the fastest, most powerful cars I’ve ever driven. But driving it is a full-time, two-handed job. It takes a seriously knowledgeable driver to understand this complex machine — how it performs, how it handles, and all its other quirks — to be able to drive it competently and safely in anything but a straight line. It’s extremely noisy inside, somewhat cramped, hard to get in and out of, and the exhaust pipes — even though they’ve now been hidden beneath the rocker panels — will burn the back of your legs every time you get out. Quite simply, the Viper, while beautiful, and extremely fast, is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a daily driver — at least not in my estimation. And daily drivers are what I’m profiling here.