Awards & overall
Car and Driver 10Best (2026)
Ranked from the Car and Driver 10Best Cars and 10Best Trucks & SUVs (2026). CarOutlay adds the ownership-cost lens — what each result means for the real 5-year cost of owning the car.
The ranking
The 2026 Car and Driver 10Best Cars (listed alphabetically; all are co-equal winners).
- Honda Civic 10Best A perennial 10Best and a low-cost-to-own benchmark. 10Best Car
- Honda Accord 10Best Car
- BMW M2 10Best Car
- Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing 10Best Car
- Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing 10Best Car
- Chevrolet Corvette 10Best Car
- Lucid Air 10Best Car
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class (E450) 10Best Car
- Subaru BRZ / Toyota GR86 10Best Car
- Volkswagen GTI / Golf R 10Best Car
2026 10Best Trucks & SUVs
The 2026 10Best Trucks & SUVs (full-size SUV winner spans the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Yukon XL).
- Honda CR-V 10Best 10Best Truck/SUV
- Honda Passport 10Best Truck/SUV
- Ford Maverick 10Best Truck/SUV
- Chevrolet Trax 10Best Truck/SUV
- Hyundai Palisade Hybrid 10Best Truck/SUV
- GM Full-Size SUVs (Tahoe / Suburban / Yukon / Yukon XL) 10Best Truck/SUV
- Ford Ranger Raptor 10Best Truck/SUV
- Ram 1500 10Best Truck/SUV
- Porsche Macan 10Best Truck/SUV
- Lucid Gravity 10Best Truck/SUV
Why this matters for your cost of ownership
10Best is a driving-enthusiast award first, but value is one of its core scoring pillars, which is why mainstream staples like the Civic, Accord, CR-V and Maverick keep winning — they are genuinely good and genuinely affordable to run. Those everyday winners overlap heavily with the leaders in reliability and resale-value studies, making 10Best a useful cross-check when you want a car that's both satisfying and cheap to own. The performance and luxury winners (Corvette, M2, Blackwings, Lucid) are a different story: thrilling, but typically higher in insurance, fuel and depreciation. Use our TCO calculator to separate the bargain winners from the expensive ones before you fall in love with a badge.
Open the 5-Year TCO calculatorHow this ranking is measured
Car and Driver's 10Best is one of the longest-running awards in the industry. Each year, editors gather every eligible new or significantly updated vehicle under a price cap and drive them back to back — nearly 100 vehicles in the 2026 round — scoring each on how well it fulfills its mission, how engaging it is to drive, and its value relative to rivals. There is no single overall winner: the result is two lists of ten co-equal winners, one for cars and one for trucks and SUVs. A vehicle must be on sale and meet the price ceiling to qualify, so 10Best skews toward attainable, well-rounded machines rather than exotics.
Source: Car and Driver, 10Best Cars and 10Best Trucks & SUVs (2026). Winners chosen after editors tested nearly 100 vehicles back to back during a multi-week evaluation; published in the January/February 2026 issue. View the original study ↗
Frequently asked questions
What are the Car and Driver 10Best winners for 2026?
Car and Driver's 2026 10Best Cars are the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, BMW M2, Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing, Chevrolet Corvette, Lucid Air, Mercedes-Benz E-Class (E450), Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86 and Volkswagen GTI/Golf R. The 10Best Trucks & SUVs include the Honda CR-V, Honda Passport, Ford Maverick, Chevrolet Trax, Hyundai Palisade Hybrid, the GM full-size SUVs, Ford Ranger Raptor, Ram 1500, Porsche Macan and Lucid Gravity.
How does Car and Driver choose 10Best?
Editors assemble every eligible new or updated model under a price cap and test them back to back — about 100 vehicles for 2026 — scoring each on mission fulfillment, driving engagement and value. There's no overall winner; instead there are two lists of ten co-equal winners, one for cars and one for trucks and SUVs. The price ceiling keeps the awards focused on attainable vehicles.
Are 10Best winners cheap to own?
Some are. The mainstream winners — Civic, Accord, CR-V, Maverick — are among the most affordable cars to own, with strong reliability and resale value. The performance and luxury winners (Corvette, M2, Cadillac Blackwings, Lucid models) are far costlier to insure, fuel and depreciate. 10Best measures how good a car is to drive and own as a product, not its five-year cost — so check the TCO for the specific winner you want.
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