SlashGear's Best Of The 2017 New York Auto Show

The 2017 New York Auto Show saw its fair share of intriguing new car and truck debuts, but as always there are a handful that stand out from the pack. We spent two days scouring the halls of the Javits Center to bring you our best of show wrap-up and show you the vehicles that got us the most exciting at the last big car show of the season.

Check out our picks for best of show below and let us know if you agree with our New York Auto Show choices.

It would be criminal not to include the hairiest production street car to ever emerge from an American automaker on our best of the NY Auto Show list. With 840 horsepower available from its supercharged 6.2-liter V8, the fat drag radials and skinny front rubber on the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon teams up with a transbrake and special launch control program to deliver a quarter mile time of 9.65 seconds as well as a 0-60-mph spring of 2.3 seconds. You will of course need 100 octane race fuel and a VHT-prepared surface to see those numbers, but the fact that this is a fully-warrantied street car is mind-blowing.

What's also impressive is FCA's ability to continue to squeeze scary Demon blood from the Challenger's LX platform. Birthing yet another scarily quick special edition version of what is becoming an older car is an affordable way to keep the heat on a strong-selling product. The future of the Challenger and its Charger twin are linked to shared Alfa Romeo designs, but the present is unabashedly American.

- Benjamin Hunting

Lincoln has done it again. No, the 2018 Navigator may not have the gullwing doors of the Navigator Concept that preceded it, but otherwise the big 7-seat SUV has stuck impressively closely to that unapologetic vision of "American Luxury". From the vast grille, back through lashings of chrome, to an imposing rear three-quarter view that leaves you in no doubt as to what you're seeing, the 2018 Navigator promises to do for Lincoln's SUV what the Continental did for its luxury sedan.

Certainly, it's a love-it-or-hate-it design. The cabin is particularly unapologetic in its vision of 60s Palm Springs excess, filled with deep, plush carpet and blue leather. Lincoln's clever 30-way adjustable seats should provide hours of entertainment as you fiddle with them, then miles of comfort once you're done.

With 450 HP and 500 lb-ft. of torque, meanwhile, it shouldn't be slow. Not everyone will be charmed, but it's an eye-catching and memorable SUV that comprehensively resets memories of the old, awful Navigator that came before it. That alone is worthy of an award. - Chris Davies

Hot on the heels of the VIZIV Concept that we saw at last year's LA Auto Show, the Subaru Ascent Concept further refines the seven-seat SUV full-size SUV that the brand will be bringing to dealerships for 2018. Big, bulky, and yet distinctly Subaru, especially as seen from the front, the Ascent offers a clear impression of what the production model will look like – a vehicle that will also bear the 'Ascent' name. It's an idea whose time has come for Subaru, which finally gets back into the three-row sport-utility game after being burned by the slow-selling B9 Tribeca a decade ago.

It's easy to think that there's a built-in buyer base for the Ascent, but the question becomes one of whether it will consist of mostly existing Subaru owners looking for extra size, or conquest buyers defecting from other Japanese and domestic brands. This could be an unprecedented opportunity for Subaru to break out of its comfort zone and make significant in-roads with a brand new type of customer.

- Benjamin Hunting

If you'd asked me a week ago whether I was excited at the possibility of an F-TYPE with a smaller engine, I'd probably have struggled to come up with an idea bar a cheaper price. Blame Jaguar's canny engineering department, therefore, for now making me wonder whether the Ingenium i4 turbocharged 2.0-liter is actually the engine to have over the V6 that powers most of the F-TYPE range. After all, there are a few good reasons why it makes a whole lot of sense.

For a start, power isn't that much lower than the entry-level V6 car, with 296 HP versus the 340 HP of the more expensive model. Importantly, the peak torque – though lower than in the V6 – arrives much earlier, with the full 295 lb-ft. hitting from 1,500 rpm. Factor in the weight reduction, which is predominantly over the front of the car, and you end up with a sports coupe with the potential to be far more nimble than its more powerful, but heavier, brethren.

Of course, one of the primary reasons people buy this particular Jaguar is the style, and the 2018 F-TYPE 2.0L i4 has that in spades. The 2018 model year changes – including a better infotainment system as standard, and a more ergonomic cabin – don't hurt either. That you're getting all this for under $60k makes this car something of a bargain. - Chris Davies

As if the current Grand Cherokee SRT wasn't fast enough, Jeep has pulled out all the stops and stuffed the Hellcat's 707 horsepower 6.2-liter supercharged V8 into the engine bay of the popular SUV. The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Trackhawk was perhaps the worst-kept secret in the industry, as everyone knew it was only a matter of time before FCA went back to the Hellcat well in order to roast all four tires while also towing over 7,000 lbs.

With a 180-mph top speed, a beef-up all-wheel drive system, and the ability to hit 60-mph in a brisk 3.5 seconds, Jeep is rightfully claiming this over-the-top beast as the world's fastest, and most powerful sport-utility vehicle. It's a clear shot at European pretenders like the BMW X5 M and the Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR, each of which are now lesser lights on the performance SUV landscape. Cayenne Turbo S owners beware! - Benjamin Hunting

Adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, and autonomous braking aren't new in the auto industry, but attempts to coerce them into delivering some sort of self-driving-lite hasn't been the success the car commercials would like you to believe. It'd be easy, therefore, to be pessimistic about Cadillac's Super Cruise, which makes its delayed launch later this year as a $2,500 option on the CT6 sedan. Nonetheless, while we're yet to try the system out on public roads, there are a few good reasons why it's the technology I'm most excited about from this year's NYIAS.

Unlike its competitors, Cadillac is using a high-definition map to better educate Super Cruise. After dispatching a LIDAR-equipped team to map out the highways of North America, the result is a super-accurate plan of the sort of roads self-driving technology makes most sense for. Because the CT6 knows what's coming – beyond the limits of the camera and radar sensors the car is fitted with – thanks to a high-accuracy GPS receiver, it should do a better job at keeping to the curves rather than lane-drifting like so many rival systems are prone to do.

Meanwhile, in this case hands-off really does mean hands-off. Cadillac says drivers with Super Cruise should supervise the system – indeed, a face-detection sensor will track you to make sure you're at least periodically glancing at the road ahead, and flash lights in the steering wheel to remind you – but there's no expectation that you'll rest your hand on the wheel as in other cars promising the same thing. If it all works, it could make the CT6 with Super Cruise the best pick for a road trip on the market. - Chris Davies