- 2 years ago
The 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year competition was the biggest one ever. Find out how the Volkswagen Passat was able to top all 34 of its rivals.
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00:00 If you love cars, these are the glory days.
00:11 Not that long ago you had sedans and wagons and coupes and the occasional sports car,
00:15 with maybe a couple of engine and transmission variants between them.
00:19 Today cars come in all shapes and sizes, and from all corners of the globe.
00:23 They're faster, better handling, more efficient than ever.
00:29 Out of all the new or significantly improved cars launched every year, only one can be
00:34 Motor Trend's Car of the Year.
00:36 [MUSIC]
00:46 [MUSIC]
00:56 [MUSIC]
01:06 The Car of the Year competition begins not with a bang, but a yawn.
01:24 It's 5am, deep in the heart of the Mojave Desert, as the first members of our test team
01:29 arrive at the Hyundai Kia California Proving Ground.
01:36 [MUSIC]
01:48 Long before any of the contenders can be launched down the quarter mile, or carve up a figure
01:52 eight handling test, each must be weighed, calibrated and carefully prepped.
01:58 We have eight days of at-the-limit testing and spirited driving ahead of us.
02:05 As the sun breaks, you can finally begin to appreciate the sheer size and scope of this
02:12 state-of-the-art testing facility.
02:16 Covering more than 4,300 acres, it features 10 different test courses, including a 43-acre
02:22 skid pad, a 6.4-mile high-speed oval, and a 3.1-mile winding road course.
02:29 But even with a facility this expansive, we still face some logistical challenges.
02:41 For the first time ever, we have three electric vehicles competing for the title, and we don't
02:46 have the fast-charging solution we need to keep them rolling through the judging process.
02:50 Fortunately, the guys at AeroVironment come to the rescue, graciously installing a proper
02:56 Level 2 EVSE charging station on site.
02:59 This is a little bit different to be installing one of these out in the desert, I suppose.
03:04 It's not the first thing you would think of to see out here.
03:08 One of the more unique areas, I think I've hooked one of these up.
03:12 So with all the cars gassed, weighed, wrenched and charged, our test team hits the giant
03:17 Hyundai Kia skid pad to run each contender through our signature instrumented tests.
03:24 First up is the standing quarter-mile acceleration run.
03:27 Some cars, like the C63 AMG Coupe, make quite an impression.
03:44 Others, like the electric-powered Mitsubishi i-Miev, are a little more subdued.
03:51 On the 60-to-zero braking, Honda's Civic Si is a solid performer.
04:03 But the Chrysler 200 convertible feels a little agitated.
04:14 Our unique figure-eight test highlights acceleration, braking and cornering.
04:20 The Chrysler minivan does well for a vehicle of its size and intended function.
04:27 But others, like the Dodge Charger, feel like they were made for this.
04:32 Jim, how was it?
04:34 Well, it really is amazing.
04:36 This car's basic platform goes back years and years and years.
04:40 A couple of generations of Chrysler 300s, same basic platform underneath this car.
04:46 That even came from a defunct Mercedes.
04:49 And after all these years, the car is still a wonderful thing to drive.
04:53 Very solid, wonderful steering, controllability.
04:56 It's a car that's really ripened with age.
05:04 Day two and our photo and hot shot video teams arrive.
05:11 Hang on, do I really have to say that?
05:14 Yes.
05:15 Okay, okay, it's day two and our photo and hot shot video teams arrive.
05:19 They'll spend the next three days working alongside the test team.
05:26 Of course, the desert weather doesn't always follow the script.
05:29 And when the clouds roll in, the natives can get restless.
05:36 [MUSIC]
05:41 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:46 [MUSIC]
05:51 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:56 [MUSIC]
05:59 So, after burning off some excess energy, it's back to work.
06:04 As Friday draws to a close, they try for one last magic hour shot.
06:08 But they better hurry because the sun is setting and tomorrow, the madness begins.
06:13 [MUSIC]
06:25 Saturday morning and the rest of our car of the year team descends on the Hyundai Kia Proving Ground
06:30 for a packed weekend of car by car evaluations.
06:34 [MUSIC]
06:59 This year's field features 35 new or significantly upgraded vehicles.
