The awards are based on back-to-back-to-back test drives, wherein judges score the cars based on subjective factors like comfort, ergonomics, styling, etetera.
Then safety features are scored, and for trucks, off-road features and cargo capacity.
And lastly, we do performance testing. Acceleration, braking, handling. We did about 450 test runs this year. Those numbers are plugged into the final score, as well.
The TOTY competitors this year were the Chevrolet Colorado, the Strada and the D-Max. Mitsubishi only sent 4x4 Stradas. Those were the only ones qualified all competitors have to have mechanical updates versus last year's model... Strada 4x4s have the new 2.4. The D-Max has the upgraded 3.0.)
I was actually disappointed. The new Colorado is the fastest yet, and the handling is now freaking good. Guess the other judges were still not impressed by the plastics versus the Strada.
That said, the D-Max is a pretty comfortable truck, and I was actually eyeing buying one before... even though last year it still had the old 3.0.
Mazda had a very strong line-up. The board actually announced second and third place overall this year. Both second and third were Mazda6s.
But still, the Civic deserves this win. Honda has finally made a Civic worth desiring again.