Every Of The Year begins months in advance with brainstorming sessions to establish the list of cars and minivans deemed sufficiently new and improved to warrant an invitation. Our first draft included a daunting 67 variants of 44 new models. But the worrisome initial size of our list of competitors was quickly winnowed by a rapid attrition rate.
Just asking to be part of COTY isn’t enough—you have to deserve to be here. If your car isn’t brand new or massively changed since last year, it doesn’t warrant inclusion. Some automakers self-selected their way out. The Mitsubishi rep actually laughed into the phone when we requested a Mirage G4, before declining yet another opportunity for the enthusiast press to savage the minimalist econobox. Similar motivation may have withheld Buick’s globally old, locally new enough Cascada.
Endless production postponements scuttled the Alfa Romeo Giulia—to the shock and bewilderment of no one. There also were no-shows with no explanation, as well as concurrent large-scale press events for the Porsche 718, Toyota Prius Prime PHEV, Infiniti Q60, and Smart Fortwo that ate up the national allocation of press cars. (A plea to makers of genuinely wonderful 2018-model cars: Please keep at least one unit available during the second half of September.) And scheduled production for five more models had yet to start. After those casualties, we had narrowed our field to 25 contenders with 34 variants.
The festivities start in earnest with an intrepid Rat Patrol expeditionary force spending five days in the high desert producing some of those impressive numbers Reynolds outlined on the previous pages. What he didn’t mention was the harrowing weather braved by this 16-strong team. Forty-mph winds and chilly temperatures had folks bundling up like Bedouin tribesmen. They faced conceivable death from above and below, thanks to periodic flybys and sonic booms from Air Force B-1B Lancer strategic bombers flying out of nearby Edwards AFB and the threat of attack by one of the desert’s lethal rattlesnakes—sidewinders and Mojave greens. (Fun fact: The former can slither at up to 18 mph, and when the latter bites you, it may or may not inject venom, but if it does, that venom is 16 times more toxic than that of a diamondback.) Happily, the mission concluded with no air or reptile strikes, though photographer Eli Somerfleck had a very close brush with a coyote, and Walton and Reynolds witnessed a non-Disney circle-of-life moment when a bobcat crossed their path clutching a desert cottontail in its teeth.
In addition to harsh elements and potential predation, our advance team foraged for food in an effective Yelp desert, where sidewalks roll up just as the setting sun ends our photo shoots. Frantic phone calls ensue, begging restaurants to keep their kitchens open until the wee hour of 9 p.m. This year the team discovered upstart Thai Hachapi, which served up a tom kha gai that surpassed Walton’s lofty expectations while offering a full menu of Asian beers with which to douse a spicy firemouth. A lunchtime culinary discovery helped break the taco-monotony: Stoken Donuts & Deli, which makes a mean French dip in the former Mojave library. We pray for their business’ survival until COTY 2018. One vital link to the comforts of L.A. life—visual assets honcho Brian Vance’s daily brewing of exotic high-end coffees.
By 5 p.m. Friday, the test team was in place, awaiting the arrival of two judges and one RSVPed contestant—the Lincoln MKZ. The judges arrived an hour later; the Lincoln—which had been on sale for months—never showed. Lincoln’s absurd excuse was a mix-up of the dates. (We’ve used the same week forever, and it was prominently printed in all our communications.) We concluded Lincoln’s confidence in that sedan’s class competitiveness was on par with that of Mitsubishi’s in the Mirage G4.
Back when contemplating a field of 60-plus cars, we bumped the Saturday morning walk-arounds to Friday evening. This edification ritual allows the editors who attended the various contestant cars’ launch events to share those cars’ technical, marketing, and performance highlights with the other judges. Models that sparked lengthy discussions included the innovation-packed Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the surprisingly elegant and luxurious Volvo S90, the aluminum-intensive Jaguar XE, and the electric Chevy Bolt, whose official 238-mile EPA range was announced just three days before. Eyebrows were raised at the price tags of the Cadillac CT6s. Then the slings and arrows started flying at the Prius’ styling. “Looks like an animal in the wild that isn’t venomous but really wants to appear venomous.”
