Best Cars of 2010

The Routan tied with Toyota Sienna for 2nd in Minivan category.

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Here are some of the best reviewed cars for 2010.

Hybrid Vehicles

The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid racked up the most awards, including the Motor Trend Car of the Year.

Sports Cars

In the category of affordable sports cars, generally priced under $35,000, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the Nissan 370Z faired very well. So did the 2010 MX-5 Miata.

Muscle Cars

The Ford Mustang dominated the muscle car category for 2010 and was a Motor Trend Car of the Year finalist.

Minivans

The Honda Odyssey took first place in the field of minivans with the Toyota Sienna, the Kia Sedona, and the Volkswagen Routan all tied for the No. 2 slot, according to U.S. News & World Reports.

Affordable Cars

In the category of most affordable small cars — generally priced under $20,000 — while offering great value, the Honda Fit rolled into the No. 1 spot followed by the Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra.

Volkswagen Routan tied with BMW750i in Motor Trend Car of the Year ratings

Although a mini-van, the Routan held its own in the subjective ratings. It shares 15th place with BMW 750i, Honda Insight EX, Kia Soul Sport, and Nissan 370Z. The competition was tough: Ford Fusion is Motor Trend's 2010 COTY. The Routan competed against such other fine motor cars as the Prius, VW GTI, Porsche Panamera, Mustang GT, BMW Z4, Mercedes Benz E550 Sedan, and Chevrolet Camaro among others.

Besides being in very good company, the 2010 Volkswagen Routan SE (with the lesser of two engines and lesser appointments) beat out the likes of the Ford Taurus, Mercedes Benz E350 Coupe, Kia Forte Koup SX, and Suzuki Kixashi SLS. Before you go bad mouthing those that Volkswagen beat, consider: the Routan beat a Mercedes E-class.

The 2010 Contenders were rated on Engineering, Design, Interior, Performance, Ease of Use, Safety, and Value. How the cars were evaluated can be found at Motor Trend Car of the Year. Of the cars rated better than the Routan overall, Routan is considered to have strengths in areas.

Engineering-equal to Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 GT (8th), Buick LaCrosse CXS (11th), Chevrolet Camaro RS (12th), and Nissan Cube (12th).

Design-equal to Porsche Panamera S (3rd), Ford Mustang GT (3rd), Mazdaspeed3 (8th), Lexus HS 250h (12th) and Nissan Cube (12th); and better than Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited (6th) and Mercedes-Benz E550 Sedan (8th).

Interior-equal to Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 GT (8th), and Lexus HS 250h (12th); and better than the Chevrolet Camaro RS (12th).

Performance-equal to a Nissan Cube (12th).

Ease of Use-equal to Toyota Prius (2nd), Volkswagen GTI (3rd), Porsche Panamera S (3rd), Ford Mustang GT (3rd), Mercedes-Benz E550 Sedan (8th), Mazdaspeed3 (8th), Lexus HS 250h (12th), and Nissan Cube SL (12th); and better than BMW Z4 sDrive 35i (6th), Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 GT (8th), Buick LaCrosse CXS (11th), and Chevrolet Camaro RS (12th).

Safety-equal to Toyota Prius (2nd), Porsche Panamera S (3rd), Mercedes-Benz E550 Sedan (8th), Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 GT (8th), and Lexus HS 250h (12th); and better than Volkswagen GTI (3rd), Ford Mustang GT (3rd), Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited (6th), BMW Z4 sDrive 35i (6th), Mazdaspeed3 (8th), Buick LaCrosse CXS (11th), Chevrolet Camaro RS (12th), and Nissan Cube SL (12th).

Value-equal to Volkswagen GTI (3rd), and Porsche Panamera S (3rd); and better than BMW Z4 sDrive 35i (6th), Mercedes-Benz E550 Sedan (8th), and Lexus HS 250h (12th).

The Volkswagen shares the most ratings (57%) with the Porsche Panamera S (3rd), Lexus HS 250h (12), and Nissan Cube SL (12th).

It shares no ratings with the Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited (6th) and BMW Z4 sDrive 351 (6th).

Can you believe it—Volkswagen Routan is Contender for Motor Trend 2010 Car of the Year!

