2012 Wheels Car of the Year

[Maka]

http://motoring.ninemsn.com.au/slide...roftheyear2012

I'm happy! How long before the other manufaturer's start following the same recipe including Ford? You can do it Ford, i dare you lol! I expect to see this market segment to grow pretty big 2013 on.

cheers, Maka

[Archilino]

Holden's Volt and VW's UP! where the other 2 finalists, good decision a win for the driving purist.

[flappist]

Wheels car of the year.
TV Week Golden Logie
Big Brother Finalist

All very important to some people and the subject of many emotional forum threads.

[JR.]

At least the had the balls not to cave to the ecomentalists and give it to the Volt (or cave to Holden's cheque book; whichever you prefer)...

[mik]

Agreed , at least it was`nt a greenie choice, myself i would have liked to have seen the eco boost falcon up there, big safe practical family car with good economy that also is a drivers car, versus a good driving basic little sports car ........... coty criteria???

[zilo]

Wheels? Phhht...wouldn't even use it for toilet paper.

Not even a virtual wipe.

[Maka]

Originally Posted by Ugg

Wheels? Phhht...wouldn't even use it for toilet paper.

Not even a virtual wipe.

Good for you! Lol! Apparently Ford OZ PR department & other makers PR departments think a bit different to you...

cheers, Maka

[DoreSlamR]

The 86 is certainly making waves...

Even Clarkson rates it.

[DJM83]

The 86 showing its can be a capable car. I dont read nor take wheels opinion too seriously but well done all the same.

[2011G6E]

Who needs 400hp nowadays when you can't drive ten feet without being snapped by a camera? I'd rather something fun to drive within the speed limits and which doesn't need it's neck rung at high speeds to give you a bit of fun.

It's been happening with motorbikes for some years now. There have been rumblings amongst the bike press that sports bikes are getting more and more unrealistic and far too narrowly focussed for the world we live in today...bikes that even when taken out on racetracks can't show their full potential, much less how they behave on the streets. One example was a hard core sports bike that couldn't even begin to come on song before the end of one long straight was reached...it was tuned for way too high a speed. What's the point of that on the road? Some have tachos that don't register until 3000rpm is reached, and make their peak power at over 10,000rpm, meaning you have to be riding it like a race bike on the street to get anything out of it.
However, they gave their bike of the year this year to the admittedly superb 200+hp Kawasaki 1400 Ninja...so they really can't help themselves when it comes to on the one hand admitting these bikes have grown beyond what is a usable street bike and yet still give it the top gong over "normal" bikes that way more people will actually buy and ride.

I was honestly surprised that the 86 won...I thought it would be some exotica that no ordinary person could possibly afford.

[pottery beige]

400hp is minimums for funs.. more is even better..

[UberKnee]

Why is it that pricetag is always the biggest factor in these things?

I have a hard time accepting that a lowly BRZ/86 is a better car than a F10 M5 or just about any Beemer for that matter. Or any performance Audi, AMG Merc, Aston, Bently, Lambo, Ferrari, Rolls, the Agera, the Huara, sure they all come with much larger pricetags but they're all better cars.

You look at the top 3 and what you do have; cheap as chip hatchbacks/dolphin saving electric cars.

[Nikked]

Inb4 the 86 hate.

[Maka]

Bang on 2011g6e, remember the old Yammy RD350lc? Bit of giant killa in its day! The design philosphy of low weight with adequate power appeals to me the most because of that fun factor & lower running costs eg: Lotus ect. For me adding power is easier than shedding 200+ kgs from my Falcon. Power to weight is the grail for me.

As we know Ford has massive history in this market sector- New Age Ecoboost Gt Cortina or Capri anyone?
I guess in this day of austerity worldwide, low cost fun machines will become the norm for sporting drivers again on a budget until the cycle starts again.

cheers, Maka

[Auslandau]

Good to see that they didnt just go for the Volt or something else 'obscure' but did go for something that most could actually afford to drive ..... and more importantly keep on the road without the high Euro maintenance.

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Who needs 400hp nowadays when you can't drive ten feet without being snapped by a camera? I'd rather something fun to drive within the speed limits and which doesn't need it's neck rung at high speeds to give you a bit of fun.

Even better!!! Finally Toyota has made a car that you cant break the speed limit with! I 'think' I know what you are trying to say but I'm keeping the GT335 for very obvious reasons

[2011G6E]

Price comes into it because it's not about who can make the most expensive car.

You expect a BMW F10 M5 to be an amazing car...and it would bloody well want to be for the price. I'd also guarantee that unless you live in capital cities, you aren't going to see a new M5 either outside of a magazine. I see 86's everywhere I go.

Value for money doesn't automatically mean "spend heaps and get the best car"...

Low cost fun machines making adequate power make perfect sense in the highly regulated driving environment we have today...go 30 or 40kph over the limit on a deserted country road and strike a cop coming the other way, and you could well lose your car. Spin the wheels a little away from the lights, even unintentionally, and you could lose it under hoon legislation in many states.

