What do you believe is the car of the decade?

As the title states what's the car of the decade in your own opinion? I'm talking 2000-2009 and not the 1989 Miata.

Corvette ZR1. Supercar performance for not so supercar price

My first reaction was MINI.

But I like your thinking.

You know, i just realized today why all these "of the decade" threads have been popping up everywhere.....

Carson wrote: My first reaction was MINI. But I like your thinking.

Love the Vette as well, but not enough #s or impact on peasants like me to be "car of the decade". It would top my Performance car of the decade along with the STI and EVO. hmmmmm. Hard to argue with the Mini, it gave the notion of what a "small" car is a meaning entirely other than "econobox". I still hate the interiors.

93celicaGT2 wrote: You know, i just realized today why all these "of the decade" threads have been popping up everywhere.....

Thats funny!

I'm with Carson. The MINI made small cars cool again for the masses. Not only is it cute for the secretary-types, it is also a giant killer on the track.

Sure the ZR-1 is an amazing machine, but anything over $100K is still supercar priced to me. It doesn't matter if it is $100K, or $2 million, I'll still never be able to afford it. Nearly everyone can buy a MINI, or realistically aspire to one.

A lot of folks will hate me for this, but I think you also have to throw the Prius in the ring. It opened up the door for mass market hybrids that work as real cars. (Civic hybrid was too bland, and didn't sell well) Success of cars like this have quickly changed the automotive landscape. It is only a matter of time before we have realistic hybrid enthusiast cars, and the success of the Prius will be a big reason why.

I hate to say it, but it has to be the toyota Prius. Obviously not from a performance standpoint, but it pretty much dominated the Automotive news for this decade.

I think something like the audi R8 could be argued as a groundbreaking car. It seems to be more of a revolution than an evolution. To be a "car of the decade" you'd have to be more than of a derivative of an already tested platform and move into unexplored terratory. I don't much dig any cars made since 2000 so what do I know.

I would say the WRX. Turbo, 4wd for the masses at a reasonable price.

93celicaGT2 wrote: You know, i just realized today why all these "of the decade" threads have been popping up everywhere.....

Hahaha. It's better than all the "OMGZ is my Miata Y2K compliant?" threads at the end of last decade.

Not that I had a car or could drive 10 years ago. I think OMGZ hadn't hit the web by then either.

While I really like the MINI, I don't think it doe's anything that other cars don't do just as well, we have such a blinkered vision here in the U.S. and forget that the rest of the world has been getting ggreat supermini's for years (Supermini as in segment, not mini as in nameplate). The SMART car is a possibility, but not a total revolutionary concept. Much as I hate to admit it I may have to vote for the Turdbota Pius, let's face it Hybrids are probably the way forward for the foreseeable future, especially when we come up with a decent (i.e. not corn based) Biofuel to run them on. The 2nd gen Prius, while I despise it and Toyota on so many levels, is the car that popularized Hybrids and put them on the map for 99.99999913% of the population. There were others before, but this was the tipping point car.

ZR1, again a really great car and I'd give my left nut to have one (well actually I wouldn't, but you get my point). Great car, but Supercar performance at a budget price is nothing new, the Vette's been doing it for generations.

Easily the Honda Clarity. Even though it is still only being tested right now, it is still the most import car to come. The Prius is a good contender because it jump started the green car movement. But it doesn't go far enough. The Clarity is the way of the future my friends!

CTS-V: revitalized Cadillac

Prius: been covered

Veyron: technology/speed/price

Really depends on the audience.

For our crew, I'd say MINI, Elise or some sort of Z06.

In reply to DirtyBird222:

Thanks for linking to a 2.5mb picture of a plastic car, that really helped load times.

Yea the Prius...the biggest carbon footprint on the road....not so much car of the decade. Production of the batteries and the toll that takes on the environment vs. the emissions and gasoline it supposedly saves...HAHAHAHAHAH.

JFX I agree with you on the Caddy.

What about the S2000? Honda showed it has the capabilities to make a Front Engine Rear Wheel Drive vehicle that is dare I say it....FUN! It's a shame they put the car to rest, but for a vehicle that was only supposed to be around for a couple of years anyways, it had a very good 10 year run, and still strikes fear into Miata owners hearts. VVVVVVVVVVVVVTEC POP! And like the last sentence it brought a competitor to the market that the Miata had been single handedly dominating for a decade and then we got the Solstice/Sky and now the Miata is all by it's lonesome again.

pres589 wrote: In reply to DirtyBird222: Thanks for linking to a 2.5mb picture of a plastic car, that really helped load times.

welcome glad I could put a smile on your face today. Maybe you should upgrade from 56k?

