Shortlist for European Car of the Year announced
The European Car of the Year committee has just announced the shortlist for this year”s award. Instead of the usual seven cars, the list includes eight of the original 41 contenders. The list now includes the Citroën C4 Picasso, Fiat Grande Punto, Ford S-Max, Honda Civic, Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 207, Skoda Roomster and Volvo C30. Left off the short list are such notables as the Alfa Romeo Brera, Toyota RAV4, Mazda MX-5, Jaguar XK, and Fiat Sedici/Suzuki SX4. The 58 voting members will now use this list in the next round of voting, with the winning car to be announced on November 13. The European Car of the Year award is now in its 44th year. It is organized by a non-profit group of volunteers from Europe”s 7 largest auto publications; Auto (Italy), Autocar (UK), Autopista (Spain), Autovisie (Holland), L”Automobile Magazine (France), Stern (Germany), and Vi Bilägare (Sweden). A panel of 58 European auto journalists then do the voting. The Car of the Year trophy is presented to the winning car manufacturer in January. They are then entitled to use the title and the distinctive Car of the Year logo the following year in their promotions. [Sources: Channel 4, Car of the Year]
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The idea of a four-door sedan that shelters a sports car within its mechanical soul has always been appealing to us, and the Nissan Maxima was the original 4-Door Sports Car. Lately, however, the Maxima is a adrift within a lineup that doesn”t need it thanks to the more than competent Altima and the real four-door sports sedan from Japan, the rear-wheel drive Infiniti G35. Nevertheless, people like Flickr member Ca3ey still believe in the Maxima, and this 2002 Maxima GLE has a healthy list of mods that”s turned the original 4DSC into something a bit more menacing. What we particularly like about this tuned Maxima is the lack of traditional tuner flair in favor of a monochromatic color palette and a host of handling upgrades. You see the, the VQ V6 underhood (a VIS Racing carbon fiber hood, in this case) has a decent amount of power for a front-wheel driver; any more ponies in the corral would only worsen torque steer. So dropping the ride height with TEIN S-tech lowering springs, firming up the ride with Tokico adjustable shocks and dropping in a rear sway bar struck us as the right areas of improvement. The Maxima”s cosmetic upgrades are also to our liking, as they”re aggressive enough to ward off the Soccer Dad who thinks his Camry has what it takes but subtle enough not to draw unwanted attention to itself. Check out the full list of mods for Ca3ey”s 2002 Maxima GLE after the jump along with more pics. 
2002 Nissan Mazima GLE mod list
