It appears that Edmunds.com readers agree with our choice of the Most Significant Vehicle for 2002. They awarded the Mini Cooper that honor with a total of 324 votes. The next highest vote count (243) went to the Nissan Altima, with the Subaru WRX not far behind at 205 votes. When we voted for the Mini Cooper last fall, we'd had only limited exposure to the vehicle. Recent months have granted us seat time in both the Cooper and the Cooper S versions, confirming our original opinion that this is the single most important automotive development for the 2002 model year. Typical waiting lists for the car have stretched well into the hundreds, and the expected eBay profiteering is in full swing.

Others models worth noting for the number of votes they received include the following:
Acura RSX
Audi A4
BMW 3 Series (if you include all M3 mentions)
Chevrolet TrailBlazer/GMC Envoy/Oldsmobile Bravada
Ford Focus (lots of SVT mentions)
Ford Thunderbird
Mazda Protegé5
Volkswagen Passat (plenty of W8s mentioned here)

We should also note that plenty of votes came in for the Infiniti G35, Cadillac CTS, Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe and Mercedes-Benz SL500, but those are all 2003 models (which we'll be voting on in just a few months).

This Sentra managed to grab a full 30 percent of the votes, just beating out the Ford Focus ZX3, which had 29 percent. Following in a distant third place was our favorite in this segment, the Hyundai Elantra GLS, which garnered 15 percent of the tally. Bottom dwellers included the Kia Rio/Rio Cinco, Hyundai Accent, Daewoo Nubira, Kia Spectra and Daewoo Lanos, all of which had one percent or less of the vote.

The Volkswagen Jetta seems to be universally pleasing in the economy sedan category, both to our editors and to the general consumer. Twenty eight percent, or 1,018 of consumers, gave the excellent sporty car their vote, while the ubiquitous Honda Civic was firm in second place with 798 votes. We noted a steep drop from second to third place with the Toyota Corolla gathering 458 votes, while 329 of you chose Subaru's all-wheel-drive Impreza 2.5 RS. The Suzuki Esteem wasn't held in very high esteem, totaling only 2 votes.

Snagging nearly one third (32 percent) of the ballots, the WRX was another vehicle that was a favorite with staff and consumers alike. Not far behind the Subie was the Nissan Altima 3.5 SE (21 percent), trailed by its upscale sibling, the Maxima SE (17 percent). The Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and Dodge Intrepid R/T accounted for just 6 and 4 percent of the total votes, respectively.

The Volkswagen Passat was the runner up for our editors' favorite family sedan, but a vast majority of consumers chose it as their most wanted. Garnering almost twice as many votes (1,030) as the next contender, the Honda Accord (564, quite an impressive number for a vehicle due for a complete redesign next year), the Passat proves that you can't go wrong with a functional car that's also fun to drive. Bringing up the rear in this category are the Kia Optima and the Daewoo Leganza, both of which received less than 10 votes each.

When it comes to midsize luxury sedans, Edmunds' editors and consumers agree — the BMW 5 Series sedan is a cut above. Consumers awarded the 5 Series with 1,275 votes (36 percent overall). Finishing behind in second place was the Audi A6 with 638 votes (or 18 percent). The refined yet docile Lexus GS 300 and 430 took third in the poll with 618 votes (17 percent). Finishing at the bottom were the Cadillac Seville (156 votes), Saab 9-5 (143) and Volvo S80 (136), each of which received 4 percent overall.

Despite the fact that only the base-level Avalon qualified for this category (the XLS has a base price north of $30,000), this big Toyota grabbed 52 percent of the votes cast, soundly trouncing the second-place finisher, Pontiac's Bonneville, which accumulated 10 percent of the votes. In last place was the Bonneville's platform-mate, the Buick LeSabre, managing to win the hearts of just 4 of every 100 voters. Our selection in the category, the Ford Crown Victoria, received 8 percent of the vote to win it a bronze.

