2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray Strikes Again with Car & Driver Award

Picking up automotive prizes just about as quickly as it can sprint from 0-60 mph, the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray recently scored yet another major trophy, this time as a member of the annual “10Best” list from Car & Driver. It’s just the latest in a growing number of recognitions for the seventh-generation Corvette, which already has been named:

• Performance Car of the Year by Road & Track
• Automobile of the Year by Automobile Magazine
• Sportscar of the Year by the Hispanic Motor Press Association
• Innovation Vehicle of the Year by the Motor Press Guild
• Automotive Event of the Year by Esquire magazine
• Car of the Year by Yahoo! Autos

Needless to say, the Car & Driver team was plenty impressed with the Stingray, noting that: “The thing is just so well honed. Not only is its electrically assisted steering system unexpectedly sensitive, you can practically feel the thousands of man-hours spent developing its Michelin tires, its stiffer structure, and, on Z51 models, its electronically controlled limited-slip differential.”

Also making a big impression on the C&D staff was Mazda. It was the only brand with two entries on the 10Best list, thanks to its all-new 2014 Mazda Mazda3 and 2014 Mazda Mazda6. Calling them “perfectly timed products” for today’s drivers, the publication’s writers lauded the duo for their SKYACTIV driving technologies and dramatic exterior designs.

The rest of the 2014 Car & Driver 10Best List included:

• Audi A6/S6/A7—“As crisply designed as they are engineered, with deceptively simple exterior styling,” according to C&D.
• BMW 3-Series/4-Series—Singled out as the “ideological center” of its brand, with “balletic balance and a satisfying exactness to its controls.”
• Cadillac CTS—In its third generation, the CTS has become “unequivocally the best-handling car in the mid-size luxury segment.”
• Honda Accord—Boasting “acres of glass for visibility, a capacious cabin, and that same spry lightness to its controls and movements.”
• Ford Fiesta ST—Praised the publication as “light and tossable, with a highly competent chassis that can out-party cars costing twice as much.”
• Porsche Boxster/Cayman—The pair from Porsche were “the winners among these winners … you simply cannot find cars more satisfying to operate.”
• Volkswagen Golf/GTI—Still “an unlikely partnership of practicality and refinement” with the all-new 2015 models coming next year.