From the Kia Soul+ to the Subaru Legacy, Lake Effect auto contributor Mark Savage shares his 2015 Zoomie Car of the Year Awards.
"My intent, as always, is to select a car for the masses, but one with styling flair, something that’s fun, yet also delivers value," Savage says about his annual Zoomie Awards. Since 1990, Savage has been selecting "the everyman's car of the year."
2015's list starts with...
Best Midsize Family Car: Subaru Legacy
"It's a bigger car than it has been, and the ride is really comfortable."
Best Family SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
"It is a very nice blend of kind of an entry level luxury car with a sport utility, super handling, attractive overall styling...and it has good power."
Best Family Hybrid Sedan: Kia Optima Hybrid
"It is a dandy of a car...[you] have the size to hold the whole family, you have a little bit of styling, the hybrid system, a big trunk, and it is a very quiet car."
Best Hybrid Crossover: Toyota Highlander
"It's a little pricier, but I was impressed at both the quiet smooth feel of the whole thing and how the system worked."
Best Electric Car: Chevy Volt
"It's a well-built car, it feels like a smaller luxury car, and it is seamless. It drives very, very nice and you get the first 40-50 miles of basic electric power...then the gas engine kicks in."
Most Fun Drive: Jaguar F-Type Roadster
"The most fun car I drove all year was the Jaguar F-Type....This is a $90,000 car with a big 495 horse V8 on it...It's impractical in many ways, but if you've got the money and you've got the resources to keep it going, it's awesome. This was the best sounding car that I've driven for quite a while."
Best Sporty Car: Scion tC
"It's a pretty inexpensive car, but it drives nice...has a very interesting appearance to it."
Best High-End Sports Coupe: BMW 428i
"BMW has it absolutely nailed with this. This was the best handling, riding, driving car probably I've ever driven."
Car of the Year: Kia Soul+
"What's not to like? It's got a cool interior on it, a very young, youthful look to the thing, and everything is easy to get at - buttons you can see, you can press, you can read everything. Gee, if you can do that for $19,000...this is a high-valued car and I think it's just a lot of fun."
For the complete list of awards, visit SavageOnWheels.com.
Mark Savage writes about cars on his website and is also associate publisher for four magazines at Waukesha’s Kalmbach Publishing – American Snowmobiler, Classic Toy Trains, FineScale Modeler and Scale Auto magazine.