Consumers agreed with our choice when they picked the Lexus LS 430. Snagging a healthy 45 percent of the total votes, the Lexus ran away from the competition, which in this case was Infiniti's Q45 at 21 percent and Acura's 3.5RL at 14 percent. Our honorable mention in this category, the Cadillac DeVille, landed in fifth place among consumers with 6 percent of the vote, right behind the fourth place Chrysler 300M at 7 percent. Lincoln's Town Car, Buick's Park Avenue and Lincoln's Continental finished out this category, in that order. With less than 1 percent of voters picking the Continental, it would seem Ford's decision to kill the model was a good one.

There wasn't much dissention in this category, as consumers agreed wholeheartedly with our choice of the BMW 3 Series as the top pick in this category, drawing 28 percent of the vote, a full 12 percentage points more than the second-place vote getter, the Audi A4. Our entry-level luxury sedan comparison test winner, the Acura TL, came in a strong third place, with 14 percent of the vote. Beyond third place, the vote counts narrowed, as Lexus took fourth and fifth with the IS 300 and ES 300 sedans at 7 percent; Lincoln's LS snagged sixth with 6 percent; and the Jaguar X-Type, Infiniti I35 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class each earned 5 percent of the total vote.

Want fun in the sun for less than $30,000? Edmunds.com site visitors looking for an affordable convertible agreed with our editors and chose the Mazda Miata, which garnered nearly a quarter of the votes cast. Tied in second place were the Toyota MR2 Spyder and the Ford Mustang, each with 16 percent of the vote. Evidently, the Chevrolet Tracker and Suzuki Vitara don't excite sun lovers; combined they received 6 votes, not even enough to register on the percent-o-meter.

This is another category where our honorable mention, the Honda S2000, took first place with consumers. It grabbed a healthy 18 percent of the vote compared to the second-place finisher, Porsche's Boxster, with 15 percent. America's sports car, the Corvette, came in third with 11 percent. And where did our pick for Convertible Over $30,000, the BMW 3 Series, land? Way down in fifth place, behind the Audi TT, with a mere 8 percent of the vote. Last place in this category was a three-way tie between the Volvo C70, Chrysler Prowler and Pontiac Firebird all getting 2 percent of the total votes.

What's more important than sporty handling for a small SUV? Solid construction and Honda's reliability record, according to our readers. We gave top honors to the athletic Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute and runner-up status to the Honda CR-V, but when we asked consumers what they thought, the CR-V came up with the most votes (531 or 17 percent overall) and a first place finish. The Escape and Tribute managed a combined total of 506 votes — good enough for second place. Rounding out the top five in this division were the Toyota RAV4 (388 votes or 13 percent), the Nissan Xterra (365 or 12 percent), and interestingly enough, the pricey Land Rover Freelander (276 votes or 9 percent). For those who enjoy grim statistics, the Isuzu Rodeo Sport, Chevrolet Tracker/Suzuki Vitara and Grand Vitara, Suzuki XL-7 and Kia Sportage all received 1 percent or less overall.

Our editors' pick for midsize SUV was the Nissan Pathfinder, with the Dodge Durango rating an honorable mention. Consumers, however, picked the Toyota Highlander as best of the bunch, with the Pathfinder coming in second. It was a close race. Here's how the votes fell for the top five in the class: The Highlander earned 602 votes (20 percent); the Pathfinder, 544 (18 percent); the Toyota 4Runner, 393 (13 percent); the Ford Explorer, 310 (10 percent); and the GMC Envoy, 257 (9 percent). Our participants' least favorite vehicle in this category was the Isuzu Rodeo, which straggled behind with 20 votes (2 percent).

With this category, our editors and consumers concurred with their choice of this Toyota as the top large SUV. With a stout 39 percent of the total votes, the Sequoia crushed all the other candidates, as the second place GMC Yukon/Denali XL finished with just 17 percent, followed by the Ford Expedition with 13 percent. Scratching together a meager 4 percent or less each were the Mitsubishi Montero, Ford Excursion and Isuzu Trooper.

We found the seven-passenger, well-equipped Acura MDX to be the most appealing luxury SUV, with the athletic BMW X5 coming in at a close second, but consumers pulled a switch-a-roo: 29 percent (851) chose the X5 as the vehicle they'd most want, while the MDX was favored by 23 percent. Toyota's aged and expensive but utterly capable Land Cruiser came in third place, while the domestic luxo-ute rivals, the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, occupied fourth and fifth place, respectively. Coming in last place with 1 percent of votes is the Buick Rendezvous, which 50 readers wanted most for their own garages.

