Hasta La Gadget!

Technology is the difference that makes the biggest difference in cars today. They all ride pretty well and provide good crash protection (which features are technology-related). A lot of cars look alike because of aerodynamic profiling. So the big differences are in electronic driving aids, navigation systems, cockpit control wheels or pointers, Bluetooth, and entertainment.

Two cars stand out this year: the BMW 7 Series, our Digital Drive Car of the Year, and the Ford Taurus, the Digital Drive Bang for the Buck Car of the Year. All told, PCMag.com and Gearlog Car Tech honor 16 cars: 10 Digital Drive best cars, 5 honorable mentions, a Digital Drive Used Car of the Year, a Digital Drive Technology of the Year, and two technology honorable mentions. Our winners after the jump.

The 2010 Ford Taurus runs second to the BMW 7 Series as Digital Drive Car of the Year. Call it the Bang for Buck Car of the Year, even if its price fully loaded hits $40,000.

We can explain: Where BMW delivers a broad front assault with most every state-of-the-art technology imaginable, Ford delivers the technology you need, affordably. Lots of technology: active cruise control, collision alert, blind spot detection, cross traffic alert, fillerless gap cap, butt-massaging seats,Sync, 911 Assist, and the My Key for tiered teen-driving privileges. Some Ford tech features aren’t even on BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes, or Lexuses. Order every Taurus option, and you’ll still be at half the price–half the base price–of the BMW 7 Series.

The one U.S. automaker that didn’t take federal bailout money has the only two American cars to make the Digital Drive Top 10 for 2010. Coincidence? We think not.

The sleeper car in our Top 10 is the Ford Fusion, and we’re particularly fond of the hybrid version. It’s relatively affordable, the hybrid gets great mileage compared to the gasoline version, and the Sync iPod-and-Bluetooth adapter is on virtually every Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury, which is how it should be. The Ford Fusion provides comfortable transportation and outstanding reliability, according to a number of surveys.

Korea is the new Japan (think Samsung and Sony.) The Hyundai Genesis sedan is the new Lexus LS460. For $43,800, tops, you have an immaculately appointed sedan with a huge back seat and all the technology you’d want: navigation, real time traffic, iPod adapter, backup camera, rear sunshade, HD Radio, satellite radio, hard disk drive, and now active cruise control.

It’s compared more often to a Chrysler 300 than to a Lexus, sadly for Hyundai’s sense of self-worth. Let’s be clear: Nothing else from across the Pacific or Atlantic comes within $25,000 of the Genesis sedan when you factor in cockpit space. (The Ford Taurus has even more technology available but the Genesis is more Lexus-like in its appointments.)

The third-generation Toyota Prius looks a lot like the second-generation Prius, so casual observers assume only modest improvements lie under the sheetmetal. Wrong. The Toyota Prius’ beauty is more than skin-deep. In fact, Toyota continues to advance hybrid technology and sell in large quantities–about 140,000 in 2009–and both are reasons this is one of the Digital Drive Top 10 cars.