These were the vehicles we enjoyed the most in 2020

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Not that 2021 is looking any better, but to call 2020 a trying year is a rather significant understatement. It was hardly business as usual for many, but in the absolute gong-show of the year that was, we did have some rather refreshing and, dare we say, smile-inducing moments behind the wheel.

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So, without further ado, here’s a look back at some of the favourite cars we drove in 2020.

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Graeme Fletcher

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Normally, I’m not a huge Porsche fan. In the past, it was a case of too much hype and not enough luxury to justify the price tag. I guess the same can be said of most supercars, but having had two sub-three-second cars back to back, I learned to love Porsche in a serious hurry. Pun intended!

The first was what Porsche calls the sports car of the future: the all-electric Taycan. Not any ordinary Taycan, mind you, but the top-dog Turbo S model with no fewer than 750 horsepower and 774 pound-feet of torque when the overboost function is in play. When not in overboost, one must “make do” with 616 hp and 700 lb-ft of torque.

The key is having full torque ready to roll immediately. The result is a run from rest to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds. It’s just as well the electric motors split the power between the axles, or some serious rubber-burning would occur. The resulting rush will leave your stomach at the starting point as the Taycan Turbo S warps forward; it’s quite simply the fastest car off-the-line I’ve ever tested. Of course, the 1.7 seconds it takes to complete the 80-120 km/h passing move also says it all.

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The second was the 911 Turbo S . It, too, brought colossal acceleration — from rest, 100 km/h arrives in 2.6 seconds and boasts a 10.5-second quarter-mile run. However, this time around it was the tenacity of the handling that truly impressed me. It takes far larger, chromium-plated cojones than mine to find out where things finally come unglued.

Beyond the performance, the other upside to both the Taycan and 911 Turbo S is the cabin quality and comfort. Gone is the sparseness of before, in favour of a sanctuary that would not be out of place in any ultra-luxurious ride. Yes, the cost of admission is prohibitive, to say the least — the combined price tag for the two was $477,350, and that’s before the Government’s $62,055.50 slice. But sometimes, you get what you pay for.

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David Booth

Choosing my favourite car of the year was easy. It’s Porsche Taycan Turbo S. Unlike other people who might think the same Porsche’s first all-electric vehicle — including Graeme — it’s not for the obvious reasons. While I love the Taycan’s straight-line acceleration as much as the next guy, the fact that it can accelerate to 100 km/h in under three seconds is simply table stakes; wander into the Porsche’s price demographic and you’ll find many, if not plenty of cars that can do the same. And while its emissions-free, battery-powered powertrain indeed marks it as a car for the future, there are again many, if not plenty, of alternatives in that field.

The reason is my surprise car-of-the-year is that, regardless of energy source, the Taycan Turbo S the finest handling four-door sedan I have ever sampled. Smoking around the Driver Development Track around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (you know it as Mosport) earlier this year , the big Taycan out-braked a 911 Carrera 2S going into corners, outstuck it while cornering at the apex, and simply out-dragged once I put the hammer down.

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That any four-door sedan could do this is amazing. That said sedan weighs in at a Cayenne-like 2,295 kilograms is simply amazing. Simply put, the Taycan Turbo S could’ve been powered by coal and needed another second to scoot to 100 klicks, and it still would’ve been my car of the year. That’s how incredible its handling is.

Andrew McCredie

Plenty of fun and interesting vehicles to choose from for sure, but I’ve winnowed it down to four — and unsurprisingly, given my unofficial title as Driving.ca’s in-house EV Expert, each has some measure of electrified powertrain.

We’ll start with the pure EVs. Hands down the most fun-to-drive car I tested this year is the 2021 Mini Cooper SE , the fabled brand’s first foray into full electrification. The sole downside to this smile-inducing, beautifully styled, and solidly built three-door hatch is a sub 200-kilometre range. Still, that doesn’t diminish the pure joy of driving it. Next up is the 2021 Polestar 2 , the new Swedish brand’s first all-electric in what promises to be a large stable of pure EVs in the coming years. Performance to spare, exquisite minimalist design, fantastic ergonomics, and industry-leading connectivity software make this debut vehicle a bona-fide Car of the Year contender.

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Then it was a couple of plug-in hybrids that I got a charge out of, the first of which shares a name if not some performance and design DNA with the Polestar 2. And finally, while certainly not going to make People’s cover as the Sexiest Vehicle of the Year, the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime could very well go down as the most influential. Why? Its full charge range touches 70 kilometres, meaning for most Canadians’ commutes, the gasoline engine never needs to fire up. Yet when a trip further afield is required, this ‘EV’ turns into a good ol’ internal combustion engined vehicle with none of the trip planning/range anxiety associated with an all-electric.

Brian Harper

With COVID-19 shutting down most of automakers’ press fleet for several months this year, I spent a lot more time behind the wheel of my 2008 Mazda Miata , delighting in the intimacy of motoring along back roads, top down, soaking up the sun. Truly, with just about all aspects of normalcy taking a hard left, it was a tonic that helped provide some semblance of sanity. Which makes the 2021 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 I tested in Portugal — mere weeks before the world went into panic mode — my favourite new car driven this year.

