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ALISTAIR WEAVER: Today's market is dominated by SUVs.
But there are still some great cars to choose from.
For 2023, entrants to the Edmunds Top Rated Car Award
spanned everything from budget compacts to two-seater coupes
to luxury limos.
Here, we reveal our favorite three and pick a winner.
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At Edmunds, we test over 300 vehicles every year.
On the road and here at our private test track,
we spend thousands of hours analyzing everything
from technology to trunk space to deliver
the definitive Edmunds rating.
In these awards, we recognize the very best vehicles
on sale today, not just those that
happened to be launched in the last year.
And we've got separate trophies for EVs
and those powered by internal combustion.
This year, we welcomed a new Mercedes C-Class as well as
some fresh takes on old legends, namely the Nissan Z and Acura
Integra.
Ultimately, though, only one of those
move the needle enough to make our finalists.
LAUREN MCCAY: The Subaru BRZ is on our list
because of its great handling.
And it's really a great driving experience,
especially for the price that it comes at.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: So for anybody that
has never been in a sports car, I
feel like the BRZ may be like a sensory overload.
EMME HALL: You can really drive this car quick.
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast
than it is to drive a fast car slow.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: I think there are
a lot of cars in this space that can deliver a sporty driving
experience.
But what the BRZ does so well is it
makes that experience accessible to all levels of drivers.
It has a number of safety layers that you
can peel back one by one as your confidence grows.
And the controls do exactly what you tell them to do.
EMME HALL: You can fold down those rear seats in the BRZ,
and you can fit a lot of stuff in there.
I mean, I think you can actually fit four tires.
So when you want to go to the track and swap out your street
legal tires for some race tires, like, you can do that.
It is small, it's lightweight, and it's rear-wheel drive.
I mean, I really like those three things.
And then the fact that it's affordable, too,
that's just like icing on the cake.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: I think that's going to really catch
a lot of people off guard the first time that they drive one.
They're going to be like, whoa.
This is what driving is about.
And that's what we love about the BRZ.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: The first reason that the C-Class
should be top rated is clear, and that's
a stunning interior, just absolutely
the best one in the class.
EMME HALL: The C-Class for this year,
they've added a mild hybrid system, which is really great.
It's a way for Mercedes to add electrification to their fleet,
but not alienate any drivers who might be a little like, oh,
I'm not sure about electrification.
So with this 48-volt mild hybrid system,
essentially, you get a little bit more
of a punch upon acceleration-- so starting off the line
or passing people on the highway.
And I think it's really great.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: Oh, the technology in the C-Class,
really, really stellar.
The voice recognition system is probably
one of the best in the whole industry.
LAUREN MCCAY: So you know what's really cool
about the C-Class is you can literally use your finger
to start up the settings, to change settings,
not just to point at it.
But it's a biometric scanner that scans your finger.
It's very, I don't know, new world-ish, and I like it.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: The C-Class in three words--
gorgeous, comfortable, should be more expensive.
So two easy reasons that the Honda Civic should be top rated
are, first of all, the optional turbocharged engine.
You just get more power and better fuel efficiency
than the base model, so it makes it an easy choice for us.
On top of that, it's super practical, functional, usable.
EMME HALL: So even though the Honda is really small,
right-- it's a compact sedan or a hatchback,
depending on what you get-- it's still really spacious inside.
I mean, I'm 5' 9".
I have plenty of leg room.
I have plenty of arm room.
There's still room in the back seat.
And it's easy to get in and out of because you
do have those four doors.
And there's plenty of room in the trunk for stuff
that you need to haul around.
And what I also like about the Civic is that everything
is so intuitive, right?
The infotainment is super intuitive.
There's not a lot of menus and submenus.
So you can really get in the vehicle
and say, OK, here's my setting.
Here's my presets.
I'm in gear.
All right, I'm ready to go.
And there's just not a huge learning curve with the Civic.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: So one of the other things
that I think makes the Civic a great value is that it includes
a full suite of these advanced driver
aids, which offer a greater degree of safety for people.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: The Civic in three words, to me,
is practical, fun, and affordable.
That says it all.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: We had three great finalists this year.
But the winner secures its second Edmunds Top Rated Award.
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In the end, we couldn't deny the comfort, the efficiency,
the technology, and the value of this diminutive sedan.
That's why the Honda Civic is the Edmunds Top Rated
Car for 2023.
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