2009 World Car of the Year

[Kitdy]

The 2009 World Car of Nominees are out this year and there's a fair mix of cars.

henk will be happy to see his C5 listed, UCP and evo's COTY the GT-R is also up for the award, Ferrer's favourite city car the iQ also makes it, along with everyone's favourite the 500 (didn't that win something like this last year?) the A4, the 7-series, the Fit / Jazz, the Atenza / 6, the Golf, and the XF. I dunno exactly who is in the judging committee, the below press release says it's made up of a "volunteer jury of close to 50 distinguished automotive journalists representing many of the world's most renowned automotive outlets," whatever that means. I dunno exactly how prestigious or important this jury is but it has some pertinent cars for the UCP community so I thought mentioning it would be key. The winner will be announced at the New York International Auto Show.

World Car of the Year Announces Top Ten Finalists

Celebrating its fifth annual awards program, the World Car of the Year, held in conjunction with the New York International Auto Show, is pleased to announce this year's top ten finalists.

The 2009 World Car finalists are:

Audi A4 / Avant
BMW 7 Series
Citroen C5 Sedan / C5 Tourer
Fiat 500
Ford Fiesta
Honda Fit / Jazz
Jaguar XF
Mazda Atenza / Mazda6
Nissan GT-R
Toyota iQ
Volkswagen Golf VI

Vehicles are selected and voted on by a volunteer jury of close to 50 distinguished automotive journalists representing many of the world's most renowned automotive outlets. All jurors hold significant stature with their own regions and countries, which include: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States.

The jurors' next step is narrowing the top ten field to the top three, which will be announced March 9. Today's top ten announcement includes 11 vehicles because two of the vehicles are tied for a spot.

The overall 2009 World Car of the Year as well as the winners of the World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year will be declared on April 9, 2009 during a press conference at the New York International Auto Show.

Visit wcoty.com | World Car of the Year Awards for more information on the 2009 World Car of the Year Awards. For Auto Show updates, go to New York International Auto Show.

[syko]

Interesting that the 2008 wheels car of the year doesn't get a mention

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by syko

Interesting that the 2008 wheels car of the year doesn't get a mention

Which was...?

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

Which was...?

The Honda Accord, IIRC.

(the real one, not the one for fat americans)

By the way, I'd go for the iQ. And I don't think I need to explain why.

[cmcpokey]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

(the real one, not the one for fat americans)

dude, relax. your anti-american sentiment is getting tiresome.

we still get the real accord, its just called an acura and sold for $15k more.

[Rockefella]

I'm in better fitness than 95+% of Europeans so I don't care that they call us fat.

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by cmcpokey

dude, relax. your anti-american sentiment is getting tiresome.

we still get the real accord, its just called an acura and sold for $15k more.

I think you've just confused me with someone else.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

The Honda Accord, IIRC.

(the real one, not the one for fat americans)

By the way, I'd go for the iQ. And I don't think I need to explain why.

*North Americans - I'm not sure if you can get them in Mexico or not but at least Northern America or America and Canada. It is my personal quest to make you recognise Canada.

We also get your Accord, it's the TSX as you know. What exactly is your beef with our Accord? It's a 2008 and 2009 Car and Driver 10 Best winner and it has won it a total of 23 times (more than any other car), has had a good reputation for many years, looks alright, (the concept was better however). I've got the base model UK Accord page open, and the base model Canadian Accord page open.

Canadian Accord: Price from $25,090

Mass: 1468 kg
Length: 4930 mm
Width: 1846 mm
Height:1476 mm
Power: 177 hp
Torque: 161 lb.-ft.
0-100 km/h: ? But I bet faster than 9.4 seconds.

UK Accord: Price from £18,890

Mass: 1414 kg
Length: 4726
Width: 1840 mm
Height: 1440 mm
Power: 156 hp
Torque: 142 lb.-ft.
0-60mph: 9.4 seconds

So the Canadian Accord is slightly larger than the UK one in all dimensions and only what, 54kg more? And you call it for fat Americans? Is that even a noticeable amount of weight in a car that size? With the extra power it may not even be noticeable; the NA Accord has better power/weight too.

Heck, some of the extra 100 pounds is coming from the larger engine block I bet along with the larger dimensions - which still are only minimally larger and I'd imagine only add interior room. Also, we have the TSX if you want it! It may be overpriced for what it is, but the old one was still probably better value than what they get in the UK! So fine, even if your cars are better as we hear many of you Europeans say so often we are getting our "shitty" cars for steals of prices and frankly when you have cars like the Golf available for a fraction of the price what you pay then who is really laughing also considering gas prices here? I think it's us.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by cmcpokey

dude, relax. your anti-american sentiment is getting tiresome.

European-superiority complex maybe? Similar to US-superiority complex, and almost opposite of Canadian self-deprecation.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by cmcpokey

we still get the real accord, its just called an acura and sold for $15k more.

Both are real, but if one is realer than the other it's probably ours as it's in North America where the lions' share are sold surely.

[Roentgen]

I'll go for the GTR. It's a supercar for a third of a real supercar's price. Good Value for money, and also 4 seats with boot, so it's kinda practical too.

If not, then either the Ford Fiesta, or Fiat 500. Both very good looking, both very economical, both fairly practical, both very small, and both very cheap.

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

...

I just want to clarify that my original post was meant to be humorous. Apologies if anyone felt offended.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

I just want to clarify that my original post was meant to be humorous. Apologies if anyone felt offended.

My bad Ferrer but I honestly enjoyed finding out all that information so it was all good. The thing is, phrases like that and disparagement of North American cars and American people are made all the time on this site and it is not always evident to tell what is comedy, part comedy, or serious.

I thought for some reason you were also calling the car fat and wanted to disprove this.

To be honest, it is fun when everyone gets along but I do enjoy arguing/debating/discussion to an extent and this and the DS/SL thread has been a lot of fun for me.

Next time, use a damn smiley!

[aiasib]

you should make this into a poll, so we here at UCP can decide for ourselves :P

[Niko_Fx]

Originally Posted by aiasib

you should make this into a poll, so we here at UCP can decide for ourselves :P

We all know that the GT-R would win by a landslide.... even if nobody voted for it.

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by aiasib

you should make this into a poll, so we here at UCP can decide for ourselves :P

Someone put up a poll not sure who did it though.