Twenty-five jury members and seven assistants, all members of the SA Guild of Motoring Journalists, put the finalists in this year's Car of the Year competition through their paces

Static Evaluation

After an early start at the Wesbank headquarters in Fairlands, Johannesburg, static evaluation was done between 7am and 11am. Scorebooks in hand we evaluated everything from the cars' styling and paint-work to the quality of materials used for upholstery and interior plastics, the ergonomics of arm rests and cup holders, the size and shape of the boot, head room, leg room and shoulder room.

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Evaluation of each finalist in terms of aesthetics, build quality and ergonomics also contributes to the car's score, whilst consideration based on perceptions of value for money, cost of a spares basket, safety features and environmental friendliness also counts towards the overall score.

Just like last year, I had no particular favourite prior to the test days and after the static evaluations this did not change. All eight cars scored well in their own class.

Ride, handling and dynamic testing

We left Wesbank and en route to the Gerotek testing facilities near the Hartebeespoort Dam, had the opportunity to drive four of the finalists in urban driving conditions.

At Gerotek we were divided into two teams to evaluate each of the eight finalists on the Handling and Dynamic tracks.

My driving partner and fellow juror, Liana Reiners, of Wheels Motoring Annual, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Golf VI, Hyundai i20 and Chev Cruze and they certainly stood out at the Dynamic track.

On day two we drove the other four finalists on a similar route. At Gerotek we moved onto the Ride and Handling track that included two parking bays to evaluate ease of parking in terms of blind spots and overhangs for each car. The Gerotek section also included a corrugation suspension test. Here the Prius disappointed me with the rattles. The Audi scored full marks here.

After testing all eight finalists, in my opinion, four moved to the fore: The Golf VI, Chev Cruze, Alfa MiTo and the Hyundai i20.

Scoring

This year was the third time that Garmin navigation systems were placed in the cars and this gave us the opportunity to discuss and evaluate each car to and from Gerotek. The evaluation, whilst doing the urban driving, included driving comfort, noise levels, ventilation and heating, engine performance, gearbox action, braking ability, preciseness of steering, quality of ride, sharp corner handling and high speed stability.

Value for money

This is the final evaluation sheet in the scorebook and entails an enormous amount of cross referencing. Each car is evaluated against its peers in the same class - from running costs, the spare parts basket, fuel consumption and practicality to comfort and user friendly features at the quoted price to performance at the price are all considered.

On our return to Wesbank our scorebooks were handed in and checked by the auditors. All our scores will now be tallied and an average score per entered model calculated. The winner will be announced at a gala banquet in March.

Prediction

Certainly not easy this year - the VW Golf VI 1.4 TSI? - pity the styling isn't anything to write home about. The Hyundai i20 1.6 GLS has a very expensive parts basket. the Chev Cruze 1.8 also falls down on styling. Last but not least... I just could not fault the Alfa MiTo!