Any car enthusiast will tell you that the way a car drives is of paramount importance. But most of us have to make compromises. After all, budget, kids to cart around, trunk space for groceries or family car trips, the inability to have, say, nine specialized cars in the garage serving every occasion -- all of these factors mean that, for many of us, how a car drives is only part of the overall vehicle-buying equation.

Of course, the automotive media tend to think of little else, which is why Motor Trend each year names its Best Driver's Car. This year, despite stiff competition from the Lamborghini Aventador, Jaguar XKR-S, Ford Shelby GT500, Chevy Camaro ZL1, McLaren MP4-12C, Subaru BRZ, Nissan GT-R and Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG Black Edition -- ranked ninth through second, in that order and, yes, the Aventador finished dead last -- the Porsche took top honors. It got seven first-place votes from seven judges, plus another first-place vote from race car driver Randy Pobst, who is in charge of testing the vehicles around the track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Read more after the jump.

Motor Trend editor-at-large Angus McKenzie says the Carrera S "just flows down the road like quicksilver" and credits the incredible driving experience to "elastic thrust, seamless shifts and effortless transitions." MT technical director Frank Markus says, concisely, that the 400-horsepower, $123,840 sport coupe "does nothing wrong and a whole lot right." But there's plenty more to read (and watch) about that car and each of the other contenders, which you can do here. Meanwhile, we've embedded both the hot lap video for the winning Porsche 911 Carrera S, as well as Motor Trend's full-length choosing-of video.

(Note: Passing on some information from the article, if you're wondering why there's no Pagani Huayra or a Koenigsegg it's because those cars aren't yet sold in the U.S. and are therefore not eligible. If you're wondering why there's no Corvette ZR-1 it's because the car underperformed when it was last in the running, in 2009, and hasn't been substantially upgraded since. If you're wondering why there's no Ferrari, it's because the automaker wouldn't send a model -- any model -- for the competition.)