2016 Ford Mustang GT Coupe

A better, worldlier pony car enters our long-term corral.

Detroit’s muscle cars have experienced a renaissance of sorts lately—Hellcats, Shelbys, and Camaros, oh my!—yet it took some European-inspired refinement to bring the most out of Dearborn’s Ford Mustang. Heavily updated for 2015, which included the mainstream models’ first-ever independent rear suspension, the latest Mustang GT snagged a 10Best Cars award upon its debut and then bested the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack and previous-gen Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE in its first comparison test. Now we welcome this sinister-looking 2016 GT coupe into our paddock for a 40,000-mile shakedown.

2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE450 AMG Coupe

Because being sensible is overrated.

Mercedes-Benz started the auto industry’s whole “four-door coupe” thing with the shapely 2006 CLS-class. But BMW was the first to apply the concept to an SUV. A questionable idea, the resulting X6 utility thingamajig nevertheless has proved to be such a success that there now exists an M-fettled high-performance submodel. Not content to deny itself the spoils of questionable judgment, Mercedes has finally cooked up its own competitor, which arrives in the U.S. market as the 2016 GLE450 AMG coupe you see here.

The bobtailed GLE-class is more perplexing than it is attractive. Its athletic stance implies something small and svelte, yet the Mercedes’ footprint approaches that of a Chevy Tahoe, with an equally lofty seating position. Our test vehicle’s $1250 optional wheels, for example, were 22 inches in diameter (21s are standard) and weighed about 80 pounds each when wrapped with their 31-inch-tall Pirelli P Zeros—285/40s in front and massive 325/35s at the rear. And the lift-over height of the rear cargo floor is nearly 40 inches off the ground.

2017 Bentley Bentayga

Bentley's first SUV skips the learning curve altogether.

Legend has it that Ettore Bugatti once called the Bentley 4½ Litre the “world’s fastest truck.” We’re guessing that he didn’t know he was merely being prophetic. Because now Bentley builds an SUV, and guess what? Its 187-mph top speed is the highest on record for a vehicle of that type.

Why an SUV? Simple: People who drive Bentleys tend to have other vehicles (a lot of them), and the vehicle they drive in the winter—or when it’s raining, or foggy, or below 75 degrees—tends to be an SUV. Now that Bentley makes an SUV, a lot of those buyers will make that SUV a Bentley, as well.

For the last three years, Bentley has sold more than 10,000 vehicles annually, a major milestone for the company. The Bentayga is going to help obliterate that record: The company plans to build 5500 Bentaygas in 2016. That estimate already has been revised upward once, and company executives tell us that, as interest builds, that figure may enjoy yet another upward correction.