North America Car and Truck of the Year awards.

[quagmire]

The North America COTY and TOTY has been announced. GM took both catergories by a wide margin. COTY is the new 2007 Saturn Aura. It had 205 points. The Honda Fit was at 176 points. The Toyota Camry at an amazing 89 points. TOTY is the new 2007 Chevy Silverado. It had 243 points. The Mazda CX-7 had 135 points. The Ford Edge had 92 points. All I will say is congrats GM especially Saturn for taking the awards.

On a side note, the Silverado also took International TOTY.

http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070107/FREE/70107002/1056/autoshows

International Awards

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/07/detroit-auto-show-lexus-chevy-score-international-car-of-the-y

 

[Thanatoast]

I love my Mazda3 (best entry level) but I have to admit I did test drive a CX-7 (best crossover) yesterday, in reaction to the freakin' blizards we've had out here. Liked it a bunch. Now if only my checkbook was as sure-footed as the CX-7.

 

[phungy]

Go Toyota/Lexus!

 

[OnaMacSince1989]

First time ever for a US automaker to win both car and truck awards in the same year (last year was first time ever for any automaker to win both awards when Honda won for Civic and (ick!) Ridgeline).

The Aura is a very nice car. And the similar new Chevy Malibu coming this fall looks even better.

I currently drive a 2004 GMC Yukon and it's been a perfect vehicle so far. This past weekend I test drove a Saturn Outlook CUV and was very impressed! Tons of space, great ride, attractive styling and very good MPG!

Keep up the good work GM!

 

[quagmire]

I knew the Silverado would win the truck award( the Edge and CX-7 are decent CUV's, but the Silverado just kicks their asses to kingdom come 5x). I was absolutely stunned that the Aura won though. I seriously didn't expect it to win. If it did win it would of been close between the Aura, Camry, and Fit in that order. I certainly didn't expect the Aura to win. Yet, it is even more stunning how the Camry fared. 89 points scoring a very distant 3rd place.

 

[TequilaBoobs]

I knew the Silverado would win the truck award( the Edge and CX-7 are decent CUV's, but the Silverado just kicks their asses to kingdom come 5x). I was absolutely stunned that the Aura won though. I seriously didn't expect it to win. If it did win it would of been close between the Aura, Camry, and Fit in that order. I certainly didn't expect the Aura to win. Yet, it is even more stunning how the Camry fared. 89 points scoring a very distant 3rd place.

i was surprised the aura won too, what with all the criticism aimed at it from legitimate car magazines, like low quality interior (though vastly superior than prior saturns), numb steering, wide panel gaps, etc. I think it won because it is such an improvement for GM, though still not as good as the competition (camry, accord, altima).

and isn't it funny how the camry won car of the year (R&T), yet in Car and Driver, the camry scored 2nd to last (aura was last) in a comparison test of mid-size family sedans? and both magazines are owned by same parent company, go figure.

 

[mkrishnan]

Nice work for GM!

I saw an ad for the Edge recently, and I'm very attracted to the CX-7... I dunno, though. It would have to be something tiny and sporty like the CX-7, though, to drag me into an SUV.

I would like to test drive the new GM drops sometime. I haven't gotten around to that yet. They're certainly gorgeous.

 

[quagmire]

i was surprised the aura won too, what with all the criticism aimed at it from legitimate car magazines, like low quality interior (though vastly superior than prior saturns), numb steering, wide panel gaps, etc. I think it won because it is such an improvement for GM, though still not as good as the competition (camry, accord, altima).

and isn't it funny how the camry won car of the year (R&T), yet in Car and Driver, the camry scored 2nd to last (aura was last) in a comparison test of mid-size family sedans? and both magazines are owned by same parent company, go figure.

Legitimate car magazines? Like Honda&Driver and Motortrend? While I agree there are cheap things in the Aura's interior( door armrest is the worst offender), it isn't that bad. The dash uses soft materials. There are no wide panel gaps in my Aura XR. The steering isn't numb. A bit heavy, but not numb. I have that H&D issue. It was Sebring in 6th, Camry in 5th, Aura in 4th, Optima in 3rd, Altmia in 2nd, and Accord in 1st. H&D said some ridiculous things to knock the Aura. Like the finger prints on the trunk. As long as you don't get a dark color( this applies to all cars), you won't notice them. Did the Camry really win R&T COTY? Sure it wasn't Motortrend? I subscribe to R&T and never saw anything about COTY.

