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When was the last time your car showed you the stars? Or gave you a hot-stone massage? New cars are built with astounding features that make every commute a magical ride. Americans drove 224 billion miles last month, according to the Federal Highway Administration. If you’re going to spend your time contributing to those billions of miles traveled, shouldn’t you do it in style and comfort? We think so.Ward’s Autos put together a list of the top ten best interiors that can be found in 2014-2015 model year vehicles. These vehicles represent the very best in design and range from funky yet frugal options like the Kia Soul to stately kings of the road like the Rolls-Royce Wraith. Each is jam-packed with features that make a car feel even better than home.
Click through to see the sweetest car cabins on the road.
Sticker Price: $25,095 – $29,695
Invoice Price: $24,091 – $28,507
Fuel Economy: 21 mpg City, 31 mpg Highway
Volkswagens aren’t just zippy and efficient, they can also be cushy to drive. The heated supportive sport seats in this hot hatch hug occupants through turns and are upholstered in a slick plaid. Inside, it’s comfortable, with a businesslike cabin. It’s nicely trimmed and well-assembled. The level of fit and finish better than you might expect for the price, especially since plenty of money was also spent on the engineering.
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Sticker Price: $284,900Invoice Price: N/AFuel Economy: 13 mpg City, 21 mpg Highway
The 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith has, well, the Rolls-Royce of interiors. From its leather headliner, perforated with 1,340 hand-sewn fiber-optic stars to give the cabin a warm glow, to its one-inch-thick plush, natural lamb’s wool floor mats, this car has had luxury hand-stitched into every detail. Drivers are greeted by analog circular instruments on the dash and the open-pore, un-lacquered wood which gives the airy greenhouse an almost nautical feel. Occupants sink into sumptuous seats draped in fine grain leather. There’s more lightly dyed cow leather coating the dash and ostrich leather covers the center console.Research the Rolls-Royce WraithRolls-Royce Wraith OverviewRolls-Royce Wraith Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $96,900Invoice Price: $27,056Fuel Economy: 17 mpg City, 25 mpg Highway
If a Roman Emperor could buy a car, this would be it. This interior takes luxury to incredible, and at times ridiculous heights. Nero would certainly have delighted in seats that give hot-stone massages with the press of a button. If you pick up a S550, be sure to have a chauffeur handy, because the back seats offer a whole new world of features. The rear seats recline, and the passenger side rear seat includes a power foot rest. Back-seat passengers also enjoy private DVD entertainment and internet access, airline-style folding tray tables, heated arm rests and heated/cooled cupholders. And did we mention the Air Balance package? This option includes an ionizing and perfuming feature for the heating and ventilation system.Research the Mercedes-Benz S550Mercedes-Benz S550 OverviewMercedes-Benz S550 Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $16,945 – $26,495Invoice Price: $16,464-$25,335Fuel Economy: 29 mpg City, 41 mpg Highway
Mazdas are generally known as zippy cars with lackluster interiors. The new generation Mazda3 should change all of that. The chunky two-tier instrument panel of the outgoing 3 has been supplanted by one with a smoother, more cohesive look. Its new navigation system is displayed on a sizeable touchscreen, which allows users to navigate through the various screens like a smart phone. Passengers in the back will find less leg and head room than in the previous Mazda3, but those in the front seats will be set for a pleasant ride in cushier seats that offer everyday driving comfort.Research the Mazda3Mazda3 OverviewMazda3 Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $14,900 – $20,500Invoice Price: $14,585 – $19,521Fuel Economy: 24 mpg City, 30 mpg Highway
The Kia Soul was already a hit, selling 112,000 units in the U.S. last year. They should see even better sales after the colossal improvements made to the interior. The Soul’s cabin is more fun and functional than ever before. The updated interior sports speaker grilles that bookend the dashboard and a new steering wheel that offers a well-sorted switchgear for cruise control and audio. The new instrument panel is well-grained and soft to the touch. Materials look and feel better and the dual-density seat foam is now thicker and kinder to your backside. Overall the cabin now has a much more mature feel. Even the carpets are more sound absorbent.Research the Kia SoulKia Soul OverviewKia Soul Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $68,500Invoice Price: N/AFuel Economy: 24 mpg City, 30 mpg Highway
The exterior might be a little bland, but inside the Hyundai Equus is impressive. The dashboard is elegant, with high quality wood and other materials. The digital instrument panel and expanded infotaiment console screen are all greatly improved. The spacious and well appointed greenhouse is more in-step with the Equus’ luxury car rivals such as the Audi A8 and BMW 7 Series.Research the Hyundai Equus Ultimate Hyundai Equus OverviewHyundai Equus Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $51,465Invoice Price: $47,862Fuel Economy: 16mpg City, 22 mpg Highway
