Volt Named Motor Trend COTY

[LS1Hawk]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101116/BUSINESS0101/101116018/1210/BUSINESS01/Chevy-Volt-named-Motor-Trend-Car-of-the-Year

[sweetbmxrider]

good stuff, the car is definitely something to be admired imo

[Blacdout96]

Is it even on sale yet?

[LS1Hawk]

Yes they have been taking orders.

[Blacdout96]

I mean is it already on the road, wil I see it if I am driving? if not, my (what's even left of it) interest and trust in MT's opinion is now zero, you can't give it to a car that isnt even on the market yet. Thats like giving Ferrari the sportscar of the year for the 458 before it hit production.....(key montage music and slideshow of 458's on fire) Or when I believe they named the Nissan GTR a better buy then the Z06, months later Nissan was flamed for not honoring warrenties for their 25K pile of aluminum poo that broke when you pressed a button they bragged about... We havent seen these on the road, we havent seen these push some miles, and get a consumer response of what mileage it's actually doing.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

I thought it was ready for production and everything but it was held up by EPA's new mileage system?

[edit]http://www.freep.com/article/20101116/BUSINESS01/101116002/1322/GM-dealers-Chevy-Volt-production-has-started

[91chevywt]

The masses can't even get their hands on one, and it's the car of the year? The government has to give you $7500 just to get you interested, and people are giving this awards

[BigAls87Z28]

The masses can't even get their hands on one, and it's the car of the year? The government has to give you $7500 just to get you interested, and people are giving this awards

Government gives money out to all hybrid/electric cars you dolt.
They have 40k buyers already. Production starts soon.
produciton Volts have been driven by the press core for the last few months, and the reaction is good. The car in innovative, and it wouldnt have mattered if it was this year or next, the car is a technological marvel.
There were a handful of people here at the LA auto show that are taking delivery of their Volt's within the next few weeks.

[LTb1ow]

Government gives money out to all hybrid/electric cars you dolt.
They have 40k buyers already. Production starts soon.
produciton Volts have been driven by the press core for the last few months, and the reaction is good. The car in innovative, and it wouldnt have mattered if it was this year or next, the car is a technological marvel.
There were a handful of people here at the LA auto show that are taking delivery of their Volt's within the next few weeks.


http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/partly-politics/assets_c/2010/05/SMug-thumb-324x257-153830.jpg
:mrgreen:

But, good to see innovation in this area.

[BigAls87Z28]

http://blogs.motortrend.com/rush-judgment-5957.html

Good read.

[LS1Hawk]

The way I see it, whether it's this year or they waited until it was actually in customers' driveways, it was going to be named Car of the Year either way. This is about the biggest thing to come out of Chevrolet, GM, the American auto industry since the small-block V8. Once there's more of an infrastructure for these cars and the prices come down, I'll be all over it like a monkey on a cupcake. But I'll still have the T/A in the garage :wink:

[Blacdout96]

The way I see it, whether it's this year or they waited until it was actually in customers' driveways, it was going to be named Car of the Year either way. This is about the biggest thing to come out of Chevrolet, GM, the American auto industry since the small-block V8. Once there's more of an infrastructure for these cars and the prices come down, I'll be all over it like a monkey on a cupcake. But I'll still have the T/A in the garage :wink:

the biggest thing? how dare you disregard the 8-6-4 engine, the Diesel 350, and cross-fire injection :D

[Frosty]

the biggest thing? how dare you disregard the 8-6-4 engine, the Diesel 350, and cross-fire injection :D

:rofl:

[BigAls87Z28]

This is by far the biggest thing to happen to the car in 70 plus years.
The head of GM's marketing talked about the task at hand to educate the public about the car and why its such a departure from the average car.

The lease price is pretty damn good, about what Im paying now. When I get one to review, I will make sure that anyone here that wants to grab some seat time can.

[BonzoHansen]

I see the gm ceo drive a convertible camaro to the exchange on ipo day

the biggest thing? how dare you disregard the 8-6-4 engine, the Diesel 350, and cross-fire injection :D

I'll take a crossfire injected sbc over any v6 4th gen motor. :moon:

[Frosty]

I'll take a crossfire injected sbc over any v6 4th gen motor. :moon:

I hope that's a joke lol

[91chevywt]

http://blogs.motortrend.com/rush-judgment-5957.html

Good read.


It's good to see the writers at motor trend are open about their political leanings

[BigAls87Z28]

I dont see him open about his leanings, but there is no doubt which way Rush leans. What he is saying is that Rush's financial and political backings are what is causing him to mock the car, even if he has little to no understanding of its importance.

[NastyEllEssWon]

a little early to name it car of the year...we'll see what happens when it actually hits the public and gets real world reviews.

[Frosty]

I dont see him open about his leanings, but there is no doubt which way Rush leans. What he is saying is that Rush's financial and political backings are what is causing him to mock the car, even if he has little to no understanding of its importance.

Al, you know my views on most political issues and even I don't get Rush's point of view(then again I'm not exactly a huge Rush fan either). He's wrong on a lot of his points....though I agree with Nasty, it is WAY too early to give the Volt, a car that hasn't even hit the streets yet a Car of the Year award. I'm not gonna sit here and say Motor Trend was paid off or anything ridiculous like that but it does make you wonder.

I'm glad the Volt is getting exposure but I think the praise is a little premature, lets see the car on the road for a while, in real world use in real world conditions. I'm actually a little disappointed with Motor Trend for what they did here.

[Blacdout96]

I'll take a crossfire injected sbc over any v6 4th gen motor. :moon:

So young, so much to learn.

[sweetbmxrider]

so to be car of the year you have to be a production car available to the public and in their hands for a given amount of time?

[Frosty]

so to be car of the year you have to be a production car available to the public and in their hands for a given amount of time?

