These were our favorite cars of 2022

Favorite cars is different than best cars. The idea of "best" can speak to value and overall competitiveness in a given vehicle segment. There's lots of objectivity involved and to do a "best" list right, one really must be very thorough and as scientific as possible. This is not that list. This is about our favorites, so objectivity be damned. If we liked a Challenger Hellcat because it made loud noises or a Honda Odyssey because it made for a particularly special family vacation, fair game. These were the cars that most spoke to our collection of editors and the ones that stayed in our minds and hung in our hearts long after they left our driveway. — Senior Editor James Riswick

2022 GMC Hummer EV

Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: I didn't particularly expect to like the new Hummer. I wasn't a fan of the Hummer H2 or H3, so I wasn't automatically enthusiastic about this electric reboot. Fast EVs aren't hard to come by — and, in fact, may be too easy to come by — so its performance specs weren't enough to win me over. Despite videos to the contrary, pickups aren't my favorite vehicular format. And its excessive size and weight turned me off ... until I finally got behind the wheel.

This thing is wildly entertaining to drive. Watts to Freedom launch control is a neat party trick, sure, but the novelty wears off quickly. The novelty of Crab Walk, however, has staying power. The rear-wheel steering makes this behemoth feel much smaller than it is — the maneuverability is incredible, and useful. The air suspension provides tons of clearance, including a ridiculously high-riding Extract mode. I can't wait for lesser versions of the Hummer to make their way to market. Give me less power (for less money), but keep the off-road tricks onboard, and I'll be a happy camper.

Senior Editor, Consumer, Jeremy Korzeniewski: If I could afford to put one of these in my driveway, I would. Sadly, I can't, so I won't (What's that, Janet? I got the lyric wrong?). Still, I love the dumb thing. Thankfully, I have another choice down below.

2022 Porsche 911 GT3

Associate Editor Byron Hurd: Yeah, duh, Porsches are good. But there's good, and then there's GT3. This is the feeling every performance-oriented RWD tuner is trying to replicate. This is hard, precise, surgical and immensely satisfying. To begin to explore this car on a public road is by itself an admission that you believe yourself to be above the rules as they apply to normal drivers. In the GT3, maybe you are. Maybe it's the Guards Red. Maybe it's my unconscious awareness that this car is borderline unobtanium. Whatever the source of this car's incredible magnetism, its strength is undeniable. I don't believe in the devil, but better understand those who claim to have been compelled by him. This is the worst automotive influence I've ever met. I want to travel the world with it.

2022 Honda Civic Sport Touring 6MT

Senior Editor James Riswick: To come up with my choice, I zipped my test car calendar back to January and started going forward. Nothing was toppling the Mercedes EQS 580 I drove extensively throughout Southern California in late March — it's big, comfy, powerful, shockingly powerful, unapologetically futuristic and I just frankly clicked with it — until I came to late September and the little gray Honda Civic Sport Touring hatchback with the six-speed manual. I instantly had fallen in love with that car. There's something about a small sedan with lots of torque that will always tug on my heart strings (my first car/love was a 2000 Jetta VR6), and although technically a hatchback, the Civic Sport Touring absolutely nails that on the head. And it has just about the best manual I can think of ... thinks of car directly above this entry ... sure I think I can go with that. It just made every drive I took fun, and isn't that what the best cars are supposed to do?

The great thing, of course, is that it's not expensive on the scale of an EQS 580 or everything else on this list. I could have, like, three of them. It's also practical, with a big, versatile trunk that I actually extensively used while moving, and a back seat with more than enough space to fit my son's giant rear-facing car seat and have room up front for a regular-sized human. Add in the fact that the Sport Touring has more equipment than the Civic Si and I'd argue a better-looking interior than the Integra, and I honestly wouldn't hesitate to get one instead of its supposedly better siblings. In fact, if I needed a car right now, I'd go buy a Civic Sport Touring with the six-speed manual. Even if I had more money to spend, say on the BMW M3 that is worth an honorable mention, I think I'd still take the Civic. There's just something so delightfully pure and fun about it. I'll remember that car for a very long time.