Our 2016 Readers’ Choice Winners Revealed!

Car fanatics are never short on opinions.

For the past two weeks, we’ve asked you to share those opinions on the important issues. Issues that divide America. Issues like:

• What’s the best automotive brand?
• Who makes the best engine?
• What’s the best current model truck?

From your answers and opinions, we determined the winners of our 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards. Here’s who and what walked away with a highly coveted and completely invisible (we blew our budget on donuts and gas station coffee) award:

Best Current Model (2016) High Performance Car

Winner: Corvette Z06

Apparently the Z06’s 2.95-second 0-60 time and 650 horsepower was enough to hold off the Hellcat’s 707 horsepower — at least in the race for an OAC Readers’ Choice Award. Both the Corvette Z06 and the Mustang GT350 blew by the Hellcat in this year’s voting.

How They Finished

1. Chevy Corvette Z06
2. Ford Mustang GT350
3. Dodge Challenger Hellcat
4. Chevy Camaro Z28
5. Dodge Viper

…

Best American Vehicle Make

Winner: Chevy

The Chevy guys have spoken — again.

Following last year’s win, Chevrolet made it two in a row in what is probably Ford’s most embarrassing failure since the Edsel. Probably.

How They Finished

1. Chevy
2. Ford
3. Dodge
4. GMC
5. Jeep

…

Best Current Full Size Truck

Winner: Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Okay, we’re starting to think it’s not all Ford’s fault.

They clearly make some great vehicles, but once again Ford came up short in our full size truck category. Maybe the Ford guys are too busy driving their vehicles to vote in some silly online competition. Or maybe the Silverado is just that good.

It was probably both.

How They Finished

1. Chevy Silverado 1500
2. Ford F-150
3. RAM 1500
4. GMC Sierra 1500
5. Toyota Tundra

…

Best Current American V8 Engine

Winner: Chevy 6.2L LT-4

See performance comments under the Best High Performance Car category. That is all.

How They Finished

1. Chevy 6.2L LT-4
2. Dodge 6.2L Hellcat
3. Ford 5.0L Coyote
4. Ford 5.2L
5. Dodge 5.7L HEMI

…

Best New Product

Winner: FiTech Fuel Injection

There were several good candidates in this category, but FiTech found the secret to success. Make a self-tuning aftermarket fuel injection system that starts at about 800 bucks. It’s effective, it’s affordable, and the FiTech fuel injection system is also our 2016 winner for best new product.

Coincidence? We don’t think so.

How They Finished

1. FiTech Fuel Injection
2. RideTech Street Grip Suspension
3. Edelbrock Cross-Ram Intake for LS3
4. Aeromotive Diesel Lift Pump
5. Bestop JK Sunrider Soft Top

…

Top Television/Web Series

Winner: Roadkill

Chances are, you’ve never heard of James Cox, John Davis, or Alf (not that Alf) Landon. These guys were on the short end of the biggest U.S. presidential election landslides in history before fading into anonymity. Although we don’t see Jay Leno or Jerry Seinfeld going away any time soon, they did experience their own Alf-esque landslide loss to the Roadkill boys here. Roadkill fans mustered up 1,100 votes for their good guys, while the next highest vote-getter managed 142 votes.

How They Finished

1. Roadkill
2. Powernation TV
3. Fast n’ Loud
4. Jay Leno’s Garage
5. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

…

Top News Story

Winner: Return of the Ford Ranger & Bronco

Volkswagen’s rough year continues.

First, all that stuff about the diesels. And now they’ve lost out on the one thing that could’ve salvaged everything: an OnAllCylinders Readers’ Choice Award. The news of the Ford Ranger and Bronco’s return has apparently made everyone forget about VW’s prolific news-making year. At least Volkswagen can still fall back on all those press clippings.

How They Finished

1. Return of Ford Ranger/Bronco
2. Volkswagen Diesel Scandal
3. Sixth-Gen Camaro Hits the Streets
4. EFI Debuts in NHRA Pro Stock
5. Holley Acquires MSD

…

Best Build Style

Winner: Pro Street

Pro Street has been rumored dead more times than Abe Vigoda.

