Blow In My Ear And I'll Follow You Anywhere

I'm sorry, Katherine. And I'm ready to admit the truth: You are insightful, while I am shortsighted. Civic Hybrid is a technological tour de force and Honda deserves my never-ending admiration for advancing the cause of cleaner combustion. By the closest of margins, its gas-electric powerplant finished just short of my personal Best Engines list.

I don't know what came over me. I've never disputed global warming. And I daydream of a world where the freeways are filled with Corbin Sparrows.

But I am weak. At home, whenever I venture outside to turn my compost pile, the breeze seduces me.

Its gentle whistle sounds like a tempest tumbling madly through a turbo. And the heavenly howl of its peak gusts remind me of a stoked supercharger.

I confess, Katherine. I'm a hopeless blower fan. But I'm not alone.

Alisa Priddle hasn't stopped smiling since she stepped out of the Lightning, and Drew Winter needed a cigarette after he parked the Cobra. (Consensus was, however, that their air power is rendered stale by an aging architecture.)

So is it any surprise that, proportionately, there are more breathed-on engines in the Ward's Top 10 (30%), than in the test group as a whole (24%)?

Arguably, no ride provided more surprise and delight than the Mini Cooper S. Its supercharged 1.6L I-4 was downright sassy. But it was no blow-hard, either. The intrinsic whine was audibly reassuring, yet unobtrusive.

As Bill Visnic says in his judges' memo on the Mini: “There's always fun when a supercharger's involved.” With one exception. The Chrysler PT Turbo's 2.4L I-4 confirmed to me that some things can suck and blow at the same time.