Good reviews, keep them coming!
I think calling the Faras’ interior “full” is rather charitable. I was getting burned out by the end, and saved the interior effort for the Al-Hawa, for obvious reasons.
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The interior scoring was generally pretty generous. Some of the “partial” interiors were just a couple seats and a dashboard. For a “full” interior, the question was basically whether there was anything obviously missing from the outside.
Sport
[I unfortunately have to face the fact that I am just not going to be able to do full writeups in the style of the base round for the sports and luxury categories while also doing a final writeup and judging another contest that closes at the end of this week. So reviews for the sports and luxury categories are in an abbreviated format. I hope to be able to do a bit more of a substantial writeup for the final, overall ranking.]
11th - Wells Lucida SSL (@Ducethetruth100)
Design: 4/10
Highs: Comfort, Prestige, Safety, Practicality
Lows: Sportiness, Gas Mileage, Performance
Verdict: A big, comfortable, practical car that doesn’t deliver as a sports car.
10th - ACZ Grand Deluxe Sleuth (@Kreator)
Design: 4/10
Highs: Safety, Price
Lows: Drivability, Sportiness, Comfort, Practicality, Gas Mileage, Service Costs,
Verdict: A decent performer with an attractive $27,100 sticker price that comes up short on the driving experience.
9th - CBC Quest SX (@AKA_NOBUDDY)
Design: 4/10 (3/10 exterior, +1 partial interior)
Highs: None
Lows: Drivability, Comfort, Safety, Practicality, Reliability
Verdict: A car that does average to just above average in a number of areas but that lacks any standout qualities to make up for its shortcomings
8th - Mara Asteri 2.0 LSE (@AndiD)
Design: 6/10 (5/10 exterior, +1 partial interior)
Highs: Practicality, Reliability, Gas Mileage, Service Costs, Price
Lows: Sportiness, Comfort, Prestige, Safety, Performance
Verdict: At an incredibly cheap $12,400, it’s way too much of an economy car to compete in the sports category
7th - Hexe Tamara SS (@Isabella)
Design: 5/10 (4/10 exterior, +1 partial interior)
Highs: Sportiness, Prestige, Performance
Lows: Comfort, Safety, Practicality, Reliability, Service Costs, Price
Verdict: An excellent performance vehicle that sacrifices too much in everyday usefulness and practicality.
6th - Flint Sentinel Invictus AWD (oldmanbuick)
Design: 6/10 (4/10 exterior, +2 full interior)
Highs: Comfort, Practicality, Service Costs
Lows: Gas Mileage, Price, Performance
Verdict: A decent everyday driver that doesn’t deliver much in the actual performance department.
5th - Rocket Scuti (@toxicnet)
Design: 7/10 (5/10 exterior, +2 full interior)
Highs: Comfort, Prestige, Gas Mileage
Lows: Performance
Verdict: A well-rounded car that just comes up a little short in terms of performance.
4th - Nitari Tirana R340 (@vouge)
Design: 6/10
Highs: Comfort, Gas Mileage, Service Costs, Price
Lows: Prestige, Safety
Verdict: A decent performer with good everyday usefulness, and an appealing bargain at only $28,000.
3rd - EMR EL3 3.5 SS (@abg7)
Design: 6/10 (4/10 exterior, +2 full interior)
Highs: Comfort, Practicality, Gas Mileage, Service Costs
Lows: None
Verdict: A car with no real weaknesses to speak of that’s probably the most well-rounded car in the field, but that lacks the performance needed to really excite buyers in this category.
2nd - Mitsumi Volantis VR8 (@Asdren)
Design: 10/10 (8/10 exterior, +2 full interior)
Highs: Sportiness, Safety, Performance
Lows: Comfort, Practicality, Reliability, Gas Mileage, Service Costs
Verdict: A prima donna that looks good and performs excellently, but that requires a lot of attention to keep up and isn’t so pleasant on an everyday basis.
1st - DCMW Al-Sayaadim Standard S (@moroza)
Design: 10/10 (8/10 exterior, +2 full interior)
Highs: Sportiness, Gas Mileage, Performance
Lows: Prestige, Practicality, Service Costs, Price
Verdict: A fantastic performance car that, while expensive to buy and maintain, is perfectly reasonable as an everyday driver.
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In short: A jack of all trades, master of none. No standout strengths, but no weaknesses either.
