Motor Trend's 2011 Car of the year is...

Seems like a logical choice as it's a revolutionary car. It's also not a horrid car if the people who drove it are anything to go buy.
 
Well considering their COTY criteria of Advancement in Design, Engineering Excellence, Efficiency, Safety, Value and Performance of Intended Function... The Volt meets or exceeds expectations in every single one. All things considered, however, Motor Trend is hardly a rag that keeps everything in check when announcing a COTY winner. Remember the Thunderbird? What about the Cirrus? Hell, they even handed it to the Chevrolet Malibu/Classic.


All of that being said, Automobile Magazine gave their COTY award to the Volt as well. I'm guessing that it is a trend that will be carried over through a wide variety of magazines and websites.


BTW: You probably should have jammed this in the Volt thread. Just sayin'.
 
YSSMAN
Well considering their COTY criteria of Advancement in Design, Engineering Excellence, Efficiency, Safety, Value and Performance of Intended Function... The Volt meets or exceeds expectations in every single one. All things considered, however, Motor Trend is hardly a rag that keeps everything in check when announcing a COTY winner. Remember the Thunderbird? What about the Cirrus? Hell, they even handed it to the Chevrolet Malibu/Classic.


All of that being said, Automobile Magazine gave their COTY award to the Volt as well. I'm guessing that it is a trend that will be carried over through a wide variety of magazines and websites.


BTW: You probably should have jammed this in the Volt thread. Just sayin'.
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Automobile Mag isn't related to motortrend in some sort of way ?

Sure it responds to the criterias but not much people can buy them due to their limited availability, we're talking about a 40 000 $ Chevrolet sedan not some sort of supercar.

IMHO, the COTY should have been the Hyundai Sonata...Turbo for sure. 270 HP starting at 24 000 $. It ticks all those boxes.
 
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Automobile Magazine is a separate entity from Motor Trend, and I'd care to argue that it is a more reputable rag if the two were compared directly. My point was, however, that being granted two separate COTY awards (thus far) is a pretty big deal.

However, the availability of the Volt should not restrict it from being eligible for this award. General Motors plans to construct about 10,000 units for 2010, and about 60,000 units for 2011. Those numbers reflect the availability of the Prius a couple of years ago, and that took the COTY award just as easily.

All of that being said, if I were to give an award to a different vehicle, I'd probably spring for the Ford Fiesta or the Saab 9-5. Problem is, the Fiesta isn't leaps and bounds ahead of everything, and while the Saab is an impressive piece of equipment, it is not a car that everyone can appreciate.
 
Car of the year and it isn't even on the road. Yeah, I'm sure that had nothing to do with kickbacks from Government Motors.
 
I agree with this selection. The Volt is a pioneer of technology that has a lot of potential and that could make the electric car more appealing. Perhaps it isn't a great car, but I think this technology is potent. the first gen Prius wasn't all that great, but look how far that technology has gone.
 
First the Cayenne, now this. If anybody from MT is reading this, **** you.
 
YSSMAN
Automobile Magazine is a separate entity from Motor Trend, and I'd care to argue that it is a more reputable rag if the two were compared directly. My point was, however, that being granted two separate COTY awards (thus far) is a pretty big deal.
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Meh. I think MT's better. But both are part of Source Interlink Media, and I've noticed a lot of interlinking between the two. I didn't like MT's SUVOTY (Porsche Cayenne) and I would've given that to the Kia Sportage. (yeah, I said it...)

My COTY? Taking a look at it, I would've picked the 2011 Hyundai Sonata, or the 2011 Buick Regal. I feel like there's something behind this, I mean this month was there Chevrolet Volt test, then next month will be the ridiculous advertising, 5-page section on the Volt that I ALWAYS tear out. Ridiculous.

I really am sick of MT lately. I've had maybe 9 issues from this year, I've seen the Mustang on so many of them, the M3 is constantly touted as the greatest car ever (should be COTY then, idiots...), and every single transmission HAS to be referred to a Honda manual, not to mention there fetish of Bluetooth, iPod, and paddle shifters.
 
