Yahoo Autos 
Auto Excellence Awards: Our 10 favorite cars of the year
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The Ram 1500 is a mean hauling machine. The Chevy Camaro ZL1 is a performance powerhouse. The Cadillac ATS marries substance to luxury. All 10 of our Automotive Excellence Award winners are standouts—and they stand out in their own way.
Ford Escape - Car of the Year
Base Price: $23,295
This year we introduce our first-ever Popular Mechanics Car of the Year. This is an affordable vehicle that excels in multiple auto excellence categories, not just one. No vehicle hit a variety of marks harder or topped more editors' scorecards than the all-new 2013 Ford Escape.
Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S - Fun to Drive
Base Price: $26,245/$24,930
The BRZ handles like it's your personal road therapist, intuiting your every thought while supplying plenty of feedback along the way. The gearbox and transmission operate with the precision of a Swiss watch, and that fat steering wheel is just what your hands want. Cost-cutting measures have been taken, but the car doesn't feel cheap. Instead it feels light and toned like a bantamweight boxer, ready to take on whatever the road throws at it. For the price, more fun on four wheels doesn't exist.
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 - Performance
Base Price: $55,250
Simply put, the ZL1 is the quickest Camaro that Chevrolet has ever made. It will run through the quarter-mile in less than 12 seconds and blast all the way up to 184 mph. Power hounds can choose between a six-speed manual and automatic. But the ZL1's excellence isn't based solely on its prowess as a sprinter. This Camaro will swallow up bumpy back streets and tackle curvy canyon roads with a deftness usually reserved for a European sports car and rewards every action you take with smoothness, refinement, and ease of use. That's impressive, considering this is a car with a monstrous 580-hp V-8 under its hood. The ZL1 comes packing all the hardware you need for a day at the track, from big brakes to coolers to a five-mode Performance Traction Management system with launch control. But the Chevy's enormous potential at the dragstrip or racetrack doesn't compromise its everyday drivability.
Ram 1500 - Hauling
Base Price: $23,585
Ram perennially takes the bronze in full-size pickup sales, but the 2013 1500 could change all that. When Chrysler made Ram a separate brand from Dodge in 2010, the first order of business was upgrading the nameplate's core pickup. For 2013 the list of comprehensive updates makes it essentially an all-new truck. The new 1500 features a host of structural improvements and fuel-saving technologies but still remains very much a workhorse. When equipped with the V-6 the 4x4 Tradesman model's max towing capability is 6300 pounds, and it bumps up to 9000 pounds with the V-8. The latter is a 100-pound improvement on the 2012's max towing. All brawn and no brains isn't an option for a modern pickup, though, so the Ram also comes with a smart-looking cabin and the complete raft of Chrysler infotainment and safety system options, including an 8.4-inch touchscreen, Chrysler's next-generation UConnect system, a Wi-Fi hotspot, a rearview camera, and rear parking sensors. The result is a more capable, powerful, fuel-efficient, and all-around user-friendly truck.