For a brand new model, brand new car, yes.

It's not like the Volt has been produced for the last 3 years and they're giving it the award for a redesign...it's a completely new, unproven car.

Just my opinion.

[qwikz28]

The lease price is pretty damn good, about what Im paying now. When I get one to review, I will make sure that anyone here that wants to grab some seat time can.

:w00t:

But you are right, the lease rates for this car are great. I'm hoping parking garages in the big cities provide chargers, because that is teh only thing holding these things back from being perfect city cars.

Al- I'm curious to know what you think of the Nissan Leaf. We all know what Elon Musk thinks of them (source: http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f37/tesla-ceo-nissan-s-leaf-battery-primitive-94497/), but you seem to be better versed on this stuff.

[BigAls87Z28]

Well, you can look at Leaf in a few different ways, #1, its about the same price as the Volt, but you get limited space and limited range. The Leaf carries all the negatives of the Volt with none of the positives.
Cars like the Tesla can get by on pure electric power because they are ment to be driven for limited amount of time, and parked in a garage. Leaf is an EV, but is designed to replace your daily driver.
The plug-in and extended range systems are going to be the road that we will travel for the future IMO. Honda showed off a Volt-like system in LA, and I thought that was pretty funny that the Japanese are now following the Americans in how to do things.
The Volt does not have to rely on the power-grid alone to get it to move.

You guys are right in that the true test wiill be in the hands of the public, putting it through its paces. The Volt team has brought the car out to several major cities in the US for the public to drive it. I got my chance to drive it when I was in DC, it was pretty cool.
Car Of The Year doesnt mean that it has to be in the hands of the public. Thats not a requirement for giving the award. There are lots of cars that car magazines and web sites get before the public do, giving you the closest to real-world testing one can get without plunking down the cash to do so.
Not giving the Volt the award this year because it has not been in the hands of the public for an X amount of time is not what this award is about.
When JD power and other quality awards come up, and the vehicle has not been on the road for more then a few months, then I can see your problems.
MT picked the CTS sedan in 2008 before it hit the hands of teh public, and in 2009, the GTR as well. The Fusion didnt get a full roll out for 2010, and it won the award.
So I think picking on the Volt is just another way of picking on GM.

[Frosty]

Yeah, we're all just hurting GM's pooooor little feelings :rolleyes:

If MT wants to give the car the award they're certainly entitled to..for me, personally, I would like to see a car get tested in the real world first, especially for a brand new model. A 2008 CTS and 2010 Fusion is a poor example as a rebuttal IMO because they were improved from previous models.

Hopefully the Volt does well and is reliable, a car like this can put GM back on the map with the media/general public when it comes to fuel efficient cars(even though they already make some gas sipping cars, people are still ignorant to that fact).

[BigAls87Z28]

The CTS was all new for 08, and the Fusion had a major overhaul.

[Frosty]

I'm completely aware of that but the car will still in existence...maybe it doesn't matter...to me it makes a difference.

So how did the Volt drive when you drove it?

[BonzoHansen]

why do you ****ing care what MT says? that rag is terrible anyway.

[Frosty]

Can't argue that lol

[LS1Hawk]

Hopefully the Volt does well and is reliable, a car like this can put GM back on the map with the media/general public when it comes to fuel efficient cars(even though they already make some gas sipping cars, people are still ignorant to that fact).

I think cars like the Cruze (rated 42 mpg highway, better than Civic, Camry Hybrid, Ford Fiesta) and the 2012 LaCrosse (37 mpg highway with eAssist) will be more important overall to changing the public psyche than the Volt because they are targeted to a larger consumer base and have a larger competitor base to eat into. If cars like that do well along with the Volt then we could have a whole different playing field with GM at the top again.

[BigAls87Z28]

The Prius for Toyota solidified Toyota's place on the top of technology heap. The Volt does this for GM, it is the technological showcase for the company, to show what it has to offer.
It wont be a money maker, and it wont be the the most economical car in GM's line up, but its a flagship.

The Volt drove, for the most part, like a regular car. In sport mode, with the shifter in L, the car accelerates hard, a lot harder then you would expect. We were in pure EV mode, and I was really impressed with the car.

[sweetbmxrider]

well as long as the volt doesn't start kamikaze-ing people, gm will be ok

[WildBillyT]

You know what, I think that the Volt deserves it.

Thinking that "it doesn't deserve the honor because it's not on the road" or "it's not in showrooms" is short-sighted. It's a friggen electric car- that doesn't cost $100,000 and actually is somewhat feasible for full scale implementation. GM sacked up with an aggressive project and actually went places with it. It's not like they designed something within the confines of what's already out there, like slapping a turbo on a family sedan, or ripped off another manufacturer's design to make something their own (350z/g35), etc. They pushed the boundaries and came up with something big. If Dodge actually came out with the propane/CNG Charger like they had made a few years back I'd give them a nod too.

You want to cry foul? The ****ing K car won COTY in 1981. Chew on that.

Whether or not the Volt takes off like the hybrids or fizzles out like the multitude of failed GM products remains to be seen, and is another issue. But it's forward progress nonetheless.

[LS1Hawk]

It's not like they designed something within the confines of what's already out there, like slapping a turbo on a family sedan, or ripped off another manufacturer's design to make something their own (350z/g35), etc. They pushed the boundaries and came up with something big.

Exactly. For once GM is the first to the table with something new and innovative, and not playing catch up to the imports.

[BigAls87Z28]

And thats the idea. GM was the leader of automotive technology. From the electric starter, to air bags, to OnStar, it was a leader. When Toyota brought its 2nd generation Prius out, and gas hit 4 bucks a gallon, they were gods of the technological world.
GM has, for the most part, killed innovation and engineering, and pumped out ********.