Photo: Honda UK
It's that time of the year when various publications around the world start counting their votes and announcing their winners. BBC's TopGear magazine may have lost some of its glamour after the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, but it's still one of the highest-regarded automotive publications in the world.
The TopGear Awards have long been published in the magazine's last issue for every year, spread out over various segments and categories that are sometimes logical, sometimes arbitrary. The entire process is not a scientifical one based on numbers and algorithms - that wouldn't be the TopGear way.
Instead, every editor gets cast their vote based on personal experience with that car. Yes, it's subjective, but it's the subjective opinion of somebody who has driven hundreds, if not thousands of vehicles in their life, from small city cars like the smart fortwo to the biggest SUVs and the quickest hypercars. So at least it's a well-informed one.
This year, the magazine voted the new Honda Civic Type R as the best hot hatch of the year, which may not have come as such a big surprise. A lot more impressive, however, is the Japanese model picking up the most coveted award of them all, that of the best Car of the Year.
“It’s addictive, rhythmic and devastatingly rapid; a true hero for the masses delivering accessibility and madness in one package," TopGear commented on its decision. "The thrill comes from the sheer single-mindedness of it.”
The hot hatch comes with a 2.0-liter VTEC TURBO four-cylinder engine with 320 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque, enough to give it a top speed of 169 mph (272 km/h) and a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration time of 5.7 seconds. All this coming in a useful, fairly affordable package that also happens to have an attractive design.
“This is absolutely outstanding to pick up three wins at the BBC TopGear magazine car of the year awards,” said Phil Webb, head of the car division at Honda UK. “And it is a truly global award with the international editors voting for the car as well. The kudos for picking up all three honours needs to go to the designers, the engineers and the associates at the factory that build the cars –without them none of this would have happened. This is a fantastic way to round off 2017!”
Instead, every editor gets cast their vote based on personal experience with that car. Yes, it's subjective, but it's the subjective opinion of somebody who has driven hundreds, if not thousands of vehicles in their life, from small city cars like the smart fortwo to the biggest SUVs and the quickest hypercars. So at least it's a well-informed one.
This year, the magazine voted the new Honda Civic Type R as the best hot hatch of the year, which may not have come as such a big surprise. A lot more impressive, however, is the Japanese model picking up the most coveted award of them all, that of the best Car of the Year.
“It’s addictive, rhythmic and devastatingly rapid; a true hero for the masses delivering accessibility and madness in one package," TopGear commented on its decision. "The thrill comes from the sheer single-mindedness of it.”
The hot hatch comes with a 2.0-liter VTEC TURBO four-cylinder engine with 320 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque, enough to give it a top speed of 169 mph (272 km/h) and a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration time of 5.7 seconds. All this coming in a useful, fairly affordable package that also happens to have an attractive design.
“This is absolutely outstanding to pick up three wins at the BBC TopGear magazine car of the year awards,” said Phil Webb, head of the car division at Honda UK. “And it is a truly global award with the international editors voting for the car as well. The kudos for picking up all three honours needs to go to the designers, the engineers and the associates at the factory that build the cars –without them none of this would have happened. This is a fantastic way to round off 2017!”
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