There Are 10 Contenders for Robb Report’s Car of the Year. Which Will Win the 2019 Crown?
An annual Robb Report event since 2003, Car of the Year (COTY) began as a small gathering of cars and friends, driving Southern California roads and rendering some informal opinions. Over the years and certainly today, COTY has morphed into a bi-coastal series of events in Napa, Calif., and Boca Raton, Fla., involving more than 200 judges, with results published in Robb Report editions around the world.
Who selects the cars, and how? Robb Report’s automotive judges, and the criteria for selection requires that a car be new, not just a minor variation on the previous model. This year, we’ve scaled the competition back to 10 cars, in response to comments that eight-or-so hours was not sufficient time to drive the 13 automobiles that have been our traditional number since 2004. And for the first time ever…no convertibles were among the field. That’s just the luck of the draw, next time could be an entirely different story.
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Our mix for 2019 was full of surprises, with new discoveries about performance that make us question whether terms like “sports car” or “SUV” are sufficient to describe the character of vehicles that are, as a whole, simply getting more capable every year. Here are the 10 contenders.
Aston Martin Vantage
This long-anticipated Vantage catapults Aston Martin out of the automotive Stone Age and brings it face-to-face with the most up-to-date sports cars like Porsche’s 911. For years, the brand had been hamstrung with platforms, engines, and electronics that lagged behind state of the art, but this all-new “entry-level” Aston puts the marque squarely back in the running. Of course, as has been the case since the DBs of yore, nothing looks better than an Aston Martin.
Engine: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8
Power: 503 bhp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 505 ft lbs @ 2,000-5,000 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: Rear-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 3,650 lbs
0-62 mph: 3.6 seconds
Top Speed: 195 mph
Base Price: $153,081
Our Car: $186,806
Audi A8
Audis have always appealed to design-types who appreciate classic lines and cars that don’t shout “look at me.” Even older Audis have a timeless aspect about their styling. What’s not timeless is technology, whose inexorable advance brings obsolescence with every new model year. When it comes to advancing the state of the high-tech arts, the new A8 is at the head of its class. From autonomy to connectivity to passive safety, Audi engineers push what’s possible to make the A8 one of the most tech-savvy luxury sedans on the road.
Engine: 3.0-liter turbocharged V-6
Power: 335 hp @ 5,000-6,400 rpm
Torque: 369 ft lbs @ 1,370-4,500 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: All-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 4,751 lbs
0-60 mph: 5.6 seconds
Top Speed: 130 mph (limited)
Base Price: $83,800
Our Car: See window sticker
Bentley Continental GT
Bentley’s Continental has had a darned good run; it was our Car of the Year in 2004, and went through a major update in 2010. But this Continental is an all new model, with a redesigned W12 engine and updated styling that riffs on the rather amorphous original but turns it into a much more sculpted, aggressive GT. The only thing more addictive than the Continental GT’s power is its opulent interior, inviting sybarites to fairly wallow in luxury. Variants will offer hybrid and V-8-power, as well as convertibles across the model range.
Engine: 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged W-12
Power: 626 bhp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 664 ft lbs @ 1,350-4,500 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: All-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 4,965 lbs
0-60 mph: 3.6 seconds
Top Speed: 207 mph
Base Price: $214,600
Our Car: $276,730
BMW M850i xDrive
This year marks BMW’s first 8-Series since 1999. Like Rip Van Winkle, BMW’s top luxury coupe awakens after 20 years with an all-new look to confer an aura of prestige on the marque whose ever-expanding beltline currently includes 32 models in North America. Optional M Performance and M Sport Packages add sporting character, enhanced by an intelligent all-wheel-drive system favoring the rear wheels when performance is the order of the day. Sun worshippers will appreciate the forthcoming convertible.
Engine: 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8
Power: 523 hp @ 5,500-6,000 rpm
Torque: 553 ft lbs @ 1,800-4,600 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: All-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 4,478 lbs
0-60 mph: 3.6 seconds
Top Speed: 155 mph
Base Price: $111,900
Our Car: $117,945
Ferrari 812 Superfast
It has the most powerful naturally aspirated production car engine ever made, which is a start. If that’s not enough, Ferrari’s 812 is the fastest, most powerful series-production Ferrari in the company’s 70-year history. It’s simply the best GT ever to wear a prancing horse, and maybe the best GT anywhere. The name celebrates Ferrari’s first 4.9 Superfast, a luxurious grand tourer from the late 1950s that made Ferrari famous, not just on the track, but in the driveways of playboys and gentlemen racers everywhere. Some things never change.
