Car and AUTOMOBILE of the year?

Just got back from a trip to the grocery store. While there, I stopped at the magazine rack and happened to see the latest issues of 2 mags that had just completed their ".......of the year" awards.

One magazine, known for it's ..."controversial" selections for the car of the year, had "crowned" the VW Passat as THE best. In a move that must have execs at VAG beaming, the other magazine named the Audi A7 as it's "you know what" of the year. This magazine also named several other VW products as winners in other categories of....best.

Has anyone driven a new Passat? Are they really that much better than a Sonata? A Focus? A (fill in the blank)?

supposedly they're an improvement over the previous one, as if that is saying much. according to the rant on jalopnik, the majority of the changes to the new model were to make it cost less to build rather than improve the product.

The "implication" of the article that accompanies the COFY is that cheapening the Passat did it absolutely no harm. On styling alone, I just felt this was an average car. In fact, I skimmed the mag so quickly, it's possible that the Jetta was the one to win the award...the 2 cars look so much alike to me.

Strizzo wrote: supposedly they're an improvement over the previous one, as if that is saying much. according to the rant on jalopnik, the majority of the changes to the new model were to make it cost less to build rather than improve the product.

If VW did that it would be an improvement...

Heh, I'm trying to imagine a GRM COTY.

"The winner for 2011 is... the 1994 Mazda Miata!"

I drove it. It handles well, but the interior is rather frumpy in comparison to some of the Korean models.

I'd be down with crowning the Miata.

The top Passat does a 5.7 second 0-60, the top Camry does it in 5.8. That is all I learned from the articles.

I know they don't take into account reliability, but has anything this side of a trabant had reliability as poor as VS or MB?
My comment isn't backed up by any numbers, fact, stats, or even intellengence, this is the internet dammit!

DrBoost wrote: I know they don't take into account reliability, but has anything this side of a trabant had reliability as poor as VS or MB? My comment isn't backed up by any numbers, fact, stats, or even intellengence, this is the internet dammit!

Actually I didn't think Trabants were that unreliable. I mean there are about two moving parts to break.

true.. trabbys are even more simple than an Aircooled VW

The boss just got a new Passat to replace his Lexus. It's a pretty sweet ride; smooth, quiet & comfortable. We'll see if it implodes into a giant CEL over the next 3-years though.