Car of the Year Awards 2008 [PLEASE READ FIRST]
[CENTER][CENTER][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=4][B]UCP Car of the Year Awards
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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]I decided to change last year's formula, which was generally a mess more than anything else, to make it much more organized. I know not everybody will be pleased, but I'm giving my idea a try, and we can always change the formula next year anyway. I divided the Car of the Year award into two categories, mainly to give mass produced vehicles a chance. Last year most people voted for a supercar, I won't blame you, I did as well. However, I feel like great cars such as, say, the Ford Mondeo, the Subaru Legacy or the Fiat 500 deserve a chance to be nominated. The way it works this year is as follow: the two main categories are "Mass Market Car of the Year" and "High-end Car/Supercar of the Year". Now it was complicated to find a proper way to set boundaries between the two, very hard in fact. First I thought about using MSRP, aka under/above $100,000, but this way has flaws: a $80,000 Nissan GT-R is a supercar in its own rights and doesn't belong in the mass market category. Then I thought about power-to-weight ratio as it makes the most sense, but unfortunately this piece of information is not available in the UCP database, and I don't want people to have to look up all over the internet to find the info. Ultimately I decided I would split the two categories as follow: under/above 300 bhp. Now obviously this way has flaws as well, since horsepower is very subjective. For example, an Ariel Atom with a 245 bhp engine produces supercar-territory numbers. For this very reason I will have to allow exceptions, depending on performance numbers. Use your common sense as you nominate cars, please.
[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Moreover, the main two categories are split in 4 sub-categories. The reason is simple, there are too many cars nominated to do only one poll, which allows for a maximum of 15 entries. So I thought I would divide the car by territories. "Best American Car", "Best European Car", "Best Australian Car" and "Best Asian Car" are the sub-categories. The 3 cars that receive the most nominations in each sub-categories will make it to the final "Mass Market Car of the Year" and "High-end Car/Supercar of the Year" voting threads. That's 12 choices in each categories, which is under the 15 entries maximum limit for a poll. It allows me as well to enter 3 additional cars in case there are ties in the nomination threads, eliminating the need for run-off threads (providing there are no more than 3 ties, hopefully).
[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]I will post the results of all of the awards in a thread when all the voting threads are closed, and whichever car has the most votes between "Mass Market Car of the Year" and "High-end Car/Supercar of the Year" will ultimately win the overall UCP Car of the Year title.
[U]Multiple nominations are allowed.[/U]
[B]RULES[/B]
[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Now this is subject to debate as well, but I had to set rules so here they are. Again, we can change them next year if they are widely criticized :)
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[LIST][*] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Nominated cars have to have been introduced at an auto show in 2008 and/or...
[/SIZE][/FONT][*] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]...sold as a 2008 or 2009 model year (so if a car was introduced at an auto show in 2007 AND made it as a 2008MY production car, it can be nominated)[/SIZE][/FONT][*] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]...be a production car, OR a concept car [U]INTENDED[/U] for production (confirmed, not based on rumours)[/SIZE][/FONT][/LIST]
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][B]LINKS[/B]
[B]Nomination Threads
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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38077-best-european-mass-market-car-2008-a.html"]Best European Mass Market Car (2008)[/URL][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38078-best-asian-mass-market-car-2008-a.html"]Best Asian Mass Market Car (2008)[/URL]
[URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38079-best-american-mass-market-car-2008-a.html"]Best American Mass Market Car (2008)[/URL]
[URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38080-best-australian-mass-market-car-2008-a.html"]Best Australian Mass Market Car (2008)[/URL]
[URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38081-best-european-high-end-car-supercar-2008-a.html"]Best European High-end Car/Supercar (2008)[/URL]
[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38082-best-asian-high-end-car-supercar-2008-a.html"]Best Asian High-end Car/Supercar (2008)[/URL]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38083-best-american-high-end-car-supercar-2008-a.html"]Best American High-end Car/Supercar (2008)[/URL]
[URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/awards/38084-best-australian-high-end-car-supercar-2008-a.html"]Best Australian High-end Car/Supercar (2008)[/URL][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]I will add links to the voting threads here once they are up. [/SIZE][/FONT]