Luxury
[Note: listed design scores include any interior bonuses.]
11th - CBC Quest LX (@AKA_NOBUDDY)
Design: 4/10
Highs: practicality, performance
Lows: drivability, sportiness, comfort, prestige, safety, reliability, service costs,
Verdict: A car that unfortunately fails to really compete in the luxury field, trailing behind the class in areas both important and less important to the luxury buyer.
10th - Mara Asteri 2.0 SKE (@AndiD)
Design: 5/10
Highs: practicality, reliability, fuel economy, service costs, price
Lows: drivability, sportiness, comfort, prestige, safety, performance
Verdict: With a $13,000 sticker price, it’s still cheaper than any of the competing base models–and it has the vices and virtues of a base model too.
9th - Wells Lucida SLL (@Ducethetruth100)
Design: 4/10
Highs: sportiness, safety, practicality, performance
Lows: comfort, fuel economy, price
Verdict: Good sportiness and performance can’t make up for the poor comfort (for a luxury car) and lack of other outstanding attributes in other areas important to a luxury buyer.
8th - ACZ Grand Deluxe S4E (@Kreator)
Design: 4/10
Highs: safety, price
Lows: drivability, sportiness, reliability, fuel economy
Verdict: Fairly average scores in areas important to a luxury buyer and some other less significant drawbacks–including being by far the most difficult to drive in the class–leave the ACZ towards the bottom of the pack.
7th - EMR EL3 3.0 LS (@abg7)
Design: 6/10
Highs: sportiness, practicality, reliability, fuel economy, service costs, price
Lows: comfort, prestige
Verdict: Who brought a mid-trim model to a luxury car battle? It’s a car with a number of virtues, but none of which are particularly important to a luxury buyer, and it’s dragged down by poor scores in the important comfort and prestige categories.
6th - Hexe Tamara GT (@Isabella)
Design: 5/10
Highs: sportiness, prestige, performance
Lows: drivability, practicality, reliability, fuel economy, service costs, price
Verdict: It hits pretty well on the most important areas for a luxury buyer, but falling behind the field in a number of less important areas keeps the Hexe from rising higher.
5th - North L60 (@toxicnet)
Design: 6/10
Highs: prestige
Lows: sportiness, fuel economy
Verdict: A well rounded car with very little in terms of extreme highs or lows, it’s a solid choice, but it doesn’t have the outstanding qualities needed to separate it more from the field.
4th - Vistali 500 LX (@vouge)
Design: 8/10
Highs: drivability, fuel economy, service costs, price
Lows: prestige, reliability, performance
Verdict: A handsome car that’s a bit of a mixed bag, but that’s an appealing value at a $28,500 sticker price (3rd-lowest in the class)
3rd - Flint Sentinel Excelsior (oldmanbuick)
Design: 10/10 [This is, again, supersaturn77’s 8/10 exterior rating plus a +2 full interior bonus–I personally probably would have pegged it a bit lower, probably result in trading places with the Vistali]
Highs: practicality, service costs
Lows: sportiness, prestige, performance
Verdict: A practical car out of Flint, Michigan that’s generally a little better than average but has a less-than-cool reputation and doesn’t go anywhere very fast–why does this sound familiar?
2nd - DCMW Faras al-Hawa Superiority Six (@moroza)
Design: 10/10
Highs: sportiness, reliability,
Lows: safety, practicality, service costs, price
Verdict: A generally competent car buoyed in the rankings by a best-in-class fun-to-drive factor and good looks.
1st - Mitsumi Volantis 5.25I Luxor (@Asdren)
Design: 9/10
Highs: sportiness, prestige, safety, performance
Lows: reliability, fuel economy, service costs, price
Verdict: A good-looking car with drawbacks in a few less important areas that don’t really matter given it’s one of the few cars to truly stand out from the field as a prestigious car (2nd best) and that also does very well in a number of other areas, like performance (best by a significant margin with a 5.22 second 0-60 time, 13.27 second ¼ mile, and 0.93/0.91 g’s of corner grip on the skidpad), sportiness (2nd, beating the whole field other than the DCMW by a wide margin), and safety, (3rd, with a wide gap to 4th).
I am aiming to have a final writeup putting everything together and announcing overall standings done sometime this coming weekend.
