What Happens When You Put Last Year's COTY Vs. This Year's COTY?

...Even though I had the GT3 a solitary point ahead on my personal scoresheet, I was secretly hoping the Lotus would win. Partly because this is all about The Car of the Year, and I think that when we look back at 2009 it will be remembered as The Year of the Evora. Mostly, though, because it had given me more of those precious moments.

I wasn’t present for the second part of last year’s eCoty, so I didn’t experience the GT-R’s moments of magnificence on Mont Ventoux. In fact I’d somehow missed out on driving the GT-R at all, until the week after this year’s eCoty. We’d booked one in so that we could compare it with this year’s winner. And what a fascinating comparison it made – two cars that have more in common than you might immediately twig, and yet are completely and utterly different.

The common ground is easy: both are coupes, both have big-capacity Japanese V6s, and both are two-plus-twos. In fact they’re both similarly useless in this last regard unless you’re talking small kids and even smaller distances (I’m 6ft and my 12-year-old son could just squeeze in behind me in both cars, but only if I compromised my own driving position by a couple of inches). Most important of all, they’re both top-drawer drivers’ cars and they’re in direct competition for your sixty grand...


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dlin - 12/24/2009 7:06:43 PM

+2 Boost

Evora? Did anybody see any? Applause for Lotus coming up with something nobody asked. Where's the Esprit!?!

Epik - 12/25/2009 12:10:59 AM

+6 Boost

Oh no way, an english mag piling on praise for their slower, less sophisticated, lower tech, what's the fucking point car?

pcar4evr - 12/25/2009 9:28:42 AM

+2 Boost

In 2009, EVO chose the Evora over the GT3 for its COTY - what a joke (Evora translated means "irrelevent"). Would have been so much more meaningful to have the "purest" street sportscar available (GT3)v. the state-of-the-art in electronic nannies (GTR).

KZ258 - 12/25/2009 8:08:58 PM

+4 Boost

the GT-R is the better car. end of story

Ubernut - 12/26/2009 9:52:00 PM

+2 Boost

everyone has their own pick of poison. the gt-r has been proven to be very fast but also unreliable at times. i work at a nissan dealership in oregon and we have had to replace many parts on the interior. i was really disappointed in the cut-cost ways of nissan when building this car. this car is wearing an economy badge but should still have awesome fit and finish for its type. while the performance figures are great the interior isn't. i had the chance to stare at it for 3 days while it was in the shop and the plastic bits still remind me of the 370z especially the center console. while it's still better than 370z it should be better at that price point. sure its a performance car but when all r&d cost is put into the performance and getting parts from 3rd party aftermarket companies and not focusing on the quality what is the point?. you go fast but your interiors falling apart. i'm not sure if the lotus will be better quality but the interior is bland for my liking. gtr is a great car dont get me wrong. i just wont pay that kind of money for something that will bug me the entire duration of my ownership. if i want something fast and built well i will go get myself an s5 or an m3 for around the same price and sacrifice on the performance.

Agent63 - 12/27/2009 5:19:43 AM

+2 Boost

Ubernut- i don't think the interior quality on the GT-R is entirely horrible. I mean for the price you do get some value in terms of performance but you can't expect it to be a luxury car like a Mercedes. They can imitate some luxury features from say a Porsche but it's a given that a car at it's price which is more bias on performance can't have the same quality interior. It doesn't mean it's a bad car. It just means it's more focused on performing rather than refinement. For those who bought it, it's probably not their daily driver so having the interiors break apart isn't an issue, they will just buy another one :). It's essentially a car to have fun in, not a car to be serious with. My two cents.

pcar4evr - 12/27/2009 8:25:07 AM

0 Boost

Personally, I can only see one reason for owning a GTR - if you want to be fast on a track with a car whose electronic nannies help you compensate for driving skills, it can't be beat. If you want a fun street car, GTR would be very low on my list.

investor27 - 12/27/2009 4:20:26 PM

+3 Boost

Shoot! I would just like to know where you can get either the GT-R or the Evora for $60,000 grand, Agent 00R!!! The Evora was unwrapped at this year's LA Auto Show, and the starting price is a whopping $75,000 grand. And for that price, I'll take the mid-engine Porsche Cayman S over this 1,000 lbs heavier Evora (vs. the Lotus Egise).

Agent63 - 12/28/2009 5:30:03 AM

+1 Boost

The GT-R isn't a skyline anymore though so it's not wearing any heritage badge. It's a derived from the original Skyline yes and yes it is wearing an econo-badge but with premium performance. It's definitely got all the techie gadgets to aid virtually any driver, even the least skilled. Engaging that launch control is easy even for a newbie. The car is a breeze to drive and that's the great thing about it. A Porsche 911 Turbo with MT is also a great car but not all can drive stick properly. The new gear box from Porsche will help those drivers now too plus with great performance not to 60 in 3.4 give or take a few points depending on conditions. Anyways I think the Evora is probably a good car around the track but just lacks the power so in that regard there is no last year's coty vs this year's. Lotus has a good brand following. They should bring back the Espirit! it was the only car IMO that created a buzz.