2016 Honda Civic is a Motor Trend Car of the Year Finalist

[LBB]

Yup, the VW Golf won it last year so it doesn't have to be anything exotic or even close to it. I think the Civic or the Mirai will win it this year. Civic for obvious reasons (just read the reviews heh). And Mirai for reason HondaGeek said - out of this list the Mirai represents the biggest advancement in tech. and two of the winners in the past five years have been electric cars - the Tesla Model S and Chevy Volt.

And being named the MT Car of the Year doesn't guarantee success either. Just look at the Volt.

I'm glad Honda said it's not making any electric or hybrid Civics for this new generation.

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[iamjack]

The new Camaro was just announced as the 2016 Car of the Year

 

[cae]

From Motor Trend I would not be surprised if it ended up being the Miata. The press really loves them some Mazda which is odd as the sales show that the buying public appears to not agree.

One of MT's criteria for COTY is safety. The Miata hasn't been tested, but a lightweight convertible doesn't exactly lend itself to acing that category. Another criteria is advancement in design. While the new Miata was praised almost universally, I read a lot of "But not enough to justify stepping up if you already have an older one." That's probably why it didn't get the nod. Sales may not reflect how great the car itself is, because very few people need/want a two-seat roadster with next to no cargo capacity.

The new Camaro was just announced as the 2016 Car of the Year

An interesting choice, especially after they praised the Camaro's turbo engine despite not having one on hand for the COTY testing. I think if the Civic lineup had been filled out - Coupe, Si, Type R - in time for the testing, it would've had a better shot at the win. The VW Golf family won in 2015, but they had something for everyone - GTI, e-Golf, TDI, Golf R, 3-door, 5-door. Civic appears less ambitious currently, where it's only moving up to the bar set by the Golf, rather than raising it for the entire competitive segment.

Makes me wonder just how good the new Camaro actually is. Perhaps a test drive is in order.

 

[Shoaib Shafique]

Wow best of luck to civic

 

[///Mookster]

Wow best of luck to civic

Civic didn't win. The Chevy Camaro did.

 

[Brett Bynes]

The 2016 Honda Civic has been named a 2016 Motor Trend Car of the Year Finalist. Here's the finalist list and its competitors.

2016 Motor Trend Car of the Year Finalists:

• Audi TT
• BMW 7 Series
• Chevrolet Camaro
• Honda Civic
• Mazda MX-5 Miata
• Mercedes-AMG GT S
• Toyota Mirai

Motor Trend Summary:

We Like: Its roomier cabin, swanky interior digs.

We Don’t Like: The busy exterior design, needlessly complex infotainment system.

“Honda’s Civic made its reputation by being small, light, and unpretentious,” Angus MacKenzie started his notes. “Its designers would not recognize the new 10th-generation Civic.”

Bigger, flashier, and more technologically advanced than ever, the new Civic impressed us. Honda paid more attention to the interior than anywhere else. With the Civic’s adult-friendly back seat getting 1.2 extra inches of legroom, the more luxurious Civic makes a strong argument for itself. Our top-level Touring test car featured a futuristic interior design, swanky leather, and standard active safety tech. “This has to be the best lane keep assist and active cruise control for the price,” Ed Loh said.

I hate how everyone is hating on the exterior. Compared to gen 9, this is a quantum leap forward in exterior design.

 

[Izze]

An interesting choice, especially after they praised the Camaro's turbo engine despite not having one on hand for the COTY testing. I think if the Civic lineup had been filled out - Coupe, Si, Type R - in time for the testing, it would've had a better shot at the win. The VW Golf family won in 2015, but they had something for everyone - GTI, e-Golf, TDI, Golf R, 3-door, 5-door. Civic appears less ambitious currently, where it's only moving up to the bar set by the Golf, rather than raising it for the entire competitive segment.

Makes me wonder just how good the new Camaro actually is. Perhaps a test drive is in order.

