The Autocar long-term test awards 2018

The Volkswagen Golf GTI impressed us enough to make us consider parting with our own money

The Autocar car park is home to some of the year’s most interesting and significant new cars. But which members of our long-term fleet impressed us the most?

Every vehicle in the Autocar long-term fleet is subject to an extended spell in our personal garages, to give us, and you, an understanding of what they're like to live with beyond the test drive.

Each performs well in some areas, and not so well in others, which makes for a diverse catalogue of entries into our 2018 long-term test awards. Whether it be as a load-lugging, do-it-all utility vehicle, or as an eyecatching B-road blaster, every car we've had in our car park this year stands a chance at success.

So, without further ado, let's congratulate the winners.

The ‘We Didn’t See That Coming’ Award

For the car that surprised us the most (in any way)

Winner: Kia Stinger

Highly commended: Hyundai i30 N, Volvo XC40

This award’s title should not be taken literally. Fairly obviously, nobody would ever fail to spot our big, bold and very yellow Stinger coming. No, this prize is all about the cars that surprised us for what they are, and in this case it was Kia’s ability to produce a large executive saloon that can genuinely rival the premium German brands.

“It’s a lazily playful hot saloon that’s still a revelation every time you slide into the chunky driver’s seat,” said road tester Ricky Lane, while Tom Morgan said it was “the first Kia I’ve ever wanted to own”. Clearly, he’s never tried the Soul. Possibly.

That said, road tester Simon Davis handed the Kia the prize because of the colour it came in. “I was expecting red or grey, certainly not that gawdy shade of yellow,” he said.

While the Volvo XC40 was as polished as we’ve come to expect from the firm’s recent products, it gained attention on this category because, as Andrew Frankel noted, the firm has “done the hitherto impossible and created a genuinely desirable compact SUV”.

Kia Stinger long-term updates

The ‘I’d Buy It’ Award

For the car we’d spend our own cash on

Winner: Volkswagen Golf GTI

Highly commended: Hyundai i30 N, Toyota Land Cruiser

This is perhaps the most prestigious award here, especially given how difficult it can be to part journalists from their cash. And the Volkswagen Golf GTI is a deserving, if not entirely surprising, winner.

The key to the Golf GTI’s appeal is that it does everything well, mixing the best bits of a hot hatch with the usability of a daily driver, delivered with typical VW sheen and polish.

Mark Tisshaw had the pleasure of running the Golf and said: “I’d always answer ‘Golf R’ when asked what car I’d buy given the choice. Then I spent nine months in the GTI and found it more usable. It’s also pleasingly old-school in the way its engine encourages you to rev it.”

Rachel Burgess described the Golf GTI as “the real deal”, adding that “it’s comfortable and usable every day but brilliant when you want to push it”.

The i30 N took second place, winning admirers for its sheer driving verve. Tom Morgan said: “I know the Golf GTI is the more sensible option, but the Hyundai is just that bit more exotic. It’s like ordering a curry: you know the tikka massala will fill you up, but sometimes you want a madras that’s going to make you sweat.”

Erm, quite.

Meanwhile, Mitch ‘Prepper’ McCabe championed the Toyota Land Cruiser: “I’m really scared Trump is going to press the red button tomorrow. The Land Cruiser would survive the nuclear apocalypse and still get me to the last McDonald’s drive-through on earth.”

Volkswagen Golf GTI long-term updates

The ‘Every Car Should Have One’ Award

For the best, most innovative or most useful design feature or option

Winner: The volume knob

Highly commended: Skoda, Volvo

This category always attracts the most diverse range of responses so, as judge, I just went ahead and gave the prize to the explanation that impressed me the most – and, yes, the humble volume knob won. Why? Turns out we miss it when it’s gone.

Editor Mark Tisshaw: “The Golf GTI was so good to live with that it made the absence of a volume control knob more annoying than it would have been otherwise. A glossy touchscreen too far.”

Skoda’s ‘Simply Clever’ solutions aren’t new or particularly high-tech, but far from being marketing gimmicks, they actually work, as Dan Prosser found with the parking ticket clip on his Octavia’s windscreen. “It’s simple and it’s clever,” he said. “It’s simply clever.”

Meanwhile, in a concession to the latest technology and a touch of common sense, we awarded third place to the XC40’s excellent 360deg parking camera system.

Skoda Octavia vRS long-term updates

The ‘Bring on Route 66’ Award

For the best car to take on a long road trip

Winner: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Highly commended: BMW 740LD, BMW M5

That the luxuriously comfortable and well-honed S-Class should win this award is little surprise. If you’re going to take a long journey, you want to do it in style. “You simply can’t beat an S-Class for a very long drive,” said Dan Prosser.

Road test ed Matt Saunders agreed: “Nothing – perhaps barring a Rolls Phantom – rides better. Absolutely nothing is more comfy in the back.”

Andrew Frankel was the chief proponent of the BMW 740Ld – but also predicted it would finish second. “Everyone is going to say S-Class, and I’d not disagree, but I’d contend the 740Ld is just as good and, as perennial underdog in this class, worthy of at least a moral victory.”

