COTY 2007 judging criteria

Selecting the finalists

• Eligibility is for cars launched on the market from November 1, 2006, to November 1, 2007, regardless of the price.
• The contenders must be either new models or be substantial upgrades, including major engineering updates.
• A garage of 48 initial nominations was pruned down to 11 after careful consideration by News Limited's national judging panel.
• There are no second chances - 11 finalists will come down to one winner, which will be announced on November 23.

How we tested the field

• Nine drivers examined 11 cars through exhaustive testing across three days.
• Each judge painstakingly pored over every car in relevance to interior functionality, fit and finish, build-quality, space and ergonomics.
• The field was driven on a wide mix of environments and road conditions: city, freeway, highway and country towns.
• Each car was also let loose on Goulburn's Wakefield Park race circuit.
• There were no stop watches, hence no lap times as this was no fast and furious exercise.
• The object of the exercise was to see how competent all cars were in critical driving situations - steering, handling, braking, acceleration - within the legal confines and safety of a closed environment.
• From the racetrack activity, testers were able to better assess grip thresholds, tyre balance, chassis performance and suspension.

How the winner is determined

• From 10 criteria, judges are asked to award marks out of 10 taking into account the relativity of performance between each car.
• Judges come up with an aggregate for each car.
• They then list their choices from 1-11 (1 being the best).
• The winner is determined on a points basis after all judges' scores have been collated.

For all the latest on the carsguide Car Of The Year each week go to www.carsguide.com.au/car-of-the-year