PS: C&D/H&D never have any credibility with me in car comparisons. They always find a way to make the Honda on top most of the time I see there comparisons. Honda's are good reliable transportation. Especially the Accord. H&D stated that the Accord was the perfect car to bond with car enthusiasts in that comparison. Sorry, as I said, as much as the Accord is a good reliable A to B "appliance" vehicle, it certainly isn't an enthusiast car. The Civic and S2000 maybe, but not the Accord. Awhile back they did a test for cheap performance. Testing the Ion RL, Cobalt SS S/C, Neon SRT-4, Subaru WRX, and Acura RSX. Winner? RSX. It was neither the cheapest or the fastest car in the test. Yet, it still won. One of the reason is that it could rev to 8000 RPM. Big whoop it can go to 8000 RPM if it can't move the car fast enough to compete with the other cars in the test group. I feel the Subaru WRX should of won. Best compromise for price and performance, IMHO.

 

[TequilaBoobs]

Legitimate car magazines? Like Honda&Driver and Motortrend? While I agree there are cheap things in the Aura's interior( door armrest is the worst offender), it isn't that bad. The dash uses soft materials. There are no wide panel gaps in my Aura XR. The steering isn't numb. A bit heavy, but not numb. I have that H&D issue. It was Sebring in 6th, Camry in 5th, Aura in 4th, Optima in 3rd, Altmia in 2nd, and Accord in 1st. H&D said some ridiculous things to knock the Aura. Like the finger prints on the trunk. As long as you don't get a dark color( this applies to all cars), you won't notice them. Did the Camry really win R&T COTY? Sure it wasn't Motortrend? I subscribe to R&T and never saw anything about COTY.

PS: C&D/H&D never have any credibility with me in car comparisons. They always find a way to make the Honda on top most of the time I see there comparisons. Honda's are good reliable transportation. Especially the Accord. H&D stated that the Accord was the perfect car to bond with car enthusiasts in that comparison. Sorry, as I said, as much as the Accord is a good reliable A to B "appliance" vehicle, it certainly isn't an enthusiast car. The Civic and S2000 maybe, but not the Accord. Awhile back they did a test for cheap performance. Testing the Ion RL, Cobalt SS S/C, Neon SRT-4, Subaru WRX, and Acura RSX. Winner? RSX. It was neither the cheapest or the fastest car in the test. Yet, it still won. One of the reason is that it could rev to 8000 RPM. Big whoop it can go to 8000 RPM if it can't move the car fast enough to compete with the other cars in the test group. I feel the Subaru WRX should of won. Best compromise for price and performance, IMHO.

you're right about the comparison test now that i think about it - didnt mean to imply the aura was worst in that test when it was actually 4th. and i think you're right about motortrend COTY - i suscribe to all 3 of those magazines and often get my sources confused.

i agree that the new aura is a good car, and ive yet to drive it myself so ill reserve my opinion for later. as an owner of an aura, your experience is more substantive so i'll leave it at that.

'H&D' as you call it, has many times admitted honda's supreme reign in comparison tests. do you think its a conspiracy that it wins a majority of the time. will you not give honda/acura any credit for paying attention to what makes car owners content? honda/acura cars are not the most striking vehicles, nor are they the best handling, but the recipe they use in making practical, ergonomic vehicles at an affordable price is rarely surpassed in today's market. i may be partial because i have an acura tsx, and believe you me, that car handles a lot better than my previous sentra se-r though it's not as quick.

admittedly, each magazine has a different scoring system for drawing winners in comparison tests. personally, i favor 'H&D's' comparison tests because it's the most thorough of the big 3 magazines, IMO.

