It’s the Car’s Fault, Officer

Full disclosure: I have been pulled over for speeding before. Three times, if I’m honest, but I only managed to get a ticket for one of those times.

Now, a lot of times, I am aware of my lead foot. So when I get caught, I don’t usually put up a fuss.

But there are certain times when you really are not aware of how fast you’re going. Some cars in particular are very difficult to drive slowly. My personal vehicle for instance is one of them (full disclosure again, I drive a 2008 BMW 128i).

A friend of mine just purchased a 2006 Mini Cooper S, and after some time behind the wheel, I have decided that his car is also a difficult car to drive slowly. The BMW 550i GT that I tested is also hard to tame, and now comes word from the folks at European Car Magazine that the 335d is hard to drive slowly as well.

See the pattern? All those cars mentioned are BMW’s (or made by BMW).

European Car was pulled over for going 93 mph in a 70 zone and the reviewer tried to explain the characteristic that is seemingly a trait with all BMW’s.

“It’s not my fault, this car wants to go 120 mph all the time… it’s the car’s fault.”

Needless to say, that didn’t work. The reviewer got a ticket anyway. But it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who seems to have a hard time driving BMW’s slowly. Their engines are so smooth and responsive

It’s also worth mentioning that European Car was able to get 6 l/100 kms out of the 335d despite the inability to drive the speed limit. It’s one of the reasons why we chose it for Canadian Car of the Year for 2010.

In any event, our tip of the day is: if you ever find yourself behind the wheel of a BMW, mostly any BMW,  make sure you keep a close eye on your speedometer.

Canadian Car & Utility of the Year Announced

Great minds think alike. We chose the 2010 Subaru Outback as our pick for the Canadian Utility of the Year, and AJAC agreed. You might as well give us our membership now, AJAC.

Volkswagen took Car of the Year honours and even though our pick was the BMW 335d, there is absolutely no disagreement from us that the GTI is just as deserving.

Congrats to the VW and Subaru!

To find out the winners in each individual category, hit the jump.

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Canadian Car of the Year Finalists Revealed! We Make Our Picks!

Those lucky ducks that have coveted AJAC (Automobile Journalists Association of Canada) memberships all recently got together to rate the best new car of the year from the Canadian perspective for 2010. They tested them, rated them, and broke down the finalists into five categories.

Since Car Driven is literally only hours old as we write this, it seems a bit premature to have our own COTY awards. So instead, we’ll just use AJAC’s finalists and make our own picks.

Find out the finalists and our picks after the jump!

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