TopGear.com US Car Awards: The Inaugural Winners

12 minutes 53 seconds

Welcome to the first-ever TopGear.com US Car Awards. We’re delighted you could join us, so settle in. For the first time, Top Gear is going bigger and heading Stateside to crown the finest new cars available in America. The rule is straightforward: a car must have launched within the past 12 months and be on sale in the US to qualify.

Why create US-focused awards when the TopGear.com Awards already exist? Other than adding to our air-mile balance, that is. Our web, social media, YouTube and Apple News audiences are expanding rapidly, with American readers and viewers accounting for an ever-larger share. We therefore wanted to make something specifically for them. What’s more, the volume of US-only models, together with the distinct demands of American buyers, means the results of our thorough testing look very different from those of our established awards.

We kept the format simple, with six categories: Car, Truck, SUV, Supercar and Manufacturer of the Year, alongside the TG Tech Award. To create the Car, Truck and SUV shortlists, we drew on our road-test database, US correspondent Alex Kalogianni and the wider editorial team. Every shortlisted contender was then brought together for comprehensive road and track testing in Detroit last October, before we selected the winners.

For Supercar of the Year, we staged the showdown everyone had been anticipating: Mustang GTD versus Corvette ZR1 at Ten Tenths Motor Club in Charlotte, with Jethro Bovingdon as adjudicator. After two days of fierce competition and tyre destruction, a winner emerged. For Manufacturer of the Year, we asked Los Angeles-based TG veteran Pat Devereux - who has witnessed every high and low of the US motor industry over the past 20 years - to make the call. And for the TG Tech Award, we teamed up with TG contributor and YouTube technology leader Marques Brownlee to choose, and get hands-on with, the winning technology.

More detailed features are on their way, but here is the rapid-fire list of winners for now. Let’s begin.

Car of the Year: Dodge Charger Sixpack

Shortlist:

• Kia K4
• Tesla Model 3 Performance
• Hyundai Elantra N
• Dodge Charger Sixpack (winner)

Following the arrival of the Charger Daytona, the electric muscle car that was a somewhat unsuccessful experiment despite being rather good, the Dodge Charger Sixpack marks a thrilling return to form. Whatever the reasoning, it was not the car Dodge loyalists had hoped for, whereas the Sixpack brings the Charger back up to pace. Petrol power has returned: beneath the bonnet sits a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six producing 550 bhp and 720 Nm of torque. All-wheel drive is standard, although the full output can be directed to the rear wheels if AWD does not feel muscular enough.

A clean, streamlined exterior is paired with an interior that is both attractive and practical. Its selection of driving modes lets it cope with differing surfaces or be tuned for more sporting use. Alongside a usable rear seat, that makes it a versatile everyday car rather than a tail-happy toy reserved for weekends. There is even enough room in the boot for a complete set of wheels, should you wish to bring spares to the circuit.

Alex Kalogianni

SUV of the Year: Cadillac Lyriq-V

Shortlist:

• Ford Expedition Tremor
• Hyundai Ioniq 9
• Tesla Model Y
• Cadillac Lyriq-V (winner)
• Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter

The regular Lyriq was revealed in production guise as far back as April 2021, and its generous cabin space and supple ride have apparently made it the upmarket airport taxi of choice in the US. The newly launched V is intended to shed that reputation, armed with 615 bhp and 881 Nm of torque.

Engage its brilliantly named Velocity Max launch mode and it reaches 0–97 km/h in 3.3 seconds, before continuing to a 209 km/h top speed. It never feels nauseatingly quick - probably because it weighs almost 2,700 kg - but it is, on paper, the fastest Cadillac ever built, with ample shove to enjoy. Adaptive dampers and substantial Brembo brakes also ensure it remains composed once the road starts to bend. The steering offers a surprisingly good amount of feedback and, although the ride is firmer than ideal - not helped by the V’s standard 56 cm wheels - it repays that compromise by remaining level through corners.

The Cadillac takes this award because it is a genuinely capable all-rounder. It is enjoyable to drive, relaxing to cover distance in, exceptionally practical and still straightforward to use. It is a welcome surprise for us Brits and, with Cadillac continuing to say that a European and UK launch is planned, we suspect the Germans will be paying attention. This could unsettle a few rivals.

Greg Potts

Truck of the Year: Rivian R1T Quad Motor

Shortlist:

• Ford Maverick Lobo
• GMC Sierra EV
• Rivian R1T Quad Motor (winner)

The Rivian R1T Quad Motor is simply far too accomplished to overlook. Rather than receiving the conventional improvements associated with a new generation, the second-generation Rivian R1 models are effectively complete reworks. The 1,025 bhp and 1,624 Nm of torque are undeniably striking, but Rivian has also made the truck more agile off-road in a manner that suits the brand’s outdoors-focused character. “Hello, kick-turn.”