Edmunds.com site visitors confirmed our choice of the Toyota Tacoma as top dog in the competitive small pickup category. The tough Tacoma earned 1,028 votes (39 percent) with the Nissan Frontier a distant second with 477 votes (18 percent). While we chose to give the Dodge Dakota our second place honorable mention, readers reduced its ranking to third-place in their tally, earning 392 votes (15 percent). The Ford Ranger, Chevrolet S-10, Mazda Truck and GMC Sonoma rounded out the list of small pickup contenders, each only securing single-digit percentages.

The Toyota Tundra was the decisive winner in the large pickup category, receiving 984 votes from consumers, which was 37 percent of the 2,630 cast. Coming in second was the Ford F-Series with 580 votes or 22 percent of the ballots (the F-Series was the top choice of our editors). Coming in third was the Dodge Ram with 458 votes (17 percent of the votes) and Chevy's Silverado was a close fourth with 426 votes (16 percent of the votes). Finishing last was the GMC Sierra, with 182 votes (8 percent of all votes), which had received the nod for honorable mention from the Edmunds editors.

Who makes the best small crew cab? While we picked the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab as our favorite, consumers gave top honors to our runner-up, the Toyota Tacoma Double Cab, with 34 percent of the votes. The Nissan Frontier finished second with 20 percent. Meanwhile, the Dakota fell to the middle of the pack with 17 percent, a bit behind the Ford Explorer Sport Trac (19 percent). Last place was awarded to the aged Chevrolet S-10 and GMC Sonoma pickups, which scraped together 10 percent overall.

We like the unique configuration of the Avalanche, but consumers seemed to favor the more traditional SuperCrew in this category, as the F-Series four-door pulled in a solid 29 percent of the vote. GM wasn't completely ignored, however, as the Cadillac Escalade EXT, a sister vehicle to the Avalanche, pulled down second place with 20 percent of the votes. Dodge's new four-door Ram pickup was also popular, garnering 17 percent of the total.

Of the 15 minivans eligible in our survey, the Odyssey earned a whopping 1,270 votes, for 49 percent of the total. From there, it was a steep drop-off to the Toyota Sienna with 238 votes, or 9 percent. While our editors gave honorable mention to the Chrysler Voyager/Town & Country and their Dodge siblings, the Caravan/Grand Caravan, consumers placed them in third. The Mazda MPV and Ford Windstar came in fourth and fifth places, respectively. A recent new-comer to the market, the Kia Sedona grabbed sixth place, beating out the Nissan Quest and General Motors' line of minivans.

If you regularly haul seven or more people and need enough cargo space to accommodate a young elephant, you've got three main choices: the Ford Econoline, Dodge Ram Wagon and General Motors' sister vans, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana. Our editors picked the Econoline, and the Econoline did come in first with 40 percent of the vote. In second was the GMC Savana with 25 percent. The Dodge Ram wagon and Chevy Express had nearly identical total votes, with the Ram getting 18 percent and the Express getting 17 percent. GM executives aren't likely to get too worried, though; when combined, the Savana's and Express' votes totaled more than the Econoline's.

The Mini Cooper S was clearly the top choice for Econosports receiving 568 votes from our readers. Coming in second was the Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T with 394 votes (the top pick of our editorial staff). The third place slot went to the Honda Civic Si, which got 393 votes. Fourth was the Volkswagen GTI 1.8T with 383 votes. Ford's SVT Focus came in fifth with 323 votes and the Nissan Sentra SE-R, which received an honorable mention from the Edmunds staff, was sixth with 286 votes. The ranking for the remaining cars was the Subaru Impress 2.5 RS in seventh place, the Dodge Neon R/T in eighth place, the Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 in ninth place, the Mitsubishi Lancer O-Z Rally in tenth place and the Pontiac Sunfire GT in last place.

Our readers had their own take on the economy coupe/hatchback category. While our editors gave the Volkswagen Golf top honors, with the Honda Civic taking a close second place, consumers voted the Civic number one and the Mini Cooper number two in this segment (relegating the Golf to third-place status). The numbers break out like this: Civic 654 votes (24 percent), followed by the Mini Cooper with 550 votes (21 percent) and the Golf with 380 (14 percent). For those who care, the Daewoo Lanos Sport finish last, with a total of 4 votes.