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Safety - the curse of the Indicator body. QFC47 - Fast 4the Family (Submissions Closed) - #130 by moroza
The problem with the '88 Indicator is that it’s too light for its size (across all wheelbases), so it trades safety for superior sportiness and economy.
I think I’m seeing why GM discontinued the B Body in 96.
Overall Rankings (11-6)
So here we are, having toured through each of the market segments, and now we come to the ultimate question: which of these cars is the overall car of the year? Some cars, unfortunately, failed to mount much of a challenge in any particular market segment and can easily be put toward the bottom of our ranking. But much of the ranking is a bit more complicated, since many cars performed notably better in one or two classes than in another. Others were more consistent performers but didn’t quite stand out in any particular field. Acknowledging that a number of these placements could be debated based on different weighting of various factors, here’s how we rank the cars of the year for 1996:
11th - Wells Lucida (@Ducethetruth100)
Base: 11th
Sport: 11th
Luxury: 9th
We’re really a bit surprised to see the Lucida end up at the bottom of our rankings. It started off by not performing well in our base trim rankings, but that’s because it was largely dragged down by its sheer size, large engine, and accompanying lack of fuel economy. The Lucida also has excellent safety scores across the board, and we’d consider it the second safest car overall in the contest.
We thought that some of these factors would bode well for the Lucida in other categories–for example, its large size providing a comfort edge in the luxury rankings. But Wells seems to have designed the Lucida to be just off the mark in each of the categories. The sporty SSL was supremely comfortable and prestigious compared to other sports models, but it also managed to be the least sporty by a wide margin. The luxurious SLL then managed to actually be sportier and less comfortable than the “sports” trim.
On the whole, it seems like Wells had the pieces there but just couldn’t put them all together into a complete puzzle that made an attractive picture for any particular market segment.
10th - CBC Quest (@AKA_NOBUDDY)
Base: 8th
Sport: 9th
Luxury: 11th
The mad lads at CBC went for it with some unusual choices, but their gamble unfortunately didn’t pay off. The NX does have the distinction of having the lowest service costs of any vehicle in their entire competition, thanks to its tiny engine in a huge engine bay. And combined with good fuel economy, the NX’s 8th-place finish in the base trim category represents the high-water mark for CBC in this competition. Overall, however, the Quest generally lagged the field and offered few standout attributes.
But if we know anything about CBC–and we think we do–we bet CBC’s team is going to be going back to the drawing board and building on their lessons learned for the next generation of the Quest. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
9th - ACZ Grand Deluxe (@Kreator)
Base: 10th
Sport: 10th
Luxury: 8th
The Grand Deluxe is, appropriately for its name, a large, practical car. It’s also, thanks in part to its size, the safest car in this competition, earning the highest safety score in each of the three categories. In fact, even the base trim Grand Deluxe earns higher safety scores than every car other than the higher trim Grand Deluxes, the two higher trims of the Lucida, and the highest trim of the Volantis. You can also count on a Grand Deluxe consistently being cheaper to buy than most of the competition–at any trim level. Otherwise, however, the Grand Deluxe generally doesn’t distinguish itself from the competition.
So while particularly safety-conscious buyers might be pleased not to have to pay a premium for excellent safety, we suspect most buyers will be willing to give up a little bit of safety margin to buy an overall more well-rounded automobile.
8th - Mara Asteri (@AndiD)
Base: 1st
Sport: 8th
Luxury: 10th
Alright, so this might be a bit of a controversial placement. After all, the base trim Asteri absolutely dominated its competition as the exemplar of cheap, reliable, basic transportation. But anyone showing up to a Mara dealership for anything other than basic transportation is going to be sorely disappointed by the Asteri lineup.
While it’s clear that Mara’s engineers did make efforts to accommodate different market segments, the Asteri ultimately remained too stuck in its roots as an economy car. For example, the three cheapest cars in the whole competition are Asteris. That’s right, you can buy a “luxury” Asteri for $13,000. The next cheapest car is the base trim Flint, at $14,300. The “sport” Asteri has good cornering, but it’s the slowest sport trim by a significant margin and would get edged out in a drag race by the EMR EL3 3.0 LS or the North L60–luxury trims that have below average speed for the luxury class. In fact, we think both the sport and luxury Asteris would rank better as base trims that they do as sport and luxury trims. Ultimately, the Asteri’s outstanding base trim performance brings it up in our rankings somewhat, but it’s too much of a one-trick pony for us to place the car as a whole any higher.
