Texas Auto Writers Hold a Roundup – With a ‘Yee’ and a ‘Haw’

If you’ve followed txGarage you already know what the Roundup is. For those of you who don’t, this is an annual event – hosted by the Texas Automotive Writers Association (TAWA) – giving journalists the chance to drive a wide range of new vehicles back-to-back. After their evaluations, those participants vote on awards, such as ‘Car of Texas’.

Since the staff at txGarage has a long history with TAWA, we also have a long history of disagreeing with some of the winning choices. Quite often we’re left shaking our heads while reading the results, as we imagine our readers do. Nevertheless, below are the results from this year’s Auto Roundup. We’ll have more coverage of individual vehicles, along with our thoughts on the awards, in videos and articles published over the next few weeks. That’s, of course, after we extinguish the fires encircling our brains…the results initiated quite the explosion.

CAR OF TEXAS

Winner: 2018 Lexus LC 500

FAMILY CAR OF TEXAS

Winner: 2018 Chrysler Pacifica

ACTIVITY VEHICLE

Winner: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Runner-Up: 2018 Jeep Wrangler

COMPACT CAR

Winner: 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback
Runner-Up: 2018 Volkswagen Golf R

MID-SIZE CAR

Winner: 2018 Toyota Camry
Runner-Up: 2018 Volkswagen Passat

FULL-SIZE CAR

Winner: 2019 Toyota Avalon
Runner-Up: 2018 Honda Accord

FULL-SIZE LUXURY CAR

Winner: 2018 Lexus LS 500
Runner-Up: 2019 Infiniti QX50

GREEN VEHICLE

Winner: 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Runner-Up: 2018 Honda Clarity

PERFORMANCE COMPACT

Winner: 2018 Honda Civic Type R
Runner-Up: 2018 Mazda MX-5 Miata

PERFORMANCE COUPE

Winner: 2018 Lexus LC 500
Runner-Up: 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody

PERFORMANCE SEDAN

Winner: 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Runner-Up: 2018 Kia Stinger

PERFORMANCE UTILITY

Winner: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio
Runner-Up: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT

SUPERCAR

Winner: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GT R
Runner-Up: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

BEST TECHNOLOGY

Winner: World’s First Production-Ready Variable Compression Ratio Engine, 2019 Infiniti QX50

BEST NEW INTERIOR

Winner: 2019 Toyota Avalon Touring

[all photos by Kevin McCauley]

Event Sponsors

[Polaris Slingshot Photos]

[Eagles Canyon Raceway Photos]

[Denton, TX Photos]