GMC’s Denali-specific interior turns a hard working truck into a luxury vehicle. Details include script on the bright door sills and embossed into the front seats and real aluminum trim. The leather seats have both heated and cooled settings and the steering wheel is leather-clad, as well. The cabin itself is whisper quiet, which is unusual for such a big truck. Drivers are greeted by a high tech interior that contains a completely customizable, 8-inch digital display sits just behind the steering wheel. It can include any information a driver could want, from navigation to audio settings to your basic instrument panel. This is an excellent option for drivers who want a little more refinement and a little less cowboy in their trucks.Research the GMC Sierra DenaliGMC Sierra Denali OverviewGMC Sierra Denali Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $53,000 – $62,000Invoice Price: $48,230 – $56,420Fuel Economy: 17 mpg City, 29 mpg Highway
Corvettes are better known for the power under their hoods than for the luxury inside their cabins. Past models have suffered from cheap materials and uncomfortable seats. Thankfully, the Stingray doesn’t suffer from these issues. The standard seats are much improved, framed in magnesium and equipped with eight-way power adjustability and wrapped in very nice full Nappa leather. They’re worlds more supportive than the outgoing lumps. The instrument panel has also been enhanced for driver visibility, by turning the display slightly towards the driver.Research the Chevrolet Corvette StingrayChevrolet Corvette Stingray OverviewChevrolet Corvette Stingray Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
Sticker Price: $25,995 – $30,195
Invoice Price: $25,166 – $29,072
Fuel Economy: N/A
TheChrysler 200C is an ugly duckling that reached swan status this year, and not just with its exterior. There are three color schemes to choose from with the cabin, inspired by the city skylines of Detroit, New York and Sausalito, Calif. There’s also a Premium Group available for the 200C that adds a heated, two-tone steering wheel, as well as stylish, real wood accents. Those veneer trims, in particular, look quite intriguing, with the bluish-silver wood having an almost metallic appearance. The five-inch TFT display in the instrument cluster comes standard and can be totally reconfigured to fit the needs of the driver.
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Sticker Price: $27,995Invoice Price: $27,056Fuel Economy: 22 mpg City, 31 mpg Highway
Everything inside the newly redesigned Jeep Cherokee has seen a rise in quality. Though the tough SUV doesn’t come with lamb’s wool floor mats, the plastics and vinyl are soft and smooth. The steering wheel in the Limited edition comes wrapped in thick leather, and the plastic door pulls are made from heavy duty plastic and feels close to real metal. Even the cloth seats, usually a sure sign of a cheaper car, are made from high quality fabric inspired by the thick outer coverings worn by Scandinavians. The Icelandic-themed material is laid over firm, thick foam. This Jeep crams as much storage as possible, giving this interior function as well as form.Research the Jeep Cherokee LimitedJeep Cherokee Limited OverviewJeep Cherokee Limited Photos & VideoLocal Dealer Price Quote
This year’s Formula One season might qualify as being just as crazy as last year’s, only it’s a different kind of crazy. Instead of a new winner every Sunday, how the winner actually manages to take the victory is the mystery, and just when we thought the season might have settled into a groove regarding team performance, here comes the Spanish Grand Prix to remind us that we don’t know anything until the race has been run.
There were many similarities to past weekends to being this one: Mercedes-AMG Petronas showed awesome one-lap pace, Fernando Alonso did well enough in qualifying to get fifth on the grid but talked up the race pace of the Ferrari, Kimi Räikkönen was the equivalent of a racing photobomber, never saying much but always showing up in the picture, Felipe Massa wasn’t really big on the tires and McLaren might want to consider starting a blues band they spend so much time singing them.
Then the lights went green and things went nuts…
Both pole-sitter Nico Rosberg and teammate Lewis Hamilton cautioned about the race pace of their Mercedes’ versus their qualifying pace, but we’re sure neither had any idea how bad things would get once the lights turned green. Rosberg managed to hold onto the lead for the first 13 laps of the race, even after the first round of pit stops that began on Lap 9. However, on Lap 4, Rosberg got his first warning to look after one of his tires, and when he came out after his first pit stop, his tires didn’t seem to have any race in them – he was passed by Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in the Infiniti Red Bull on his out lap, Räikkönen in the Lotus two laps later, and would spend the rest of the race on a four-stop strategy fighting his losses, dropping back to sixth place at the finish.
