Top Gear's US Car of the Year is… an EV wagon?

Forgive us this cliché, but it’s true – we always start our Car of the Year roundups by asking ourselves one specific, if obvious thing: What is a car? You’d think that this would be easy to suss out by the group of supposed professional writers at Top Gear of all places, and yet, every year, it’s the same question.

It’s partly to do with how the various segments continue to encroach onto each other’s territories as they evolve with consumer demands: “We want an SUV, but not a big utility vehicle.” Okay, how about a crossover? “We want a sedan that can fit three rows of people and tow a boat.” Right. We’ll, uh, make some phone calls. “Can we have a coupe, but with four doors?” Please stop emailing us.

You see what we mean? By saving you the hassle of having to go through all of this, you may rest assured that the picks this year are indeed cars, and they’re pretty good at being that above all else. How well they do against each other is the real question.

Photography: Mark Riccioni

Nissan Sentra

The Nissan Sentra is… fine. Perhaps not exactly the praise usually heaped upon award nominees but hear us out: it’s just fine to be just fine. A four-door sedan with a modest 2.0-liter I-4 engine producing 149hp and 146lb ft of torque, the affordable FWD commuter car is exactly that, with little ambition to be more, apart from throwing in a modicum of styling. How does a middle of the road car like this end up as a finalist? Because it’s unapologetic about its place in the automotive diaspora and, indeed, it fills its role well.

Starting at $22,600, it’s affordable in a time when not much is, especially cars, and even with add-ons, the price hike isn’t nosebleed-inducing. What you get for the money is a solid five-seater with creature comforts such as dual 12.3in digital displays, Apple CarPlay and Nissan’s ProPILOT driver assists. There’s also a suite of safety features that should get due recognition.

Giving it that little extra boost in our estimation is that it’s sporty in a charming ‘bless him, he’s trying’ kind of way. Nobody likes having a CVT but Nissan’s tinkerers have at least tried to eke a dollop of fun out of the Sentra’s by tuning it to be as aggressive as possible, paired with similarly overeager throttle mapping.

The result is a simple budget four-pot that tries – loudly – to be somewhat engaging. Y’know what? It kind of succeeds. What you get in return for all the ruckus isn’t what you’d call a completely different character, but you’re able to have something of a perky drive when the Sentra turns on its meager taps.

Maybe all the SR trim bits allude to a sportiness that isn’t truly there. Maybe it could do without all the piping and the two-tone paint schemes. That’s fine, we’ll forgive it a touch of flair for its earnestness. We’re also okay with the Sentra being okay. Normal cars with a little personality used to be more common, and we could do with more Sentras in that regard.

Lexus ES

Dismissive types will quickly try to diminish the Lexus ES as a “fancy Camry” when they couldn’t be more wrong. It’s actually a jacked-up Toyota Crown. Either way, the GA-K platform they all share makes for some decidedly robust daily drivers, and a good place for the luxury brand to stamp its signature opulent style.

With a hybrid powertrain producing up to 244hp, smoothness is prioritized over speed, with much of that having to do with the built-in e-motors filling in gaps in the power band, along with the mile-stretching CVT transmission. That’s a good 44 to 48mpg for those keeping score. On the move, the Lexus makes up for the lack of grunt with a firm, comfortable ride. Enhancing this is the prodigious application of sound-absorbing materials as well as active noise cancelation to make the cabin a pleasant place to spend your road-hours.

Indeed, the interior is where the ES puts its best foot forward. It’s much tidier than its standard cohort, integrating many of the functional switches to be flush within the dash paneling, which is mostly covered with a grippy, almost sticky rubber surface. Of course, there’s a big 14in touchscreen smack in the middle of it all, contrasting all the good design work, though it remains an elegant place to sit.

So, we like it – it’s on this list, after all – but to get to that creamy Lexus center, there’s first a tough nut that needs to be cracked: the exterior. Swapping more fluid designs for the same jutting techno-prow as worn by the RX and others, the elegance that once distinguished the ES from the Toyotas is now missing. The maddening part? The Crown does have all the curves in the right places. Somebody get Akio on the phone, we think there’s a Freaky Friday situation going on down at the factory.

Winner: Subaru Trailseeker

People still carry a torch for the WRX and its many rally-inspired incarnations, but the heart of Subaru fandom is its dutiful, rugged, useful wagon – the Trailseeker.

Oh, you thought we were going to say the Outback? That was true, until the Trailseeker out-wagoned it. Sure, the new Outback is pretty handy for woodland outings with your dog, Flannel, but it’s more SUV than plucky wagon nowadays. Enter the Trailseeker that’s quite the opposite. On top of that, it’s an EV, so trips into the outskirts are battery-powered, and that’s closer to Subie’s crunchy ethos than a boxer-four.

Two electric motors power the AWD Trailseeker, providing 375hp while a 74.4kWh battery offers up between 274 and 281 miles of range for you to play with on or off the road. Either way, you’ll have the advantage of Subaru’s nagging but thoughtful eyesight safety system keeping you keyed into what you’re doing.

Off the beaten path, the set-and-forget X-mode figures out all the tricky terrain stuff as you trundle through the bush. With about 8.5in of ground clearance, it’s got the ability to scale all but the scariest obstacles in your path.

Back in civilization, the Trailseeker is quick, balanced and even keeled, though we wouldn’t mind if some of that WRX DNA slipped into the mix. It’s far from perfect, mainly because the interior feels designed by someone with an acute phobia of gauge clusters, but overall, the pros far outshine the cons.