(As we're all fully aware, the holiday season is now in full swing. To celebrate, Exhaust Notes is running the automotive holiday wish lists of four of our writers: Josh Condon, Chuck Tannert, James Tate and Lawrence Ulrich. Each has picked two cars -- one where price is no limit, the other a more realistic ride with a price cap at $35,000 -- which in a perfect world would be delivered to each of their driveways with a big bow on top. Lawrence Ulrich talks his top two.)

Far and away, it’s the question I’m most often asked as an auto critic: What car would I drive, if I could have anything? But as someone who critiques cars for a living, I can’t even have a proper Dear-Santa dream without some reality slipping down the chimney, Grinch-style. That’s why this year’s fantasy car isn’t a $2 million Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, or a museum-worthy vintage Ferrari. For a mere $160,000, I’ll trade Santa his cookies for an Audi R8 5.2 V10. (Though I’d still feel a twinge for passing on the bodacious Aston Martin DBS, Ferrari 458 Italia or Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.)

The Audi, in fact, is the Lamborghini’s less expensive sister car; they share a chassis, midengine V10, quattro all-wheel drive, even their audio and navigation system. But while the Lamborghini has an edge in power (556 horses to 525) and sheer, car-from-another-planet outlandishness, the Audi is the car I’d rather live with. The Audi snaps your neck, and onlookers’ heads, as effectively as the Lambo. But it’s also a car that you -- or your significant other -- could drive and love every day. It’s as comfortable and approachable as a Porsche 911 or Corvette. And the Audi doesn’t draw as many dirty looks as the Lamborghini from people (jealous, mostly) who assume you’re some nouveau-riche jerk.

I had assumed that the R8 was just about perfect in its original, 420-horsepower V8 version -- except for its mediocre automatic transmission, which I’d switch for the manual anyway. But it turned out I was wrong. The V10 version elevates the Audi into true fantasy territory, as I learned during whoop-it-up laps at Infineon Raceway in California's Napa Valley, and again during killer drives up New York’s Hudson River Valley. That engine and retuned suspension make the Audi a genuine 200-mph exotic and boost the sound, speed and sensation to where the R8 wanted to be all along. And since we’re fantasizing, the extra $35,000 for the V10 model will be nestled in my stocking come Christmas morning.

Of course, I could also spend that 35 grand on a whole other car. This one’s easy: Make mine the Nissan 370Z. The venerable Z is the poor man’s Porsche of this era, delivering 90 percent of the 911’s performance for less than half its price. Particulars include a 332-horsepower, 3.7-liter V6 engine; a zero-to-60 mph explosion in the low 4-second range; and a quarter-mile squirt in just over 13 seconds. Where many performance cars keep getting fatter, the Z is blessedly smaller and lighter than the outgoing 350Z model. Styling and interior are markedly improved, and the chassis is as stout as a Niagara Falls barrel. And the driving experience is as delightful (and repeatable) as your 100th viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The Z starts at a hair over 30 grand, which means a smartly equipped model is yours for $35,000. That also makes the Z a bargain versus its stable mate, the Nissan GT-R, which starts at more than $80,000. The GT-R goes slightly faster, looks tougher and adds AWD handling. But its real-world edge isn’t enough in my book to merit paying double the Z’s price.