At the beginning of the year, in the sports world, the New England Patriots were deemed cheaters with quarterback Tom Brady allegedly throwing underinflated balls in a playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts.  Two weeks later the Super Bowl closed with perhaps the worst call in the history of the game by the losing Seahawks.  In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.  Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk, was made a hero by some marriage traditionalists by refusing to do her job in issuing same-sex marriages licenses and was sent to jail for it.  Lots of people got sick eating at Chipotle from an E.coli outbreak in July.  In September, it was Pope-apalooza as Pope Francis, whom the right wing cannot stand, visited Philadelphia.  Also in September, NASA declared that water once flowed on Mars.  Donald Trump emerged as the Republican frontrunner in presidential politics as a hapless Jeb Bush and other establishment candidates failed to gain traction.  The more Trump appealed to the lowest common denominator, the higher his ratings went.  In November, there were terror attacks by ISIS in France, followed by an attack by a radicalized murderous couple in San Bernardino, California, which shook the feeling of security on our own soil.  The year ended with a new Star Wars movie and Bill Cosby booked into jail on charges of sexual assault.

 

A few other notable people and things from 2015, provided with a minimum of comment:  Cecile the Lion, Caitlyn Jenner, Ashley Madison hacking, pharma douche Martin Shkreli, Back to the Future II predictions, spontaneously combustible hoverboards, and man buns.

 

Prominent passings included blues musician B.B. King, baseball player Yogi Berra, actor Leonard Nimoy, and on the last day of the year, singer Natalie Cole.

 

Some of the favorite topics on the C&G boards were the Camaro and Mustang rivalry, Cadillac’s declining sales numbers, and the wisdom of going to fully aluminum bodies for Ford pick-ups. Self-driving cars were mocked and extolled, Electric cars were mocked and extolled.  There was a large influx of new members from the Motor Trend boards, and they breathed new life into the forums.  The board platform was mostly stable this year, with just some obligatory server issues in September.

 

And now, here’s the 14th Annual Edition of Cheers and Jeers for the best and worst of C&G and the automotive industry from the past year:

 

Jeers to Volkswagen for the Worst Corporate Malfeasance for their “Clean Diesel” debacle.  While nobody was killed by VW’s surreptitiously polluting diesels, as compared to unrecalled vehicles with known defects, Dieselgate showed the casual contempt the company has for its customers.  It will be a long time before they will be able to redeem themselves.  http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85606-vw-news-epa-alleges-volkswagen-used-software-on-diesel-vehicles-to-skirt-clean-air-rules

 

Cheers to Tesla for the Most Awesomest Performance Sedan in their Model S P90D with Ludicrous Mode.  While Elon Musk has his detractors, and some resent the amount of government funding that Tesla has taken advantage of, there’s little denying that their vehicles are technological tour-de-forces or that their performance can rival supercars, with Motor Trend reporting a 0 to 60 mph time of 2.6 seconds and a quarter mile in 10.9 seconds for the Model S in Ludicrous Mode.  There was a lot of news out of Tesla this year, with the introduction of their new Model X crossover with falcon wing doors, attempt to break into the Michigan market with company-owned stores, breaking the Consumer Reports rating scale with a theoretical score of 103, and being dropped as a recommended buy by CR due to reliability concerns, though 97% of the owners would definitely rebuy the vehicle.  http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85352-tesla-announces-updates-to-the-model-s-including-ludicrous-acceleration-mode

 

Cheers to the Best Post by hyperv6 in bringing some measured thought into the discussion of the rising cost of the 2016 Camaro.  An excerpt:  “To be honest we pay a lot but we are getting cars today that can not compare to anything in the past content and quality wise. The Camaro here in question could take to a track and in street form out run many race cars from the pony era. Lets face it too that V6 here would out run most model Camaros from the 60's also out stopping and turning too.”  http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85511-trim-levels-pricing-configurator-for-16-camaro-revealed/?p=768496

 

Honorable Mention to Drew Dowdell in describing the underwhelming FWD Mercedes-Benz compacts:  “the name I coined for the CLA and GLA are Mercedes-Pretendz”

http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84736-cadillac-confirms-335hp432-lb-ft-20l-plug-in-hybrid-for-ct6/page-2

 

Cheers to Lincoln for the Best Naming Move in giving their upcoming sedan a real name, the storied Continental, instead of a jumbled mix of letters and numbers.  Alas, the Mk plus random letter nomenclature appears to be sticking around for the other vehicles besides the iconic Navigator.  How is MkX better than Aviator?  In other naming news, Cadillac dumps the name of its best-selling SRX for XT5, and Mercedes rechristened ML and GLK to GLE and GLC, the latter of which was last used by Mazda 30 years ago on the “Great Little Car” econobox in the lineage of the Mazda3.

