I like cars with plenty of torque and horsepower. I really like cars with lively handing and an eager attitude towards a curvy mountain road. A comfortable car is nice to have, too. But what really gets me going is a car that offers a great value – a lot of car for not a lot of money. The best of all cars offer great handling, a punchy engine, nice features inside, and a surprisingly pleasant sticker price.

A great deal for $35,000

I’ve had both ends of the Dodge spectrum in the last couple of weeks. The first car I drove was the Dodge Avenger SE. This is Dodge’s economy sedan, oriented towards young people – it’s priced to be your first-ever new car at $18,220. The model we tested had a $220 easy-clean seat option (handy for new parents) and a $675 “Destination Charge”.  I don’t know about you, but the first thing I’d say to the salesman is “getting it to the dealership is your part of the deal, driving it away is mine.”

A good basic car