The road to the 2016 Canadian Car of the Year awards starts today at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ont.
Members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) will gather at Mosport to put 42 eligible cars, crossovers and trucks through their paces in the annual event known as TestFest, with the busy evaluation week wrapping up Friday, Oct. 30.
The testing process involves “real world” driving on public roads and a rating of each car based on 21 separate evaluation parameters that include acceleration, braking and vehicle dynamics, among others.
Cars await testing during AJAC’s TestFest in 2013.
Nick Tragianis, Driving
Testers will compare each vehicle in its class, back-to-back, on the same roads and under the same conditions to ensure objective evaluation. The results are tabulated by KPMG and kept confidential until the category and overall winners are announced. This year, vehicles will be grouped into nine categories. The category winners will be announced in December, with the overall 2016 Canadian Car and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards being announced at Toronto’s Canadian International Auto Show in February.
Here’s the rundown of this year’s entries, grouped into the nine categories being tested. May the best car/truck/SUV win!
Small car: The best-selling Honda Civic sedan goes up against two new entrants in the small car game, the Scion iM (automatic transmission) and the Toyota Yaris Sedan. Mercedes-Benz’s Smart fortwo coupe and Volkswagen’s Jetta (1.4 TSI) round out the group.
2016 Honda Civic sedan.
Handout, Honda
2016 Scion iM
Brendan McAleer, Driving
2016 Toyota Yaris Sedan
Handout, Toyota
2016 Smart Fortwo
Handout, Mercedes-Benz
2016 Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI
John LeBlanc, Driving
Family car: Hyundai’s redesigned Sonata Hybrid will go up against the Chevrolet Volt and Volkswagen Golf Sportwagon (1.8 TSI) for the family car crown.
2016 Sonata Hybrid
Andrew McCredie, Driving
GM Canada, Driving
2016 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagon
Handout, Volkswagen
Sports – Performance (under $50K): Chevrolet’s beefy Camaro SS muscle car goes up against some smaller contenders in the new Mazda MX-5 Miata, Hyundai Veloster Rally Edition, Mini John Cooper Works 3-Door and Volkswagen’s hot hatch Golf R.
2016 Chevrolet Camaro
Handout, Chevrolet
2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Brian Harper, Driving
2016 Hyundai Veloster Rally Edition
Chris Balcerak, Driving
2016 Mini John Cooper Works
Brian Harper, Driving
2016 Volkswagen Golf R
John LeBlanc, Driving
Sports – Performance (over $50K): Ford’s 526-horsepower Shelby GT350 Mustang will go up against the likes of Mercedes-AMG’s C 63 S super sedan, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Cadillac ATS-V and the Lexus RC 350 AWD.
2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang
Handout, Ford
2015 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S
Brian Harper, Driving
2016 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Handout, Chevrolet
2016 Cadillac ATS-V
Richard Prince, Cadillac
2016 Lexus RC 350
Handout, Lexus
Prestige – Performance (over $75K): In this group of high-priced, high-performance vehicles, we’ve got the Cadillac CTS-V, Mercedes-AMG GT S Coupe, Porsche Cayman GT4 and Lexus RC F duking it out.
2016 Cadillac CTS-V
David Booth, Driving
Mercedes-Benz AMG GTS
Nick Tragianis, Driving
Porsche Cayman GT4
Brendan McAleer, Driving
2016 Lexus RC F
Handout, Lexus
SUV – CUV (under $35K): In this fast-growing and ultra-competitive segment, four subcompact crossovers, the Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X, Honda HR-V, and Mazda CX-3, and one midsize CUV, the Mitsubishi Outlander with 2.4-litre engine, battle for the crown.
2016 Jeep Renegade
Lorraine Sommerfeld, Driving
2016 Fiat 500X
Lesley Wimbush, Driving
2016 Honda HR-V
Handout, Honda
2016 Mazda CX-3
John LeBlanc, Driving
2016 Mitsubishi Outlander
Handout, Mitsubishi
SUV – CUV ($35K to $60K): This crowded category of family haulers includes the BMW X1, Ford Edge, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Electric, Kia Sorento, Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic and the Lexus NX 200t F Sport.
2016 BMW X1
Lorraine Sommerfeld, Driving
2015 Ford Edge
Handout, Ford
2016 Honda Pilot
Derek McNaughton, Driving
2016 Hyundai Tucson
David Booth, Driving
2016 Kia Sorento
David Booth, Driving
2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class
Brian Harper, Driving
2016 Lexus NX 200t F Sport
Handout, Lexus
SUV – CUV (over $60K): Competing for the luxury SUV crown are the Lincoln MKX, Mercedes-Benz GLE 350d 4Matic Coupe, Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid and the Volvo XC90.
2016 Lincoln MKX
Jim Leggett, Driving
2015 Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe
Handout, Mercedes-Benz
2015 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid
Andrew McCredie, Driving
2016 Volvo XC90
Brian Harper, Driving
Pickup: There are three new pickups in the running for this year’s best truck title. The entries are the GMC Canyon Diesel, Chevrolet Silverado and the Toyota Tacoma (4X4 Double Cab).
The diesel-powered 2016 GMC Canyon is the Canadian Truck King Challenge's top midsize truck.
Handout, GMC
2016 Chevrolet Silverado
Handout, Chevrolet
The 2016 Toyota Tacoma in its natural habitat
Derek McNaughton, Driving