07:04 Where possible, we've included variants with different engines and transmissions
07:08 to get a better feel for the bandwidth of those models.
07:12 This brings the total number of vehicles on hand to 54,
07:15 easily the largest group of cars we've ever assembled for a car of the year contest.
07:20 With a field this large and diverse, you can never have enough automotive expertise at your disposal.
07:25 So, in addition to our eight editors, we've brought along three auto industry veterans to help us out.
07:31 We have Tom Gale, the former Chrysler design chief,
07:34 and the man whose stunning concept cars made the Detroit show world famous.
07:39 Chris Theodore is an engineer whose CV includes vehicles as thoughtfully executed as the original Chrysler minivan
07:46 and as tightly focused as the 200 mile an hour Ford GT.
07:51 Jim Hall worked at Motor Trend in the 1980s before joining GM's product planning team
07:56 and then going on to become one of the world's leading auto industry analysts.
08:01 Now, our judges know a lot about cars, but no one really knows everything about every car,
08:06 especially as some of these are only just showing up in dealers showrooms.
08:10 So, the group spends the first part of the day getting familiar with each contender's specifications and features.
08:17 But enough talk, it's time to drive.
08:20 We have 11 judges, 54 vehicles and two days.
08:24 The math is not on our side.
08:26 But one way or another, each judge must drive each vehicle on each of the selected test tracks.
08:32 So, there's no time to waste.
08:34 The Proving Ground loop starts on the high-speed oval,
08:36 where judges can evaluate noise levels and powertrain refinement under hard acceleration.
08:41 High-speed stability and wind noise, tyre noise and features such as cruise control are also evaluated.
08:48 And just in case our judges are feeling homesick,
08:51 there's a stretch of road alongside the high-speed oval's back straight
08:54 that replicates the bumps and thumps of the worst Los Angeles freeways.
08:59 This huge stretch of curved pavement also gives our judges a chance to really open up some of the high-path contenders.
09:07 You know what's amazing about these cars?
09:11 I don't know where the power comes from.
09:13 I mean, apparently they have some sort of animal in there that they're tormenting
09:16 because it makes good noise, he's screaming.
09:19 What I want to do is see if I can pull my face off when I hit the brakes.
09:22 This has carbon brakes and I'm not sure if they work very well.
09:25 Oh, God!
09:28 Now that's impressive.
09:31 Oh, yeah.
09:33 It's fun, but high-speed blasting will only tell you so much about a car's capability.
09:38 We want to know about cornering and braking,
09:40 how the steering and the suspension, the powertrain and the tyres all work together.
09:45 And that's where the winding road course comes in.
09:48 Way more roll, too, don't you think?
09:50 Look at how this thing's heeling over on the corners.
09:52 Quite a bit.
09:53 You'd expect with the turbo it would be a little bit sportier suspension settings,
09:56 but maybe they're trying to keep it softer.
10:00 Not sure if that will help attract the more masculine audience that they're trying to do.
10:06 Yeah, it's really a funny, fish-or-fowl thing here.
10:08 I don't know if they're trying to say,
10:10 "Look, the GTI is our only really super sporty version of this chassis,
10:15 and this one's something else."
10:18 The loops continue as Saturday rolls into Sunday.
10:21 The judges bounce from car to car,
10:23 braking only for brief moments to record their notes,
10:26 stretch their legs and grab a taco or two.
10:29 The red sauce is really good on it. It's got some kick to it.
10:31 Truth is, though, if it doesn't kill you, it's going to make you stronger.
10:35 The pace is relentless, but the judges finish the last of their loops
10:39 with a few hours of daylight to spare.
10:42 But they're not finished yet.
10:44 The past couple of days has been all about deciding which cars
10:47 are definitely not car of the year material.
10:49 We're only taking the cars we believe have a real shot at winning
10:52 through to the next stage.
10:54 Safe to say, reaching a consensus on precisely which cars go through
10:59 and which gets left behind can be a tricky proposition with this outspoken bunch.
11:03 ...get this market and be perfect. They've got to be Japanese.
11:07 You're buying a fashion statement. You actually are.
11:10 And it is snazzy looking.
11:12 The interior is a special place for a small car.
11:15 As far as the design goes, I'd take a bangle butt over a Fisker nose any day.
