Best New Cars

Best new vehicles in Texas are tested on the track: Viper GTS, Ford Fusion & Cadillac ATS are big winners

The Texas automotive press gathered once again at the Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth to evaluate the latest cars and decide which ones are best. The annual TAWA Texas Auto Roundup is like an auto show where you can drive the display models — and put them through their paces on the road and racetrack.

This year, the competition was particularly tough, and the voting amongst the journalists particularly close.

Mercedes-Benz and their performance division AMG brought multiple-time champion driving ace Tommy Kendall to take passengers on scorching quick laps in the super exclusive Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 Coupe Black Series (Tommy also happens to personally own one), but it wasn't quite enough to take the supercar title away from the sexy 2013 SRT Viper GTS Coupe, making its much-awaited return to production.

But it's not all about supercars, of course. The Ford Fusion took home the prize for Family Car of Texas and Mid-size Car of Texas, and the Cadillac ATS won the Performance Sedan category.

A great addition this year was a fully-functioning electric car charge station by eVgo, to support the growing number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles like the 2013 Ford C-Max, Smart Electric Drive and Chevrolet Volt.

Here is the full breakdown of the Texas Auto Roundup voting results:

Sub-Compact Car

2013 Fiat 500 Turbo - the tamer version of the ridiculously cool 500 Abarth we named our 2012 Hot Hatch of the Year

Compact Car

2013 Buick Verano Turbo

Performance Compact

2013 Scion FR-S - which we named our 2012 Performance Car of the Year and fully featured on CultureMap

Mid-Size Car

2013 Ford Fusion Titanium - the Hybrid version we named 2012 Smart Energy Car of the Year

Full-Size Car

2014 Chevrolet Impala

Mid-Size Luxury Car

2013 Lexus GS 350 F Sport

Full-Size Luxury Car

2013 Cadillac XTS Platinum Collection AWD

Performance Coupe

2013 Dodge Challenger SRT 392

Performance Sedan

2013 Cadillac ATS - our pick for 2012 CultureMap Car of the Year

Minivan

2013 Chrysler Town & Country Limited

Activity Vehicle

2013 Dodge Journey Crew

Performance Utility

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT

Supercar

2013 SRT Viper GTS Coupe

Green Vehicle

2013 Chevrolet Volt

Best New Feature

Ford: Hands-Free Lift Gate

Best New Interior

2013 Chrysler 300C John Varvatos Luxury Edition

Best Value

2013 Ford Focus ST

Family Car of Texas

2013 Ford Fusion

Car of Texas

2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Fiat 500 Turbo

Photo by Kevin McCauley

Fiat 500 Turbo

unspecified

money woes

Houston has 2nd most financially distressed residents in America

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houstonians are feeling the financial stress in 2026.

A new study has confirmed what many Houston residents are already feeling: Houston has one of the highest shares of people in financial distress in the nation.

Houston ranked No. 2 in WalletHub's just-released report, "Cities with the Most People in Financial Distress," which analyzed 100 of the largest U.S. cities across nine personal finance metrics: average credit scores and year-over-year changes; the share of residents with accounts in distress and year-over-year changes; the average number of accounts in distress; year-over-year change in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025; and "debt" and "loans" search interest indexes.

For the purpose of this study, WalletHub defined "financial distress" as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments.

Chicago, Illinois led the nation with the No. 1 most financially distressed residents, and Las Vegas, Nevada rounded out the top three.

According to the report's findings, Houston residents signaled a "strong need for borrowing" after having the highest search interest nationally for terms like "debt" and "loans." Houstonians also had the 10th highest increase in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025.

"Houston has a high share of the population with accounts in distress compared to most other cities, at over 8 percent, and it also has a high number of accounts in distress per person," the report said.

Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of Houston's overall ranking:

No. 32 – Credit score rank
No. 35 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
No. 39 – People with accounts in distress rank

High unemployment rates and inflation are major factors contributing to most Americans' financial woes, the report said, and rising property taxes can create an even bigger burden for homeowners and renters alike. Texas residents may feel a greater burden than residents elsewhere in the country after the Lone Star State was dubbed the No. 1 most most financially distressed state in America in 2025. And digging oneself out of the "downward spiral" isn't easy, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off," Lupo said.

Though no Texas city is feeling the financial squeeze as much as Houston, three more of the state's biggest cities also ranked among the top 10 most financially distressed places in America: Dallas (No. 4), San Antonio (No. 6) and Austin (No. 9). Fort Worth ranked 12th overall.

The top 10 most financially distressed cities in the nation are:

No. 1 – Chicago
No. 2 – Houston
No. 3 – Las Vegas
No. 4 – Dallas
No. 5 – Los Angeles
No. 6 – San Antonio
No. 7 – Atlanta
No. 8 – New York
No. 9 – Austin
No. 10 – Phoenix

finance wallethub houston