2015 Volvo S60 Polestar

Rare, stylish, and quick. 

The 2015 Volvo S60 Polestar has a 345-hp turbocharged inline-six, a Haldex all-wheel-drive system with a rear torque bias, colossal Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires measuring 245/35-20, and it costs $60,225. These are the facts, but we could see how, without the benefit of first-hand experience, one might come to the conclusion that the car is uselessly expensive for a mostly normal-appearing mid-size Volvo with half the horsepower of the similarly priced Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. 

We don’t entirely disagree, but consider also that the Hellcat is in no way a competitor to the Polestar. One is designed by Volvo’s racing partner (Polestar) for edgy professors—you know, the ones who wear herringbone tweed jackets; the other is for people who think 707 horsepower is a God-given American right. Besides, the Volvo is going to be more rare than an unattractive Swedish blonde, with the car pictured here being number 38 of just 40 sedans coming to the States. Volvo will build twice as many wagon variants, and after driving both versions last May, we finally have strapped our test gear to one. Consider our initially positive impressions bolstered. 

2016 Toyota Tacoma

Almost all new.

It’s the gateway truck for a lifetime of truck addiction, the Americanized version of the world’s wheeled beast of burden, and precisely the right truck for carrying large dogs that shed. And the updated 2016 version of the Toyota Tacoma enters production hauling a birthright as the new small pickup that depreciates in value most slowly.

But it’s that deep Toyota truck legacy that’s holding the Tacoma back, too. Because Toyota has always been conservative and while this compact pickup is new, it’s not all new. Sometimes that’s not an advantage.

2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 4x4 .

Looks good on paper, feels better in person

Little has changed since we got our first shot at the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel: The Donald’s coiffure remains a triumph of applied engineering, artisanal toast inexplicably is still a thing, and Ram remains the only full-size, half-ton pickup to offer a diesel. Soon, however, there will be new competition, albeit indirect. Nissan’s 2016 Titan XD tweener is scheduled to hit showrooms later this year packing a Cummins diesel V-8, and GM’s slightly smaller Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon twins are adding a diesel four-cylinder for 2016. For now, though, the Ram has the full-size, light-duty segment to itself.

By the Numbers

Ram announced late last year that 20 percent of all 1500 pickup production capacity—fully twice the projected figure—was dedicated to the EcoDiesel, and it remains higher than 15 percent. That statement should come as little surprise, as diesels typically offer two things truck buyers covet: torque and efficiency.