TestDriven Cars of the Year 2005
Tuesday, December 27th, 2005
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As 2005 draws to a close, we take a look back at the best cars of the last twelve months. There have been plenty to choose from, too, with a bumper year of new models released into the market, as a result of consumers demanding more and more from their everyday transport. However, what has proved surprising is that some of last year’s models still rank so highly in comparison to the newcomers in their respective categories. We’ve picked winners and runners up in nine categories - supermini, family car, estate car, MPV, 4×4, executive car, sports car, luxury car and supercar - in a selection that ranges in price from a lowly £6,745 to a stratospheric £810,345. Thankfully, we’ve got plenty to choose from in-between.
Supermini
Winner: Toyota Aygo
The Toyota Aygo is the spiritual successor to the original Issigonis Mini. Toyota took a fresh look at the task of building a cheap, small car. Rather than designing a car and building it cheaply (and therefore badly), Toyota instead engineered the car from the beginning to benefit from efficient production techniques. The rear tailgate, for instance, is a single piece of glass, rather than a metal pressing with a separate glass panel, and is held open by only one gas strut. This principle not only makes the Aygo cheap to buy (prices start from £6,745), it also makes it cheap to run, with an insurance rating of just 1E. Toyota didn’t skimp on the details, either, with an iPod connection and air conditioning available. Despite the Aygo also being marketed as the largely identical Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107, our award goes to Toyota as the company responsible for the car’s design and construction.
Runner Up: Honda Jazz
Despite having been around for a few years now, the Jazz is still tough to beat with its typical Honda reliability and incredibly versatile interior.
Family Car
Winner: Honda Civic
We’re giving our Family Car award to the Honda Civic, despite the new model not actually hitting showrooms until very early in 2006. It’s such a radical piece of design from a company normally known only for the reliability of its products and the pensionable age of its customers. But with the Civic, Honda have moved car design a step closer to the future, with intricate details such as the triangular exhausts, Cyclops wrap-around headlights and a split-level dashboard. None of this can be cheap to build, so our admiration goes out to Honda for giving people what they want: something a bit different.
Runner Up: Renault Modus
Renault are undoubtedly king of the family biff-about, but even the clever Modus isn’t enough to stave off the new Honda Civic. We like its cheeky looks and urban practicality (namely the infamous boot-chute). It’s a shame they’re not better made, though.
Estate Car
Winner: Honda Accord Tourer
We tested the Honda Accord Tourer back in 2003 and quickly fell for its solidity, road manners, surprising turn of pace and incredible space. Since then, it’s also become home to one of the best diesel engines in the business, making it an unbeatable package for those who regularly need to transport their belongings cross country.
Runner Up: Skoda Octavia
There’s something tough and workman-like about the new Skoda Octavia. We imagine them to be the silent workers of society, endlessly plodding across counties with a cargo bay full of goodies. While the Skoda jokes of old may have been well and truly banished for good, there’s still something more than a little dull about the brand, though.
MPV
Winner: Renault Scenic
It’s difficult to get excited about an MPV, so we won’t bother trying. We voted for the Renault because no-one tries harder to protect your family in the event of an accident. Nearly every Renault on sale today has achieved the maximum five stars in Euro NCAP’s crash testing. What they lack in build quality, however, they make up for with juicy discounts.
Runner Up: Vauxhall Zafira
The new Zafira carries on where the old one left off. That is to say it’s one of the most practical kid-wagons on the market today, but it’s a shame the new Zafira didn’t break as much ground as the old one.
4×4
Winner: Land Rover Discovery
We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Jeep’s new Grand Cherokee, hoping we would at last see some competition to the great British bruiser. Unfortunately, the American challenger turned out to be nearly as disappointing as the last US election, so the Discovery continues as our favourite 4×4. We still wish it would go on a diet, though.
Runner Up: Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan’s Pathfinder surprised us. Many had become used to Nissan as a manufacturer of 4×4s that were either too soft (X-Trail) or too decrepit (Terrano). The Pathfinder, however, parachuted on to the frontline with chunky, up-to-date looks, good build quality and some respectable off-road capabilities. We like it a lot.
Executive Car
Winner: Lexus IS
The new Lexus IS is the second outing for the company’s new design language, L-Finesse. It’s a look that appeals to the individual, and Lexus follow up on that initial interest with incredible build quality and surprising road-holding. Our main criticism of the IS is that it seems to have softened a little around the edges, pegging it closer to the ‘luxury’ end of the market than the ’sporty’ end.
Runner Up: BMW 3 Series
It’s precisely because of that lack of sporting edge in the Lexus IS that the BMW 3 Series remains as a runner up. The new Three is bland and forgettable, and we deplore BMW’s drop in quality. That said, it’s still a tighter drive than the Lexus.
Sports Car
Winner: Porsche Boxster
It’s coincidence that both our Sports Car of the Year and the runner up are convertibles. Whatever the reason, there’s no questioning the balance, performance and heritage of the latest Porsche Boxster. Quite simply, there is no better way of putting a smile on your face, even within Porsche’s own range. And with prices starting at just £32,000, even your bank manager will be smiling.
Runner Up: Mazda MX-5
If you don’t mind sliding the performance envelope down a few notches, the new Mazda MX-5 is your new best friend. Managing to retain much of the style hinted at by the Ibuki concept, the new ‘5 has a great look, and much of the fizz of the old model is still present, if a little dulled. Still, on a sunny day and on the right road, there’s little to beat it.
Luxury Car
Winner: Rolls Royce Phantom
The Rolls Royce Phantom is an exceptional motor car. No other brand better signifies luxury and no car serves better as the automotive embodiment of that luxury. The Germans by themselves consistently fail to find the perfect balance - witness the Maybach, with its ‘all you can eat’ approach to opulence. The Phantom, however, benefits from one key ingredient: the British. Given a free reign, the British Rolls Royce craftsmen backed by German engineering have created a car that is unlikely to be surpassed. At least until Rolls Royce decide to.
Runner Up: Mercedes S-Class
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has always been the car that leads the industry. New technologies and safety devices would appear on the S-Class, before filtering down the food chain over the course of the next few years. The la
st S-Class, however, didn’t really innovate, except in its reduction in quality which set alarm bells ringing in shareholders offices around the world. Now, though, MB have received a pasting, from shareholders, owners and journalists alike. With the new S-Class, Mercedes is trying to prove one thing: the Benz is back.
Supercar
Winner: Bugatti Veyron
In a year when automotive engineering took such a giant and almost unrepeatable leap forward, there can be only one winner: the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Powered by an 8.0-litre W16, producing 1001bhp and 922lb/ft of torque, Volkswagen’s new flagship fires itself to 62mph in an astonishing 2.5 seconds, before the laws of physics finally call ‘time out’ at 253mph. How can anything else even begin to compare to such dogged determination not seen since man decided to fly? It might cost £810,345 but, like Concorde, as a triumph of engineering unlikely to be surpassed, that is the price of immortality.
Runner Up: Nothing comes close
