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If Audi's move from the margins to the mainstream of luxury auto brands is due to any one factor, it's design. At Audi, the TT is arguably the apotheosis of the brand's form language, but the A5 is another potent distillation. True, it's not too far removed from its four-door sibling, the A4, but the coupe does wear its own uniquely sculpted sheetmetal, and the A5 is all the more distinctive due to its relative rarity compared to the seemingly ubiquitous (in some markets, at least) A4.

Objectively, the price of any CL is insane given how much less expensive a mechanically identical S-class is, but the point of these coupes is exclusivity and CL shoppers are well past the point of a logical purchase. To go along with that, the CL550, CL600, CL63 AMG, and CL65 AMG are essentially splitting hairs in terms of performance differences, but Mercedes claims there are very specific buyers for each model. The truth is any of these coupes is a revelation to experience the first time.

There’s no shortage of performance in the Jaguar lineup. With the XFR sedan, the XKR two-door, and the XJ Super Sport sedan, the British automaker has a trio of 510-hp supercharged brutes that are plenty competent around a track. But what Jaguar doesn’t have is performance with cachet. The R subbrand carries little emotional weight compared with BMW M, Mercedes-Benz AMG, and Audi RS badges.