-->>CNN

I don't know why, but the Civic seem (to me) to be such an improvement over the previous gen, and (IMO) so much better than it's peers that this seems like a no brainer.

I'm not even in the market, but if I was, the Civic would be high on my list. Also (IMO) it's giving the Accord a run for it's money at certain price points with certain content.

 

While I think the new Civic has some great points (the new dash isn't one of them) Motor Trend's car of the year is a complete load of crap. It's all about who spends money with MT. Just look at the list of previous winners (Caprice!). That "award" goes to the company willing to pay for it!

 

Didn't the Malibu win a few years back?

 

What's so great about the Civic? Sorry haven't been following up...

 

Once you understand that all the mags rank via advertising, then you can read between the lines and figure out who really won. I choose not to bother.

I've seen a review of the exact same cars (Z, Z4 and s2000) where one year the s2000 was #1 and the other year the S2000 was #3. Nothing changed, absolutely nothing. Go figure.....

 

I read up on the new Civic on Honda's website. Seems like a cool car overall, at least as a daily beater. Even the DX Sedan has a full complement of airbags, power windows, locks, ABS, and it stickers for mid $14k!!!

Not a bad deal.

 

[QUOTE=Jonesy,Nov 22 2005, 08:27 AM] Once you understand that all the mags rank via advertising, then you can read between the lines and figure out who really won.

 

has more safety features than most economy cars, can get NAV (for about $1500), has 140hp engine yet gets 30/40 mpg, Hybrid had rating of 50/50 mpg, new style (looks good IMO).

 

You cannot lump all car mags into one group. Yes, there are some out there who seem to be strongly motivated by their advertiser's money, but there are others who take a higher road and push hard to keep it factual. I will admit, over the years I have trimmed my subscriptions down, and down, and down, to a point where I only get 2 magazines, and both of them are in the higher road category - Road & Track and AutoWeek.

Now, setting all of that aside, the '06 Civic really is a winner! It will take some time for people to adjust to the 2-level instrument cluster but as one of my closest friends has already driven the coupe for a couple of days, I think his brief review is very telling. "Honda is going to sell thousands of these!"

For me - I love the look!

 

I can't vouch for previous years (thunderbird, caprice, etc.), but MT COTY is NOT chosen by who pays the most advertising $$. Quite the contrary, the editors look for a car that is not only good value, but is superior to all of the other vehicles in it's class. Most importantly, Motor Trend picks its COTY based on its significance in the market. With the civic, Honda has created a vehicle that trumps everything else in its class for a price that won't bust your wallet. Honda managed to reinvent its bread and butter civic by packing a signifcant amount of technology into a well engineered and styled package. In my opinion, the civic was an easy choice for COTY. As for previous picks like the thunderbird - I have no idea what the hell they were thinking