Dinner conversation that night and throughout the week often centered around the existential threat posed to “our world” by fully autonomous driving. When all cars drive themselves at the speed limit, will the market for performance cars shrink to the size of today’s thoroughbred horse population? What will be left for us “experts” to critique? Might design be the primary differentiator between market offerings in order to allow buyers to express themselves? And how many “buyers” will there be if car-sharing continues on trend? These topics remained front of mind all week as we assessed driver assistance systems spanning those that merely help prevent lane departure, and therefore ping-pong between lane markers (Chevy Cruze, Chrysler Pacifica, Cadillac CT6, and others), those that attempt to keep the car centered in a lane (Kia Forte, Genesis G90, Mercedes E300), and the full-on Tesla Autopilot, which at testing time still permitted long-distance hands-free cruising.
On Saturday morning, the team began evaluating this year’s field at the Hyundai Motor Group’s proving ground. There’s no set driving order—just 34 cars parked with a window down and the keys inside. Most of us organize little comparison tests among direct competitors, such as Cruze/Elantra/Forte, XE/A4/C-Class, LaCrosse/Cadenza, etc. In each case, we compare the cars not only with each other but also against our knowledge of the established class leaders and actual comparison-test winners.
Throughout the course of our evaluations, we compare features and sample driving modes. Among head-up displays, for example, the huge, colorful Genesis HUD impressed us most, the XE’s laser-based unit seemed a bit chintzier than the norm, and the lower-resolution Buick LaCrosse’s drew snorts for offering a tachometer display. (Do they sell it with a stick in China?) Meanwhile, the Smart driving mode in the Kia Cadenza and Genesis G90 is supposed to detect your driving mood and adapt the steering, throttle, transmission, stability control, and (if equipped) all-wheel drive and adaptive damping to suit conditions. But as we hooned these cars around the winding track, none of them buttoned things down to the extent that Sport mode did. We were also mystified by the purpose of Sport modes in the Accord Hybrid and Buick LaCrosse, neither of which seemed to sportify performance
or handling.
As more editors took turns in the CT6s on the winding track, the comments started piling up about the aggressive seat belt hugs those cars bestowed during hard cornering or braking. So obnoxious were these forceful embraces that some were tempted to unbuckle. (Note: Don’t do that.) Loh discovered that switching stability control completely off disables this devil nanny. (Note: Don’t do that either.) The G90s bestowed seat belt squeezes of their own, but less aggressively and far less frequently. The S90 only clinched if all four wheels reached the top of their suspension travel—and then it was a grip worthy of a tap out.
Saturday ended with a regimented group photo of all contestant vehicles, complete with F-16 flyby, a sumptuous Red House BBQ dinner, and—back at the hotel—cigars and bourbon on the patio. The straw poll of likely finalists at this point: XE, E-Class, G90, Pacifica, S90, Bolt, and Fiat Spider. That would change, dramatically.
A highlight of each COTY week is Tom Gale’s design discussion, which happened early Sunday morning with select cars parked so as to catch the low-angle morning light just so. The legendary Chrysler stylist focuses on package and proportion (stance and wheel-to-body relationship, with emphasis on the wheel plane to glass plane), and on design and character (gesture, aggressiveness, line graphics, purity, and surface continuity). He started with two outliers—the 911 and the Pacifica, praising the former’s lack of extraneous surfaces and sweet side-window graphic tracing back to the 356. He attributed the minivan’s design success to moving the tire plane outside of the main body plane, as well as to superb aerodynamics that let the roof roll off the sides of the car and to graphic work like lining up the door handles on the lower A-line.
Things got geekier from there. A long line of sedans was then led by the exceptionally spare Tesla Model S and the long dash-to-axle Jag XF and Caddy CT6, both of which use surfacing to accentuate their excellent proportions. He praised the distinctive Scandinavian nose and clean surfacing for adding gravitas to the Volvo, but he wished the rear-end design somehow better echoed the front. The Cadenza’s body side A-line is positioned so as to reduce the visual height and heft of the body, but the headlamp graphics fight to replace both height and heft. Gale blamed the choice of matte paint on the E300 for removing all the romance of the surface.
