2008 Chevrolet Corvette

It's called the law of diminishing returns: the idea that, after you pass a certain threshold, your investment no longer corresponds to your reward. It also applies to sports cars. There's a kink in the price/performance graph where you begin spending a lot more money for not much more performance. There's an easily definable point after which come diminishing returns, and that point is the Chevy Corvette.

At this point, Chevy could probably say, "Here's a car that goes 190 miles per hour and costs forty-six grand. You don't like the steering? Bite me." Instead, it rolled out a car that does 190 mph while also addressing the subjective aspects of the driving experience. The steering got a new machining process for its internal components, in the name of improved feel. The shifter was revised, in search of more direct throws. The interior, long a Corvette weak point, got a new option that can be best surmised as "cover everything in leather." The 2008 Corvette is like a prodigal athlete who's not content to merely destroy the competition - now he wants to do it with style.

It's not like there's a car waiting in the wings to usurp the Corvette's title of Supreme Sports Car Bang for the Buck, but Chevy acts as if there is. And that's why the Corvette is, once again, an unequivocal All-Star.