In the Automobile Magazine letters mailbox, there is a certain genre of complaint that I'd characterize as, "Why don't you guys get real?" The theme is that we're a bunch of out-of-touch hedonists who spend our days driving Pagani Huayras up the side of the Matterhorn with Scarlett Johansson riding shotgun. And while that's a great idea, now that I mention it, it does behoove us every now and then to dip a toe into the cold bath of reality. Well, how about driving a Dodge minivan to Atlantic City? And after that, how about off-roading in rural Pennsylvania? Is that real enough for you? It's as real as the 1000 percent of the recommended daily allowance of sodium in a bag of truck-stop beef jerky, my friend.

After the strong finish to 2011, auto industry insiders were looking ahead to 2012 with great expectations. All were predicting a year of higher sales -- for their own companies, naturally, but also for the industry overall. Most estimates were that sales could grow from 12.8 million units in 2011 to well into the 13 million-unit range in 2012. The January figures are now in, and in the first month of the new year, we're actually on a pace to top the 14 million mark. Sales were up by 11% over January 2011 and yet incentive spending has pretty much held steady. Another few months like this and analysts will have to revise their estimates upward.

I know BMWs are expensive because they are premium cars with premium equipment and lots of technology inside. But this car is far too expensive. How can a roadster that's no more fun than a Miata start at $49,525? That feels about $8,000 too expensive for a four-cylinder roadster in my book. Yes, the Z4 is far more refined than the Miata, but it doesn't bring as big of a smile to my face as the little Mazda does.

Volkswagen owns the affordable diesel market in the United States. With TDI engines available in the Jetta, Passat, Golf, and Touareg, one out of every five Volkswagens sold in 2011 was powered by a diesel engine. A fifth VW diesel, the Beetle TDI, joins the lineup for 2012, but Volkswagen isn't content to rest on its compression-ignition laurels. Hybrids make up a far larger share of the United States market and the German automaker is keen on capturing some of those buyers. Since the $62,865 Touareg Hybrid struggles with that task, Volkswagen will target a more practical segment and a more reasonable price this fall with the Jetta Hybrid.

If you're puzzled, as we are, by what the new Mini Roadster is supposed to be that the existing Mini Convertible is not, the folks from Mini offer this explanation: "It's the return of the British roadster."

Mainstream cars keep getting more homogenous. Volkswagen has reduced the number of build combinations for Jetta from 148 to fourteen. Sedans like the Toyota Corolla are sold in huge numbers with just one engine. And even the bestselling car in America, the Toyota Camry, is available with your choice of only three powertrains.

At BMW, hybrid powertrains have gotten off to a slow start, but they’re about to pick up steam. The company rolled out a mild hybrid version of the 7-series and a full-hybrid X6 in 2009. The X6, however, was quietly dropped at the end of last year, and the ActiveHybrid 7 hasn’t exactly been a big seller. This year, however, sees the debut of the hybrid 5-series, out this spring, followed this fall by a hybrid version of the new 3-series sedan.

I'm not one to COMPLAIN, but being an observant Jew at a car magazine has its challenges. For one, there's one day every week, from sundown on Friday until one hour after sunset on Saturday, during which I do not drive, in honor of the Jewish Sabbath. Even if it's a really, really cool car. I'm also limited in where I go to eat: Michigan may still be the epicenter of the U.S. auto industry, but it's hardly a destination for kosher food.

I'm reluctant to parrot Toyota's advertising, but there's more than an ounce of truth in the "Yaris -- It's a car!" campaign. During my night with the Yaris, I verified that it does indeed have four wheels, a steering wheel, and a gasoline engine. It also has a steering column that doesn't telescope and a four-speed automatic transmission, which were two of the key factors preventing Toyota from pursuing the alternative tagline, "It's a competitive car!"

After years of ignoring the exploding market for pickup trucks, Honda finally in 2006 brought out its first pickup, the Ridgeline. Rather than develop a V-8 engine and a body-on-frame chassis from scratch, Honda adapted the unibody underpinnings of its Pilot SUV to create an unconventional pickup, but one that nonetheless would meet the needs of a large number of pickup buyers.

Three years ago, my mother almost bought a C300 sedan but cited the fact that it "wasn't special enough" as a deal breaker. Given the comprehensive update Mercedes gave the C-class for 2012, my mother was obviously not the only one who thought that the baby Benz could be more deserving of the three-pointed star. Simple changes like the silver, watch-like gauge faces go a long way, but the all-new interior makes all the difference. No longer is the center stack a large wasteland of black plastic; instead, it's an artfully laid out and usable infotainment space decorated with wood trim and chrome. All of the controls come straight from the Mercedes-Benz parts bin, which is not a bad thing in this case - the same radio and climate controls from the C-class can now be found on the $130,000 CLS63 AMG test car we recently had.