It can rotate on the spot, albeit only on loose surfaces and at a strictly prescribed speed, making it useful around a base camp or on a tight trail. The ‘kick’ element is where things become particularly interesting. That same system can flick the rear of the R1 around, allowing tightly controlled and deliberate turns through narrow bends. It is not a drift mode, but it does what is needed.

Ultimately, though, neither the kick-turn nor the excellent drive modes were what made us feel like heroes. That was the ability to set the vehicle up for better or worse using the Rivian RAD Tuner. The tools professional drivers used to refine the drive modes now come with the R1 Quad. This unprecedented direct-from-manufacturer access gives owners the freedom to alter a wide range of settings as they see fit. With the RAD Tuner, they can turn their Rivian into a regeneration-heavy lump or a wild rear-wheel-drive rodeo machine. The important thing is that the choice is theirs, and using it is ridiculously simple.

Alex Kalogianni

Supercar of the Year: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Shortlist:

• Ford Mustang GTD
• Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (winner)

By the standards of a Ferrari 296 GTB or McLaren 750S, the Corvette ZR1 is a sizeable machine, yet beside the comically swollen Mustang it appears low and slender. Specify the carbon-fibre aero pack and ZTK Performance Track Package, however, and it looks almost as formidable as the Ford. It gets dive planes, an enormous rear wing, ultra-sticky Cup 2R tyres that look virtually treadless, carbon-ceramic brakes and optional carbon-fibre wheels.

The ZR1 generates less downforce - 545 kg, though only at speeds above 322 km/h - but answers with a kerb weight of roughly 1,800 kg. Then there is its 5.5-litre twin-turbocharged V8, which develops 1,064 bhp and 1,123 Nm. On power-to-weight, the ZR1 is the champion. It also wins on value. Even after selecting every carbon-fibre option, this ZR1 costs $237,735. The hand-built GTD begins at $325,000, then requires a further $46,000 for the Performance Package, and before long you have a Mustang costing $400,000.

Both the Mustang GTD and Corvette ZR1 are absolutely fantastic. For outright theatre, the Ford is difficult to surpass. But the American dream is founded on plenty for the many rather than the few. The ZR1’s price - from $182,395; we have driven Ferraris whose options cost more - along with its power, performance and crisp, intuitive chassis reactions, cannot be ignored. It is also simply quicker.

Jethro Bovingdon

Manufacturer of the Year – Cadillac

The Standard of the World. Be Iconic. Dare Greatly… Cadillac has used many brand slogans over the past couple of decades while searching for a new identity. Only recently, though, has it begun to fulfil those promises. In what feels like an uninterrupted rush of activity, announcements and achievements, it has moved from bland to once more becoming one of the world’s boldest and most ambitious names.

Within only a few years, Cadillac has introduced an entire new EV range, including the Celestiq - a Rolls-Royce rival. What makes this doubly impressive is that it has achieved all of that while continuing to offer its finest-ever standard Escalade and the excellent petrol-powered CT4 and CT5 Blackwing models. It has also secured pole position at Le Mans and launched a full factory Formula 1 team. Cadillac’s current slogan is: ‘Cadillac. Never Stop Arriving.’ Based on everything above, however, we propose something a little more concise for 2025: simply, ‘Wow.’

Pat Devereux

TG Tech Award: Porsche Wireless Charging

This award recognises a major advance in automotive technology: something with a clear, positive effect on the user experience. This one is for anyone who has struggled to coil up a wet charging cable or stopped just slightly too far from the plug. It goes to Porsche’s new wireless charging system, offered as an option on the new Cayenne Electric.

The process could scarcely be easier. As you enter the garage, or once the car is close enough to the floor pad, an ultra-wideband signal activates the camera and displays dedicated graphics on-screen to help you edge forwards and align the car. Blue lines at the outer edges indicate the direction of the tyres, while green lines mark the boundaries of the charging coil.

Just before you drive over it, the display changes to an overhead view. Like a satisfyingly lo-fi video game, you essentially put the ball in the basket and you are done. Align the car, stop, select park and charging begins, increasing all the way to 11 kW. That is fairly remarkable considering there remains a notable gap between the car and the puck on the floor.

It is expensive, at roughly $8,000, but so is the only vehicle with which it currently works. Cost aside, it is the perfect luxury EV arrangement, and Porsche’s rivals will surely follow its lead soon.

Marques Brownlee