So, motortrend decided on the 2011 Driver's Car

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3spddrft

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IShouldStudy
Here's the spoiler, it was the Ferrari 458.

Call me crazy for this rant, but... This isn't fair. These are all excellent cars in the competition but none of them were built to be the best "drivers car." These cars are all built for different markets and to fulfill different needs. The drivers car is decided by a group of car reviewers and I'm okay with that. They even have a sort of criteria.

I want all car makers to build their vision of the best drivers car. Motortrend should then take these cars and compare them.

Okay, that won't happen so here is the next best. Start with a Chevrolet, then have tuners modify it and tune it towards the perfect drivers car. You can do this with all the manufacturers. Sports Compact Car, Super Street, and Grassroots Motorsports all do competitions like this but NONE of them are selecting winners that reflect well balanced drivers cars. They are often "tuner" cars. The glory of the motor trend test is the high quality of the cars. They don't joke around with a 350z or Camaro.

I ranted. I feel better.
 
Yea. Ive noticed that with motortrend. They like to focus on the big trendy cars when there are so many other nice cars out there. Like the Lamborghini Reventon (#20 out of 20 just surfaced on eBay motors, go check it out!) theyve only done one article on such a beautiful car that some car fans havent even heard of. But then they have to do 5 articles on a Bugatti Veyron just because everyone and their mother has heard of it and its just a shwanky car that sells their magazines when they put in there.
 
Every review of the 458 has been overwhelmingly positive. Every journalist that has tested it has said how fantastically sharp it's steering and chassis reactions are, and how exciting yet biddable it is. It has beaten machines including the much-vaunted McLaren MP4-12C in group tests. It's fantastically fast, very beautiful, revs to the moon and sounds great, AND it represents a big step forward over its predecessor. How could it be anything but the best driver's car?
 
Also..the fact that the 458(while beautiful) is a fire hazard. essentially..
 
Congratulations to the 458, personally I don't care for the car, but it still won. Although I've never gotten why anyone's so quick to hop on Ferrari's bandwagon, must be the label.
 
Don't see what's so wrong with the choice. Every review has pointed out it's a doozy to drive and quite biddable... as opposed to the clinical and slightly numb MP412c or whatever else has entered this year.

While MotorTrend's "Car Of The Year" has been a dud as often as not, their "Driver's Car" articles and winners have always been rather good.
 
A Driver's Car shouldn't cost six figures.
 
3spddrft
Here's the spoiler, it was the Ferrari 458.

Call me crazy for this rant, but... This isn't fair. These are all excellent cars in the competition but none of them were built to be the best "drivers car." These cars are all built for different markets and to fulfill different needs. The drivers car is decided by a group of car reviewers and I'm okay with that. They even have a sort of criteria.

I want all car makers to build their vision of the best drivers car. Motortrend should then take these cars and compare them.

Okay, that won't happen so here is the next best. Start with a Chevrolet, then have tuners modify it and tune it towards the perfect drivers car. You can do this with all the manufacturers. Sports Compact Car, Super Street, and Grassroots Motorsports all do competitions like this but NONE of them are selecting winners that reflect well balanced drivers cars. They are often "tuner" cars. The glory of the motor trend test is the high quality of the cars. They don't joke around with a 350z or Camaro.

I ranted. I feel better.
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Just wanted to let you know Sport compact car has been gone for awhile it got ate up by Modified Mag
 
sumbrownkid
It was actually from 1999 to 2004 that really got the bandwagon going.
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Whut?

Omnis
A Driver's Car shouldn't cost six figures.
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I don't see what difference price makes to whether a car is a driver's car or not. If they'd described it as "budget performance car 2011" then there'd be more of an issue, but price isn't one of the judging criteria on whether a car is good to drive or not.
 
ParkourVeyron
The 458 is overrated, I don't get what's so special. It just has more computer tuning than most cars.
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Don't say it's overrated if you've never driven one. :dunce:

Just has more computer tuning? How is that not part of the car? Does the independent Multilink rear suspension not count? Nor the 550+hp NA V8?
 
