Citroen DS3: Top Gear Car of the Year

Citroen DS3 - Top Gear Car of the Year

Top Gear has declared their car of the year as the brilliant Citroen DS3. Bravo – an outbreak of common sense for COTY polls.

We’ve seen some pretty barking ideas about what deserves to be a Car of the Year. The most barking of the contenders has been the Nissan LEAF, a car that is not only not available to buy yet but which does pretty much everything less well than any regular ICE car.

The COTY nonsense reached a peak this week when the Nissan LEAF was actually voted European Car of the Year. Such an absurd verdict means that the European COTY can never again be entrusted to be impartial or remotely valid. By any sane measure it’s difficult to even judge the Nissan LEAF as a car, much less the best car in the world.

But now we have an outbreak of common sense from people who actually understand cars – Top Gear. We’ve banged on in our reporting on the recent spate of COTY stories that we believe the Citroen DS3 to be probably the best car of 2010 and it seems Top Gear Magazine has concurred. They said of the DS3:

“The DS3 has pulled off that heady mix of ability, excitement and affordability that’s impossible to ignore. It walks so many fine lines so delicately and so comprehensively that it’s hard to find a chink in the armour. The Top Gear Car of the Year is a small, thoughtful, affordable, stylish, fun little hatchback. It’s the people’s champion.”

Which is pretty much what we said when we reviewed the Citroen DS3 earlier this year:

“In short, the Citroen DS3 is a hoot to drive. It’s fast, nimble, responsive, forgiving and much quicker than you’d ever have expected. There’s room in the back for the kids and it has an interior that’s a delight to the eye. The exterior is as good looking as it can be without your knees going funny every time you walk on the drive – and it doesn’t cost a fortune.
In fact, the Citroen DS3 could well be the best car we’ve had this year. It’s certainly the best car in its sector and, although it resorts to an iconic moniker to state its intent, it’s as contemporary as you can get.”

Maybe next year the European COTY should draft in some opinion from Top Gear and Cars UK?

At least then we’d get a proper car winning.