As 2024 draws to a close, we haven't quite driven 2,024 vehicles (new or old!), but we have gotten behind the wheel of a lot of new metal this year. There were four Of the Year programs — for 2024's Performance Vehicle of the Year, as well as the 2025 car, truck, and SUV categories — all jam-packed with new product. Between those marquee productions and our buyer's guide and everyday first drives, first tests, and comprehensive comparison tests, we have plenty of opportunities to determine which cars, trucks, and SUVs we like, and which ones we don't. Curious which ones landed at the extremes? These are the cars our staff deemed the best, and those we deemed the most disappointing in 2024:

Best: 2025 Toyota Camry

For a car that's routinely been lauded as an "appliance," the new Camry is anything but. True, going hybrid-only raises its entry price a smidge, and there's inherently more complication with this kind of powertrain, but that's almost moot when you consider the payoffs. First, the car drives with a spriteliness you wouldn't expect from a mainstream mid-size sedan. And with killer fuel economy, no matter the grade, the Camry is the latest example of Toyota's expertise when it comes to perfecting the hybrid powertrain. — Kristen Lee

Best: 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser

When associate road test editor Erick Ayapana asked me if I wanted to hop into the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, I didn’t think twice. I was lucky enough to see it in person a couple of weeks before its reveal at a studio in Dallas, and I as soon as I saw it, I wanted to get behind the wheel. The hype was real. The Land Cruiser is a vehicle that encompasses the new and the old, with a look that’s both legendary and modern. It’s attractive inside and out, and while it might not be the best-driving SUV, it brings a cool ride that draws a smile to your face every time you get behind the wheel. — Miguel Cortina

Best: Ferrari 296 GTB

Oh, wow, a Ferrari is great. Duh, right? Yeah, we know. But we wanted to give a special shoutout to the 296 GTB we tested at this year's Performance Vehicle of the Year. So fast, so powerful, so balanced, so aural. All the good things. Fabulously approachable, the 296 feels like an event whether you're going three-10ths or 10-10ths. A lightning-quick steering rack encourages you to explore the car's boundaries (and your own). It hardly matters this thing's powered by a twin-turbo V-6 plug-in hybrid. — Kristen Lee

Best: 2025 Rivian R1S Quad Motor

After a while, cars begin to feel sort of the same. Or maybe I'm getting jaded. In any case, the updated Rivian R1S Quad Motor shocked my senses with its distinctive and thrilling driving experience. This electric SUV is a marvel. Its power is massive, but quick EVs are nothing new — more than its acceleration, the R1S' handling left me speechless. The way it moves is directly owed to its four-motor powertrain; the R1S Tri and Dual-motor models are excellent but not the same. How the Quad apportions power between its wheels constantly, fluidly, gives it epic abilities on pavement or dirt. Anyone worried that an electric future will be a blight of soulless transportation pods need only to drive the latest R1S Quad — it's endlessly exciting and feels like no other vehicle I've experienced. Without question, it's the most memorable and overall excellent vehicle I drove this year, although the Lexus LC500 Convertible deserves special mention. — Alex Leanse

Best: 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar

Porsche’s lifted 911 left an indelible imprint on my soul. The Dakar exudes specialness, from its distinctive livery to its legitimate off-road chops. During 2024 Performance Vehicle of the Year testing, I had the privilege of tearing it up on an off-road course in the 911 Dakar and it was the most fun automotive experience I’ve ever had in a car. Brake into a corner and the back end wants to come around, encouraging you to drift on through, walking the rear end around with the throttle. After sliding around in the sandy portion of our route, the Dakar was composed and precise on the paved section of Chuckwalla’s racetrack. As someone who always loved rally cars, the Dakar let me live out my dreams, getting a small taste of what it would have been for René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne to race the 953. During the road-trip portion of our testing, I took the Porsche through some of the most beautiful scenery in California. Of all of the cars I tested this year, it’s the one I most wanted to keep forever. The 911 Dakar was also surprisingly good in Los Angeles, where its ride height and compliant suspension made short work of our awful city roads and steep driveways. What’s more, it’s surprisingly practical with storage space in the frunk and behind the seats. All the while, the terrific exhaust note kept me smiling. The icing on the cake was that the Dakar evokes a smile from everyone that sees it. — Billy Rehbock

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Best: 2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid

During a year that included memorable drives in a half-million-dollar Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, there's no question — the 2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid was the best car I drove all year. Those high-dollar statement cars each have their own appeal, but I get butterflies driving the Civic hybrid and thinking of just how good it is. It's not easy to deliver so much excellence at a low price, but for a low-$30,000 price tag, the fully loaded Civic Sport Touring is reasonably powerful, refined to drive and more upscale inside than many of its competitors. If ever there were a car to challenge the Car of the Year–winning Toyota Prius, it's this Honda. — Zach Gale

Best: 2025 Honda Civic Sport 2.0L

With all of the hullabaloo surrounding the excellent new Honda Civic Hybrid, you might think that version was the only Civic to compete for our 2025 Car of the Year award. Not true! The entry-level, gas-only Civic also qualified to compete, thanks to its all-new 2.0-liter inline-four engine. Confusingly, the base engine is the same size as last year, and actually makes 8 fewer hp and 5 fewer lb-ft of torque, for only 150 hp and 133 lb-ft. Unsurprisingly, the Civic so equipped is slower than before, needing 9.6 seconds to reach 60 mph (0.4 second behind a 2022 model we last tested). And it's still priced higher than competitors while not exactly Mercedes-quiet on the freeway — all of which left me on a lonely island defending the base Civic during Car of the Year deliberations.

