Car Driven’s 2011 Car of the Year Nominees Are…

For the first time ever, Car Driven will be announcing its Car of the Year (COTY). Mostly because this is the first year for this blog, but also because unfortunately I don’t have the means to test every new vehicle myself this year. But that never stopped me from making my own pics for AJAC’s COTY awards last year, so why not?

So with much thought and deliberation I’ve narrowed down the nominees to five cars overall. Every new 2011 vehicle, no matter what the segment, is considered. However to keep things simple, I’ve opted to not separate them by categories this year. That means the new Honda Odyssey was technically considered alongside the Ferrari 458 Italia. Since both are obviously very different vehicles made for very different purposes, I decided to choose all nominees based on how well each vehicle is suited for Canadians. That means everything from performance, price, quality, safety, fit & finish were considered. However to keep it fair, each of those criterion are relative to the vehicle segment. So for example the Ferrari 458 Italia is compared against other supercars. And the Honda Odyssey against other minivans. The vehicle that presents a clear, absolute best case for itself wins.

I’ll probably do categories next year, but for now we’ll go with this. And I’m working a lot harder to try to test all the new vehicles for next year to make a more informed decision, press vehicles are pretty hard to get your hands on (in the meantime, check out all the vehicles I’ve tested so far). And to keep it simple, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 vehicles.

Find out what they are after the jump.

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Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year Is…

The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD.

After declaring the Chevy Volt as their Car of the year, and ruffling some feathers in the process, this winner isn’t quite as controversial. After all, if there’s one thing that American car companies do well, it’s pick up trucks. The imports just can’t compete in this segment.

Most of the big three’s heavy duty pick ups have been significantly re-worked for 2011, but with the Silverado HD, you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. GM decided to put more time and money into improving the engine among other things. The Duramax turbodiesel, reworked suspension, a better shifting six speed transmission and a fully boxed frame made the Silverado HD a clear winner over the Ford F-series Super Duty, Ram super duty and even the Silverado’s cousin, the Sierra HD.

Congrats to Chevrolet and GM for sweeping Motor Trend’s Car and Truck awards this year!

[Motor Trend]

Auto Express 2011 Performance Car of the Year Announced

As the year draws to a close, another Car of the Year (COTY) accolade is up for grabs. This one is courtesy of Auto Express, however it’s not your typical COTY award. Most COTY awards include any new model and usually the winner is based on how it handles day to day elements. Well Auto Express is tossing that formula out the window as their focusing solely on performance.

They took 20 cars that have performance as their top priority and ranked them from best to worst. Everything from cheap hot hatches to exotic supercars were considered. All were measured based on their performance abilities and value… which is odd considering they have an Aston Martin up against a Seat. Perhaps they meant best balance of performance for value.

Subaru fans will likely be up in arms at the results as the Cosworth WRX was ranked the lowest at number 20, especially since it was bested by several hot hatches including a hybrid, the Honda CR-Z.

Another surprise on the list was the Audi RS5 which ranked a bit low at number 11. Especially considering its arch rival, the BMW M3, not only cracked the top 10, but cracked the top 5 coming in at number 5.

I won’t spill the beans on who won the coveted top spot, however I will say that I definitely agree with their decision. Check it out in the video above. Notice no domestic cars were nominated? Just sayin’.

Do you agree with the performance COTY?

[Auto Express]

And the Winner Is…

The Volkwagen Polo!

The little guy took the top prize for the World Car of the year competition for 2010. The Polo beat out some tough competition for the award. We’d like to point out that the Polo was also our top choice for the award. Just sayin’. One of our top picks won for World performance car of the year too.

This mark’s VW’s second win in a Car of the Year awards competition as the GTI took the Canadian Car of the Year honours this year as well.

The Polo is indeed quite a worldly car as it fits pretty much every market quite nicely at an affordable price. We’re still waiting for you to bring the Polo to Canada so we can try one out for ourselves, Volkswagen.

Congrats to Volkwagen, who seems to be on quite an impressive role lately!

Find out who won World Design and world performance car after 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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