It deserved it. And I don't think it's ugly.

2011-chevrolet-volt-rear-three-quarter-static.jpg
 
Hard to pick a COTY... but the Volt is up there.

I've ragged on the car for being too expensive... for not meeting performance targets... etcetera... etcetera... etcetera... but it really does do things differently from the rest, and represents a new way of doing things.

The Fiesta: Very good car... but not bounds better than the competition... the Fit is still possibly the best buy in the category, despite the Fiesta being a better engineered car.

9-5? Sonata? Regal? Arguably good cars, but not revolutionary in any way... marketing turbo-fours to a different market for different reasons than is typical... but nothing new there. The Sonata is a great engineering product, but so was the Sonata before that, and so are many of its competitiors.
 
I don't understand this car. The Leaf makes sense because it is completely restricted to it's role of a city car. It is small enough to be restricted to a city environment (not big enough for a camping trip) yet large enough to be a commuter with some value for flexibility (say driving 3 kids to school or getting groceries for the week). Which fits in well with it's range of 100 miles. It is a car for the city and does not tempt you to go camping or travel from Poland to Portugal.

This Volt though, I can't understand. It is much bigger than the Leaf but only seats four. It is big enough to be more than a commuter, maybe the car that drives you from Poland to Portugal. But no. It has a range of 40 miles, on electric only, which is much worse than the Leaf. It does have a safety net of a 1.4L engine that (as I understand) powers the batteries, but it seems like that is precisely just a safety net. Driving from Poland to Portugal on a regular engine that powers batteries that powers electric motors that power the wheels seems like a very inefficient way to travel. You would be much better off with a traditional hybrid. So in this sense both cars are restricted to the city. The Volt comes off looking more expensive, less electric range and oversized for the city role.

These are my somewhat uneducated thoughts, but I would genuinely like to learn about why the Volt is good.
 
The Volt can drive on full electric power in the city because most people never go more then 40 miles on a given day when commuting back and forth to work. But when you want to drive from say Detroit to Traverse City, a trip of about 250 miles you can do it with the same car by using the petrol engine. The Volt is a plug-in hybrid more or less and it works decently well.

The Leaf makes sense if you live in the city and never go on long road trips, or if you have another fossil fuel powered vehicle for those trips. The Leaf would make a great commuter car but not much else.

And I am no where near a cheerleader for the Volt, I'm not a fan of GM but I do think they are onto something with the Volt. It's not the solution to the fuel problem, but it is a realistic step in the right direction.
 
It's not that good, it's just that when MT gets hung up on a new car they never shut up. As I've said, BMW M3 w/ DCT is touted by them as "The World's Greatest All-Around Car" (Long-Term Departure, January 2011) Then comes the Mustang which was evidentally absent for the 2011 COTY. Not to mention they completely ruined it because I read page to page, so don't tell me on Page 1 the winner, then get to the "Technologue" section the same thing, and then the last sentence of the S60's test says it AGAIN.

And that's where it lies. My car of the year: Volvo S60 T5 Sport OR BMW M3 DCT OR Nissan Leaf.
 
Joey D
The Volt can drive on full electric power in the city because most people never go more then 40 miles on a given day when commuting back and forth to work. But when you want to drive from say Detroit to Traverse City, a trip of about 250 miles you can do it with the same car by using the petrol engine. The Volt is a plug-in hybrid more or less and it works decently well.

The Leaf makes sense if you live in the city and never go on long road trips, or if you have another fossil fuel powered vehicle for those trips. The Leaf would make a great commuter car but not much else.

And I am no where near a cheerleader for the Volt, I'm not a fan of GM but I do think they are onto something with the Volt. It's not the solution to the fuel problem, but it is a realistic step in the right direction.
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I looked it up and the fuel economy for the majority of a trip such as the one you outlined is 37mpg. Which is better than I expected. So the Volt is a two-in-one, an electric car and a normal car in one. A nice option to have. But I would still maintain that automobile customers looking at an electric vehicle would normally not require the ability for longer trips.