In early 2013, the Mini Paceman crossover coupe -- the seventh and final body style of the current Mini -- will arrive. Just six months later, the third-generation new Mini is set to debut. The new line will launch with the signature two-door hatchback, but brand expansion has firmly taken hold at Mini and the company is planning four new models to bring the full lineup to eleven vehicles.

I didn't spend much time in the Beetle Turbo but it doesn't take much time behind the wheel to appreciate VW's spunky 2.0-liter turbo four. The turbo spools up quickly -- all 207 lb-ft of torque are available at an insanely low 1700 rpm -- but progressively so acceleration is instantaneous but easily controllable. My only criticism after driving the Beetle is that, like the Passat, the throttle requires a fair bit of concentration and a controlled touch to take off gradually from a stop.

The Dodge Charger exists in a class of one. Its attitude, style, and rear-wheel drive distance it from an otherwise bland segment defined by the unexceptional Ford Taurus, Chevy Impala, and Toyota Avalon. As much as we respect the Charger's swagger, though, we could never get past its less compelling traits -- tired six-cylinder engines, sluggish transmissions, and a dour interior.

The sixth generation of the BMW 3-series arrives this February in the United States -- in sedan form, at least -- and it's safe to say that the biggest question on the mind of most enthusiasts is: did BMW screw it up?

Despite the missing two cylinders, the new EcoBoost engine still pulls like a strong and smooth V-6. There is little lag, and I doubt that most buyers would notice any difference in power delivery. However, they will probably notice the very un-V-6-like noises coming from the engine bay - it may pull like a V-6, but sounds like the four-cylinder it is. What owners of previous Edge models will definitely notice is the electric power-assisted steering. The wheel feels as though it's attached to nothing, and makes the steering seem sloppy. It also gives zero feedback as to what the wheels are doing -- it's like something that belongs in a video game.

Months in service: 6
Miles to date: 14,061

As a designer, Gerry McGovern is rather like American muscle cars of yore: neither handles curves too well, but give them a straight line and there's no catching them. His MGF roadster and various Lincoln concepts were less than convincing, but his multiple off-road designs have been outstanding. From the highly successful Land Rover Freelander -- Europe's four-by-four best-seller from 1997 to 2002 -- to the terrific Range Rover Evoque, his Land Rover designs are winners. His grasp of how to modulate the surfaces of a box-shaped mass to make it attractive eludes most designers.

I am green with envy over the absolute fabulousness of another car magazine. I can reveal my mortifying sin -- sixth among Dante's seven deadly sins, according to my Catholic mother -- only because the magazine in question costs 50 a pop (the equivalent of $67), or 250 for a yearly subscription, which includes three 180-page issues and a 280-page yearbook with a 100 cover price. I can't imagine how many subscriptions it serves at that atmospheric price, but the Official Ferrari Magazine is worth every euro, even at today's equivalent of $335 per year.

Miles: 21,949
Months in service: Eight

This C63 AMG coupe seems like a total bargain compared with the CLS63 AMG four-door test car that we also recently drove here at Automobile Magazine. That car was larded up with $34K in options, making it sticker for a breathtaking $130K. This C63 is, arguably, a more entertaining proposition, even though it has 69 fewer hp and 147 fewer lb-ft of torque than the twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 CLS63 with the AMG performance package. That's because the C63 sticks with the normally aspirated 6.2-liter V-8, which is a grunty, characterful beast. In an age when more and more engines are getting turbocharged and supercharged, the 6.2-liter V-8 is all the more cool because it relies on old-fashioned displacement and relatively high revs, among other things, to deliver the goods. Go light on the options, and you could have a pretty well-equipped C63 for about $70K. Even if you pile on all the available equipment and end up with an $80K car like our tester, the C63 AMG coupe makes for an interesting alternative to a Porsche 911 Carrera or Carrera S.

More power. It's just what every two-and-a-half-ton SUV needs. Not. For that reason, if you had asked us a few weeks ago to pick a sensible vehicle for touring the winding mountain roads around Santa Barbara, California, chances are excellent we'd probably have neglected to mention Mercedes-Benz's ML series, much less its top-of-the-line ML63 AMG. Fettled by the company's in-house tuning department, the extra-picante version of the weighty SUV has only just reemerged in a third edition with more power than ever: 518 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, from the now-ubiquitous AMG 5.5-liter, twin-turbo V-8.

I love fast cars. This has been pretty clearly documented, most recently by a representative of the Wyoming Highway Patrol. But fast cars present a logistical problem: where do you exploit their performance? Track time is hard to come by, and even the most glorious, wide-open roads carry the threat of constabulary intervention. This summer Ford will sell a 200-mph Mustang, which will come in handy for anyone whose commute includes the Nardo test track.