Road & Track Names 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray Performance Car of the Year

The first-ever Road & Track Performance Car of the Year award goes to the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray, which beat out five other finalists for the honor, including the Porsche Cayman, Ford Fiesta ST, Jaguar F-Type, Ferrari F12 and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Needless to say, the publication put all challengers through a comprehensive evaluation program that covered both “road” and “track” performance, and along the way, the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray earned praise like:

• “It’s both viciously quick and surprisingly manageable.”
• “The seats, finally, are good enough for long trips. The roof is easy to remove and store. It's become a brilliant everyday car.”
• “[I]t's now the complete package. There are no longer any excuses.”

The final verdict from R&T’s Jack Baruth is that the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray offers “the most capability that any manufacturer has ever delivered for this money, it's rewarding to drive for everyone from novice to seasoned racer, and it is, definitely and deservedly, the Road & Track Performance Car of the Year.”

Of course, along with honoring the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray, the publication also recognized the following entries for their own in-segment excellence:

• Best Family Sedan—2014 Mazda Mazda6, called “as close to perfect as you can get for the money”
• Best Pickup—2014 Chevy Silverado, all-new but backed by a focus “on what worked just fine in the past”
• Best Luxury Sedan—2014 Cadillac CTS, with design that is “unabashedly American and yet as sophisticated as the Europeans”
• Best SUV—2014 Range Rover Sport, which “can hang off-road” while still providing on-road performance worthy of its name
• Best Economy Car—2014 Mazda Mazda3, backed by SKYACTIV efficiency and the “sultry curves” of a vintage Alfa Romeo
• Best Electric Car—2014 Fiat 500e, proving that “Fiat is better at the idea of the electric car” than even Tesla
• Best Station Wagon—2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, “the only true wagon sold here that offers rear-facing third-row seats”
• Best Diesel—2014 Audi A8L TDI, boasting an engine that “renders the old diesel tropes null and void” while delivering 36 mpg