KickingTires Reveals Family Cars of the Year

Family cars face painstaking demands. These days, they are used not just for family driving adventures but for business purpose as well. With the versatility expected of them, automakers find it hard to emerge as the best in the family car segment - but this is not the case with Honda. Earlier, 3 of Honda's vehicles were awarded the "Best Car for Small Families," "Best Car for Big Families," and the "Best New Car for First-Time Drivers" by KickingTires.

The 2007 Honda Accord emerged as the "Best New Car for Small Family. Honda Accord parts are especially designed to face rigorous family car's demands. For the 2007 model year, Accord was given new trim called SE-V6. Also, for the sedan version, cool blue metallic color was made available. The runners-up for the Best New Car for Small Families were BMW 328, Ford Five Hundred, Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Infiniti G35, Mazda5, Mazda6, Subaru Legacy, and Toyota Camry.

On the one hand, 2007 Honda Odyssey was given the "Best Car for Big Families" commendation. Honda Odyssey is a minivan introduced by the automaker in 1995. The runners up for said title were Acura MDX, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon, Hyundai Entourage, Kia Sedona, Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Sienna, and Volvo XC90.

For the "Best New Car for First-Time Drivers" category, 2007 Honda Civic emerged as the winner. Honda Civic parts are especially engineered to be accommodating to first-time drivers. The car's auto parts can be easily operated so it fits . The runners up for the category were Honda Fit, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda3, Pontiac Vibe, Scion tC, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Camry and Toyota Matrix.

Finally, for the "Best New Car for Empty Nesters" category, 2007 Jaguar XK emerged as the winner. The runners up were BMW 650, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Infiniti G35, Infiniti M45, Lexus LS 460, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and Volvo C70.

"Before we named the four finalists for Family Car of the Year in our first annual Lifestyle Awards, we considered all the 2006- and 2007-model-year vehicles we’ve tested and narrowed them down to a select group. We’ll tackle the other Lifestyle categories as we get closer to the final awards Jan. 3, but for now see what other cars we recommend for families and how staffers Mike Hanley, Kelsey Mays, Patrick Olsen, David Thomas and Joe Wiesenfelder debated the winners" KickingTires revealed.

In most categories, analysts say that Honda and Toyota car parts are showcasing excellence. As observed by analysts, prices for highly equipped models have greatly increased with time and innovations.