Following Gale’s analysis of the Accord, former Ford, Chrysler, and AMC product development guru Chris Theodore taught us a new word: polycoria—multiple eye pupils. And nearing the end of the discussion, Gale noted that in order to cope with the Clubman’s enormous new size, Mini designers were forced to exaggerate wheel arch and headlamp graphics to maintain scale. Of the Prius, our design expert merely muttered, “There’s just way too much happening here.”
After several more hours of evaluation and a taco-truck lunch, we knuckled down to the task of culling the contenders. Cars with no staunch advocates were quickly eliminated, and that list included the Minis, Accords, Fiata, LaCrosse, Cadenza, and all the C-segment compacts. The Focus RS had admirers, but we couldn’t see crowning such a one-note variant—and because Ford inexplicably neglected to send the base car we requested, we couldn’t reward the Focus lineup. Limited variant availability hampered the C300’s chances, too, as the hardtop turbo-four fell short in many places a convertible V-6 may have shined. After considerable discussion on the E300, the consensus was that a luxury version might have fared better against our design criteria than this dour, matte gray sport version did, especially against its Volvo and Cadillac rivals.
(A recap for you car-company PR people: Lose the matte paint, give us lighter-contrasting interiors, and send multiple variants, including the one that best represents the essence of the car. Oh, and don’t go nuts on big wheels wrapped in rubber bands. Send us the versions consumers actually buy.)
Next up, we shifted gears and considered the cars that had strong support among the judges. The Bolt, 911, Pacifica, G90, and S90 were admitted to the finals with minimal fuss. Both Jaguars were popular, but between them the XE—having won a Head 2 Head against the BMW 3 Series—was deemed stronger in its class than was the XF. Caddy’s CT6 had the jury split, but considering it had such strong design and engineering chops, we decided to err in favor of determining whether it might fare better in the real world. Most of the elements of why the Tesla won in 2012 are unchanged, but so much of what we’re focusing on now—driver assistance systems—is new, so we decided to advance it.
And although we’re high on technology … what about the Volt and Prius? The Volt is arguably a huge upgrade in technology, but it’s less so as a car, and as the second star to the other green-minded Chevy, it was cut. The Prius had a staunch defender in Reynolds, who believes styling alone killed the world’s most efficient gas-powered car, but other editors called out its grinding understeer, nautical handling, lack of any on-demand regenerative braking like the Bolt/Volt steering wheel paddle, and the fact that it’s soulless to drive. After 20 minutes, Gale quipped, “Geez, it took all six bullets to put that one down.” At this point we had 10 cars including variants. With 11 judges, we decided to elevate the Audi A4—which had produced a hung jury.
We each spent 45 minutes driving each finalist on a highway-and-byway circuit near Tehachapi, which affords ample time to notice things we miss in the hurly-burly of the test-track days. Evans noted that the Audi was transmitting more bumps and jounce than the 911. Rechtin dinged the A4’s leather seats as borderline rubbery, but he declared the CT6’s shiatsu massage seat “worthy of a favorite nail salon.” Sadly, he predicted the same seat’s lack of lateral support would help drivers develop “six-pack abs trying to keep centered in the seat.”
The CT6’s inside rearview mirror can present a wide-angle camera view or a normal reflected view. The former gave many editors a headache refocusing on the close-range image. (This feature also begged the question, “Why on earth is the reverse-camera image on the big central screen so much lower resolution than the rearview mirror?”)
On the Genesis, Theodore praised how it “could slice comfortably through Cameron Road at 55 mph with less drama than the Cadillac CT6,” and Reynolds declared the G90 “so boring I just couldn’t stand it; it makes a Lexus seem like a Ferrari.” Loh declared that he’d take the tranquil Tesla over many other competitors because he felt “more calm and able to appreciate more of the world with so little noise coming through. It’s like a mobile meditation room.” Lieberman begged Elon Musk for a proper sunshade. (We know Elon eventually hears all plaintive bleatings made in his cars, so expect a running change on the assembly line.)
Roadside attractions during our Tehachapi drive loops included Theodore almost flattening a roadrunner, a truck losing a load of fencing next to Loh, and some random farmer stopping dead on a 55-mph highway between two closely spaced sharp curves. Exciting!
