Driving a Corvette should be an emotional experience, and the standard coupe and convertible deliver in spades. The 400-horspower LS2 V8 rumbles wonderfully, and the Vette intoxicates with its acceleration. With either the manual or automatic transmission, the coupe thrills. And the convertible is plain wonderful. Drop the top on a nice day, blare the stereo and you'll have what psychologists call a peak experience. It's a fantastic feeling and at those moments the Corvette more than justifies its price, which is a bargain compared to other truly capable high-performance sports cars.

Yet probably the best thing about the 2007 Corvette is that you don't have to suspend right-brain rationality to enjoy it. Chevrolet has eliminated nearly all the cruder, less desirable traits that characterized Corvettes of yore, and its performance does not exact a painful toll on driver or passenger. The Corvette could be a reasonably comfortable daily driver in most locales, for at least three of the four seasons. Driven sanely, it can deliver pretty good mileage, too, up to 28 mpg highway by the EPA's formula, better than most SUVs.