How do you compare a BMW 7-Series to a Skoda Superb? Or a Volvo XC90 to a Mazda MX-5? Yet this is the quandary we find ourselves in as jury members for this year's Car of the Year title.
The seven shortlisted finalists were brought to the CERAM-owned test track in the sleepy French village of Mortefontaine last week to undergo the final testing session of what has been a long journey to the annual awards announcement at Geneva Motor Show.
The good news is that we are confident the seven shortlisted cars represent the cream of the crop of new models launched this year.
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It also offers a great snapshot of where the industry is at present, a mix of cutting-edge innovation, low-emission engines and pure driving pleasure.
With the winner announced on Monday, February 29th, we take a final run-through of the finalists.
Audi A4
Once again this German brand has set new benchmarks in refinement in this class. The cabin is impeccably well-presented, intuitive and smart, with funky new features like the virtual cockpit system, setting new standards for others to follow.
The underpinnings are also impressive, with a mix of powerful and efficient diesel and petrol engines, and plans afoot for an e-tron electric variant. It lacks a little character in terms of its styling, but it feels and handles like a proper premium car.
Over various tests we were most impressed by the poise and grace under pressure: the A4 never gets flustered no matter what combination of bends, surfaces or foot-to-floor antics you throw at it.
BMW 7-Series
From the firm that first introduced the likes of in-car sat-nav and the iDrive comes its latest flagship, an Aladdin’s cave of new tech innovation. Key talking points are the Gesture control functions that can operate phone, audio or sat-nav controls at the wave of your fingers, and a new self-parking function that lets you exit the car before it drives itself into a tight garage space – and, of course, drive itself out when you want as well. The keyfob is also a touchscreen device, letting you remotely monitor and control a host of functions.
All of these have the wow factor that draws attention these days, but there is much more to the 7-Series. For example with four-wheel steering fitted to a 740 long-wheelbase version, it absolutely kicked ass on our tight-handling circuit at Mortefontaine. Coming into tight chicanes with hot hatches and sports coupes on its tail, the BMW was well down the straight before the others were exiting the last bend. It’s jaw-dropping how well this car handles considering its size. It simply shouldn’t be possible to throw a car this size around like that.
The 7-Series may be a car for the wealthy one per cent, but the trickle-down effect is well-established in the motor industry and at BMW, so it’s a confident and reassuring peak at what’s coming our way in affordable models in the near future.
Jaguar XE
I’ve had a change of heart about the XE over the past while. During our first test drive in the car I was underwhelmed by both the styling and the driving characteristics. A car that promised to be cutting edge and driver-orientated seemed a little more like a lookalike to its leading German rival, while it never felt quite as sharp behind the wheel as the benchmark in this class.
Over time that has changed, particularly when you see it in the metal on Irish roads. The car looks great and while it isn’t class-leading in terms of space or a match of the A4 in terms of refinement, it is as driver- focused as they promised. It’s an engaging drive when you work it.
Others have tried to take on the Germans in this all-important car segment but none have succeeded to date. This is arguably the closest anyone has come to date to taking on the dominance of the BMW 3-Series in this class.
Mazda MX-5
The Mazda’s only gesture controls are the ones you use to other road users. Your smartphone makes the Mazda’s tech look like a Commodore 64. It’s by no means the fastest sports car in the world. The plastics are relatively basic, the cabin is cramped and the bootspace is laughable. The seating position is basically a one-size-fits-all
– and if it doesn’t fit you then tough. Even with the roof up you can’t help overhearing comments from passersby, such as “look at that mobile mid-life crisis”.
So what’s it doing on the list? Well I, among others, voted for it as a reminder of why we still love cars. It’s pure fun to drive. It could be better: the steering could be a little sharper and the front nose isn’t as precise as we’d have liked, but these points take nothing from the pleasure you get behind the wheel. It’s got an ideal mix of power to weight, even with the smaller 1.5-litre engine, with beautiful poise and balance on the road and track.
As we enter the age of autonomous driving, the MX-5 is a timely reminder that driving is not a chore, it’s actually fantastic fun. It’s simply a must-have on every petrolhead’s wishlist.
Opel Astra
The new generation hatchback hasn’t set the Irish market alight since it was introduced and buyers seem relatively nonplussed by the new Astra. That’s a shame because what we have here is a vast improvement on the previous car and a really impressive well-priced package of engineering talent and new tech.
For a start the car is vastly improved on the inside, with a much cleaner cabin design, while there is also much better headroom and legroom on offer.
The engineers have made huge weight savings in the car to make it lighter, while they’ve come up with an impressive array of new engine options. These start with a nimble little 1-litre petrol that seems a natural fit for the car and makes you wonder why you would opt for the entry-diesel alternative. You can also opt for Opel’s impressive Watt Links rear- suspension system that significantly improves the handling for more engaged driving styles.
There are several tech advances in the car, such as Opel’s new OnStar system, that puts you in contact with a call centre helpdesk at the touch of a button, where you can get an immediate diagnostic on the car, have location information and directions uploaded into your car’s sat-nav, or most important of all get assistance in a breakdown on emergency.
What’s more, if the car is in a crash the call centre is automatically notified and if they can’t contact you directly they use GPS to locate the car and send emergency services to the scene. In addition, the car’s advanced lighting system is a proper rival to the likes of the laserlight system on the range-topping BMWs these days. When you put together the list of new features, design improvements and new engine options, it deserves a lot more attention from the buying public.
Skoda Superb
The flagship of the Skoda range has won enormous respect among Irish motorists for its value proposition, and the latest version brings a vastly improved styling and refinement mix to the table as well. The outgoing model was remarkably spacious and the latest Superb carries this forward, only adding a smarter fit and finish inside and lovely lines – thanks in part by making the saloon a lot sleeker by abandoning the awkward twin-door format on the boot.
Its underpinnings are derived from its membership of Volkswagen Group, so that means an award-winning chassis, a broad and efficient engine range, and all the latest in passive and active safety tech along with comfort features that make it a really tempting proposition for any family buyer or smart executive.
Volvo XC90
It’s the most attention-grabbing Swede since Abba and rightly so. The XC90 represents a new dawn for Volvo, from the luxury touches in the cabin to the plug-in hybrid powertrain on offer in the T8 version and the remarkable active safety technology on board.
We still have a few qualms about the touchscreen system that requires quite a bit of attention from the driver to operate, but there are steering wheel controls for most functions. The Swedes made a bold promise some years ago that by 2020 no one would be killed or seriously injured in a Volvo. We greeted it with cynicism at the time, but since then there has been a massive roll-out of new technology that may just make that happen.
The XC90 is a template for a lot of those features and we have tested them in various scenarios: they really do work. Like the BMW 7-Series, the XC90 offers a glimpse of the new technology coming our way, but in Volvo’s case the mantra is “meaningful innovation” and certainly its safety tech work so far meets the criteria.