http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84760-lincoln-news-under-consideration-lincoln-may-return-to-actual-names

 

Jeers to Lexus for the Worst Styling.  Lexus has taken their “L-finesse” to ghastly new extremes in their latest creased and folded vehicles, with the almost universally hated spindle grille becoming even more prominent.  Moltar calls the look “angry robot” in describing the new RX350.  http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84640-new-york-auto-show-2016-lexus-rx-comments

 

Dishonorable Mention to the contorted new Toyota Prius.

http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85565-toyota-news-revealed-2016-toyota-prius

 

Cheers to GM for their continued weight loss in their new vehicles for better performance, handling, and economy.  For instance for Chevy, the new Camaro, Cruz, Volt, and Malibu have each lost between 200 and 300 pounds despite being vastly improved.

 

Cheers to Chevrolet for having the Best Mid-Size Pickup, in the Colorado.  The updated Toyota Tacoma was not able to meet the standard set by the Colorado  The new Duramax diesel makes that Colorado that much more compelling, and the sales numbers show the strength of having competitive product.

 

Jeers to Acura for being the Most Irrelevant Brand.  Their only vehicle worth considering is the MDX, and the new lackluster TLX was a lost opportunity.  The forthcoming $155,000 NSX weighing 3,800 pounds probably won’t do much for them.

 

Finally, Cheers to all the staff and members of C&G.  The strength of C&G is the quality of the members, and the new members have certainly been high quality.  Suaviloquent, oldshurst442, and others, including even Wings4Life, have added tremendously to the site.  Cheers to William Maley for his road test reviews, which are really coming on their own.  Cheers to all!

 

Hope everybody has a safe and healthy Happy New Year!

 

And Cheers to Bobo with a great New Years post every year!

Cheers bobo!

Thanks for the thread Bobo.  As a newer member, this is a nice surprise to read and look forward to in the coming year.

 

Cheers.

Cheers to Bobo! 

Yes, yes to everything Bobo!!!

 

Also - a weird co-incidence where I keep mentioning that GMC is trying to control my life through hidden messages and memes I uncover everyday.

 

For example, Bobo is a Denali Member. Woulda thunk?

Thanks Bobo.. I shouldn't take all of the credit for the reviews. Drew and Paolino deserve some of the credit as they make sure I seem somewhat senile by looking at the reviews before they go up.

Happy New Year.

Always a pleasure to read and something I look forward to after the holidays come to an end.  Bobo, has it really been 14 years you've been doing this now?  That, my friends, is what I call devotion  Looking forward to the 15th edition!!

I look forward to the 2016 Cheers and Jeers.  Should be a big year for us.

Awesome you guys ROCK! Cheers to you all!

:CG_all:Thanx Bobo, and to all that think of me as a poster who actually brings something to the table. 

 

Thanx to all that make it possible for me to have fun and enjoy myself in here.

 

In no particualar order

Drew, Suave, El K, CCAP, DFELT, BLU, Hyper, Mr Cubital, Balthazar...and others...and even Wings...I learn and have fun with you folk....

 

Wings...I read that comment about you wishing somebody getting 1000 fleas from 1000 Greek Goats...that must have been the FUNNIEST thing I read anywhere on the internets....I did not +1 you, because....THAT would be against my personal vendetta I got going with you...but that comment alone deserves at least a +100... 

Edited January 8, 20169 yr by oldshurst442

Thanks olds.

I am actually a very gregarious, easy going kind of guy along with a sarcastic attitude. Sometimes that can get under peoples skin, if you are on the wrong end of my delivery.  But I must say, I do try to keep it light, albeit a bit technical, and I only give back what is given first.

:CG_all:Thanx Bobo, and to all that think of me as a poster who actually brings something to the table. 

 

Thanx to all that make it possible for me to have fun and enjoy myself in here.

 

In no particualar order

Drew, Suave, El K, CCAP, DFELT, BLU, Hyper, Mr Cubital, Balthazar...and others...and even Wings...I learn and have fun with you folk....

 

Wings...I read that comment about you wishing somebody getting 1000 fleas from 1000 Greek Goats...that must have been the FUNNIEST thing I read anywhere on the internets....I did not +1 you, because....THAT would be against my personal vendetta I got going with you...but that comment alone deserves at least a +100...

I appreciate the props, man. With me, what you see is what you get, no need to backtrack on being an asshat

Shame that some just have to go there, even in a feel good entertaining thread.

Edited January 10, 20169 yr by oldshurst442

^^^