2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year:
http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/...u_impreza.html


Significance. It's one of the three key criteria against which the contenders for Motor Trend's Car of the Year are judged. And as the competition assembled at the giant Hyundai-Kia California Proving Ground, 100 miles north of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert, it was clear this year's 18-car field was laden with truly significant vehicles.

The Honda Accord and Chrysler/Dodge minivan twins represented all-new interpretations of high-volume, benchmark vehicles that virtually defined their respective categories. We had reworked icons, too-the second-generation Audi TT, Mini Cooper, Subaru Impreza WRX, and Scion xB. We had new cars with old nameplates that carried the collective hopes of an entire company-Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Taurus, and Mitsubishi Lancer. We had an all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class, packed with technology and Teutonic swagger, and we had an all-new Audi coupe that may just be one of the most beautiful cars ever from Ingolstadt. And we had the best damn Cadillac in 50 years.

Picking a winner from this lot wasn't going to be easy. We'd spend five days at Hyundai-Kia's 4300-acre complex conducting detailed performance tests and drive evaluations while we kicked tires, poked under hoods, folded seats, looked at paint finish and panel fit, and checked interior gaps and margins. With the field narrowed to just eight finalists, we'd spend another two days driving each of those eight back to back on real world roads under real world conditions. And only then would the 13 judges sit down to vote on a winner.

It's an exhaustive-and at times exhausting-process. There are numerous copy-cat awards in this country; Motor Trend's Car of the Year dates back to 1949 and is the oldest in the world, but none has clearly stated criteria nor is backed by hands-on testing and analysis like ours. It works.



Motor Trend's Car of the Year is unique in other ways, too. Some of our rivals, perhaps desperate to schmooze as many of their advertisers as possible, give multiple awards, like Best Sedan between $25,000 and $25,999 or Best Sports Car You Can Drive Wearing a Tux. Not us. There is only one Car of the Year. That means, this year, 17 unhappy losers. Last year, it was 26. Further, the award is open only to new or significantly upgraded cars on sale from January 1 each year; you don't see our personal favorites recycled on these pages year after year.

You have the background. Now let's go find the winner.

THE CRITERIA

SUPERIORITY - Engineering excellence, advancement in design, utilization of resources and safety. Vehicle concept and execution are important, as are use of materials, packaging, dynamics, styling, and fuel consumption.

SIGNIFICANCE - How well does the vehicle do the job its maker intended it to do? And how does it impact or change its particular market segment, influence consumer perceptions, and transform product development trends.

VALUE - How does each vehicle compare against its direct rivals? A vehicle with a low sticker price might not be as good a value as a more expensive vehicle that delivers outstanding performance, quality, and functionality.


Do not look if you dont want to know



2008 contestants

Audi TT
Chrysler T&C
Dodge Avenger
Ford Focus
Ford Taurus
Mini Cooper
Mitsubshi Lancer
Scion xd
Subusar Impreza wrx
volvo c30

finalists

audi a5/s5
chevy malibu
dodge grand caravan
honda accord
Meredes benz c-class
scion xb
volvo v70/xc70


Winner

Cadillac CTS

 

Cadillac has more info on their website


http://www.cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/....jsp?model=cts

 

[:'(] yuck

 

This thread is titled "Motor Trend C.O.T.R..." Still trying to figure out what the "R" stands for... [sm=bangbang.gif]

If you meant "Motor Trend C.O.T.Y..." I'm afraid I haven't taken that the least bit seriously for the last several years... probably about the time they named the butt-ugly Shamu-mobile Caprice Classic for their COTY for 1991.

Of course, in addition to that whale-like wonder, they also had the Chevy Citation, Dodge Omni, Dodge Aspen... and if I'm not mistaken, the AMC Pacer was once the COTY also.

 

Sorry about the typo[sm=guilty.gif]: I found this list of all of Motor Trend's COTY on wikipedia.

2008 Cadillac CTS
2007 Toyota Camry
2006 Honda Civic
2005 Chrysler 300C
2004 Toyota Prius
2003 Infiniti G35
2002 Ford Thunderbird
2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser
2000 Lincoln LS
1999 Chrysler 300M
1998 Chevrolet Corvette
1997 Chevrolet Malibu
1996 Dodge Caravan
1995 Chrysler Cirrus
1994 Ford Mustang
1993 Ford Probe GT
1992 Cadillac Seville Touring Sedan
1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ
1990 Lincoln Town Car
1989 Ford Thunderbird SC
1988 Pontiac Grand Prix
1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
1986 Ford Taurus LX
1985 Volkswagen GTI (eligible due to it being built in VW's now-defunct Pennsylvania plant)
1984 Chevrolet Corvette
1983 AMC / Renault Alliance
1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
1981 Chrysler K Cars, Dodge Aries / Plymouth Reliant
1980 Chevrolet Citation
1979 Buick Riviera S
1978 Chrysler, Dodge Omni / Plymouth Horizon
1977 Chevrolet Caprice
1976 Chrysler, Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare
1975 Chevrolet Monza 2+2
1974 Ford Mustang II
1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
1972 Citroën SM (An imported vehicle that was selected overall "Car of the Year")
1971 Chevrolet Vega
1970 Ford Torino
1969 Plymouth Road Runner
1968 Pontiac GTO
1967 Mercury Cougar
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
1965 Pontiac Motor Division
1964 Ford Motor Company (Not for the Mustang)
1963 American MotorsRambler
1962 Buick Special
1961 Pontiac Tempest
1960 Chevrolet Corvair
1959 Pontiac Motor Division
1958 Ford Thunderbird
1957 Chrysler Corporation
1956 Ford Motor Company
1955 Chevrolet Motor Division
1954 No award
1953 No award
1952 Cadillac Motor Division
1951 Chrysler Corporation
1950 No award
1949 Cadillac Motor Division

