black eye for holden???

[MITCHAY]

You got to remember that only enthusiasts give a rats *** about the specifics. A povo transmission for a povo pack. Why would it need to be any different?

[Bossxr8]

This award has no credability. I mean, the 380 won it last year for god's sake. Wheels COTY has the most credability and Ford have won 2 in the last 4 years. VE would have to be the favourite to win this year.

[xr8man83]

yea it come out with a lot more goodies but its put the pounds on and lost its fuel consumtion it mite have a billion airbags but its got poor vision when reversing cause of its giant rear end and the v6 doesnt make as much tourqe as it probly7 should for a car that fat. plus i think that its ugly as no where near as good looking as the falcons it just looks newer

[The Stylist]

It looks like the VE missed out on another major COTY award.

From stuff.co.nz


BMW 335i coupe's COTY coup
07 December 2006

There were gasps of surprise in the audience at the announcement of the BMW 335i Coupe as the AMI Insurance/New Zealand Autocar magazine Car of the Year last night.

Many of the invited guests from the motor industry had expected the Holden VE Commodore to sweep COTY awards as the 2006 accolade season kicks off.

Although Holden didn't go home empty-handed after the VE Calais V8 won the best executive car category, the NZ Autocar judges felt that the new technology that the BMW offers deserved to be recognised.

"This is the most expensive car that has ever won our Car of the Year," said NZ Autocar managing editor, Mark Petch, after the announcement of the award, "but we were convinced by the compelling combination of high performance and reduced fuel consumption that the innovative powertrain of the 335i offers."

The $119,000 BMW utilises a new twin-turbo, direct-injection, 3.0 litre inline six-cylinder engine to achieve levels of performance normally associated with large-displacement V8s.

Running a high compression ratio for a turbocharged engine, and modest amounts of boost, it is also capable of 9.5litre/100km fuel consumption according to EC tests (over the combined city/highway cycle). During testing with a VBOX data acquisition system, the magazine found that the 335i Coupe accelerated from 0-100km/h in 5.2 seconds.

NZ Autocar identifies 11 category winners from the models released on the New Zealand market during a calendar year, then drives off six finalists picked from these category winners to judge the Car of the Year. The chosen six this year were the BMW (best performance car), Holden VE Calais V8 (best executive car), Nissan Maxima Spec-R (best large car), Mazda3 SP23 (best compact car), Mitsubishi Outlander (best crossover), and Suzuki Swift Sport (best small car).

The magazine's chief editor, Paul Owen, said it was fitting that the overall winner came from the performance car category this year.

"2006 really was the year of the Performance Car," he said," and this category saw more new model launch activity than any other. There were no less than 27 new performance cars released on the market this year, and the BMW faced the biggest fight of any of the class winners."

"As for the overall award, it really was a closely-fought contest, with two of the five judges top-scoring the BMW, and another two giving their best points scores to the Holden."

Receiving the award, BMWNZ sales manager, Peter Heuzeroth, said he felt "proud that the passion BMW feels for making fine cars has been acknowledged."

Other category winners on the night were the Mercedes-Benz S-class (best luxury car), Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDi (best SUV), Kia Magentis (best medium car), Porsche Boxster S (best roadster), and the SsangYong Acton SUT (best ute).

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe 12th category award for the best new technology of the year went to Delphi, maker of the 'magna-ride' adaptive shock absorbers currently fitted to the E-series HSVs, Audi TT and Ferrari 599. These feature a special fluid that reacts to an electric current and changes its viscosity instantly.

"As a result a vehicle can ride softly when you want to ride softly, and handle with distinction when you want it to make cornering performance a priority," said Owen. "I suspect it won't be long before we these shock absorbers fitted to more affordable cars."

[MeestaNob!]

Wow, beaten by a BMW. THAT'S EMBARRASING.

Sarcasm factor at 11 now Captain.