7th - Hexe Tamara (@Isabella)
Base: 7th
Sport: 7th
Luxury: 6th
Pretty much every trim of the Tamara presents a mixed bag of attributes.
The base Estate has great 40 mpg fuel economy and is cheap to service, but it’s also notably unreliable.
The sporty SS is an excellent performance vehicle that trades punches with the Mitsumi Volantis VR8 and the DCMW Al-Sayaadim Standard Six S to make up the trio of outstanding performers, with a 4.23 0-60 time (tied with the Mitsumi behind the DCMW), 12.23 second ¼ mile (tied with the DCMW for best), and over .97 g’s of grip at both low and high speeds (putting it 2nd at low speeds behind the Mitsumi and 3rd at high speeds behind the Mitsumi and DCMW). Unfortunately, other than matching its competition for ease-of-handling, the Tamara SS consistently trails the competing sport trims in every other metric–including worst-in-class reliability.
And while the luxurious GT is among the most comfortable cars and one of the most outstandingly prestigious cars in the competition (3rd, and with a hefty margin over 4th place), it has other drawbacks like a whopping $45,000 sticker price and unrefined handling relative to its luxury trim competitors.
Ultimately, the Tamara achieves high “highs” and low “lows” essentially cancel each other out, leaving it mired in the middle of the pack.
6th - EMR EL3 (@abg7)
Base: 4th
Sport: 3rd
Luxury: 7th
If we had stopped this competition after the base and sport rounds, the EL3 very well might have been a top-3 finisher. The base 2.5 ES trim and the sport 3.5 SS trim are extraordinarily well-rounded automobiles that score average or better in most metrics, with the only notable exceptions being the base EL3’s relatively high $20,000 price tag and the sport trim’s relatively slow (for the category) 5.41 second 0-60 time. Both these trims are ultimately just edged out by a few other models that have a bit more in terms of truly outstanding–rather than above average–qualities than the EL3.
But then there’s the “luxurious” 3.0 LS trim. It’s really quite a nice car. But that’s it. “Nice.” While the competition rolls in with lavishly cushioned, heated, massaging seats slathered in buttery high-end leather and screens or even wonderfully futuristic navigation systems in the dash that are hooked up to speakers that sound like you might as well be in Carnegie Hall, the EL3 pulls up with leather seats that are reasonably comfortable to sit on–but don’t do anything else–and an ordinary looking CD player sound system that sounds pretty good. And when the competition rides along on suspensions that scan the road and adjust to road conditions to soak up every last bump, the EL3 rides on regular old springs. OK, maybe not “regular old” springs. They’re nice, progressive springs that aren’t bad at soaking up bumps. But that’s it.
We have no doubt that EMR could have built a more luxurious car, but they simply didn’t. As a result, while the base and sport trims of the EL3 are quite appealing, we bet a lot of luxury buyers are going to walk out of the EMR showroom when they’re told that the EL3 is as luxurious as it gets. As a result, the EL3 on the whole manages to only end up in the middle of the pack.
[I’m continuing to try to get those out as completed. My goal was to have these done this weekend, but I’m not sure if that will happen at this point.]
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Thanks all for your patience with these reviews. I bit off a bit more than I could chew with taking on this multi-round review project, but we have reached our conclusion at last!
5th - Flint Sentinel (oldmanbuick)
Base: 5th
Sport: 6th
Luxury: 3rd
If you just average the place ranks of the EL3 and the Sentinel, they end up tied with an average rank of 4.7. But we think the Sentinel edges out the EL3 in overall rankings for largely one reason: the most disappointing trim of the Sentinel is noticeably less disappointing than the most disappointing trim of the EL3.
And for the Sentinel, that most disappointing trim is the sport trim Invictus, which was one of the easiest sports models to drive, delivered a fairly average fun-to-drive factor, and was just a hair below average in a number of performance areas, including quarter mile time and cornering grip. But power overall and quickness off the starting line were disappointing for the Invictus, and it also came with a fairly steep price tag and poor gas mileage. On the whole, however, there’s little that’s extremely disappointing about the Invictus. On the other hand, while the EL3’s luxury trim only finished one spot lower in the luxury rankings than the Sentinel’s 6th place in the sport rankings, the EL3 3.0 LS was the second least-comfortable and second least-prestigious luxury car–besting only the $13,000 Mara “luxury” trim. In other words, at its worst, the Sentinel is mediocre on delivering on the priorities of a market segment, while the EL3–at its worst–seriously disappoints on the most important priorities of a market segment.