I too see the logic in picking the Prius, but what about the SUV?

Locost.

JFX001 I think you nailed it...

CTS-V Domestic COD Prius Import COD, Veyron SuperCOD (I mean for the first half of the decade we all wondered if it would actually hit produciton.) with ZR1 being honorable mention

FYI - the new decade doesnt start until 2011 - 2010 is still part of this decade. So you all have another year to think about it, and designers have a year to release something better than whatever we decide this year

Oh and Genesis coupe FTW - a return to a compact, RWD turbo coupe goodness for less than a house. Mclaren took a good stab with the F1, it just took Hyundai to bring it to the masses

JFX001 wrote: CTS-V: revitalized Cadillac Prius: been covered Veyron: technology/speed/price

Ditto.

Hrm....

WRX- I'd go with that based on the AWD to the masses thing, but the DSM triplets did it a decade earlier. Sure they were absolutely useless as a 4 seater, but it's hard to argue with a 20 year old ancient tech car that people STILL seek on a regular basis.

ZR1-Z06- Corvette has continually been the standard for hot rod cars at bargain basement prices for about the last...... forever. Except for the stint with the late c3-early c4....... GM was regularly dropping bombs on the Germans and Italians with that one since the 1st Bush administration.

Caddy CTS-V- I like this. I like it a ton. Granted the whole stuff a hot motor in a nice car and make it stupid fast is nothing new, BUT- I don't think it's been executed as well dollar for dollar in the last 10 years.

MINI- Ok, yes we all know I have one by now, and we are all probably sick of hearing it. But I love this little bugger. With the exception that I consider the seats in the thing to be torture devices, it's an awesome little go-mobile. Enough room to haul the groceries, enough look to do it in style, and enough power (at least in the S variants) to do it with a relative sense of urgency. I think it almost redefined the retro game, which had previously been held by that silly PT Cruiser, and the close but no cigar Prowler.

Elise- wicked track car, with a Toyota motor... a car with very little compromise. Hard to beat.

GTR- Hasn't been added to my knowledge, and I'm not going to lie, I despise that car. BUT- you have to admit, with more electronics than NASA and the ability to turn anyone into a hero, in a car that weighs as much as a Buick, it's done a LOT for the performance industry.

Evo- see WRX.

Mazdaspeed Protege- Bet you didn't think you'd see this one in here.... but with a basic suspension upgrade and a small turbo, this turned a basic econobox into quite the little barnstormer. The successor to that car, the Mazdaspeed3, is still one of the most lauded FWD compact rockets in the last decade, if not ever. Dodge and Subaru both built rocket hatchbacks after the Speed3 landed, and I have to believe the Speed3 was a big reason. The Speed owes its success to the Protege.

Mazda3- sure it spawned the Speed3, but on its own, it stands the test. Still one of the best n/a compacts on the market, it redefined what was available in a car at a minimum price. My 1st one was 20k OTD, and it had everything and then some in a car costing 2x as much.

Prius- This one, yeah. Prior to the Prius people were are WTF batteries make the car start, gas makes the car GO. Prius changed that. With the Prius was ushered in a new consiousness in regards to mileage and "green" driving. Ecomodding as a whole owes a LOT to this car. They even build Escalades in hybrid, and the Prius started it.

Tesla Roadster- While barely in production, you have to admire any car that gets as much coverage as the second coming of Christ- while only going "whirrrrrrrr".

That's what I got, for now.

pres589 wrote: In reply to DirtyBird222: Thanks for linking to a 2.5mb picture of a plastic car, that really helped load times.

Someone piss in your Cheerios this morning?

Geeeez

DirtyBird222 wrote: Yea the Prius...the biggest carbon footprint on the road....not so much car of the decade. Production of the batteries and the toll that takes on the environment vs. the emissions and gasoline it supposedly saves...HAHAHAHAHAH.

As I say, I hate Turdbota and the Pius, but it's still a (the?) milestone car of the decade. Yes I know that battereis are dirty to produce but a) battery technology is advancing and b) there are advantages to where the polutiopn is created making it easier to contain than spewing it all over the globe.

I still hate the car and what people think it stands for. But I've jet to see any sensible argument against it being the car of the decade when you stand back and look at it as a whole.