Unlike Abe himself, though, Pro Street is still alive and well as our readers have voted this build style as the best for two straight years. No, not 1985 and 1986 (kidding). Pro Street is still killin’ it in 2016 as your back-to-back choice as build style of the year.

How They Finished

1. Pro Street
2. Pro Touring
3. Classic Restoration
4. Rat Rod
5. Traditional Street Rod

…

Favorite YouTube Channel

Winner: MotorTrend

MotorTrend has the biggest following of any automotive channel on YouTube, so logic might’ve told us it would win here. Despite our mothers’ best advice, we elected to throw common sense logic out the window. We put the matter of the best YouTube channel to a vote, and you know what?

Logic prevailed. Who knew? Mom knew.

How They Finished

1. Motor Trend
2. Jay Leno’s Garage
3. Eric the Car Guy
4. Engineering Explained
5. Car & Driver
6. Mighty Car Mods (write-in)

…

Best Diesel Engine

The Winner: 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel

Cummins is king. At least that’s what you said by voting the Cummins 6.7L Turbo Diesel to an easy victory over its capable competition.

How They Finished

1. 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel
2. Ford 6.7L “Scorpion” Powerstroke
3. Duramax 6.6L Turbo Diesel
4. RAM 3.0L Ecodiesel
5. Duramax 2.8L Diesel

…

Pioneer Award (Most Iconic Aftermarket Product)

Winner: Hurst 4-Speed Shifter

The Hurst 4-speed shifter earned its reputation by changing the way manual floor shifters performed.

“Most floor shifters that came on production cars were junk,” said Wayne Scraba, OnAllCylinders contributor. “Missing third gear was pretty common. But Hurst changed all of that. It was another game changer.”

Linda Vaughn, the original Miss Hurst, helped elevate the popular 4-speed shifter to iconic status. The image of Vaughn standing next to an oversized version of the shifter at races is probably seared into the minds of old school racing fans! And let’s face it — Miss Isky or Miss MSD just doesn’t have the same ring as “Miss Hurst.”

How They Finished

1. Hurst 4-Speed Shifter
2. MSD Ignition
3. Holley 3310 Carburetor
4. Iskenderian Camshafts
5. Edelbrock Slingshot Intake Manifold

…

Best Carburetor Manufacturer

The Winner: Holley

Respected automotive journalist Jeff Smith said it best: “Hot rodding would be very different without the Holley carburetor!” We named the Holley 3310 as the #1 aftermarket part of all time just last year. And now you’ve voted Holley as the best carburetor manufacturer in a decisive vote.

That’s about as undisputed as it gets.

How They Finished

1. Holley
2. Edelbrock
3. Quick Fuel
4. Summit Racing
5. Stromberg

…

Best Aftermarket Wheel Manufacturer

Winner: Weld

You went round and round (see what we did there?) on Facebook and Instagram to determine the best wheel manufacturer. The winner: Weld.

You also took us to task for not including Center Line and Billet Specialties on the list. Both brands registered as write-ins on our final tally.

How They Finished

1. Weld
2. American Racing
3. Cragar
4. Foose
5. Rocket Racing
6. Center Line and Billet Specialties (write-ins)

…

Best Aftermarket EFI System

Winner: FiTech Go EFI

FiTech becomes our first double winner of the year by taking home Best New Product and Best Aftermarket EFI System.

What’s so doubly special about a FiTech system, you ask?

We answer here.

How They Finished

1. FiTech Go EFI
2. Holley Terminator EFI
3. MSD Atomic EFI
4. FAST EZ-EFI Self-Tuning System
5. Edelbrock E-Street 2 EFI

…

Best Non-V8 Performance Engine

Winner: Ford 2.3L EcoBoost

Has anyone done more with less than Ford?

Not when it comes to engines. Ford’s 2.3L EcoBoost engine has led automotive enthusiasts to reconsider the four-cylinder and V6 engine as viable high performance options. The EcoBoost family has helped change the way we look at smaller engines and even led us to create this separate category for non-V8 performance engines.

How They Finished

1. Ford 2.3L EcoBoost
2. Chevy 2.0L Turbo
3. GM 3.6L DOHC
4. Chrysler V6 Pentastar
5. GM 1.5 L DOHC Electric