Outside of the sport trim, the base-trim Sentinel hits on most of the highest priorities of the budget buyer: low price (the cheapest non-Mara in the contest at $14,300), good reliability (trailing only Mara), low service costs (third-lowest), and average handling. It’s mostly marred by poor fuel economy relative to other base trims and has some other drawbacks as well. The Excelsior trim similarly delivers well on most of the higher priorities of a luxury buyer, with a notable exception of below average prestige. On the whole, the Sentinel is a decent car that just needs to be either a bit more well-rounded or a bit more outstanding–rather than “decent”–in key metrics to rank higher.
4th - Avin 382/ Rocket Scuti/ North L60 (@toxicnet)
Base: 3rd
Sport: 5th
Luxury: 5th
With the greatest diversity of styling and branding, the Avin/Rocket/North, in whatever brand or appearance, is a car that does not disappoint. In fact, there might not be any other car that did as well at avoiding serious pitfalls. But other models that might not be as well-rounded have some outstanding qualities that, in general, the Avin/Rocket/North lack. As a result, it lands in an honorable mention 4th place, just short of the podium.
At $17,800, the base Avin 382 checks in at a slightly lower price than most of its competition, and its 40 mpg fuel economy–good for third in the field–adds to its budget friendly nature. Otherwise, it’s more-or-less in the middle of the pack in most other metrics–which isn’t a bad thing. All told, being a competent, well-rounded automobile with a few notably budget-friendly features is good enough for a strong third-place finish in the budget trim.
The Rocket Scuti is a good car with a decent 5th-place rank in the sports trims, held back by its failure to live up to its name as a “rocket.” Or perhaps it lives up to the name too much, come to think of it. Straight-line acceleration is good, with a 4.8 second 0-60 time and a 13.02 second ¼ mile. But just like a rocket goes straight up, the Rocket Scuti goes in a straight line, with the worst skidpad numbers of any sports model. But set aside that performance flaw, and you see, again, a well-rounded car that is repeatedly close to the middle of the pack–a bit easier to handle than most, reasonably fun-to-drive, and fairly comfortable. As long as you’re more into trying to race the car next to you from a stop light than trying to carve the corners on back roads, the Scuti is a solid sports trim option.
Finally, the North L60 is one of the few models to really stand out for its prestige–actually earning the highest prestige rating of any model. This makes up for the fact that comfort is mediocre for the class. Otherwise, there’s very little to complain about, perhaps aside from a limited fun-to-drive factor and a thirsty engine. It’s a solid, well-rounded automobile.
The Avin/Rocket/North ultimately have nothing to be ashamed of in a 4th place finish, nor should descriptions of it as being “well-rounded” or in the “middle of the pack” be mistaken as criticism. Indeed, in a competitive field, being able to avoid coming up distinctly short of the competition is an accomplishment in itself that propels this model to an overall 4th-place finish.
3rd - Mitsumi Volantis (@Asdren)
Base: 9th
Sport: 2nd
Luxury: 1st
The Mitsumi Volantis is a bit like the EMR EL3 in reverse: an excellent sports and luxury car let down by a disappointing base model. But where the Volantis delivers, it really delivers. And because of that, the 9th-place base-trim Volantis doesn’t drag the car as a whole down any further than 3rd place.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room–the base trim Mitsumi Volantis 2.4DSI Comfort. In some ways, it’s an excellent automobile, with outstanding comfort (that actually bests several luxury trims), excellent handling, and very good safety scores. It even looks good and delivers respectable 28 mpg fuel economy. The big problem, however, is that it has poor reliability (2nd worst in the base class, and bottom third in the whole contest) and high service costs. In other words, a budget buyer is going to be bleeding money keeping this very nice car on the road–which defeats the point of a budget car.
But in the sport and trim levels, the Volantis builds on the strengths of the base model. And while the higher trim levels don’t get any more reliable or cheaper to fix, those drawbacks simply matter less to the more well-heeled buyers of the higher trims.