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The news aspect was the return of the six-cylinder to the mid-engine sports car, the GTS fitted with a normally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six mated to a six-speed manual. And with nearly 400 horsepower to tap, the mid-engine GTS has serious performance bona fides. But rather than explore the limits of the car’s handling at the nearby Estoril race circuit, I spent several hours discovering the coastal roads around Cascais — top down, soaking up the sun (sense a theme here?) and mellowing out to the blue calmness of the Atlantic Ocean.

Years ago, my father said to me: “Every young man should own a convertible once in his life.” Sometimes, the greater the complication, the simpler the solution.

Jil McIntosh

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I had a couple of standouts this year, and they were polar opposites to each other. For coddle-me-completely comfort, nothing outdid the Genesis G90 . It’s powerful, beautiful to drive, and while not cheap, it’s priced well below any of its luxo-limo competitors — except I’d then have to spend what I saved to hire a driver, because the back seats are even better than the front ones.

At the other end of the scale, I just loved the yee-haw factor of the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon , especially since there’s an off-road trail near my house and I had the truck during a particularly snowy-and-rainy week. How many times can you drive full-tilt through a mudhole before it gets boring? I’m sure there is a number, but I never found out what it was.

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Jonathan Yarkony

While the review hasn’t been published yet, the 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant arrived just in time for Christmas for me. It’s hard to describe how much I loved this car; it’s exactly everything I want in an everyday car. Yes, I might still want a 911 GT3 for track days, but that one is obviously limited and can’t be used for all aspects of family life.

The RS 6 can — it has a spacious interior and plenty of cargo space like the A6 Allroad we had for a couple months , so shopping and family activity shuttling are a breeze. Under the hood, Audi went straight to overkill with a 4.0L turbo V8 making 591 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. It’s ridiculous and unjustifiable, but I couldn’t get enough. It is a big, heavy car so it’s not a nimble corner carver but it has insane grip from the fat 22-inch wheels, adaptive and adjustable air suspension, and torque-vectoring Quattro all-wheel drive.

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Wrapped in winter tires, it was locked in when the snow was thick, but when dry, they managed to hold on for over 1 g in turns according to the g-meter in the performance data display. The power is intoxicating and the acceleration is addictive, so I only became more infatuated every time I drove it. Yes, I wish I could have it with a manual transmission, but that’s something I could get over considering all its other pleasures.

To top it off, in my opinion it looks fantastic: sleek, futuristic, and wicked with its blacked out trim and grille on the candy red metallic paint job. Just spectacular and a great way to wash away all the trauma of a trainwreck of a year that 2020 was.

Nick Tragianis

By now, it’s no secret lightweight, fun, and affordable, albeit “slow” sports cars tug at my heartstrings . Yet strangely enough, the complete opposite also tickle the same parts of my brain: brawny, big-power coupes with tire-shredding V8s that send power to the correct (read: rear) wheels.

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The vehicle that will surely remain imprinted in my brain for years to come is the Lexus LC 500 . On paper, it’s a rolling anachronism whose spec sheet is bested by numerous vehicles costing a fraction of its $117,000 price tag. Yet in the flesh, from Lexus’ spindle grille motif that actually works to the trippy tail lights enveloped in those wide rear haunches, the big Lexus looks like absolutely nothing else on the road. Inside, barring the horrendous infotainment system, the cabin is absolutely top-notch and just as wildly styled as the exterior, yet it all works.

Fire up the normally aspirated 5.0-litre V8, nail the loud pedal, and one thing is immediately clear. The razor-sharp throttle response, buttery smooth transmission, and the especially delicious soundtrack prove the LC 500 isn’t a car you buy for the numbers, but rather for the experience. There will never be another car quite like it.

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Clayton Seams

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My colleagues may have picked all manner of fancy, fast, and unaffordable cars as their favorite for 2020, but the one I most loved wasn’t so ritzy. I was fortunate enough to spend over 1,000 kilometres behind the wheel of a friend’s 1982 Citroën 2CV — the same one I told you about way back in 2016 .

This dainty four-door, two-cylinder, front-wheel-drive car kicks out a rocking 30-ish horsepower. It has no roll-up windows, the top is fabric, and the tires are smaller than space-saver spares. The suspension is wonderfully soft and you drive it everywhere — and I mean everywhere — with your foot firmly planted on the accelerator pedal. Piloting the 2CV feels more like riding a bike than driving a car; it was true back-to-basics driving and as more and more cars boast 500, 600, and even 700 horsepower, it’s great to remember how little you truly need to have fun.

But among the new cars I drove this year, I’m with Jil: nothing stuck to my ribs quite like the 2020 Jeep Gladiator. It’s the right size, it looks right, and I could just see myself owning one. I bounded through snowy trails, explored quarries with it, and even towed my Corvette . It’s a great go-anwhere, do-anything vehicle.