{"id":29804,"date":"2022-09-21T13:45:45","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T17:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=29804"},"modified":"2022-09-21T13:45:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T17:45:45","slug":"detroit-news-readers-choice-awards-z06-v-8s-and-evs-take-prizes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/detroit-news-readers-choice-awards-z06-v-8s-and-evs-take-prizes","title":{"rendered":"Detroit News Readers’ Choice awards: Z06, V-8s and EVs take prizes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detroit<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The Detroit auto show floor is awash in whispery-quiet new electric vehicles, but show-goers still covet American heavy metal.<\/p>\n

Muscle cars dominated the annual Detroit News Readers’ Choice awards at Huntington Place this year. The high-revving, 670-horsepower, V8-powered Chevy Corvette Z06 took home Best in Show, while the rowdy Ford Bronco Raptor \u2014 inspired by King of the Hammers racing trucks \u2014 won best Off-Road Warrior.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s focus on its iconic vehicles \u2014 Mustang, Bronco, F-150 \u2014 has received a lot of buzz, and that was reflected in jurors’ selections as the Blue Oval took home the most prizes,\u00a0winning four of the nine categories. Ford\u2019s luxury division, Lincoln, also took home Top Concept for good measure.<\/p>\n

The Readers\u2019 Choice Awards are prized by automakers for their status as the Detroit show’s only awards judged by car buyers themselves. Nearly 100 jurors were let loose on the show floor during the Sept. 14 media day to make their selections.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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The 2023 Corvette Z06 had already\u00a0caught the eye of President Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0when he toured the show, and News\u2019 readers found the orange supercar irresistible as well. The eighth-generation, $65,895 Corvette C8 is the iconic nameplate\u2019s first mid-engine model \u2014 and much more affordable than comparable mid-engine exotics from Ferrari and McLaren. The Z06 is the C8\u2019s first performance version featuring the most-powerful normally-aspirated V-8 production engine ever made.<\/p>\n

That performance will cost customers another 40 grand over the base car \u2014 and for that, The News\u2019 jurors awarded the Z06 the prize for If Money Were No Object.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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The North American International Auto Show has traditionally showcased head-turning concepts, and 2022 was no different. In perhaps the biggest surprise of the Readers\u2019 Choice Awards, the Lincoln L100 Concept edged out the much-hyped Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee \u2014 a peek at the brand\u2019s first EVs \u2014 and Buick Wildcat as best concept.<\/p>\n

The sci-fi L100 is Lincoln\u2019s vision of an autonomous vehicle future with no steering wheel or pedals (a \u201cchess piece\u201d is provided on an electronic pad to override the car\u2019s self-driving if needed) and front seats that can swivel to face rear passengers. The chariot boasts other exotic features like a glass canopy roof, glass \u201cfrunk\u201d and hub-mounted electric motors.<\/p>\n

Mustang\u2019s most powerful model \u2014 the Shelby GT500 \u2014 took home the trophy for Muscle Machine. The track-focused, 760-horse hellion can hit 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds. You can’t miss\u00a0its giant\u00a0cow-catcher front grille.<\/p>\n

Best Electric Vehicle awards went to the Ford Mustang Mach-E \u2014 inspired by the Mustang coupe \u2014 and Cadillac Lyriq. While Mach-E replicates the sports-car\u2019s looks and speed in an updated EV package, Lyriq shows the way to an\u00a0entirely electric Cadillac future with new fascia and bling-tastic interior.<\/p>\n

In addition to winning best Off-Road Warrior, the ballistic Bronco Raptor also inspired the more affordable Bronco Sport, which jurors judged best Bargain Buggy. Based on the Ford Escape\u2019s unibody chassis, the all-wheel-drive Bronco Sport Badlands trim offers surprising off-road capability\u00a0for half the price of the ladder-frame-based Raptor.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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If you want to bring the entire family to Huntington Place for the show, jurors recommend the Jeep Grand Wagoneer as best Family Hauler with its spacious\u00a0three-row interior. The Grand is a step above the Wagoneer (which competes against the Chevy Tahoe and Ford Expedition) and sets its sights on truck-based luxury models like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.<\/p>\n

Riding on a smooth air suspension, the Grand Wagoneer boasts an interior studded with luxury touches including four screens up front \u2014 even one for the passenger. Second-row passengers get their own infotainment screens, and third-row passengers their own sunroof.<\/p>\n

Under the hood? A 471-horspower, 6.4-liter V-8, of course. Even family haulers are best served with American muscle.<\/p>\n

The winners<\/h2>\n

HOTTEST TECH: Ford Mustang Mach-E<\/p>\n

MOST ELECTRIFYING: Cadillac Lyric<\/p>\n

BARGAIN BUGGY: Ford Bronco Sport<\/p>\n

OFF-ROAD WARRIOR: Ford Bronco Raptor<\/p>\n

FAMILY HAULER: Jeep Grand Wagoneer<\/p>\n

MUSCLE MACHINE: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500<\/p>\n

TOP CONCEPT: Lincoln L100<\/p>\n

IF MONEY WERE NO OBJECT: Chevrolet Corvette Z06<\/p>\n

BEST IN SHOW: Chevrolet Corvette Z06<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Detroit\u00a0\u2014 The Detroit auto show floor is awash in whispery-quiet new electric vehicles, but show-goers still covet American heavy metal. Muscle cars dominated the annual Detroit News Readers’ Choice awards at Huntington Place this year. The high-revving, 670-horsepower, V8-powered Chevy Corvette Z06 took home Best in Show, while the rowdy Ford Bronco Raptor \u2014 inspired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29805,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29804\/revisions\/29805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}