Yep, and I find that their purpose yields a much more useful result. MT COTY is simply a "hey, look at this cool new car" award, whereas C&D's 10Best can be construed as an actual recommendation for purchase.

So, you're saying that C&D pulls off an "almost impossible" task a couple times every year (once for 10Best cars, once for 10Best trucks)? I'm sure it's a stressful time of year for them, but seriously, it simply can't be anywhere near as difficult as you say.

Let's just agree to disagree on that one. MT sucks. They can't write, they can't fact-check, and their annual award is for all intents and purposes meaningless.

One thing I like about MT lately: the handling analysis articles that they've done a couple times now. I appreciate the level of technical detail they bring forward.

You'd think, but somehow the info in C&D (and R&T, lest you think I have some unnatural attraction to C&D) seems more thoughtful and more well reasoned.

The '06 C6Z had some rear suspension tuning issues that were fixed in '07; AFAIK the brakes remain unchanged.

I would tend to agree. C&D did an article recently in which they compared the Z51, Z06, and ZR1, and they said that both the ZR1 and Z51 were pretty easy to control, but the Z06 was a pain.

Yep, and you'll note that I mentioned price on the list of reasons to choose the C5Z.

 

Overall I agree; I think C&D's Ten Best list is more meaningful and for that matter, that C&D, in general, is a better publication than Motor Trend - however, I didn't know we were discussing which mag/which list is better...I was just pointing out that the two have different goals and probably shouldn't be compared as if they are equals.


Well, I don't work in the automotive press and don't have any special insight into what either C&D or MT goes through or the respective size of there staff.

However, I do believe that it would be an almost impossible task to do any sort of fair evaluation of every single vehicle available to the public and to do that every year. While I don't know what C&D's criteria is, I have to believe they have some sort of basic criteria they go through that probably eliminates a lot of vehicles before they consider a vehicle for the 10 Best list

As to the C6 Z06...I find that to be sad news. Other than perhaps a base Corvette, the Z06 is the only vehicle GM makes that I would be interested in owning.

 

Well, I brought it up because it was suggested that CZ28 should use MT COTY as a template for CZ28 COTY. I asked why we would choose MT COTY as our template, since I don't think much of that particular award.

I looked it up: here are C&D's criteria:
This is slightly different than I thought -- they only include cars that have been redesigned each year, but they grandfather in the previous year's winners. That addresses the huge undertaking side of the problem, while still allowing an excellent car from last year to take the prize again.

So, I would like to revise my proposed rules for CZ28's award:

Judgement Criteria
Taken verbatim from C&D's 10Best criteria:
Cars are judged on three points. The first is how well they perform their intended functions—sedans and hatchbacks should be spacious and versatile, economy cars should be frugal (but not punishing), and sports cars should be responsive and satisfying. Secondly, we consider how engaging a car is on an emotional level—do we emerge from a drive with a smile, and does it hold our gaze as we walk away? Finally, we look at how competitive a car’s pricing is for the levels of versatility, practicality, and fun it offers. We recognize value when we see it and we highlight those cars that possess it.

Nomination Process
A nominations thread will be started, in which anyone is welcome to nominate any new or used car that meets the eligibility criteria. After a period of time (a week?), we stop accepting nominations, screen the entries through the eligibility criteria, and post a final list of nominees. A nomination must contain the following:
* Year, make, and model
* Trim level and options to be included in the judged vehicle
* Price

Eligibility Criteria
Again cribbing from C&D, the price limit is $71,000. This is based on as tested MSRP for new cars, and on KBB's private party sale price in "Excellent" condition for used cars. If a car is too old to have a price on KBB, the nominator must include a price that would be reasonable for a private party sale of that car.

Testing Process
This is where I'm unsure as to how it should work. We're clearly not going to be able to put each of our nominated cars through the battery of performance tests that MT or C&D would. I'm open to suggestions here.

 

Ah…so in other words, I was right.

I don’t have a problem with your rules for CZ28 COTY but going back to the intent of the thread; it was started because of all the angst about the GT-R being chosen by MT so the suggestion was for CZ28 members to nominate “their” choice for COTY but the only criteria, suggested by the OP was that it be a “new” model for 2008 and that it have “significant impact in 2008”; it was somebody else who suggested using MT’s criteria.

 

I'll give you "half right".

The OP's suggested criteria is close enough to MT's that I object to either approach.