My favorite cars of 2008

The year 2008 saw a lot of great cars introduced, most of them the result of major redesigns of long established models. The car industry has become very competitive and the technology that goes into modern cars just keeps on getting better. The result is that the quality of the cars that are hitting the market is constantly improving. This is great for the consumer as features that in past would have been out of the price range of most buyers are making their way onto cars at lower prices. The result is a massive improvement in the performance of even the lowest cost cars.

Quoting Laurent Van Dessel: 'Nowhere is this more true than with the power that you have under the hood'. Horse power has actually become very cheap. We have now reached the point where even small family cars offer engines with more than two hundred horse power. A few years ago this would have been unheard of. That kind of power used to be available only on top sports cars. Not only has the power increased but so has the way that the power is transferred to the wheels. There was a time not that long ago when a six speed transmission was the height of performance and you would only find it on top of the line cars. Not anymore now you can find a six or even a seven speed transmission on even a moderately priced car. The top cars have very much more sophisticated systems that include things like manual shifting for automatics and computer controlled clutches.

In addition to seeing an improvement in the performance of modern cars we are also getting a real improvement in the quality. In the past cars where often designed purely to be functional, that is no longer the case. The modern car is designed to look good from the outside, even for the cheapest of economy cars. The interior trim is also of a much higher quality than it was just a few years ago. The expectations of car buyers has risen in the last few years and the makers have had to adapt. The result is that we are seeing a level of quality in all cars that in past would have been reserved for top of the line models.

There have of course also been massive improvements in the safety features that are available. Air bags and anti-lock brakes are pretty much a given. Traction and stability control is also starting to find its way onto more and more cars. The other area where there has been a massive improvement is in terms of fuel economy. That and reducing emissions has become a major issue in the car industry and massive steps have been taken. The rest of this site is dedicated to my choices for the best cars of 2008. They are a personal choice so you are free to disagree with my choices.