On Monday night, certified beer snob/judge Lieberman declared Vance’s discovery of Honey Wagon Brewing, tucked away in a Tehachapi industrial park, this OTY season’s most significant alimentary revelation, singling out the Hop 10 and Double IPA as their most auspicious offerings. Everyone then convened at Big Papa’s Steakhouse & Saloon, which will prepare beef precisely to Priddle’s specification—blue rare.
After finishing the last of the loops Tuesday morning, deliberations got underway at noon sharpish and started with the last vehicle to make the finalist cut, the Audi. The brief discussion was about as restrained and soporific as the A4’s design. Despite the Audi’s near-scientific excellence, the consensus was that the A4 had gone retrograde.
Things heated up with the CT6, a car that seems bent on overcomplicating simple tasks. The real world had not been any kinder to the Cadillac, serving only to accentuate earlier tendencies toward jerky transmission shifts, harsh suspension inputs, and a CUE system that’s little improved by the addition of a haptic touchpad. By now the USB ports in the CT6 2.0-liter had crapped out, making it impossible to assess CarPlay or to charge our depleted iPhones. Poor quality is always a disqualifier.
Tesla’s Model S transports occupants to the future no matter which route they take. It has inspired peculiar Supercharger tourism, where owners plan trips to new places based on where the charging stations are located. Over-the-air updates mean never being stuck with exactly the same car for too terribly long. It hits many other criteria, as well. But that new trout-pout “grille” is a controversial design enhancement, and the 60 model’s value proposition is tougher to make with the Chevrolet Bolt in the picture.
To misquote Sara Lee, nobody doesn’t like driving a Porsche 911—even engineers who view the ass-engine location as an anachronism and inherent liability. Its steering feel and dynamics can be appreciated whether slalom-pacing a sidewinder at 18 mph or dicing down any canyon road. It was also the car we identified early on as the vehicle of choice to transport any Mojave green bite victims to the ER. But its history of incremental improvement did not advance its 911-dom sufficiently to warrant the calipers.
We took a collective nap while discussing the Genesis G90’s inability to inspire any sort of passion. An underlying theme in our discussion about the G90 suggested that if we could just peel off its monotonous bodywork and somehow slip on the CT6’s, we’d have a competent, luxurious, well-mannered car with mega swagger.
Cars that would eventually earn podium votes included the sublime-looking, spectacular-handling Jaguar XE despite the many sacrifices it demands in terms of rear-seat packaging, quirky ergonomics, and a yesteryear infotainment interface.
Also winning plaudits was the Volvo S90, which connected with editors on an emotional level and scored high on most criteria, but it got torpedoed by those noisy Pirelli P Zero dubs and its awkward rear fascia and rear three-quarters design.
Timing is everything. This contest came down to an incredibly close race between two great vehicles: the world’s first truly affordable long-range electric car—which, by the way, if it were powered by a gas engine would still be ranked as a COTY-worthy B-segment hatchback—and the world’s most astutely designed, styled, tuned, and outfitted minivan. Both scored highly on nearly all criteria. Neither registered any serious “yeah, but” arguments, neither malfunctioned in any way, and both felt tight and well constructed. The key differentiator was that although the Chrysler Pacifica is an admirable advance in the minivan category, without its Hybrid model present, we couldn’t assess its prospects for altering our future as much as the $30,000 238-mile-range, fully electric Chevrolet Bolt seems poised to.
2017 Motor Trend Car of the Year Contenders
Buick LaCrosse
Chevrolet Cruze
Chevrolet Volt
Fiat 124 Spider
Ford Focus RS
Honda Accord
Hyundai Elantra
Jaguar XF
Kia Cadenza
Kia Forte
Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe 4Matic
Mercedes-Benz E300
Mini Clubman
Toyota Prius Two Eco
2017 Car of the Year Finalists
Audi A4
Cadillac CT6
Chevrolet Bolt
Chrysler Pacifica
Genesis G90
Jaguar XE
Porsche 911
Tesla Model S 60/75
Volvo S90
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