Hamilton wishes the day had gone so well. After flat-spotting into the first corner on the first lap, he was fourth by the start of the second lap and struggled with his tires and his car. By Lap 15, he was down to ninth, passed by Daniel Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso. By Lap 25 he was out of the top ten and by Lap 28 he was down to 15th and radioed his engineer, “I’ve just been overtaken by a Williams.” On Lap 55 he was lapped. He managed to reclaim three places to finish in 12th, and although he was at a loss for answers when trying to explain where the problem is with the car he wasn’t morose, saying, “We don’t know where it is at the moment, otherwise we would fix it immediately, but I’m sure the guys will find it.”
Championship leader Vettel – who’s been the man to beat when Pirelli brings the hard compound to a race – gained a place on the first lap to claim second position and stayed right behind Rosberg all the way into the pits on Lap 11. While Rosberg came out in the lead, though, Vettel came out in third behind Alonso. Vettel would use Alonso as the rabbit for this stint, following him past Rosberg on Lap 13 but then slowly losing time to Alonso and, on Lap 15, being told to look after his tires. Vettel stayed in the top four with Alonso, Massa and Räikkönen, but his Infiniti Red Bull looked earthly this race, and after a battle with Räikkönen that went on for nearly ten laps, Vettel was again told not to fight Raikkonen so hard that he killed his own race. Räikkönen finally got by on Lap 33 and from there Vettel settled into a quiet race to fourth, finishing almost ten seconds ahead of his teammate Mark Webber. The No. 2 Infiniti Red Bull got another horrific start, dropping from eighth at the start to 11th, but was one of the few racers on the grid who managed to make a big jump from the green flag to the checkered, ending the race in fifth.
It was Alonso and Raikkonen that would keep everyone guessing until the end – well, if not guessing, at least Raikkonen kept it game for most of the race. Alonso, in third position by the third turn of the first lap, passed Rosberg on Lap 13 and then his Ferrari owned the track – whenever Alonso wasn’t in the pits he was putting more distance between himself and the rest of the field. He was so quick that at one point that after emerging from the pits he began lapping three seconds quicker than the cars in the lead. Even though Raikkonen only did a three-stopper to Alonso’s four, Alonso had so much time in hand that when he did his final stop on Lap 37, he came out less than two seconds behind Raikkonen, then got by him two laps later in the DRS zone on the main straight. There was nothing the Lotus could do – Raikkonen has been saying ever since his win in Australia that the E20 needs more pace – and Alonso finished in first roughly a dozen seconds ahead of the Finn.
Joining them on the podium was Massa, who was demoted to ninth place on the grid for impeding Webber during qualifying, but was sixth by Lap 2 and got up to second for much of the race, not troubling his teammate but sparring with Raikkonen and Vettel on track and during pit stops. On Lap 37 the Ferrari team machine ran so well that Alonso and Massa pitted together. Alonso was able to breeze past Raikkonen after that stop, but Massa – who said he didn’t have the tires, again – had to be happy with third.
The final order was Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, di Resta, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez and Ricciardo. Button described the performance of his McLaren as “a little embarrassing” but still mananged to come from 14th on the grid to 8th at the finish. A clash with teammate Perez this time was avoided, both cars apparently told not to fight, Perez finishing in the same ninth place in which he began. Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus would retire on Lap 10 after contact with Adrian Sutil in the Force India. Both di Resta and Ricciardo continue to do good things with their chassis’, the Scotsman taking his Force India from tenth on the grid to seventh, Ricciardo adding another point to his standings in the Driver’s Championship. He’s now one point ahead of teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who had to retire with damage after a collision with Nico Hülkenberg and a tire delamination, and just five points behind Perez and ten behind Button.
Alonso’s win gives him 72 points, good for third position behind Vettel with 89 and Mr. Consistent Kimi Räikkönen with 85. From there it’s a plunge back to Hamilton (50), Massa (45) and Webber (42). It looks better for the Scuderia in the Constructor’s race, Infiniti Red Bull leading on 131 points, Ferrari at 117 and Lotus with 111. Pirelli has said it will be working on new compounds, believing the number of four-stopping cars might have been a bit much, but they won’t be ready in time for the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks. The race in the harbor, always good for a surprise pole position and a winner out of nowhere, should continue the season’s unpredictability.