MT Import car of the year (before 99 imports and exports had seperate categories)
1999 Volkswagen New Beetle
1998 Lexus GS
1997 BMW 5-Series
1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
1995 Nissan Maxima
1994 Honda Accord
1993 Mazda RX-7
1992 Lexus SC 400
1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4
1990 Nissan 300ZX Turbo
1989 Mitsubishi Galant GS
1988 Honda CRX Si
1987 Acura Legend Coupe
1986 Mazda RX-7
1985 Toyota MR2
1984 Honda Civic CRX
1983 Mazda 626
1982 Toyota Celica Supra
1981 Mercedes-Benz 300SD
1980 Honda Civic
1979 Datsun 280ZX
1978 Toyota Celica
1977 Mercedes-Benz 280E
1976 Toyota Celica Liftback
1970 Porsche 914

 

Come on Yankee, give a brother a break! ...the only Chrysler I've ever owned was the Omni's sister the Horizon and other than a crappy carb (thanks Holley and I found that rather surprising giving their rep) that sucker gave me 40K trouble free miles before I gave it to my sister at 115K

In fact this same car was the that took my mother, father, sister and myself from Virginia to California and back in a southwest, northwest, northeast, south east tour of the U.S. in just two weeks. It got great gas mileage, had decent acceleration....

It was one of the well made Chrysler's, my mom's Turbo ES daytona didn't fair nearly as well.

 

What is funny is you can many times see the disconnect between what the magazines like and what people like. Take a look at the models that were not that noteworthy to failures:

2002 Thunderbird
2000 Lincoln LS
1993 Ford Probe GT
1983 AMC / Renault Alliance
1980 Chevrolet Citation
1976 Chrysler, Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare
1971 Chevrolet Vega
1960 Chevrolet Corvair

Other ones you would like to forget:
2004 Toyota Prius
1997 Chevrolet Malibu
1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ
1974 Ford Mustang II

I can't testify about the new CTS as I haven't driven one, I'm not crazy about the exterior styling; however, it does appear that the interior is much nicer than anything Cadillac has made in recent memory. They need to bring back the CTS-V soon.

 

1968 and 1969 seems to be the highlight of the picks Just went down from there. I think it used to mean something "Motor Trend Car of the Year". But they got off track somewhere about 1970 But I do agree with the import 1991 3000 GT VR4. That car was ahead of its time. Cars today are just catching up.

 

They were quite innovative cars especially for the price. They had the features and offerings that you could only find in cars such as Lambos and Ferraris. It earned that award. Honestly, I think they should have given the Stealth the same award in 1991 even though they are the same car, I believe a Stealth was far more worthy of that rating than the excessively botox injected (or reverse lippo injected) Caprice.

 

2009 Cadillac CTS-V Uncovered

Any speculation about the styling of the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V can now be laid to rest thanks to our exclusive spy photos. Snagged during a photo shoot of the upcoming Cadillac super sedan, these shots reveal a CTS V-Series with a dramatically revised front end, bigger wheels and tires and a few modest changes out back.

Gone is the egg-crate grille that gives the standard CTS such a distinctive look up front. In its place is a two-piece trapezoidal mesh grille much like the setup on the original CTS-V. We suspect the mesh design does a better job of feeding fresh air to the engine, as Cadillac has boasted about borrowing the design of the standard CTS's grille from the Sixteen concept.

Although the airdam on the CTS-V is certainly aggressive, it doesn't appear as though it's much lower to the ground when compared side by side with that of the standard CTS. This could be due to the fact that there's no bump strip at the bottom of this prototype piece, a detail that could be added to the production cars.

The shape of the airdam is continued all the way around the car by extended rocker sills and a reshaped rear fascia. It's more subtle than we expected, although the car already has fairly aggressive bodywork to begin with. Even the hood bulge is pretty sedate, as it blends in perfectly with the rest of the original hood creases.

Of course, the big question still remains: What's under that hood? Our best sources have been telling us to expect a normally aspirated LS7 V8, but a recent interview with Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor seems to confirm the other most talked-about option — a supercharged 6.2-liter V8. Either way, the 2009 CTS-V will have roughly 525 horsepower, a figure that will put it slightly ahead of direct competitors like the Audi S6, BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.

Taylor also confirms that the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V will offer the choice of a manual or automatic transmission — both six-speeds. This should help broaden the appeal of the CTS-V, which has been a sales disappointment so far. Look for the official unveil of the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show in January.

Here's a link and some pics:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=123863