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The 2016 Top Gear Philippines Stig Awards have come to a close, and one car came out on top to nab both our prestigious Car of the Year and Readers' Favorite titles. Yes, the tenth-generation Honda Civic drove two Stig trophies home during awards night, ending Mazda's three-year winning streak and capping off what was one of the most interesting voting seasons in recent memory.
The all-new Civic finished with a total of 107 points in our Car of the Year voting on account of its turbocharged drive, drop-dead gorgeous looks and return to the glory days of Honda performance. The Civic is back, and damn everyone is loving it. By everyone, we do mean everyone, as it handily made its way to the top of our Readers' Favorite voting as well. Both are well-deserved wins. Congratulations, Honda.
Following at a not-so-distant second is the Mitsubishi Montero Sport. The Japanese midsize SUV finished with 95 points, impressing our panel with its comfortable ride, spectacular handling, and first-place finish in our five-way SUV Big Test earlier this year.
In third is the larger than life Nissan GT-R with 72 points—finally making its way to the Philippines and giving every Pinoy car nut a reason to hop aboard the hype train (second in Readers' Favorite voting). To be honest, the GT-R was a solid contender the moment it was confirmed to land on our shores. Rounding out the top five finishers are the fun-to-drive Mazda CX-3 baby crossover in fourth, and the well-loved Toyota Fortuner in fifth, with 40 and 26 points, respectively.
So that's a wrap for 2016. Frankly, as fun as the past 12 months have been, we're already looking forward to next year's crop of vehicles. If it's even half as impressive as this last one, we're going to be in for one hell of a ride. Thank you for voting, and thank you for being part of the year that was.
