Zander Drives Cars

One year ago today, I re-launched my website, formerly known as zandersutton.wordpress.com, to little fanfare. But, since then, I have had the opportunity to grow my site, expand its reach, make friends, and travel to places I never thought I would visit, all while balancing high school. It’s been a job.. I mean a joy. No, seriously it has been. I would love to get all sentimental and lovey-dovey at this moment, but I know you guys just want me to get to the car stats.

So, without further ado: here are some superlatives from the first year of zanderdrivescars.com.

The most powerful car I drove all year: The Jaguar F-Type R; 575 hp

With 575 hp, the Jaguar F-type R was not only the most powerful car featured on the site so far, but with a 200 mph top speed, it was also the fastest. This thing was about as insane as you think it was, and as Jaguar phases out the F-Type this year, it will surely be a sought-after item in the future.

The least powerful car I drove all year: The Mini Cooper 2 Door; 163 hp

Even though the base Mini Cooper 2 door offers less horsepower than a Chevy Malibu, it doesn’t feel like it. The Mini is fun to drive, spritely, and punches way above its weight whenever you put your foot down. For low-speed, twisty roads, this car feels as fast as the aforementioned Jaguar F-Type, just don’t try to race one.

The quickest car I drove all year: The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance; 3.5 seconds

Okay, so really this was a two-way tie between this and the Jaguar F-Type R, but since the Jag already won most powerful, I chose to give the Mach-E this title. If anything, this is more deserving because this is a heavy crossover, and having cars this size keep up with super GT cars in the acceleration department is insane.

The slowest car I drove all year: The Buick Encore GX; 9 seconds

Remember that rental Buick Encore GX I drove back in August? Neither do I. What I did remember was the almost 10-second 0-60 time this car had. Granted, the Encore GX wasn’t built to be a quarter-mile dragster, but for the sake of this list, it is tonight’s big loser.

The most expensive car I drove all year: The Mercedes-Benz G550; MSRP (as tested) $178,450

There is a lot of crap given towards the G-Wagen, trust me, I give High Snobiety’s Jon Schley quite a bit, but there is no denying that not only is the G-Wagen super expensive, but it is worth that price. It is solid, quiet, and unbelievably comfortable. There really is very little to actually complain about.

The cheapest car I drove this year: The Chevy Malibu; MSRP (as tested) $30,595

While very, very cheap, I maintain that the Chevy Malibu offers the best value of any car in its class. The sheer amount of stuff, and the excellent ride quality this car has offsets the iffy quality and potential reliability snags. If you’re looking for the perfect “NPC car,” or a great rental: this is your ride.

And there we have it! Those are the superlatives you guys care about. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for supporting me through my first year attempting to be an automotive journalist. May year two bring a new wave of cars for me to scream about.