I’ve excerpted a portion of the Motor Trend post. The link to the whole article is here.
I revise this post as I pull my foot out of my mouth. My esteemed critics state that to be a contender, you just have to show up. So, my comment about "I coulda been a contender." may have been premature.

However, @michaelbanovsky says: "I will say that I'll be shocked if the Routan doesn't finish dead last." I don't expect the Routan to win COTY in my wildest dreams. But, outright negative comments were made about the Honda Insight, Lexus HS250H, and Mazda3. We'll see.
2010 Car of the Year - The Year the Car Biz Changed | Car News Blog at Motor Trend

Posted November 13 2009 02:19 PM by Angus MacKenzie
Filed under: Car of the Year, The Big Picture

The past 12 months has been truly apocalyptic for the auto industry. GM, once the proud symbol of American enterprise and the very engine room of American capitalism -- broke; Chrysler, the scrappy survivor that somehow always drove back from the brink with a killer new product -- bust; Ford, the company that put the world on wheels -- hanging on by its fingernails. Detroit is bruised, battered and bleeding. The icy wind blasting down Woodward Ave this winter has an especially bitter edge.


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…This was the year everything changed in the car biz. Well, almost everything: As we celebrate our 60th year, Motor Trend's Car of the Year is still the award every automaker wants to win.


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Just five American cars are eligible this year, but all are heavy hitters. …



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Asian automakers dominate the 2010 COTY line up, with 11 new or significantly improved cars… European brands account for seven contenders, including hugely significant cars from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche…
Motor Trend's Car of the Year is not a comparison test -- each vehicle is judged against our six criteria. The process starts at the 4300 acre, $58 million Hyundai/Kia Proving Ground in California, where each contender is put through the complete series of Motor Trend performance tests to give the judges baseline data from which to work.


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Each judge drives each contender around a 13.5 mile loop that takes in the proving ground's high speed track, the freeway surfaces road, and the demanding winding road. The judges also conduct detailed static reviews, looking at design, build quality, engineering innovations, and features. Daily meetings discuss strengths and weaknesses in detail.
The aim of this first phase is not to pick the Car of the Year, but eliminate those vehicles that do not measure up against the key criteria. As always, some vehicles fall well short of the high standards required for a COTY winner. Others come tantalizingly close.
For phase two of the judging process, we move away from the controlled environment of the Hyundai-Kia proving ground, and out onto real world roads, courtesy of a 28.5 mile road loop based out of Tehachapi, California. We've found how these cars work at their limits: now we find out how they work in everyday driving conditions.


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The focus here is on the detail stuff. Each judge drives each contender over the route, which includes stop-start city driving, two lane blacktop, canyon roads and freeway stretches, offering a variety of surfaces and a variety of speed and powertrain load conditions.
After all the testing, the driving, and the tire-kicking, we convene one last time to debate, discuss, and decide which of the contenders is our Car of the Year.
We'll announce the 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year on Tuesday, November 17. And for the first time in history, you can be right there as we break the news to the world. How? Simply log on to motortrend.com next Tuesday at 1.30pm EST/10.30am PST, and you can watch me reveal the winner live via our streaming video feed.
I'll tell you this much now: COTY 2010 was one of the toughest ever, with four cars receiving primary votes from the judges. Our winner nailed an overwhelming majority, though, and proves that even in the midst of a most turbulent year, sweating the details on product engineering, not financial engineering, is the right thing to do.
HERE'S THE COMPLETE LIST OF THE 2010 CONTENDERS:
BMW 7 SERIES
BMW Z4
BUICK LACROSSE
CHEVROLET CAMARO
FORD FUSION
FORD MUSTANG
FORD TAURUS
HONDA INSIGHT
HYUNDAI GENESIS COUPE
KIA FORTE
KIA SOUL
LEXUS HS 250H
MAZDA3
MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS COUPE
MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS
NISSAN 370Z
NISSAN CUBE
PORSCHE PANAMERA
SUBARU LEGACY
SUZUKI KIZASHI
TOYOTA PRIUS
VOLKSWAGEN GTI
VOLKSWAGEN ROUTAN

2010 Car of the Year - The Year the Car Biz Changed | Car News Blog at Motor Trend