Engine: 6.5-liter normally-aspirated V-12
Power: 789 hp @ 8,500 rpm
Torque: 530 ft lbs @ 7,000 rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automated manual
Drive Configuration: Rear-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 3,845 lbs
0-60 mph: 2.8 seconds
Top Speed: 211 mph
Base Price: $335,275
Our Car: $465,509
Lamborghini Urus
Lamborghini calls it a Super Sport Utility Vehicle. We call it an answer to a question that everybody asked: when will we get an SUV with a bull on the hood? A Lamborghini off-roader was not without precedent; their 1980s-era LM002 was a wicked beast made for grueling desert action and could even accommodate machine-gun armament. The Urus has a different calling. With a name derived from aurochs, a large, wild—and extinct—Eurasian ox, this 650 hp raging bull means to establish itself as the supercar of SUVs.
Engine: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8
Power: ?650 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 626 ft lbs @ 2,250-4,500 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: All-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 4,850 lbs
0-62 mph: 3.6 seconds
Top Speed: 190 mph
Base Price: $200,000
Our Car: $242,998
McLaren 600LT
The newest model in McLaren’s Sport Series, the 600LT sits right on top of the 570 models and flaunts the LT suffix, which refers to “Longtail”—extended bodywork that confers aerodynamic advantages in extreme driving. Lots of carbon fiber inside and out saves weight, and makes the latest McLaren not just the most track-oriented model in the Sports Series, but one of the most capable sports cars anywhere its owner chooses to unleash it.
McLaren’s 600LT tackles zero to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds.
Engine: 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8
Power: 592 bhp @ 7,500 rpm
Torque: 457 ft lbs @ 5,500-6,500 rpm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: Rear-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 2,994 lbs
0-60 mph: 2.8 seconds
Top Speed: 204 mph
Base Price: $208,800
Our Car: See window sticker
Mercedes-Maybach S 650
During the 1930s, the Maybach Zeppelin defined the pinnacle of German motoring luxury, and today, the Mercedes-Maybach wears that mantle of Teutonic four-wheeled opulence. Essentially an S-Class Mercedes-gone-to-finishing-school, the big V-12 ‘Bach goes like heck, all the while cosseting its passengers in an interior more akin to a quilted adult playpen than an automotive cabin. It’s hard to imagine a better place to be than behind the wheel, except luxuriating in the nether regions of Mercedes’ most elegant sedan.
Engine: 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-12
Power: 621 hp @ 4,800-5,400 rpm
Torque: 738 ft lbs @ 2,300-4,300 rpm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: Rear-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 5,296 lbs
0-60 mph: 4.6 seconds
Top Speed: 155 mph (limited)
Base Price: $199,900
Our Car: $230,295
Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid
Is it the most capable sport sedan in the world? Or just one of the most capable Porsches, period? Long and low as a dachshund, the most potent Panamera is a virile hybrid that ladles a little bit of “green” on performance and luxury, all in a unique four-door hatchback design. Though its looks may polarize Porsche purists, once such unbelievers sit in the driver’s seat, they are left with no misapprehension that the Panamera is a pure Porsche, through and through.
Engine: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 with electric
Power: 680 hp @ 5,750-6,000 rpm (combined V8 and electric)
Torque: 626 ft lbs @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: All-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 5,093 lbs
0-60 mph: 3.2 seconds
Top Speed: 192 mph
Base Price: $184,400
Our Car: $201,540
Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Named after the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered, it is no surprise that the much-anticipated Cullinan SUV is every inch a Rolls-Royce. Whichever way one chooses to employ the Cullinan, whether as a high-riding luxury cruiser or pressed into service as an off-road warrior, this motor car reflects its Rolls-Royce pedigree through thick (mud) and thin. No matter what the job, the Cullinan remains as composed as the Phantom, but is always ready to change from business attire to a Superman outfit when duty calls.
Engine: 6.75-liter twin-turbocharged V-12
Power: 563 hp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque: 627 ft lbs @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Drive Configuration: All-wheel drive
Curb Weight: 6,069 lbs
0-60 mph: 5.0 seconds
Top Speed: 155 mph (limited)
Base Price: $325,000
Our Car Est: $400,000 (approximate)
