Ford, Nissan And GM Scoop Top Honours In Vehicle Dynamics International Awards
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AUTO CENTRAL – November 24, 2008: The winners of the first-ever Vehicle Dynamics International Awards have today been announced, with the Nissan GT-R scooping the prestigious Car of the Year Award, Ford securing the accolade of Dynamics Team of the Year and John Heinricy of General Motors being proclaimed as Dynamicist of the Year.
Dynamics Team of the Year
Ford was particularly proud of its
‘Dynamics Team of the Year’ Award. The company, which has
launched the new Fiesta to a wave of worldwide acclaim, has developed a
well-earned reputation for developing cars with outstanding dynamic
qualities.
A delighted Pim van der Jagt, executive technical leader of Ford vehicle dynamics, says: “I think that with the new Fiesta, Ford has proved once again its outstanding expertise in vehicle dynamics. We are very happy to get such positive feedback from the media, not only for Fiesta but also for the new Ka. We are very proud of this award in particular because the jury consists of such a great number of international experts.” Ford was pushed hard for overall victory in the category by Audi which secured the highly-commended runner-up spot.
Car of the Year
Picking a winner in the ‘Car of the
Year’ category was one of the hardest for the judges. The fact that
excellent ride and handling performance can be found in vehicles of all
sizes and levels of performance only adds to the difficulty of the task,
for it dictates a shortlist populated not only by fast, exotic machinery,
but also by newly launched everyday vehicles, such as the Suzuki Splash and
Ford Fiesta.
Ultimately, it was a battle between two very different vehicles, the Ford Fiesta and the Nissan GT-R, with the GT-R emerging victorious, a car that was viewed to have outstanding all-round ability.
“As track tests have revealed worldwide, the GT-R is a revelation for Nissan,” commented the jury, while Simon Croft, speaking on behalf of the Nissan development team, says: “To be presented with this award from those specifically reporting on vehicle dynamics validates our many hundreds of hours testing around the world at various circuits and on challenging road conditions. Like previous versions of the legendary GT-R, our latest model to bear the iconic three letters is a showcase for Nissan’s engineering.”
Ford was further recognised in the awards by securing a well-earned second place in the category for its new Fiesta.
Dynamicist of the Year
The ‘Dynamicist of the
Year’ Award recognises an outstanding individual contribution to
vehicle development. Emerging victorious from this keenly fought category
was John Heinricy, GM’s director of High Performance Vehicle
Operations. Nominated by his own engineers, they said: “Although John
is an executive within GM, which comes with a lot of responsibility, he can
often be found working directly with the product during critical phases of
a program. Whether it be riding damper tuning iterations with the
development engineer, or working directly with the chassis controls
engineer to hone the exact feel he wants from the stability calibration,
John’s evaluation and tuning skills are very sharp and well
respected.”
Under Heinricy’s leadership, the Chevy Cobalt SS, HHR SS, and Cadillac CTS-V have all been launched in the past 12 months and the judges agreed that Heinricy deserved the award in 2008, saying: “Few engineers have had such an impact on so many people as this winner.”
Wolfgang Helbert of Ford Europe continued the company’s dominant performance in the awards by being voted into the runner-up position for this award.
Other Category award winners include MTS/Nissan for their Four-Corner Damper System with mHIL, which secured the ‘Development Tool of the Year’ Award; Bishop Steering Technology for its ActivRak, which is central to Mercedes-Benz’ Direct Steer technology, in the ‘Innovation of the Year’ category; and Robert Bosch as the highly-regarded winner of the ‘Supplier of the Year’ Award.