Personally, I like the idea of having a commuter being completely electric and emission free and taking a train for most inter-city trips. Trains are much better for inter-city travel. Only problem with such a setup is pretty much the inability to go anywhere rural with flexibility.
 
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SagarisGTB
Personally, I like the idea of having a commuter being completely electric and emission free and taking a train for most inter-city trips. Trains are much better for inter-city travel. Only problem with such a setup is pretty much the inability to go anywhere rural with flexibility.
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Trains are terrible. And you should be able to understand this with out spread out the US actually is for population and such. Far too many super commuters and people that do weekend trips. Having a car for those types of things is almost required.

And I've traveled across the country by train... it is not something I am looking to repeat if it can be helped.
 
Joey D
Seems like a logical choice as it's a revolutionary car. It's also not a horrid car if the people who drove it are anything to go buy.
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It is? To me it seems like an evolution of a hybrid. Like GM wanted to go all out with an electric car and made it sound like they were, but in the end couldn't do it and decided to compromise.
I do agree that it's more versatile than the Leaf but for what it costs and considering how long people keep their cars, it makes as little sense, money wise, to buy the Volt over a normal car or hybrid as it does buying a Prius over a corolla or civic.

Azuremen
Trains are terrible.
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I agree. Trains, in america, are just awful. People in other countries seem to have more respect for trains and don't treat them as rolling garbage cans. That's mostly my qualm with trains.
 
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eSZee
It is? To me it seems like an evolution of a hybrid. Like GM wanted to go all out with an electric car and made it sound like they were, but in the end couldn't do it and decided to compromise.
I do agree that it's more versatile than the Leaf but for what it costs and considering how long people keep their cars, it makes as little sense, money wise, to buy the Volt over a normal car or hybrid as it does buying a Prius over a corolla or civic.
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What other mass market plug-in hybrids are there? There isn't any, that's what makes it revolutionary.

It's not the Moses car that is going to lead us across the Red Sea of fossil fuels but it's a good step in the right direction. And I agree, if you sole concern is fuel economy then no the Volt doesn't make sense.
 
GT_Prologue5
Well the Prius Plug-In is coming in 2012, but then again, that's a year or more...:indiff:
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Right, another year. The Volt's on the market now. They are everywhere in the Metro Detroit area. The Volt is merely paving the way for this technology to go large scale.
 
A research was done that showed the following.

In 2020 drivers will drive:

30% cars with internal combustion engines
21% hybrids
16% plug-in hybrids
12% electric cars with i.c.e. as range extender (Volt)
12% electric-only cars
9% cars with hydrogen cells

The (close)future is electric. As you can see 7 out of 10 cars will be able to move without gasoline.
 
eSZee
I agree. Trains, in america, are just awful. People in other countries seem to have more respect for trains and don't treat them as rolling garbage cans. That's mostly my qualm with trains.
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Im thinking as a European. You guys don't have HSR (High-Speed Rail) in, say, east coast USA? HSR is by far the best way to travel between 200 and 1000km. 350km/h trains are much more accessible, quieter and have less hassle than any flight. And much safer and less work than driving.

Though I agree it doesn't make much sense in less populated areas such as central USA or most of Canada.
 
One think I don't understand is why oh why they vote for the car of 2011 when 2011 is not even underway. A better choice would be simply 2010.

The same thing, probably copying the smartcats Americans, was done in Greece where after voting for the best car of "2011" the results brought the best three cars to be:

Alfa Romeo Giulietta 237 points
Chevrolet Spark 163 points
Audi A1 103 points

Small roads and such.
 
AlexGTV
One think I don't understand is why oh why they vote for the car of 2011 when 2011 is not even underway. A better choice would be simply 2010.

The same thing, probably copying the smartcats Americans, was done in Greece where after voting for the best car of "2011" the results brought the best three cars to be:

Alfa Romeo Giulietta 237 points
Chevrolet Spark 163 points
Audi A1 103 points

Small roads and such.
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Cause MODEL YEAR 2011 cars are all out. Remember, this is america. Where 2011 cars start coming out int he first half of 2010.
 

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