If given $30,000 to play with, Edmunds.com site visitors would overwhelmingly select the Honda Accord Coupe as their Most Wanted midsize two-door. More than half of survey respondents named the Accord, which received the nod on 52 percent of the ballots. The Toyota Camry Solara ranked second with 19 percent of the vote. Our choice in this category, the Chrysler Sebring, landed in fourth place, capturing 7 percent. In last place was the Pontiac Grand Am, receiving just 2 votes for every 100 cast.

When Acura redesigned the Integra for 2002, it made substantial mechanical changes and gave it a new name, "RSX." We had doubts as to whether the car would be able to maintain its popularity. It would seem consumers are keeping the faith. Asked what sport coupe they would most like to put in their garage, they overwhelmingly voted for the RSX. Coming in a distant second and third were the Volkswagen GTI and Ford Mustang, respectively. In fourth place was the Toyota Celica, the car that the Edmunds editors picked for their Edmunds Most Wanted sport coupe. Coming in last was the Mercury Cougar. Since Mercury is stopping production of this car after 2002, we don't find that too surprising.

Consumers shared our enthusiasm for the exciting BMW 330Ci by choosing it as their top choice for the Luxury Sport Coupe Over $30,000. The 330Ci garnered 993 votes, or 37 percent. Coming in a distant second was the Acura 3.2CL Type-S with only 528 votes. The Audi TT trailed close behind with 476 votes, and in fourth place was the Mercedes Benz CLK, which received an honorable mention from our editors. The Volvo C70 was fifth and the Cadillac Eldorado was in sixth. Bringing up the rear was the Saab 9-3 with only 79votes.

Consumers saw eye-to-eye with us in this category, agreeing that BMW's lust-inducing M3 deserves top honors. They also agreed that the Chevy Corvette was the next best vehicle in this class. Here what the numbers look like: The M3 garnered 1,041 votes (39 percent) and the Corvette racked up 547 votes (20 percent), trailed by the Porsche Boxster (18 percent) and the Honda S2000 (16 percent). Segment-winner BMW also has the rather dubious honor of being the manufacturer behind the vehicle that placed last in this category. Its M Coupe was the caboose on this train, with 201 votes (7 percent).

While its compact dimensions blur the lines when it comes to determining its exact categorization (we've christened it a wagon, but it's clearly got a lot of hatchback in its gene pool), we're smitten with the Protegé5, Mazda's able, impressive little hauler. This charming wagon is a beaut to look at, with upscale styling cues that belie its economical price tag. It also has first-rate handling. We voted it as our Editors' Most Wanted pick for small station wagons, and consumers did the same by giving it 32 percent of the Consumers' Most Wanted votes. Not far behind was the Jetta GLS wagon in second and the Subaru Impreza TS/Outback Sport. Sucking wind at the back of the pack were the Suzuki Aerio, Daewoo Nubira and Suzuki Esteem.

Consumers confirmed our choice of the appealing Volkswagen Passat as the best midsize station wagon under $30,000 by more than half, with a hefty 53 percent (1,245 votes) realizing its merits. They also agreed with our decision to award the all-wheel-drive Subaru wagons, Legacy and Outback, the runner-up position, earning 22 percent of the total vote. The Chrysler PT Cruiser, Ford Taurus and Saturn L-Series took third, fourth and fifth places, with 15 percent, 5 percent, and 3 percent respectively, while the Mercury Sable landed in sixth place in the wagon lineup, earning a minimal 50 votes.

When it comes to midsize luxury sedans, Edmunds' editors and consumers agree — the BMW 5 Series sedan is a cut above. Consumers awarded the 5 Series with 1,275 votes (36 percent overall). Finishing behind in second place was the Audi A6 with 638 votes (or 18 percent). The refined yet docile Lexus GS 300 and 430 took third in the poll with 618 votes (17 percent). Finishing at the bottom were the Cadillac Seville (156 votes), Saab 9-5 (143) and Volvo S80 (136), each of which received 4 percent overall.