As we mentioned earlier in our review of the Hexe Tamara, there were three sport models that left the rest of the field in the dust in terms of performance: the Tamara, the DCMW, and the Mitsumi. With a 4.23 second 0-60 time (tied for 2nd), 12.24 second ¼ mile (.01 seconds out of a three-way tie for first place), and 1.02 g at low speeds and .979 g at high speed on the skidpad (first and second, respectively), the Volantis VR8 truly delivers on the performance desired by sport model buyers. It’s also the most fun to drive of any car we tested. Sure, it’s not that comfortable, and there are a few other things it could do better, but no adrenaline junkie is going to walk away from a Volantis VR8 disappointed.
The Volantis 5.25I Luxor similarly delivers on what a luxury buyer wants. It’s the second most prestigious (and also makes up a trifecta of models with standout prestige with the Tamara GT and the North L60), the third most comfortable, and the second easiest to drive. It also delivers performance–in a refined manner, of course–that lets it beat out several sport models both in a drag race and on the skidpad. Combined with elegant good looks, it’s truly the complete package as a luxury car.
If we were just testing sport and luxury cars, there’s a good chance the Mitsumi Volantis would be our car of the year. But alas, the inclusion of the base trim that is the Achilles’ heel of this lineup leaves the Volantis to settle for a bronze medal.
2nd - Nitari Tirana/ Vistali 500 (@vouge)
Budget: 2nd
Sport: 4th
Luxury: 4th
The Tirana/Vistali has the distinction of being the only car to finish in the top four in every single category. In other words, it’s hard to go wrong with one of these cars. And in fact, since our sport and luxury rankings heavily weigh appearance–which is ultimately in the eye of the beholder–judges with slightly different aesthetic tastes easily could have placed both the sport and luxury trims in 3rd place in their categories. With very few exceptions, the Tirana/Vistali consistently executes on the fundamentals.
There is only one truly consistent drawback to the Tirana/Vistali siblings: safety. The car is consistently among the lower safety scores in each category. That said, it’s not that it’s a particularly unsafe car; it has monocoque construction, and even the base trim has standard ABS and a standard suite of safety features. It’s just that in this family-friendly segment, competitors seem to have invested more in safety.
The base trim Tirana Classic delivers almost perfectly on a budget buyer’s priorities, starting with an affordable $16,000 purchase price that makes it one of the least expensive cars we tested–only behind the Maras and the base trim Flint. Gas mileage is an excellent 41 mpg, and handling is good. Reliability is just a hair below average for the class, while service costs are just a hair higher than average, but not in a way that we think would be a dealbreaker for many buyers.
The sporty Tirana R340 doesn’t fare particularly well on the skidpad, but it’s a solid straight-line performer with a sub-5 second 0-60 time and a quarter mile time clocked at 13.27 seconds. It handles easily while also delivering a fun-to-drive factor. It also delivers on a lot of factors that aren’t really necessary for a sports car but that are nice to have: good comfort (3rd in the class), 23 mpg fuel economy (4th), and low service costs. In other words, it’s a solid overall entry in the sports field that nicely combines everyday usefulness with a good dose of acceleration and speed.
The Vistali 500 LX also scores well as a luxury vehicle, in spite of having below average prestige. The fact that it manages a 4th-place finish in spite of a low score in that important category shows how overall solid this car is, with good looks, decent comfort, excellent handling, and competent performance in other metrics as well.
Ultimately, as long as you’re not a buyer whose number one priority is top-of-the line safety, the Tirana/Vistali are competent, well-executed cars. It would be hard to go wrong buying one, which is what earns it a silver medal in our rankings.
1st - DCMW Faras/ Al-Sayaadim (@moroza)
Base: 6th
Sport: 1st
Luxury: 2nd
DCMW. Those four letters say a lot. They mean elegant styling that, even if it’s not your cup of tea, you can’t mistake for anything else. They mean performance. They mean comfortable, well-made interiors. And the Faras/ Al-Sayaadim deliver on everything you would expect from a DCMW here.
The “worst” DCMW we tested was the base-trim Faras Standard Four, which is actually quite a nice car. It handled well, performed well, was one of the most comfortable base models, had solid 30 mpg fuel economy, and had very good reliability. It comes across as what it is: the discount version of a luxury car. It was, however, ultimately kept from rising higher in the budget trim rankings because it’s a not-so-budget car in comparison to its competition. Its $19,900 sticker price is just under the three way tie at $20,000 for most expensive budget car, and it has some of the highest service costs in the class. But on the whole, for a budget buyer who isn’t looking for the absolute most basic, cheapest, transportation, but rather for a good value for the money, it’s an enjoyable, practical ride.
