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.

World Performance Car of the Year: Audi R8 V10

World Car Design of the Year: Chevrolet Camaro

Congrats to both Audi and GM!

When the new Scirocco first debuted, VW was quick to crush any hope that it would come to Canada. They said they wouldn’t make any money on it because it would be a low volume seller and all the money that it takes to make it Canada-ready just wouldn’t be worth it.

The VW Scirocco is essentially a better looking, racier version of the already awesome GTI and it has been receiving nothing but good reviews in Europe. Too bad you can’t experience it yourself.

Or can you?

There is now a loophole. A very expensive loophole.

Canadian tuning company HPA has inked a deal with Volkswagen to import Sciroccos to Canada so they can make them even better. How better? Well, 550 horsepower and 600 pound feet of torque better. And then make it AWD. Which then translates into a 0-100 time of just 3.4 seconds.

Assuming you haven’t fainted by reading those numbers, here’s a number that will make you faint.

Each HPA Scirocco will cost you $150,000. And if you have that kind of dough lying around that you’d love to spend on a Scirocco, then you’d better stop reading around this point and get on the phone because HPA is only planning on producing ten of them per year.

Oh, and the other catch is that they’ll only be sold in British Columbia.

But hey, this is going to be exclusive to Canada, so it’s just another reason to brag about something that the U.S won’t get -like a gold medal in hockey this year.

After all the success from the Golf GTI, including winning the 2010 Canadian Car of the Year, Volkswagen figured they could repeat the magic in the much smaller Polo.

The Polo GTI will share its engine with the Seat Ibiza Cupra which develops 178 horsepower and 184 pound foot of torque. The engine will feature a turbo 1.4 litre 4 cylinder. It’s expected to make the 0-100 sprint in 6.9 seconds and has a top speed of 262 kph. Not too bad at all. There is only a mention of a seven speed DSG which concerns us. A GTI with no manual option? Let’s hope that it was mistakenly omitted from the press release. That being said, VW’s DSG is probably the best shifting automatic in the business.
Right now VW is still on the fence on bringing the Polo to North America, but should they pull the trigger, expect the GTI version to make the cut.

More pics after the jump.

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.

Best New Small Car (under $21,000): Mazda3

Best New Small Car (over $21,000): Mazda3 Sport

Best New Family Car (under $30,000): Volkswagen Golf Wagon TDI

Best New Family Car (over $30,000): Ford Taurus

Best New Luxury Car: BMW 335d

Best New Prestige Car: Porsche Panamera

Best New Performance Car (under $50,000): Volkswagen GTI

Best New Performance Car (over $50,000): Audi S4

Best New Convertible: Audi S5 Cabriolet

Best New SUV / CUV (under $35,000): Subaru Outback

Best New SUV / CUV (over $35,000): Volkswagen Touareg TDI

Best New SUV / CUV (over $60,000): Lexus RX450h

Best New Technology: Audi Drive Select

Best New Green Technology: Ford Next Generation Hybrid System & Smartgauge

Best New Design: BMW 335d

]]> http://www.cardriven.ca/2010/02/canadian-car-utility-of-the-year-announced/feed/ 0 http://www.cardriven.ca/2010/01/canadian-car-of-the-year-finalists-revealed-we-make-our-picks/ http://www.cardriven.ca/2010/01/canadian-car-of-the-year-finalists-revealed-we-make-our-picks/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:19:28 +0000 admin http://www.cardriven.ca/?p=43

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!

Ford walked away with both North American Car of the Year Awards with their Ford Transit courier van and the new Fusion, but the non-government funded American brand only finds themselves with two nominations.

And the finalists are:

2010 Canadian Car of the Year:

• BMW 335d
• Volkswagen Golf GTI
• Volkswagen Golf Wagon TDI

Our Pick: BMW 335d – The only thing wrong with this car is it comes with an automatic transmission only. That’s seriously its only fault. If you’ve never tried this diesel before, or have second thoughts about owning a diesel, do yourself a favour and go drive one. It features 265 hp and 425 (!) lb-foot torque with a combined rating of 9.4 L /100 kms. Combine that with BMW’s obsession for perfect handling, stunning looks and excellent luxury and you’ve got yourself one ultimate driving machine for sure.

2010 Canadian Utility of the Year:

• Lexus 450h
• Subaru Outback
• Volkswagen Touareg TDI Clean Diesel

Our Pick: Subaru Outback- It was quite the toss up between the Outback and the VW, but we like how Subaru proves again and again that a nice wagon can do anything that an SUV can do, and sometimes even do it better. It’s unique styling, AWD, versatility and reasonable price makes it a great all year round vehicle perfectly suited for Canadians.

NOTE: Our pick could very well change for this category since we will be testing a VW Touareg TDI this coming week. Watch for the review very soon!

Best New Design:

• Audi A5 Cabriolet
• BMW 335d
• Ford Taurus (including SHO)

Our Pick: Audi A5 Cabriolet - Mostly any convertible looks decent at the very least with the top down, but the A5 really makes a case for being a work of art. It’s stunning. We think the coupe version looks even better. Audi manages to make an eye-catcher without being too flashy (okay, minus those LED headlights). They made a simple graceful design, muscular lines, and a classic side profile. This is the convertible to be seen in.

Brand New Technology

• Audi Canada Drive Select
• Ford Motor Company of Canada MyKey
• Volvo City Safety

Our Pick: Volvo City Safety - After personally experiencing the XC60 stop itself, without any aid from the brakes or the driver, from colliding with an object we came away seriously impressed. Leave it to Volvo to come up with technology such as this. This technology can save thousands of dollars in repair costs, but more importantly can save serious injuries and the headaches that go long with fender benders.

Best New Green Technology:

• Ford Next Generation Hybrid System and Smartguage
• Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid with Lithium-ion batteries
• Toyota/Lexus Plant-Based Ecological Plastics
• Toyota/Lexus Beltless Atkinson Cycle Engine with Cooled Exhaust

Our Pick: Ford Next Generation Hybrid System and Smartgauge - The Nissan Altima Hybrid is rated at 5.6L/100 kms city. The Toyota Camry Hybrid is rated at 5.7L/100 kms city. The Ford Focus Hybrid is rated at 4.6L/100 kms city. That’s seriously impressive. It’s even better mileage than a Smart Fortwo! The Smartgauge even helps you to beat that rating as it trains you how to drive more efficiently and get the best out of your tank.