The only Ferrari I've ever been in was a 308GTB, a car which, by any modern yardstick is not fast. Hell, my daily drive would walk it both to 100, through a quarter-mile and especially around a track. But I don't care about any of that. Even that old, not-very-powerful Ferrari still had a magical quality, the looks, the stance, the musical engine note, the way it tipped into a corner with almost no inertia. There's something about a Ferrari that is just special, and given that the 458 has earned it's reputation, I'd say it'd be almost impossible for it NOT to win a competition such as this.

People who don't understand shouldn't consider themselves car or driving enthusiasts.
 
homeforsummer
Or the 60 years of motor racing success?
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And that's what I like Ferrari's for. All my friends like them because they have a Prancing Horse on the front, they don't even know Ferrari has been in the business that long.
 
crispychicken49
And that's what I like Ferrari's for. All my friends like them because they have a Prancing Horse on the front, they don't even know Ferrari has been in the business that long.
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Oh look, a Ferrari hipster? :odd:

I'm not much surprised by this, given how many people have raved about the 458.
 
My issue really is that these companies aren't building "drivers" cars. So, why are we judging them as such? Sure, they build sports cars that are awesome to drive but most have a different sub market that they are trying to fill.
 
3spddrft
My issue really is that these companies aren't building "drivers" cars. So, why are we judging them as such? Sure, they build sports cars that are awesome to drive but most have a different sub market that they are trying to fill.
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Says who? Ferrari may build their cars to select demographic, but what says they aren't more of a driver's car than a car the majority of can afford?
 
Define "driver's car".

There is no such market segment. You can call a Ferrari 458 a "driver's car", you can call a Cayman a "driver's car"... you can call a Miata a "driver's car"... most professional drivers consider the Mark I Golf GTi and the Focus "driver's cars".

Heck, you can even call a Mazda Protege a "driver's car", as some magazine testers (including this one) lovingly do. Which is why I bought one, and why I still enjoy it to this day.

What constitutes a "driver's car' is all down to subjective measures. And if a car tweaks all the right subjective buttons, then it is.
 
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niky

What constitutes a "driver's car' is all down to subjective measures. And if a car tweaks all the right subjective buttons, then it is.
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I guess when the reviewers were selecting the cars for the competition, they were stating "These are all driver's cars." I'm not sure if they think it's a complete list... Either way. Good point, but I like the idea of their reviewers collective "expert" opinions.
 
The best way to minimize bias... have as many people as possible voting on the subject. You can't eliminate bias, but you can come close.

Sad that all they picked were sportscars and supercars... in previous years, when doing their "Best Handling" tests, they've had common economy cars, too... but then... if you've got the pull to get all that semi-exotic and exotic metal together... why not?

Surprisingly good article. But then I read the tagline... Johnny Lieberman. Not so surprising. The guy was doing great things for the online auto-mags... he's continuing his work here. I don't know if his leadership can overcome thirty or so years of rubbish by Motor Trend, but it looks like he's doing his best.
 
3spddrft
My issue really is that these companies aren't building "drivers" cars. So, why are we judging them as such? Sure, they build sports cars that are awesome to drive but most have a different sub market that they are trying to fill.
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As Niky says, a "drivers car" isn't a market segment like "minivan" or "subcompact", it's an all-encompassing term that takes in any car that's great to drive. A "drivers car" comparison test could take in anything from a hot hatchback to a full-fat supercar.

niky
Sad that all they picked were sportscars and supercars... in previous years, when doing their "Best Handling" tests, they've had common economy cars, too... but then... if you've got the pull to get all that semi-exotic and exotic metal together... why not?
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I suppose since it's a test for that year's new cars, maybe nothing down the affordability ladder was actually released in the U.S. market in the past year that was good to drive. I can't think of anything off the top of my head.
 

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