LOS ANGELES— MOTOR TREND has selected the 2017 McLaren 570S as the winner of the 2016 Best Driver’s Car Award, presented by Mothers®. MOTOR TREND.com features exclusive videos and on-site reviews of the 12 competitors throughout MOTOR TREND’s Best Driver’s Car Week, and this award announcement serves as the centerpiece of the five-day online event.
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“The McLaren 570S stands out in this year’s crowd of high-horsepower overachievers because it provides a preternatural connection between driver and machine,” says MOTOR TREND Editor-in-Chief Ed Loh. “With massive thrust in a lightweight, mid-engine chassis that can be guided by the fingertips, the 570S is immensely addictive—and the perfect homage to McLaren’s Grand Prix pedigree.”
Twelve automakers volunteered their best sports cars, supercars, and ponycars for a week of vigorous testing that included MOTOR TREND’s standard battery of instrumented tests, a closed-course hillclimb on one of California’s best mountain roads, as well as hot lapping at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with championship-winning race car driver Randy Pobst behind the wheel.
“The McLaren 570S makes 100 mph feel like a drive-thru; it sets your heart racing but never makes your palms sweaty, because no matter how fast you’re going, you can always count on the brakes to slow you for the next corner and the car to easily take it at double the recommended speed,” says MOTOR TREND Associate Editor Scott Evans.
“I am delighted that MOTOR TREND has recognized the McLaren 570S as their Best Driver’s Car. From the moment the McLaren 570S was conceived, that’s exactly what it was intended to be – the best possible driver’s car on the road or the track,” said Mike Flewitt, CEO of McLaren Automotive. “Using the core DNA of McLaren- a 3.8-liter twin turbocharged engine paired with a lightweight carbon fibre Monocell chassis- the 570S was tuned to offer the most amount of fun, and as such we wanted the 570S to be focused on being a real driver’s car. Since the reveal in New York last year, the 570S Coupe has redefined the perception of a sports car, and the Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car award is a very welcome validation of our ambitions.”
Since 2009, the MOTOR TREND staff and Randy Pobst have come out for MOTOR TREND’s Best Driver’s Car Week to thoroughly test, review, and film the year’s top sports sedans, coupes, hatchbacks, and roadsters. In addition to the 2017 McLaren 570S, the field of the 2016 Best Driver’s Car included:
- 2017 Acura NSX
- 2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S
- 2017 Audi R8 V10 (Plus)
- 2016 BMW M4 GTS
- 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS (1LE)
- 2016 Dodge Viper ACR
- 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R
- 2017 Jaguar F-Type SVR
- 2016 McLaren 570S
- 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT S
- 2017 Nissan GT-R
- 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S
About MOTOR TREND
MOTOR TREND®, a media brand of TEN: The Enthusiast Network, was founded in 1949 and is internationally recognized as one of the leading names in the automotive category. The MOTOR TREND brand is composed of Motor Trend magazine; the award-winning website MotorTrend.com; Motor Trend OnDemand subscription video on-demand service; Motor Trend Auto Shows; Motor Trend Audio; Motor Trend en Español; Motor Trend India; and the renowned Motor Trend Car of the Year, SUV of the Year, Truck of the Year, Person of the Year, and Best Driver’s Car awards programs.
