The Sweetest Cars of 2012

2012 is shaping up to be a great year for cars. They’re going faster while not completely destroying the environment. Also: they look sweet as hell. If you’re lucky enough to park one of these bad boys in your driveway this year, just go ahead and accept that your entire neighborhood harbors a deeply unsettling jealousy towards you. But it’s totally worth it.

 

• Jaguar XKR-S Convertible – Aw baby, this is the cream of the crop. Billed as the fastest Jaguar ever (and that’s saying something), even thinking about this perfection of design gets our engines purring. A supercharged V8 engine can get this piece of art up to 186 mph and 0-60 in 4.2 seconds. Typing that even made our palms sweat.

 

• BMW Z4 sDrive28i – This car may be a mouthful to say out loud, but take it out for a spin and its name doesn’t even matter anymore. BMW took away two cylinders from their standard Z4 with the 2012 and turbocharged the remaining four, which gives this new car the same speed and power with a bit better fuel economy. Not a terrible trade, right? And the whole thing was made in a plant in South Carolina, so you’re basically buying American. Man, if this car could do taxes it could do everything.

 

• Audi A7 Sportback 3.0 TFSI – We know the fingertip recognition touchpad software debuted in the Audi A8, but the fact that this beautiful car comes equipped with technology that can recognize our fingerprints is beyond amazing. We bond with our cars so why shouldn’t our cars bond to us as well? It’s a nerdy dream come true, but this nerd can get to 60mph in 5.2 seconds.

 

• Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 – This isn’t a Jeep to take off road. Nay, this is a Jeep to show off to your friends that went out a bought a Beemer and a Porche SUV. When they’re looking all smug and superior at their more expensive brands you can laugh in their face when they’re trailing behind you after your explode off the start. By removing all the excess stuff that makes a Cherokee great for off roading and focusing more on handling and speed, Jeep has created one of the most badass SUVs available in 2012.

 

• Fisker Karma – It’s about damn time someone built an elegant sedan that worked for Mother Earth. Noted car designer Henrik Fisker rolls out his $100k hybrid sedan this year and not a moment too soon. Looking nothing at all like a traditional hybrid, this sedan is fast. Oh baby is it fast. A pure electric 0-60 in just over 7 seconds fast. But throw it in the sport mode and the fairly quiet gas engine bumps nearly two seconds off its time. Saving the environment never looked this good. Or went this fast.

 

These aren’t your run-to-the-store-for-a-gallon-of-milk kinds of cars. But 2012 isn’t going to be a drive-to-church kind of year either, is it? Strap in, buckle up, and get your hands on one of these bad boys now!