NEW YORK—The New York International Auto Show opened its doors to the public on Friday morning. In recent years, it has found its place as the most important of the American auto shows—Los Angeles and Detroit have been cannibalized by CES and preempted by foreign shows, all to the Big Apple's benefit. This year's event didn't disappoint, as we discovered during the press preview days held earlier this week. There will be plenty more NYIAS content from us in the next few days, but let's kick things off with our Best Of awards.

Since this is a technology publication, I'll begin with our award for the coolest technology on display. I was tempted to give the honor to Waymo, which has just partnered with Jaguar to build tens of thousands of self-driving electric SUVs. Waymo is light years ahead of the competition for driverless technology, but these robo-taxis won't actually be deployed for another two years, so we'll save that one for a later date. Another strong contender is Cadillac's all-new V8, which will appear in a V-Sport version of the CT6 luxury sedan.

It's a 4.2L V8 putting out 550hp (410kW) and 627ft-lbs (850Nm), courtesy of twin turbochargers. These nestle on top of the engine, between the cylinders—a so-called "hot V," as found in current Formula 1 engines. This is the sixth-generation Nissan Altima. One engine option for the new Altima is this, the variable compression turbo engine. The new Altima comes with all-wheel drive.

The cabin design is clean and much less fussy than Nissan's best-seller, the Rogue SUV. Rear space has increased over the outgoing car. But given the reality of climate change, I'm not entirely comfortable lauding this powerful engine as the best tech I saw in two days. Particularly since there's a much more intelligent internal combustion engine on display in the Javits center.

It's one that will reach many more people, as it will be found under the hood of Nissan's brand-new sixth-generation Altima sedan. It is, of course, the Variable Compression Turbo. It's a 248hp (185kW), 273ft-lbs (370Nm) four cylinder that, through some ingenuity, can alter its compression ratio from 8:1 up to 14:1 (varying the engine displacement from 1.997L to 1.970L in the process). It replaces the 3.5L V6 of the old Altima with similar performance but much less weight and with lower fuel consumption.

The engine also switches from the regular combustion cycle to the more efficient Atkinson cycle at higher compression. Between tech like this, Mazda's forthcoming Skyactiv-X technology, and Delphi's Dynamic Skip Fire, it's encouraging to see the industry working to make the internal combustion engine more and more efficient. Next up is another smaller vehicle.

As impressive as the Nissan Altima looks, Toyota had an even more significant reveal for us in Manhattan: the new Corolla. Like the recent Prius and Camry, it too uses the Toyota New Global Architecture. Toyota's press release heralding the new Corolla has some wonderful descriptors, some of which sound like the names of Iain M. Banks' Culture ships. So the hatchback's design is apparently a theme called Shooting Robust.

The styling at the front uses design philosophies called Under Priority Catamaran and Keen Look; the cabin is Sensuous Minimalism. The newest Toyota Corolla. It's a sporty-looking hatchback, shown here in fetching Rival Blue. There's more room on the inside, as the car has a longer wheelbase and wider track than the old version.

Toyota says the design philosophy here is called Under Priority Catamaran. The shape is lower, wider, and longer than the last Corolla. This means it has a wider track (the distance between wheels on the same axle) and a longer wheelbase. Toyota says the new Corolla is more fun to drive—though, after my experience in the Camry I'll wait and make my own decision on that front. It does look the part, especially in the pictured Rival Blue, which is a lot like the Ford Focus RS I liked so much.

This being 2018, there's a lot of technology. An eight-inch touchscreen stands proud on the dash—some might bemoan the fact that it's not integrated, but the ergonomics are better, and, because it's higher up, it should minimize drivers' eyes being away from the road. The Entune 3.0 infotainment system is built on Automotive Grade Linux, and you also get Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa integration.