Audi S5 2008

The good: The beautiful 2008 Audi S5's engine delivers smooth power, while the Quattro all-wheel-drive system keeps the car on the road. The Bang & Olufsen audio system is in the top three car stereos we've heard, and the iPod integration complements it well.
The bad: There's a big price to pay for this kind of power, and it's in the form of lousy gas mileage.
The bottom line: With its refined cabin tech, very nice performance, and beautiful design, the 2008 Audi S5 excels in most areas, only being dragged down by poor mileage and unambitious cabin tech.
Specs: Body style: Coupe; Trim levels: quattro; Available Engine: Gas See full specs >>
Price range: $50,500.00

Lotus Elise 2008

For 2008, Lotus has turned up the heat on its Elise and Exige sports cars. The Lotus Elise SC is a 220-horsepower variant powered by a new, compact, non-intercooled supercharger mated to the standard 1.8L engine. Identifiable by its model-exclusive wheels and a new rear spoiler, the SC boasts a 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds, 10.7 seconds to 100 mph, and a 150 mph top end. The Exige is not ignored either, as the Exige S can now be fitted with a Performance Pack boosting output to 240 horses. Also includded are upgraded brakes, an upgraded clutch, traction control, driver-adjustable launch control, and a new roof scoop. The traction/launch control combo is the same one found in the Lotus 2-Eleven track car. Performance, as you'd expect, is impressive: 4 seconds to sixty, 9.7 seconds to 100 mph, and a 153 mph ceiling. Additionally, all 2008 Elise and Exige models get new instrumentation, standard driver and passenger airbags, a new keyfob design with an immobilizer system, a simplified option pack range, and new paint colors. You can read the Lotus press release in full below (it was only available as a PDF, so it's been gallerized). For all the updates, the two most important traits of the Elise and Exige remain the same: they're still light, and they're still fast.

Porsche 2008 Dodge Viper

The Dodge Viper SRT10 ranks among the fiercest, most raw, visceral machines sold in showrooms anywhere. Only a few cars come as close as the Viper to a street-legal race car: Ferrari F430 Scuderia, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, Porsche 911 GT3RS, Chevrolet Corvette ZO6, Honda S2000CR. Only two of these cost less, and none come within 95 hp of the Viper.
For most automotive tasks the Viper is overkill, like using a six-pound sledgehammer to swat a fly. Ridiculously fast and able to slosh your eyeballs about in their orbit rounding a bend or under heavy braking, it didn't really need any more power. But with archrival Corvette Z06 at 505 hp, that's just what Dodge did for 2008. They made the engine just 0.1 liter bigger but added 95 horses to make a nice round 600. The fly would still be dead, but now you have a bigger hammer.
Along with the increased power, the gearbox has been strengthened, the shifter revised, the clutch tweaked for more grip on less effort, and the hood has been reshaped. Almost irrelevant are addenda like a navigation radio.