The C8 Corvette Grand Sport/GSX are Finalists for MotorTrend’s Car of the Year

Every year since 1949, with a few exceptions, MotorTrend has anointed the ‘best and brightest’ new car on the market with its Car of the Year Award. Unlike more focused and enthusiast-forward honors like Car and Driver’s 10 Best, R&T‘s Performance Car of the Year, and MT‘s dearly departed Best Driver’s Car, the Golden Calipers of Car of the Year are geared toward the needs of the everyday mainstream car buyer. As such, it has to cast a much larger net; each and every new or significantly revised car on sale in the United States is eligible to compete.

Vehicles in MTCotY are individually evaluated in six criteria: value, safety, efficiency, performance of intended function, advancement in design, and engineering excellence. The bandwidth, interpretation, ambiguity at play in these categories mean that anything can win. Sometimes the votes go to an ordinary Camry or Civic that will improve people’s commutes with smart features and packaging, other years it’s an extremely well-rounded luxury car like the ’21 Mercedes E-Class, a paradigm-shifter like the Prius or Tesla Model S, and other times they have no choice but to crown the 2009 Nissan GT-R that made Ferrari’s and Porsches sweat for under $80,000.

In the same vein as the GT-R, Corvettes took the crown in 2020 when the Stingray brought midengined madness to the masses, and when the C4 an C5 Corvettes so significantly upped the ante for America’s Sports Car with big wins in the engineering excellence, design, value, and performance categories – the 2023 C8 Z06 was also one of only three cars to win MT’s annual but short-lived Performance Vehicle award.

Even though Car of the Year is for the ‘normies,’ baking in a little excitement is still the best way for a product to distinguish itself from the also-rans in the eyes of MT’s staff of car guys and gals. Last year, the VW Golf GTI and Golf R took top honors by standing out “in a market increasingly dominated by crossovers and SUVs,” with high marks in “build quality, engaging driving character, modern design, and advanced technology… without breaking the bank and while carrying heritage few vehicles can match.” It won by being “Authentic and spirited… while continuing to inspire the same enthusiasm it has since its debut.”

If you think those qualities could be easily attributed to the C8 Grand Sport and Grand Sport X who are interviewing as a team in ’27, you’re correct, but the thundering LS6 ‘Vettes will have some stiff competition as this year’s field is the most performance-oriented it’s been in recent memory. Joining the GS twins in vying for the title of best car of 2027 are 15 challengers from around the globe. Among them are the heir to another PVotY winner in the BMW M2 CS, the Hurricane-six powered Charger SixPack, the 795-horsepower Mustang Dark Horse SC, and three more attainable enthusiast sleds in the Nissan Z Nismo, Hyundai Elantra N TCR, and the revised Lexus IS.

What’s crazy is that of all of those desirable go-fast options, the ‘Vettes were the only ones to make the finals. Joining them on day two will be the pretty Audi A6, the not-at-all-pretty Mercedes CLA-Class, the somehow even uglier Lexus ES, the gold-standard Mercedes S-Class, the Nissan Sentra ‘surprise feel-good hit’ of ’27, and the updated Tesla Model 3. Can the Grands Sports emerge victorious? Tune in tomorrow when MotorTrend has promised to unveil its most recent winner!

In the meantime, here is MotorTrend’s first test with the Grand Sport and Grand Sport X:

Source:
MotorTrend

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