I still think the less expensive Civics are outstanding; even though they cost slightly more than equivalent Corollas and Sentras, they feel well engineered, solid and drive with verve. The new 2.0-liter engine is quieter and smoother than before, and its noises at higher rpm more Honda-like. On the mid-level Civic Sport we tested, which we derided for having too firm a ride on its attractive 18-inch wheels before the 2025 refresh, the structural improvements and fresh suspension tuning has smoothed things out considerably and lowered road noise levels, with no changes to the tires or wheels. It was the most improved car I drove all year, even though it doesn't seem like it on paper, and one of the best values out there today. — Alexander Stoklosa

Best: 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

The number of mainstream EVs that have stood out as focused performance vehicles have been rare thus far, and perhaps that’s part of the reason why the Ioniq 5 N turned out to be such a revelation. But it's also just flat out fantastic, period, end of story. This 600-plus-horsepower Korean wild child is an absolute hoot to drive hard, it was the quickest SUV, period, we’ve tested to date (at least for a few months until the Rivian R1S Quad came along...) and it looks the part of a performer inside and out. And that’s before even broaching its over-the-top digital shifting system that's one of the most impressive pieces of software shenanigans we’ve experienced to date. Did I mention it’s actually attainable from a price perspective, unlike the Rivian that later beat it? — Mike Floyd

Twenty twenty-four was the year the electric performance car was democratized. Porsche Taycans, four-motor Rivians and Rimacs, and brain-bending Lucid Airs have previously dominated the space in my mind, but this year the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N took over. The Ioniq 5 N very much feels like a dozen different cars in one. One setting has it going down the track like a Super SUV. Another set up makes it feel like a hot hatch. One feels like a big sports car. The clever software engineering that’s gone into this thing makes it feel like it would take me weeks to fully understand and appreciate, but all most importantly work hand-in-hand with the Ioniq 5 N’s exceptionally well-integrated hardware to make it feel like a cohesive (and more importantly) desirable performance car. This clever car ought to serve as a template for electric performance vehicles to come. I’m fully convinced that the Ioniq 5 N we’ll look back at the Ioniq 5 N in two decades time as a classic.

Honorable mentions: BMW M2, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, Ferrari 296 GTB, McLaren 750S, Porsche 911 Dakar, Xiaomi SU7 Max, Volkswagen ID Buzz — Christian Seabaugh

Best: Hyundai RN24

There's really no way to top a 641-hp drift kart and an unlimited supply of tires. Hyundai N's latest experiment in making EVs cool is another home run, mashing together an Ioniq 5 N powertrain, WRC suspension and a roll cage. Throw in the world's first regenerative drift brake, a mechanically locking front differential, and some custom torque distribution software and you have a sideways-driving, tire-shredding machine that makes literally anyone with basic car control skills look like the late, great, Ken Block. Anyone who claims EVs aren't fun hasn't driven the right one, and this will make a believer out of the most stubborn critic. — Scott Evans

Most disappointing: 2025 Kia K5

With how sporty its updated design is and fantastically it's priced, we wanted so badly to like the Kia K5. On its own, it's a heavily features-loaded mainstream mid-size sedan. But it looks far more athletic than it actually drives, with a dopey transmission, underpowered engine and loud engine drone getting in the way of a truly rewarding experience. These flaws become especially stark when compared to the Hyundai Sonata, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. It's quite roomy inside, though. — Kristen Lee

Perhaps no vehicle in existence has a bigger misalignment between how it looks and how it drives than the 2025 Kia K5. This midsize sedan entered 2025 with design updates to make it look even more excessively sporty and aggressive than it did before. Absolutely zero of that aesthetic attitude is reflected behind the wheel, where the K5 is utterly dull. It feels slow despite gaining power, and its handling has none of the edginess its bodywork implies. The K5 is decent enough as a normal car, but was still our least favorite among four popular options in a midsize sedan comparison test. Rather than forgettable, the K5's poseur-ish nature makes it laughable. — Alex Leanse

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Most disappointing: 2023 Nissan Ariya

The 2023 Nissan Ariya e4orce Platinum makes a strong first impression. Its swooshy design, upscale interior and impressive powertrain specs promised a thoroughly modern EV experience. For me, that veneer quickly faded. After hundreds of road trip miles and weeks driving around the greater Los Angeles area, I was fed up with the all-electric SUV. A springy, vague brake pedal made it tough to make smooth stops. For many EVs, full one-pedal driving compensates for imperfect pedal tuning, but the Ariya’s inability to come to a complete stop using regeneration makes for a frustrating driving experience. Then, there’s the matter of its suspension. Most of the time, the Ariya rides with plush compliance, but the chassis struggles to dismiss choppy surfaces without porpoising. Steering feel is light, which makes for easy driving around town, but on a curvy road the tiller is vague, making it difficult to drive the Ariya with any semblance of enthusiasm. Finally, and perhaps most crucially, the peak charge rate of 130 kilowatts amounts to sluggish fast charging stops compared to rivals. We spent a lot of time stopping too; with just 257 miles of range the Ariya needs to find Level 3 chargers frequently on longer journeys. These frustrations made the Ariya stand out as my least favorite car of the year. — Billy Rehbock