Then there’s the outstanding Al-Sayaadim Standard Six S sport trim. Performance? How does a class-best 3.8 second 0-60 time, a tied-for-class-best 12.23 second ¼ mile time, .97 g’s at low speeds on the skidpad (third-best), and .992 g’s at high speeds (best) do it for you? It’s extremely fun to drive–we’d put it just a hair behind the Volantis VR8–looks good, and even manages a decent 23 mpg and ride quality that’s not completely punishing. Yes, it’s a little pricey and has higher service costs than most, but you certainly get what you pay for–and those costs matter less in this field. Only the Volantis VR8 even comes close to equalling the Al-Sayaadim sports model–and we gave the win to the Al-Sayaadim by a nose.
It’s a similar story in the luxury category, with the Faras al-Hawa Superiority Six going toe-to-toe with the Volantis 5.25I Luxor for top luxury model well ahead of the rest of the field–except with the Mitsumi edging out the DCMW. Still, no luxury buyer will be disappointed with the DCMW, with great looks, an excellent fun-to-drive factor, good comfort, good prestige, good handling, good reliability, and even reasonable gas mileage.
There’s ultimately very little that the DCMW does to disappoint in key categories for each market demographic, while it also manages to stand head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field–or at least in the top tier of the field–in many of the categories that do matter. So for that reason, the DCMW Faras/Al-Sayaadim is our 1996 Car of the Year.
The podium finishers for 1996 Car of the Year. Pictured (L to R): Nitari Tirana Classic, DCMW Al-Sayaadim Standard Six S, Mitsumi Volantis 5.25I Luxor
The Car of the Year, in all of its variations. Pictured (L to R): DCMW Al-Sayaadim Standard Six S, DCMW Faras Standard Four, DCMW Faras al-Hawa Superiority Six
Thanks all for trusting me to step in and judge this challenge. Questions or constructive criticism of the judging/reviews are welcomed!
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Woo! My cars are so elated they’re literally floating (at least, the rear of the base wagon).
Excellent writing and reviewing in general, and specifically for reading the theme semi-consciously written into (almost) all of my creations: not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for.
This was my first, or at least most significant, organized attempt at one-car-many-trims, though “one car” was a bit of a stretch, perhaps; I took inspiration from older Japanese cars that had sedan, wagon, and slightly renamed convertible variants (Civic Del Sol, Camry Solara… notice the sun theme; “al Hawa” in Arabic means “the sun” or “of the sun”).
All in all very well done, but I’d’ve liked to see more intra-maker differentiator details requested in the rules, reflected in the entries, and discussed in scoring. Among the styling differentiators I used were wheels (industrial multipiece for the performance, basic but respectable alloys for the base, fancy multispoke for the luxury), grills (coarser and with the star in the grill on performance, flat star badge on base, upright hood ornament on lux), side trim (chrome strip above on lux), and the gills behind the front wheels. DCMW and Nordwagen somewhat consistently use vent count to indicate power level (no or one vent = keeps up with traffic; four vents = best get out of its way) and strake count to indicate price point, which echoes the Special/Standard/Superiority/Supremacy nomenclature.
Nobuddy was asking around for handing off ALL to someone else. Between the results and general inclination, I’d be glad to take over, but I hesitate to take on the commitment. (Yes, ATC is still in progress). @oldmanbuick - cohost?
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Haha, I think that was a glitch with the auto-set to surface feature that I noticed and fixed on some of the other cars but missed on that one!
As for the styling differentiators, that’s actually something that I had planned to do, and I had started writing up a few reviews with comparisons of the styling across the trims from the same manufacturer. Unfortunately, that’s something that fell by the wayside when I realized just how long it was going to take if I did detailed reviews for each round.
Sounds like venti-ports matching cylinder count on Buicks (when they still did that)! So of course I have to like this!
As for co-hosting, I appreciate the invitation, but I am still trying to wrap up “Simple Challenge” right now, and I am frankly feeling a little bit burnt out on hosting at the moment between the two challenges. I think I am going to have to take a little bit of a hosting break before being ready to step back in to host (or even co-host) anything.
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Congrats @moroza and @vouge. Excellent cars.
This challenge made me focus on the reliability stat a lot for all further builds lol. Thank you @oldmanbuick for the reviews, and for taking the time to complete the challenge!
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