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Honda News

Honda Accord Euro wins Wheels COTY

Honda Accord Euro - Wheels COTY 2009

I know the Aussie car mags cop a lot of flak out there in readerland, but for mine, they do a better than half reasonable job of catering to what may be considered our narrow local market, while still giving good coverage of activities beyond our shores.

To that end the Wheels Magazine Car of the Year award lays claim to being the world’s longest continuously running COTY award. That’s pretty cool I reckon, and also says a fair bit about the longevity and relevance of motoring journalism in our country.

Okay, enough pontificating, and onto the news that the second gen Honda Accord Euro has been named this year’s Wheels COTY winner. The mag, perhaps not doing anything to placate their critics, announces the award on Channel 9’s A Current Affair these days. Sure, that gets them a great TV audience, but, to me, does little to enhance their reputation as the country’s leading car mag. ACA is mostly a disgrace that does little more than whip its audience into a lather about the latest terrorist “threat” and the current must do diet craze.

Wheels, you owe yourself a greater show of self-respect than your affiliation with ACA offers.

So, about that pontificating. Yes, erm, anyway, back to the car gong, Honda Australia, obviously, was chuffed to claim the award and Mr Yasuhide Mizuno, Managing Director and CEO said, “This is fantastic result for a fantastic car that epitomises every element of Honda’s DNA. It’s fun to drive nature combined with quality, safety, value and sporty styling is what the second-generation Accord Euro is about.”

Good for Honda. For more on the Wheels COTY check out their website.

Categories
BMW

BMW 135i undergoes impromptu crash test!

Ouch!

This BMW 135i suffered an unwanted fate after a nearby building came crashing down on top of it. The car, a BMW press vehicle, was under the watch of Wheels journalist Samantha Stevens. You can read all about it, and see more images of woe at the Wheelsmag blog. Ironically, Samantha had the 135i because the M3 she was hoping to collect was ‘no longer available’. Let’s hope the M3 didn’t meet a similar demise!

Testament to the little Beemer’s intrinsic strength is this comment from Samantha’s post:

“A positive note to this sad story can be found in the pictures. The 135i’s rigid body structure upheld the impact of several tonnes of metal falling square on its vulnerable middle roof. Its optional sunroof didn’t even shatter. So our BMW 135i has proven it’s as strong as houses – by having one land on top of it.

Had passengers been in the car at the time, only the rear-passenger side occupant would have one hell of a headache. The four other cars under the rubble didn’t fare so well, though they were older models and had borne more of the impact.”

Amazingly, the attending tow truck driver was not only able to start the car, but also drive it on to the flatbed to take the car away!

Trivia buffs will have noticed this was also the same car used in Top Gear Australia‘s test which went to air on SBS last night.

Source: Wheelsmag (Thanks to Micky for the link.)