DSCOTY '06: Official winners, Final category and overall victors Options

[clarkma5]

Original competition rules can be found here.

Boy Racers: Subaru Impreza (WRX & STi)

Economy Car: VW Golf MkV (excluding 2.0T models)

Entry-level Luxury: VW Passat 3.6

Exotics: Bugatti Veyron

Family Cars: VW Passat 2.0T

Hot 4-doors: Audi RS4

Luxury Car: Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Most Significant: Bugatti Veyron

Sports Cars & Convertibles: Porsche Cayman S

Sports Sedans: BMW 3-series

SUVs under $30k: Suzuki Grand Vitara

SUVs over $30k: Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Trucks: Honda Ridgeline


Overall: Bugatti Veyron

Honorable Mention: BMW M5

[høgh]

Let the Bentley win! It's superior to the Infiniti.

[goota]

i cant believe the 3 series won...

[DZ302]

i cant believe the 3 series won...

i still don't see what's so special about regular 3 series'. i've driven E36s and E46s and they never impressed me. i preferred the handling of the G35 coupe to the E46 330ci I drove.

[leif]

i still don't see what's so special about regular 3 series'. i've driven E36s and E46s and they never impressed me. i preferred the handling of the G35 coupe to the E46 330ci I drove.

you must be hard to impress...one of the best cars i have ever driven was an E36...I have not driven an E46, but I cant see how BMW could manage to go backwards. Furthermore you dont get the same feeling of quality from infinity products as you do from other luxury brands...they always feel like Nissans with a bit of wood scotch tapped to the inside.

(note: I have driven many many many many many cars, so when i say "one of the best" I do have a reasonable basis for comparison. )

[Mr b00st]

boo to the Mazdaspeed6 losing to the dull 3 series.

[goota]

STi IS NOT BETTER THAN AN EVO >:O

[Phix]

EVO IS NOT BETTER THAN STi >:O

[Mitlov]

Economy Car: VW Golf MkV (excluding 2.0T models)

Entry-level Luxury: VW Passat 3.6

Exotics: Bugatti Veyron

Family Cars: VW Passat 2.0T

Hot 4-doors: Audi RS4 (not official yet, but it's winning by a large margin)

Luxury Car: Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Most Significant: Bugatti Veyron (not official yet, but it's winning by a large margin)

Anyone else notice a trend here? 7 of 13 awards--54%--go to VAG products. VW and pals certainly has a fan club here at DieselStation.

It's also interesting that the American companies didn't win a single category. All but 3 of the categories--77%--went to European cars.

[clarkma5]

A lot of VW AG products won, yes, but VW AG composes a lot of companies that released a lot of new models for 2006. In fact, 12 of the 67 cars in the competition were VW AG vehicles, representing a total percentage of 17.9%...and I think nobody can deny that a lot of the cars entered in the competition never even had a chance, making the VW AG car's odds even better.

And at the end of the day, Mitlov, what is so hard for you to understand that a lot of people, particularly younger people (and dieselstation is almost entirely under-25 year olds) like Volkswagen products? These aren't even extremely scientific polls we had here...almost none of us have driven more than a couple of these cars...we're forming our opinion on anecdotes, magazine reviews, specs and pictures, and you are NO EXCEPTION to that.

So, mitlov, stop your war on VW. It's getting silly. You need to take this competition for what it is...a fun DS experiment. And I would like to say that outside of your endless bickering, I have really enjoyed putting this together and seeing it unfold, and I would love to do it again next year if people let me. It's been an unheard of amount of fun.

[Mitlov]

A lot of VW AG products won, yes, but VW AG composes a lot of companies that released a lot of new models for 2006. In fact, 12 of the 67 cars in the competition were VW AG vehicles, representing a total percentage of 17.9%...and I think nobody can deny that a lot of the cars entered in the competition never even had a chance, making the VW AG car's odds even better.

And at the end of the day, Mitlov, what is so hard for you to understand that a lot of people, particularly younger people (and dieselstation is almost entirely under-25 year olds) like Volkswagen products? These aren't even extremely scientific polls we had here...almost none of us have driven more than a couple of these cars...we're forming our opinion on anecdotes, magazine reviews, specs and pictures, and you are NO EXCEPTION to that.

So, mitlov, stop your war on VW. It's getting silly. You need to take this competition for what it is...a fun DS experiment. And I would like to say that outside of your endless bickering, I have really enjoyed putting this together and seeing it unfold.

Did you forget that I voted for the A3 as the best sport sedan? My "war against VW" is all in your head, Clark. Seriously, it is. I really don't understand why you keep getting upset. You are so damned defensive and hostile it's amazing.

All I noted that cars from a single company--VAG--constituted more than half of the winners. I said that VAG had a lot of fans at DieselStation. I didn't make any judgment. I didn't say VW sucks, or that people who like VWs suck. I noted a statistical fact about the winners. Period.

I also noted that European cars as a whole dominated this competition, with more than 3/4s of the awards. I also noted that not a single American car won a single award. How do these observations fit in with this alleged "war on VW"? It doesn't. It's just more fun with statistics.

I've had a lot of fun in this competition. It's really too bad that a little debate about what cars are in what category and why can ruin your fun. It's not like I've been flaming you. It's not like I've been insulting you. It's not like I've been shouting "lol VW suxxors!!!" So what precisely have I done that you believe constitutes a war on VAG?

1) I disagreed that the GTI belonged in the "most significant" category simply because it brought the nameplate back from alleged mediocrity, unless all cars that did the same (including the Civic Si) were also included. That's not an attack on the GTI, just a discussion of what does and does not constitute "most significant."

