The Best Luxury and Exotic Cars We Reviewed in 2022

Best Supercar: Lamborghini Huracán STO

Out of the dozens of vehicles I tested this year. The Lamborghini Huracán STO is one of the few I still think about often. Its recipe is simple yet highly effective. Combine a high-revving naturally-aspirated V10 with aero, suspension, and brakes that belong on a race track, and you get one of the most exciting supercars I’ve ever driven. It’s not the quickest nor the prettiest thing on four wheels, but the STO nails the fun factor, and at the end of the day, that’s precisely what a supercar should do. 

Best Value: Chevrolet Corvette Z06

The latest Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is a perfect example of what happens when you give engineers funding and freedom. Its high-revving V8 is an entirely new powerplant exclusive to this trim level. It sounds like something that should’ve come from Italy and develops a massive 670 hp output. Power aside, the new Z06 is agile, light, and extremely capable. For the money, this latest Vette isn’t just outdoing cars at its $106,395 base price but at more than twice that too. 

Best Luxury Car: Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II

This may come as a surprise, but the $475,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II is excellent. It’s likely not only the best luxury car of the year but probably ever. With its near-perfect combination of comfort, tech, quietness, and quality materials, this latest Phantom is enjoyable both from the second row and behind the wheel. It offers the quietest and most comfortable ride in the auto industry, expected with an as-tested price of $628,300, but still massively impressive. It’s a fitting send-off as batteries will power its successor. 

Best Luxury SUV: Bentley Bentayga EWB

The Bentley Bentayga received a stretch this year with the introduction of the EWB model. However, you’d be hard-pressed to tell just by looking at it. From the outside, it looks like any other Bentayga, but inside, you get a genuinely enormous cabin. With its new airline seat configuration, it’s impossible not to ride in comfort. Despite its added size, the Bentayga hides its heft well. It’s perhaps the most athletic luxury SUV, blending comfort and performance to deliver a delightful ride. 

Best EV: Pininfarina Battista

With nearly 1,900 hp on tap, the Pininfarina Battista is the most unhinged, quickest-accelerating, most exclusive car I drove all year. With just 150 units planned for production, each with a $2.2 million base price, it is rare as it is quick. Switch through its various drive modes, and you go from a calm and comfortable GT to a brain-melting hypercar. Step out, however, and you’re greeted with a stunning design. In person, it’s impressive enough that you’d be content just looking at it for a while. 

Los Angeles to San Francisco: Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost

My nearly 1,000-mile run from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back in a Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost is my most significant road trip story to date. It’s the first road trip story ever published on duPont REGISTRY, but more importantly, it required racking up a considerable amount of miles in a car that’s typically used sparingly. Cutting through California, the Black Badge proved that the sportiest Rolls is not just comfortable, quick, and surprisingly fun to drive but easily my favorite new Rolls-Royce currently on sale.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas: Bentley Continental GT Speed

At just over 900 miles, this run to Las Vegas and back in a Bentley Continental GT Speed proved that not only is this opulent coupe great for covering long distances, but that it’s still a proper athlete. Powered by the last W12 the carmaker will ever produce, the GT Speed is a masterclass in engineering. It takes a sizable machine that should cower in the corners and turns it into a capable canyon carver. It also helps that Bentley sent us the best-looking GT Speed ever made with a dark green exterior finish and green suede interior. 

Sun Valley Idaho: Rolls-Royce Black Badge Cullinan/Ghost

My drive through Sun Valley, Idaho, with Rolls-Royce earlier this year is the shortest but easily the most scenic of the three. A significant portion of our route had us driving through snow-covered roads in both the Cullinan and Ghost to test out their standard all-wheel drive systems. But really, this is a story of doing precisely what you should do behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce, taking a calm drive in an excellent car to look at some lovely scenery.