Autocar has announced the winners of its inaugural Britain’s Best Cars Awards, with the category winners able to call themselves the country’s best cars – to drive, own and really cherish.
These are awards with a difference that sidestep the typical and ever-expanding categorisation of cars by size – such as city cars, superminis, hatchbacks, estates, saloons and SUV-coupés. Instead they name the very top of the crop not bound by typical conventions.
The small team of judges picked winners based not just on a car’s objective merits but also on more nuanced and subjective factors such as how likeable and enjoyable a car is. All winners are cars that everyday motorists want to own and drive.
Among those celebrated by Autocar, the Peugeot e-208 is recognised as Best Electric Car, the Volkswagen Golf GTI as Best All-Rounder and the Mazda MX-5 as Best Fun Car.
Other winners include the BMW 330e for Best Company Car, the Toyota Corolla for Best Hybrid Car and the Land Rover Defender for Best SUV. The Best Family Car award goes to the Skoda Octavia Estate while Citroën’s Berlingo is Autocar’s pick of the large cars. The Ford Fiesta supermini is our Best Small Car winner.
Alongside the 10 individual cars celebrated (see the full list below), there are two extra awards. The Honda E is crowned winner of the Best Car Tech and Toyota is the manufacturer that impressed most across the board this year.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS AND WHY THEY WON:
Our judges said: “Your bank manager will love it, but you will even more: the 330e is a car of quite extraordinary all-round abilities.”
Our judges said: “It’s affordable and effortlessly entertaining. There is, quite simply, no way to have more fun on four wheels for less.”
Our judges said: “No other SUV can claim to be as versatile across such a wide price spectrum, nor as capable on the road as off it.”
Our judges said: “It’s hilarious fun delivered in effusive and accessible fashion. A car to stand the test of time.”
Best Electric Car: Peugeot e-208
Our judges said: “It looks great, performs strongly, is fun to drive and is well priced for an EV, plus it has enough range to quell anxiety.”
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Alpine fan boys
In almost every review the Alpine A110 is given some sort of accolade by Autocar. Shows what an influntial magazine it is, when almost nobody in this country buys one over say a Porsche Cayman, BMW M2 etc
Therefore, by extension, what credibility can we give the rest of the list? Golf GTI, not as good as the Type-R or maybe even Focus ST. Pegeot e208, trounced by a Tesla 3, LR Defender, ugly, unreliable, no use on-road.
The only choices that are defensible are the Fiesta (bar the woeful interior) and the MX-5.
Bimfan wrote:
The E208 and the Tesla 3 are not in the same class, the 208 is a supermini that can also be had with ICE power, the Tesla is a bespoke EV and is supposed to be a junior executive, and considerably more expensive, if it didnt trounce the 208 there would be something seriously wrong. However the 208 has probably got better fit and finish and build quality, and it will certainly have a better paint job.
Golf GTI, Just No
Would that be
the BMW 330e thats been removed from sale and recalled due to problems with the battery packs catching fire... Yep sounds like winner to me.. As for the Golf, its been panned in just about every review because its actually not very good and is a backward step compared to the mk7, especially in quality.
Citytiger wrote:
Apparently you can still drive it but not charge it, press sport mode or use the paddle controls!
The problem is suspect contamination in the battery chemistry, high currents could cause overheating hotspots. BMW are said to be working on a solution, but what solution can there be other than replacing the batteries? OUCH!Or perhaps the German way will be to take each car out the back of the dealers and surround it with sandbags then rapid charge it to see if it goes bang, if not you get it back.