People who owned Cortinas and Escorts (the hotter versions) and British sports cars in the old days knew the secret that you don't need some overpowered high-cost fuel guzzler to have fun...a nice chassis and "enough" power is what you actually need in the real world.

[UberKnee]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Price comes into it because it's not about who can make the most expensive car.

You expect a BMW F10 M5 to be an amazing car...and it would bloody well want to be for the price. I'd also guarantee that unless you live in capital cities, you aren't going to see a new M5 either outside of a magazine. I see 86's everywhere I go.

Value for money doesn't automatically mean "spend heaps and get the best car"...

Low cost fun machines making adequate power make perfect sense in the highly regulated driving environment we have today...go 30 or 40kph over the limit on a deserted country road and strike a cop coming the other way, and you could well lose your car. Spin the wheels a little away from the lights, even unintentionally, and you could lose it under hoon legislation in many states.

People who owned Cortinas and Escorts (the hotter versions) and British sports cars in the old days knew the secret that you don't need some overpowered high-cost fuel guzzler to have fun...a nice chassis and "enough" power is what you actually need in the real world.

But are hatchbacks/electric cars that win these things every year really the greatest cars on earth?

The prestige, power, luxury, refinement of a M5 all outweigh the cheapness of a BRZ in my mind. If money was no object you wouldn't go out and buy a $2 steak for dinner every night or some cheap Toyota you'd buy a better car.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by UberKnee

If money was no object you wouldn't go out and buy a $2 steak for dinner every night or some cheap Toyota you'd buy a better car.

Exactly...money is an object.

And thats why the 86 has gained fame all over the world, affordable fun.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by UberKnee

But are hatchbacks/electric cars that win these things every year really the greatest cars on earth?

The prestige, power, luxury, refinement of a M5 all outweigh the cheapness of a BRZ in my mind. If money was no object you wouldn't go out and buy a $2 steak for dinner every night or some cheap Toyota you'd buy a better car.

Yeah, because everyone can afford an M5.

Go and have a look at the criteria for the award, price is a factor.

[UberKnee]

Price isn't just a factor though its always the biggest factor in these things. Maybe if they had categories for best car under 50k and best car over or several increments but I cant take a BRZ seriously when a V12 Vantage does everything the BRZ does a hundred times better.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by UberKnee

Price isn't just a factor though its always the biggest factor in these things. Maybe if they had categories for best car under 50k and best car over or several increments but I cant take a BRZ seriously when a V12 Vantage does everything the BRZ does a hundred times better.

How about a BRZ does everything a v12 vantage does, but at a fraction of a price?

2 sides to every coin.


Mind you, Aston's are right up there on my "win lotto, fill garage" list.

[Maka]

A fun low cost machine that provides around 85-90% driving pleasure but costs say anything up to $100,000 cheaper is always going to hard to beat. In saying that multiple classes like Uberknee was suggesting is possible thats how Wheels BFYB criteria (Bang For Your Buck) is judged.

cheers, Maka

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Nikked

How about a BRZ does everything a v12 vantage does, but at a fraction of a price?

2 sides to every coin.


Mind you, Aston's are right up there on my "win lotto, fill garage" list.

So an 86 can do pure luxury, gorgeous looks, a glorious exhaust note and 0-100 in less than 5 seconds?

[Vormund]

Wheels COTY basically is about which car best accomplished the goals set out for it. In this case it was cheap fun rwd sport car. It also can't be some thing obscure (has to sell certain amount in Aus per year)

[mike_nofx]

Opinions would be very different if a Ford won I'm sure.

[Ben73]

Bugatti SuperVeyron should of won.
Fast + expensive = best car in the world


I'm Glad the 86/brz won. It honestly deserves it.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Opinions would be very different if a Ford won I'm sure.

How? Thought most have said it was a good decision?

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

How? Thought most have said it was a good decision?

Basically just people criticising wheels credibility, has been mentioned by a few people, and there is discussion going on about why they pick a cheap car and not a $150k car.

[JR.]

But they have given it to expensive cars in the past.

1981 - Mercedes Benz 380SE
1990 - Lexus LS400
1991 - Honda NSX
1999 - Mercedes Benz S-Class
2003 - Mazda RX8
2007 - Mercedes Benz C-Class

And every time the argument then became "how is this relevant to the mainstream car buyer?"

Can't win either way...

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by UberKnee

Price isn't just a factor though its always the biggest factor in these things. Maybe if they had categories for best car under 50k and best car over or several increments but I cant take a BRZ seriously when a V12 Vantage does everything the BRZ does a hundred times better.

But then you could argue that there is an even better car out there that will do 460km/h and 0-100km/h in 1.8 seconds and have 1600hp.

The 86 deserved to win, it's a great looking car, it's RWD, it's cheap, fun to drive and it goes as fast as you would ever NEED it to go on the street.

If you WANT it to go quicker well you can modify it (yes modify! That's the apparent idea of this car isn't it? Cheap and easily modifiable?) with a few extra dollars you could have the 86/BRZ slaughter a V12 Vantage in a straight line and beat it around a race track (not to mention any HSV or FPV) and have change from $50k doing it.