We Bought a 2013 Subaru BRZ

Each year Cars.com names a "Best Of" winner that our editors pick as the ultimate car we've driven over the past 12 months. This year, the award went to two cars, the nearly identical Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ sports coupes. Before we determined the winners, we had already decided that whichever car won our Best Of award would get a spot in our long-term test fleet.

Our winner was decided late on a Friday, and we put a deposit down by the following Thursday.

I was tasked with buying one of the two cars, and it turned out to be one of the simplest car purchases I've ever made. Here's why.

Cars.com Names Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ Best of 2013

As we have for the past several years, our editors have spent countless hours behind the wheel of every brand-new or redesigned mainstream car sold in the U.S., and from that group we've chosen our Best Of Award winner. This year is no different, but at the same time, it's a little different.

This year, we've picked twins, the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ, as our Best of 2013 Award winners. These two models, co-developed by the two companies, are nearly identical, from chassis to sheet metal, and these sports cars provide a driving experience that's tragically rare nowadays.

Congratulations to both Scion and Subaru on the win.

Cars.com's Best of 2013 Nominees Announced

Each year, automakers introduce or redesign roughly 70 cars, and our experts spend hours upon hours driving them, putting them through their paces. We're looking above all else for quality, innovation and value for the consumer. From those cars, we pick our nominees for Cars.com's top honor, our Best of 2013 award. Check out our nominees, along with why we chose them, and see why this year's picks are already unique.

The Cars.com Best of 2013 Nominees

2011 Kia Optima Wins Cars.com's 'Best of 2011' Award

The past year has seen the automotive industry rebound from bankruptcies and an economic crisis with an outpouring of new and redesigned models, with electric cars stealing most of the headlines.

Out of the dozens of newly introduced or redesigned cars, our experts have chosen the Kia Optima as the “Cars.com Best of 2011.” Here’s a peek at what our experts had to say about the Optima:

“The Optima delivers outstanding fuel efficiency and a good driving experience – better on both fronts than the [Hyundai] Sonata. The smaller Chevrolet Cruze was the strongest runner-up in our voting on this award, but the Cruze’s impressive gas mileage comes with only one of its five trim levels. The fact is, the Optima’s mass-market drivetrain — a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and six-speed automatic — renders 27 mpg in combined EPA city/highway ratings, and you can get that in the mainline LX and EX trims. That matches the most efficient four-cylinder competitors; you’d have to get a hybrid family sedan to beat it.”

The Optima edged out these five other outstanding nominees:

• BMW 5 Series
• Chevrolet Cruze
• Chevrolet Volt
• Honda Odyssey
• Nissan Leaf

Get all of the details here.