2) I agreed that the A3 should be in the "most significant" category, but thought it should be there under different grounds. Hardly an attack. I clearly like the A3--that's why I voted it the best sport sedan.

3) I said that Audi and VW have "classy but conservative" aesthetic design. I still don't see how that's an attack. Frankly, I think it's praise--just a descriptive sort of praise. And all that talk about VW/Audi designs being the "navy two-button suits" of the car world? I OWN A NAVY TWO-BUTTON SUIT.

4) I said that there was no overwhelming consensus as to whether the RS4 is attractive. Frankly, I don't believe that there's overwhelming consensus as to whether ANY car is attractive. That's just the nature of people's aesthetic tastes. Once again, not an attack.

5) I made a passing comment about the Passat's below-average relibility in the "family car" competition. That's fair game, as reliability is part of what makes a good family car.

THAT'S ALL IT WAS, CLARK. You need to chill out.

[clarkma5]

I'm sorry you viewed your own actions differently than I did. I have read a lot of your posts as hostile toward the competition I've set up and, therefore, toward me. I mark that up to being unable to read people very well over the internet. My apologies for acting defensive when it was not warranted.

And for the record, the post you replied to was not meant to be taken nearly as hostile as you seemed to have taken it, I was just trying to be provide a reasonable explanation why VAG vehicles had won as much as you had noted. It just turned out that you weren't asking for an explanation in the first place, but again, that's my bad.

[Mitlov]

I'm sorry you viewed your own actions differently than I did. I have read a lot of your posts as hostile toward the competition I've set up and, therefore, toward me. I mark that up to being unable to read people very well over the internet. My apologies for acting defensive when it was not warranted.

And for the record, the post you replied to was not meant to be taken nearly as hostile as you seemed to have taken it, I was just trying to be provide a reasonable explanation why VAG vehicles had won as much as you had noted. It just turned out that you weren't asking for an explanation in the first place, but again, that's my bad.

The internet is notoriously bad at projecting tone of voice. There seem to have been numerous misunderstandings on all sides.

First and foremost, let me say that I'm NOT hostile to this competition. I have given some constructive criticism as to selection an descriptions of candidates, but overall, this competition was run far better that just about anything else I've ever seen on an internet forum. If I thought it was a crappy competition, I wouldn't have bothered to vote, and explain my vote, for every single award.

I wasn't looking for an explanation for why VAG cars won so much. That's obvious. It's because of DS's typical membership--unmarried students, aged 16-24, with no children. VAG cars have a lot of upsides for this demographic segment--awesome handling, enthusiast-oriented drivetrains (i.e., turbos, relatively powerful engines, and manual transmissions), and interiors of unmatched initial quality. VAG's achilles heel--serious reliability issues--is less important to this market segment than to just about ANY other market segment. If a college student's car is in the shop for a week, it's not the end of the world. They carpool with a friend. They take the bus. Whatever. The situation is different when you've got a certain type of job, where showing up late for work even once can mean disciplinary action or firing (note that once you're at the top of the totem pole, this isn't a danger anymore, and VAG cars are once again inviting--see PorscheDream). The situation is even more different from the student paradigm when you're wondering "will this car start on the first try if my fiance goes into labor in the middle of the night and I need to rush her to the hospital?" Under those circumstances, VAG cars look a hell of a lot less inviting. And of course, VAG's other problem--prices above average compared to Japanese and American cars--doesn't have much influence in a COTY contest. Price matters a whole lot less when you're voting for cars than when you're actually buying them.

I just thought that the results of this poll was an interesting commentary on the demographic makeup of DieselStation. VAG cars are not appropriate for me at my point in life--with a baby on the way, and about to start a job at the bottom of some law firm's totem pole--but I certainly respect them.

For the record, though, I still maintain that Hondas and Acuras totally rock, even if their interior materials aren't as luxurious as those in VWs and Audis

[nismo]

Let the Bentley win! It's superior to the Infiniti.

The M35/45 shouldn't even be in the same fucking class as the Flying Spur. I dunno what clarkmafive was smorking when he put it in the same fucking class as a Bentley.

[Keitero-sama]

The M35/45 shouldn't even be in the same fucking class as the Flying Spur. I dunno what clarkmafive was smorking when he put it in the same fucking class as a Bentley.

Agreed.

[høgh]

It looks like all the right cars have won their catagories, IMO. Looking forward to the finals.

[moe]

It looks like all the right cars have won their catagories, IMO. Looking forward to the finals.

Except for the CLS...

[DZ302]

accord should have won for the family cars. the only thing the passat has over it is "character"

[DZ302]

you must be hard to impress...one of the best cars i have ever driven was an E36...I have not driven an E46, but I cant see how BMW could manage to go backwards. Furthermore you dont get the same feeling of quality from infinity products as you do from other luxury brands...they always feel like Nissans with a bit of wood scotch tapped to the inside.

(note: I have driven many many many many many cars, so when i say "one of the best" I do have a reasonable basis for comparison. )

i know infinitis don't feel that high quality inside, i never said they did. the G35 couple does feel like it handles better than the 3 series though.

and how can the E36 be one of the best cars you have ever driven? seriously, you must have had some subconscious bias or something. i've also driven an E36 (328is coupe) a while ago and it wasn't that great. it was slow as hell and the handling was nothing fantastic (it even had aftermarket wheels, was lowered like an inch with some other little suspension bits, and had wider tires). the '99 miata 6 speed is still the best handling stock car i have ever driven, or at least felt the best anyways.

[nismo]

infinity

It is spelled Infiniti. You are just pissed that you own a Lexus that weighs more than your house.