11:20 I mean, that front end just...
11:22 Nah, it's not that bad.
11:24 I think it is. I don't like it.
11:27 That car would not be first level prototype at any real automobile company,
11:33 even 15, 20 years ago when we weren't doing good prototypes.
11:37 It feels like an Indian car or, you know...
11:41 Yeah, something like that that someone has just put an electric motor in
11:44 and said, "Hey, we can sell it in the US now."
11:46 The car's scaled wrong for this country.
11:49 I mean, even in a university town, there are a lot of people driving
11:52 Suburbans around.
11:53 They're answering a question nobody is asking.
11:56 If you look at performance of intended function,
11:59 the vehicle's intended function is to be a city car
12:03 in cities with very narrow streets and with nowhere to park,
12:07 like Athens or Rome or whatever.
12:09 Here in America, there is no reason to buy a car that small
12:13 unless you're going to get 70 miles per gallon or better.
12:16 It's less dumb than smart, but its IQ still doesn't break the teens.
12:20 Wow!
12:23 I'm not sure a car that small...
12:27 If it's sold in America, then I think they're going to have to come up
12:30 with new rear impact standards because I don't want my...
12:35 You can talk all you want about a rear airbag.
12:37 That's not going to do anything on a rear impact.
12:40 The Scion experiment, the failure of Scion was
12:43 they didn't continue the way they started.
12:45 When the dust finally settles, the original field of 35 contenders
12:49 has been whittled down to 10 worthy finalists.
12:52 This signals the end of our testing here at Hyundai Kia Proving Ground.
12:56 For the automakers whose vehicles have been left behind,
12:59 it's better luck next time.
13:01 But for the 10 finalists, the fight to be named 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year
13:06 is just getting started.
13:08 This is the true story, true story of 13 not-so-strangers
13:23 who have gathered together to find out what happens
13:26 when Car of the Year stops being polite and starts getting real.
13:31 OK, so it's not exactly Jersey Shore, but there is still plenty of drama
13:36 as our Car of the Year competition moves from the controlled environment
13:39 of the Hyundai Kia Proving Ground and heads west to the small town
13:43 of Tehachapi, California.
13:45 This hotel alongside the highway will be base camp for the next few days.
13:49 Working out of a cramped room at the back of the hotel,
13:52 the judges will now shift their focus to evaluating how the 10 finalists
13:56 perform under real-world driving conditions.
13:59 To do this, they will drive each car on a 36-mile road loop,
14:04 a route that passes through the town centre,
14:06 winds along twisting backroads,
14:08 and finishes along a short stretch of freeway.
14:11 We had the Hyundai Kia Proving Ground all to ourselves.
14:14 Out here, though, we have to deal with things like potholes, patrols and traffic.
14:19 In other words, the exact conditions most consumers will experience
14:23 at some point with these cars.
14:25 Now we have the time to check out some of the more interesting features
14:29 and technologies that drivers will interact with every day.
14:33 This Audi A6 has a blind spot warning system.
14:37 You can see it right here. There's the control for it.
14:40 And when someone comes up in my blind spot,
14:43 if you can see the yellow light there, that's going to show up
14:47 and let me know that someone's coming up behind me in my blind spot.
14:51 There's also this really nifty Google Map feature on the NAV system.
14:55 It's a real-time map using Google Maps, and it's quite different.
15:00 The first day of looping finishes up, and already the judges are refining and revising
15:04 their initial impressions of our 10 finalists.
15:07 Not surprisingly, the dialogue and debate spills into dinner time.
15:12 [Music plays]
15:28 Day 8, and the end is in sight.
15:31 So far, the automotive gods have been kind to us,
15:33 as we've managed to avoid any fender benders, speeding tickets or breakdowns.
15:38 That is, until now.
15:40 So our real-world loop claims its first victim.
15:44 But the show must go on.
15:45 The judges steadily work their way through an elaborate rotation schedule
15:49 that looks like a bingo game on steroids.
15:52 The notes pile up, and by 2pm, the last round of cars gets checked off the list.
15:57 Now, with a full week's worth of data and driving impressions at their disposal,
16:02 the judges return to their cramped courtroom to render a verdict.
16:06 Before the votes are cast, it's time for closing arguments.