Real emotion from Frankel, there. But our long-termer awards are a serious business, and we don’t do moral victories here. The S-Class gets to waft away with the trophy (which will be luxuriously chauffeured to a well-built cabinet somewhere).

Mercedes-Benz S500L long-term updates

The ‘B-Road Detour’ Award

For the most fun car to drive

Winner: Hyundai i30 N

Runner-up: Honda Civic Type R

This was by far the closest category, with the i30 N and Civic Type R breaking away from the pack and only being split on count-back.

The Hyundai’s win here is a real upset, but while the i30 N might not be as rounded a car as others we’ve run, it has been widely praised for its excellent hot hatch characteristics. Rachel Burgess, the custodian of our i30 N, noted that it was “excellent for chucking around corners with conviction, demonstrating excellent handling and grip”.

Matt Prior simply described it as “the best mid-sized hot hatchback you can currently buy, and anybody who thinks otherwise is wrong”.

Those who voted for the Honda may take issue with that, including chief road tester Matt Saunders, who said the Civic was “just about the best hot hatch I’ve driven in five years.”

Meanwhile, editorial director Jim Holder noted that although he’d take an i30 N “for the track”, he’d want a Civic Type R on a B-road.

For the record, the only other car to get a (solitary) vote in this category was the Volkswagen Golf GTI – although editor Mark Tisshaw noted that he’d want to drive the Golf to the B-road, before swapping into everyone’s favourite hot Hyundai.

Hyundai i30 N long-term updates

The ‘Attention Grabber’ Award

For the car that garnered most interest from friends, family and strangers

Winner: Honda Civic Type R

Highly commended: Mercedes X-Class, Kia Stinger

“Try going anywhere with the Civic Type R and not catching someone’s eye,” said Autocar’s head of video Mitch McCabe. “I tell you, it’s impossible.”

And that, succinctly, nails why the Type R bagged this trophy. And, of course, as Mitch noted, every minor aero feature, winglet and air intake is there for performance reasons - but the end result is a car that looks so far reworked from the standard Civic that you end up staring for hours trying to work out what all those bits, pieces and intakes do.

The Stinger’s previously mentioned yellow paint was a key factor in its mention in this category. And the X-Class? Well, editor Mark Tisshaw explained: “I borrowed it after moving house to clear some rubbish out while a succession of tradesmen came and went to show up my absence of DIY skills. Each one of them knew what the X-Class was, craved it and wanted to sit in it.”

Honda Civic Type R long-term updates

The ‘Junior Kick-Start’ Award

For the easiest car to manoeuvre in tight car parks and city streets

Winner: Suzuki Swift Sport

Highly commended: Ford Fiesta, Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Our Swift Sport stood out from the pack in this category almost as much as its Canary Yellow paint does in a car park, taking a dominant if predictable win.

Deputy digital ed Tom Morgan confessed that “I’m hopeless at tight parking but never had a problem in it”, and, as the Swift Sport’s custodian, I can only agree – but I’d add the caveat that if you only drive it around tight car parks and city streets, you’re missing out: it’s a hot hatch that excels on flowing roads.

Looking beyond the small and nimble Suzuki, how did the S-Class waft its way into the top three? Well, as Jim Holder explains, “its array of sensors, cameras and bleepers, plus some excellent front visibility and enjoyably direct steering, makes living with a big car manageable”.

Suzuki Swift Sport long-term updates

The ‘We Ran An X-Class So We’re Giving It A Chance’ Load-Lugger Award

For the car best suited to carrying large loads

Winner: Mercedes-Benz X-Class

Highly commended: Vauxhall Insignia Tourer, Ssangyong Rexton

The X-Class’s win in this category seemed so inevitable we even named the category after it. In fact, Mark Tisshaw even berated that we’d opened this award for voting at all, noting that “I have the picture to prove it”. See below…

So with absolutely no spoiler alert, the X-Class dominated, because when it comes to load-lugging, you can’t beat a good pick-up – although Matt Prior called it “an okay pick-up but not a very good Mercedes”.

There were dissenters. Matt Saunders voted for the Insignia Tourer, insisting that a “good flexible estate with proper 40/20/40 back seats is more useful for the Ikea run than a pick-up.” Similarly, news ed Lawrence Allan went for the Rexton. “I’m not putting my possessions in the back of an open-bed pick-up,” he said. “It’s a jumble sale for thieves.”

Then there was editorial director Jim Holder, who voted for the Peugeot 5008, claiming that, in his view, “seven seats should be a basic qualifier for this category”. Normally, we’d disqualify him from voting for trying to change the criteria, but since he’s effectively our big boss, we’ll let it slide. But the X-Class still gets the trophy.

Mercedes-Benz X-Class long-term updates

The ‘Pick Your Own Award’ Award

What other accolades do our long-termers deserve?

BMW M5, Matt Saunders

“The survivor award because some local low-life covered it in glue in the multi-storey car park. Sorry, BMW.”

Toyota C-HR, Jim Holder

“The Salvador Dali award for its gently surrealist approach to exterior design.”