The Camaro lineup isn't filled out yet either though. The convertible, ZL1 and Z/28 are still to come. But I agree the Civic would have had a better chance if the coupe, hatchback, Si and Type R were all available. Maybe next year the Si will have a chance again.

 

[cae]

The Camaro lineup isn't filled out yet either though. The convertible, ZL1 and Z/28 are still to come. But I agree the Civic would have had a better chance if the coupe, hatchback, Si and Type R were all available. Maybe next year the Si will have a chance again.

Very true. At first I thought that perhaps the Mustang's showing was so poor that the Camaro just felt that much better. Then I saw this article - http://www.motortrend.com/news/revelation-chevy-thats-better-bmw/

That's pretty high praise, especially for where the Camaro sits price-wise. Considering the Z/28 took home 2014 Best Driver's Car, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. That just makes me even more excited to see what they do with this new Alpha Camaro.

 

[Canonite]

I hate how everyone is hating on the exterior. Compared to gen 9, this is a quantum leap forward in exterior design.

Agreed. IMHO the 9th gen was fugly. The way the hood and windshield were in almost one continuous line really made the car ugly to me. I think the 2016 looks pretty cool.

 

[fenderstrat]

Motor Trend for decades has had the tradition of frequently awarding COTY to cars that lots of people can afford. Because of that, I think the Civic has a decent chance. But in general, Car and Driver seems to like Honda better than Motor Trend. As we know, the Accord has been on C & D's 10 best list more than any other car. But the Accord has never, in all its 9 generations, won MT's Car of the Year. Here's a list of past winner from Motor Trend:

2015 Volkswagen Golf line-up[15]
2014 Cadillac CTS
2013 Tesla Model S
2012 Volkswagen Passat
2011 Chevrolet Volt[16]
2010 Ford Fusion[17]
2009 Nissan GT-R
2008 Cadillac CTS
2007 Toyota Camry
2006 Honda Civic
2005 Chrysler 300
2004 Toyota Prius
2003 Infiniti G35
2002 Ford Thunderbird
2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser
2000 Lincoln LS
1999 Chrysler 300M
1998 Chevrolet Corvette
1997 Chevrolet Malibu
1996 Dodge Caravan
1995 Chrysler Cirrus
1994 Ford Mustang
1993 Ford Probe GT
1992 Cadillac Seville Touring Sedan
1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ
1990 Lincoln Town Car
1989 Ford Thunderbird SC
1988 Pontiac Grand Prix
1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
1986 Ford Taurus LX
1985 Volkswagen GTI (eligible due to it being built in VW's now-defunct Pennsylvania plant)
1984 Chevrolet Corvette
1983 AMC / Renault Alliance
1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
1981 Chrysler K Cars, Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant
1980 Chevrolet Citation

Finally, my 40 years of subscribing to Motor Trend has paid off with knowledge I can share on this forum! Prior to the year 2000, Motor Trend used to have a separate "import car of the year" award. The import car of the year in 1980 was the Honda Civic. I remembered as the 1980 Civic 1500GL was the first new car I had purchased (couldn't believe how great it was compared to similarly priced cars of that era). Other Honda's that won were the 1984 Civic CRX, the 1988 CRX Si, and the 1994 Accord. The 1987 Acura Legend Coupe also won.

 

[///Mookster]

Finally, my 40 years of subscribing to Motor Trend has paid off with knowledge I can share on this forum! Prior to the year 2000, Motor Trend used to have a separate "import car of the year" award. The import car of the year in 1980 was the Honda Civic. I remembered as the 1980 Civic 1500GL was the first new car I had purchased (couldn't believe how great it was compared to similarly priced cars of that era). Other Honda's that won were the 1984 Civic CRX, the 1988 CRX Si, and the 1994 Accord. The 1987 Acura Legend Coupe also won.

Ah the Acura Legend. That's the car that really turned me on to Honda/Acura. That and the CRX.

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