WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR

The Good Car Guy is not a voting member. 22 countries are represented by 44 automotive journalists who will cast their votes for the overall car of the year, the performance coty, and the green coty.

I don't vote.

But if I did... I wouldn't even agree with the nominations. Howbeit, the Lexus LS460; Audi TT, and Mini Cooper are all very worthy automobiles.

As are the Audi RS4, BMW 335i, and Porsche 911 Turbo - the very lovely nominees for Pcoty. The Benz E320 Bluetec, Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion, and BMW Hydrogen 7 compete for Gcoty.

If it must be this way, with the Mini, Audi, and Lexus competing against each other...well, I gotta say the Lexus is a mighty expensive car to have a whole lot of impact in the automotive universe. The Mini and the TT are successful reincarnations of the original. However, the Mini has not really moved its game on, and the TT does not have the visual impact it once did, despite its improving dynamic ability. So, we'll give it to the techno-laden Lexus. The LS is good-looking this time around. It is more performance oriented. And it has all the attributes which makes a Lexus a Lexus.

Performance car awards typically go to Porsches and BMWs. For that reason and many others, the RS4 is the deserving candidate. OK, so the 911 Turbo is amazing. Shouldn't it be? If it wasn't amazing the news of it would be more noteworthy. The 335i would make a fine M3, but when each successive 3-series becomes more powerful and capable, it also loses some of its rawness. And besides, they're everywhere. The RS4 is a big step for Audi and a big step for the supersedan. It is a pure driving machine and not completely dependent on supreme power. Powerful though it may be.
Gotta give the green award to the Benz. Mercedes is pushing diesels worldwide and ought to be rewarded for their work. The diesels run smooth like a gas-powered engine, take you far on a tank, and don't pollute like they once did. Plus there's torque. Lots of it.