16:10 It's light and delicate, and it doesn't feel anywhere near as bulky as you think it would be.
16:16 I suspect in that matter, it's probably a better drive than the A7 would have been on the same road.
16:20 Balance was just everywhere.
16:23 And the way the engine pulled, and the way the car handled,
16:26 even the steering, which is not what BMW used to be,
16:30 everything was in exactly the right weighting and proportions,
16:34 and everything moved kind of as one.
16:36 I said earlier, this to me was one of the most surprising cars of the entire evaluation this year.
16:43 I wasn't expecting much of it, to be honest.
16:47 And actually, it looks great.
16:50 It's a very credible, small premium car, which is a very hard thing to do.
16:55 There's some other things to let in the car, you know.
16:58 Once they got it on the road, there's some squeaks, and there's some rattles.
17:01 Honestly, here's where I get come out.
17:05 Is it the best B-car out there right now?
17:08 And the answer is, unfortunately, I don't rate it number one.
17:11 I don't know what you guys do.
17:13 I remember the first time I drove an Aveo a couple of years ago,
17:17 car of the year here, being appalled at how bad it was.
17:20 This thing actually, it feels like a surprisingly mature small car.
17:26 Surprisingly mature.
17:28 Not perfect, but it's a hit with the older van.
17:31 I mean, the car was good dynamically.
17:34 It was very quiet.
17:35 Good surfaces.
17:37 Fabulous interior.
17:38 You can have Tom's right, a few little nip-knots.
17:40 They can make it better still.
17:43 But the value equation with the V6 and an 8-speed, we don't know the real pricing,
17:48 but I know it's less than $40,000 and probably more than $35,000.
17:51 But that's a hell of a--that's a lot of car.
17:54 I'm not even sure.
17:55 It's a car.
17:56 It's not a neighborhood electric vehicle.
17:58 And you can't even reliably go 56 miles.
18:02 I started it at 36.
18:04 I ended up at 3.
18:06 And I was sweating the last 3 because I had to turn the air conditioning off.
18:10 And I said I was going to drive it exactly like I drove the other cars,
18:14 and I still found myself backing down.
18:17 So that's it.
18:18 No more debate.
18:19 No more discussion.
18:20 It's time to decide.
18:22 One judge, one vote.
18:24 And a simple majority is enough for a win,
18:26 though each judge will nominate a second and third preference
18:29 in the unlikely event of a tie.
18:32 After more than a week of instrumented testing,
18:34 closed-course evaluations, and real-world driving,
18:37 it's time to tally up the votes and name the 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
18:42 Okay, so 11 judges.
18:45 First preference votes.
18:47 Nissan Leaf, 1.
18:51 Passat, 5.
18:53 Chrysler 300, 5.
18:58 Wow.
18:59 Is it a tie?
19:00 No.
19:03 So then I went to second preference votes.
19:06 A mixed bag.
19:07 Everything from Audi A6 to Buick Verano.
19:11 They got a couple of votes.
19:12 C-Class got a vote.
19:13 6 Series got a vote.
19:14 Elantra got a vote.
19:16 Chrysler 300 got two second preference votes.
19:21 So did the Passat.
19:26 You made me work.
19:29 Third preference votes.
19:31 Again, a mixed bag of cars.
19:33 Chevy Sonic got a vote.
19:35 Audi A6 got a couple.
19:36 Elantra got one.
19:39 Verano got a couple.
19:40 Leaf got one.
19:42 Chrysler 300 got one.
19:44 Passat got three.
19:47 So, by process of elimination, VW Passat is Motor Trend's 2012 Car of the Year.
19:55 Well, it's been an amazing week or so.
19:57 We started with the biggest ever group of Car of the Year contenders,
20:00 and finished with the closest result in the 62 year history of the award.
20:05 The Volkswagen Passat wins by a nose from the Chrysler 300.
20:09 They're both worthy vehicles, but only one can take home Motor Trend's ultimate accolade.
20:14 And we'll be back next year to do it all over again.
20:18 To test them, to drive to the limit, to debate and discuss,
20:21 to kick the tyres and fold the seats and check for any tiny imperfections.
20:25 To follow the exhaustive process that leads us to the Motor Trend Car of the Year.
20:31 [Closing Music]
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