Most disappointing: 2017 Honda CR-V

Vacation time! What better way to elevate your vacation experience than pick a rental car that's spacious, smooth to drive and has upscale features for a low price? For me, the answer would be to avoid the specific 2017 Honda CR-V I rented recently. This rental may have lived a hard life, perhaps made harder by the low-quality tires that made every ride louder than it needed to be. Oh, and did I mention the ants that crawled out of the air vents? — Zach Gale

Most disappointing: Ineos Grenadier

While I love the way it looks and the fact that the 2024 Ineos Grenadier was built to bring back the Land Rover Defender from yesteryear, I just can’t get over how it drives. The bouncy ride, stiff steering feel and absurd turning radius are most of the downsides, and while I enjoy its retro cabin, it’s just not a comfortable off-roader. If there’s an area where we’ve seen comfort taking a more important role over the years, is in off-road vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco and Toyota Land Cruiser. The Grenadier goes backwards. — Miguel Cortina

Most disappointing: 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray

We’re certainly behind the evolution of the Corvette. We cheered its long-delayed move to a mid-engine format that changed it for the better. Lauded the Z06 as one of the best high performance sports cars of its age, gaped in awe at the numbers of the coming ZR1, and have otherwise showered the 'Vette with love. If there has been one chink in the fiberglass, it’s been the E-Ray. While I enjoyed driving it as I have with every Corvette, there was something that just left me wanting more. It’s technically all-wheel drive, but you didn’t really feel it. It’s a hybrid, but not a plug-in like many of the new generation super sports cars (yes, weight, we get it) and its hybrid modes are strangely hard to access. It’s in essence a toe in the water exercise in electrification that works as intended, but it’s the first C8 Corvette that didn’t blow me away. — Mike Floyd

Most disappointing: Fisker Ocean

As much as I liked certain aspects of our short-lived long-term Fisker Ocean like its range, comfort and open-air California Mode, there's no excusing the litany of software glitches (some potentially dangerous). The constant issues made the car a headache to live with and genuinely nerve-wracking to drive at times, knowing almost any seemingly minor problem - from a software bug to a fender bender or worse - could end up totaling the car due to the lack of parts and service. The fact the final software update actually introduced new bugs while attempting to solve others was the final insult. Too bad, the car had real promise. — Scott Evans

Most disappointing: MG Cyberster

The worst car was perhaps more disappointing than it was outright bad, and thankfully you probably can’t even buy one. I had high hopes for the MG Cyberster. Sporting dual electric motors good for 536 hp, gorgeous sheetmetal, a power-folding top, scissor doors and flashy infotainment features, I was beyond excited to experience China’s take on the classic British roadster format. Unfortunately the Cyberster is more show than it is go. While certainly quick enough in a straight line, it, unlike the classic MGs of yesteryear, struggles with cornering and braking. Steering effort is best described as video game-light, with the same amount of feedback as a dying Xbox controller, while brake feel is uneven — which is not exactly what I’m looking for in a sports car capable of a 3.1 second 0-60 mph time. Ultimately the MG Cyberster feels like it lacks the frame of reference for what makes a great European roadster, and worse, that no one bothered to seriously consider what makes a good sports car in the first place. — Christian Seabaugh

Most disappointing: 2024 Toyota Tacoma

Let's couch this right here: The best-selling Toyota Tacoma is the way it is because Toyota really, really gets its customers. Those folks just can't get enough of a brand-new truck that feels 15 or 20 years old, so Toyota keeps building Tacomas that way. I knew this going into my first drives in the latest Tacoma, the first truly all-new, clean-sheet model in the pickup's last two decades. Yet still I was disappointed (along with most judges at the 2025 Truck of the Year). There is so much promise in that newness, that Toyota might finally take the opportunity presented by an all new frame, new turbocharged and hybridized engines, new transmissions and even a new coil-sprung rear axle on most trim levels to revitalize its midsize truck for the modern era. I was wrong. It's as if Toyota took all these components that, typically, might elevate a vehicle's refinement, and threw sand in them all — for that just-right new-old Toyota truck gristle. The hybrid powertrain is buzzy and vibrates oddly, while the truck rides like, well, an old truck instead of with tight body control and a supple ride like the newest Ranger or Colorado. And why is the back seat still so, so small? I'll give Toyota credit for the interior styling; the dashboard's real (and big) knobs are usable by gloved hands, and the overall look is different and cool, especially given how bland most of the competition's innards are. Hey, maybe the next Taco will get me there... — Alexander Stoklosa

Photos by MotorTrend staff