 

[quagmire]

'H&D' as you call it, has many times admitted honda's supreme reign in comparison tests. do you think its a conspiracy that it wins a majority of the time. will you not give honda/acura any credit for paying attention to what makes car owners content? honda/acura cars are not the most striking vehicles, nor are they the best handling, but the recipe they use in making practical, ergonomic vehicles at an affordable price is rarely surpassed in today's market. i may be partial because i have an acura tsx, and believe you me, that car handles a lot better than my previous sentra se-r though it's not as quick.

admittedly, each magazine has a different scoring system for drawing winners in comparison tests. personally, i favor 'H&D's' comparison tests because it's the most thorough of the big 3 magazines, IMO.

Don't get me wrong, Honda's( and Toyota's) are very good cars. Not for me since Toyota killed the Supra and the S2000 is close to the 'Vette's price. They wouldn't be where they are now if they sucked. Personally, after GM and BMW, I would buy a Honda/Acura. But, I do believe C&D and MT have a slant towards Honda( C&D) and Toyota. I already stated C&D's slant towards Honda. Motortrend calls GM's OHV engines "crude", yet when it comes to the Vortec and LS engines they magically leave out that "crude" word. So they are inconsistent. Now I haven't driven the Aura XE with the 3500 VVT, but Road&Track did a review of the '06 G6 GTP coupe with the 3900 VVT( the 3500 VVT's bigger sibling). They stated that it was smooth and could be mistaken as an OHC engine. But, I also haven't driven a car with the 3900 VVT( getting harder to do that since GM is slowly replacing the 3900 VVT with the 3.6 V6 thats in my Aura XR). So I am relying on R&T's review of it.

Also, I have an Equinox with the 3400 V6. It is known that the 3400 V6 is a true crude OHV V6 and unlike GM's latest OHV V6's. But, I revved the 3400 up( although it has a RPM limiter in Neutral) and put it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KAHKOUD1-s

It doesn't sound that bad does it? Under normal conditions, when it is in the 2000 RPM range it does sound raspy and coarse, but below and above that range it sounds alright.

 

[TequilaBoobs]

Don't get me wrong, Honda's( and Toyota's) are very good cars. Not for me since Toyota killed the Supra and the S2000 is close to the 'Vette's price. They wouldn't be where they are now if they sucked. Personally, after GM and BMW, I would buy a Honda/Acura. But, I do believe C&D and MT have a slant towards Honda( C&D) and Toyota. I already stated C&D's slant towards Honda. Motortrend calls GM's OHV engines "crude", yet when it comes to the Vortec and LS engines they magically leave out that "crude" word. So they are inconsistent. Now I haven't driven the Aura XE with the 3500 VVT, but Road&Track did a review of the '06 G6 GTP coupe with the 3900 VVT( the 3500 VVT's bigger sibling). They stated that it was smooth and could be mistaken as an OHC engine. But, I also haven't driven a car with the 3900 VVT( getting harder to do that since GM is slowly replacing the 3900 VVT with the 3.6 V6 thats in my Aura XR). So I am relying on R&T's review of it.

Also, I have an Equinox with the 3400 V6. It is known that the 3400 V6 is a true crude OHV V6 and unlike GM's latest OHV V6's. But, I revved the 3400 up( although it has a RPM limiter in Neutral) and put it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KAHKOUD1-s

It doesn't sound that bad does it? Under normal conditions, when it is in the 2000 RPM range it does sound raspy and coarse, but below and above that range it sounds alright.

very nice! i can't wait till i leave work to play the video (firewall prevents streaming video, and company is too cheap to provide speakers anyway).
Is the LS engine the one in the Vette? if so, i have a lot of respect for that engine that can produce so much hp yet achieve a respectable mpg.

though my tsx isn't that fast, it does sound glorious above 3500 rpm, when i-vtec kicks in. my uncle has a porsche turbo (the one before current model) and that baby chirps and growls, and it sits on tires wider than most chairs. he wont let me drive it, but that engine sound is the best ive heard in person yet.

 

[Counterfit]

Go Toyota/Lexus!

Lexus: cars for people who hate to drive.

Seriously, the new LS has absolutely AWFUL braking, which is REALLY IMPORTANT.

 

[Abstract]

From the photos in one of the galleries, the new Accord Coupe looks VERY nice, IMO.