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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The Porsche Cayman S has been named the 2014 Car of the Year after what the jury said was the toughest competition in a long time.
The Cayman was one of nine finalists in the annual WesBank and South African Guild of Motoring Journalists' competition and scored 199 points.
Porsche controversially won the competition in 2013 with its Boxster so is only the second manufacturer in the Coty's 28-year history to score successive wins. It was also only the second year that Porsche had been nominated as a Coty finalist.
GALLERY: 2014 SA Coty finalists
Second was the Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90 kW Comfortline DSG (192) and third Audi's A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI (168). They were followed in order by the Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG, Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S, Renault Clio4 66kW Turbo Dynamique, Lexus IS 350 F-Sport, Volvo V40 and Peugeot 208 GTI.
Wheels24 ran its own readers' poll pretty much from when the finalists were named and their choice (see poll figures below) was the Volvo V40 De Geartronic Excel by a very clear margin.
Click here to find out what Wheels24 readers had to say.
Wheels24's JANINE-LEE GORDON was one of the 28-member SAGMJ jurists. At the end of all the evaluation processes each jury member had 50 points to allocate to the finalists. The car with the highest score was then announced the winner.
The 2014 Coty competition was a close call this year. All the finalists did exceptionally well in their various classes and choosing an overall winner was tough. Below shows how I allocated my 50 points, with a brief reason for each as I had voted for the final round. The only car I had not voted for was the Renault Clio.
Click here to find out how the jury voted!
JANINE'S SELECTION
Top 3:
• 8 points - 2013 Audi A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI Manual
The Audi A3 proves to be a great buy. It's refined all round and just feels more sturdy on the road. The 1.4 T FSI engine somehow just feels better in the A3 than the Golf. Pricing is competitive and the subtle interior ticks all the right boxes.
• 8 points - 2013 Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG
The A 45 impressed all round, looks, handling and performance and that throaty little grunt. It's only downfall would also be its heavy fuel consumption.
• 8 points - 2013 Porsche Cayman S
A car that is difficult to fault on all aspects except pricing. It's a bit steep compared to competitors in its class.
Runners up:
• 7 2013 Peugeot 208 GTI
The Peugeot rose above as an underdog. It looks great, holds its own in terms of performance and pricing is competitive.
• 6 2013 Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S
This car is hot as hell and exhilarating to drive on an open road. However, I was let down by performance and the fact that there is hardly any boot space took a knock on the scores.
• 5 2013 Lexus IS 350 F-Sport
The Lexus is a stunning car to look at and awesome to drive but its interior could do with some upgrades, especially the facia. Also, a tad too heavy on fuel.
• 5 2013 Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90 kW Comfortline DSG
Great car to drive, build quality is good, but disappoints at times in areas I had thought it would excel.
• 3 2013 Volvo V40 D3 Geartronic Excel
*Volvo V40: A great family car and extremely comfortable, but I had expected a lot more in terms of driving aspects.
However, Wheels24 readers have been voting on the website and their votes were rather interesting with the Volvo V40 being the clear winner with 4563 votes (31%).
Here are the rest, according to Wheels24 readers in descending order:
Lexus IS 350 F-Sport 16% - 2418 votes
Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90kW Comfortline DSG 14% - 2017 votes
Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG 11% - 1666 votes
Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S 8% - 1192 votes
Renault Clio4 66kW Turbo Dynamique 6% - 886 votes
Audi A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI Manual 5% - 809 votes
Peugeot 208 GTI 5% - 712 votes
Porsche Cayman S 4% - 591 votes
What do you think of the jury's choice? Email us and we'll publish your thoughts on Wheels24.
The Cayman was one of nine finalists in the annual WesBank and South African Guild of Motoring Journalists' competition and scored 199 points.
Porsche controversially won the competition in 2013 with its Boxster so is only the second manufacturer in the Coty's 28-year history to score successive wins. It was also only the second year that Porsche had been nominated as a Coty finalist.
GALLERY: 2014 SA Coty finalists
Second was the Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90 kW Comfortline DSG (192) and third Audi's A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI (168). They were followed in order by the Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG, Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S, Renault Clio4 66kW Turbo Dynamique, Lexus IS 350 F-Sport, Volvo V40 and Peugeot 208 GTI.
Wheels24 ran its own readers' poll pretty much from when the finalists were named and their choice (see poll figures below) was the Volvo V40 De Geartronic Excel by a very clear margin.
Click here to find out what Wheels24 readers had to say.
Wheels24's JANINE-LEE GORDON was one of the 28-member SAGMJ jurists. At the end of all the evaluation processes each jury member had 50 points to allocate to the finalists. The car with the highest score was then announced the winner.
The 2014 Coty competition was a close call this year. All the finalists did exceptionally well in their various classes and choosing an overall winner was tough. Below shows how I allocated my 50 points, with a brief reason for each as I had voted for the final round. The only car I had not voted for was the Renault Clio.
Click here to find out how the jury voted!
JANINE'S SELECTION
Top 3:
• 8 points - 2013 Audi A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI Manual
The Audi A3 proves to be a great buy. It's refined all round and just feels more sturdy on the road. The 1.4 T FSI engine somehow just feels better in the A3 than the Golf. Pricing is competitive and the subtle interior ticks all the right boxes.
• 8 points - 2013 Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG
The A 45 impressed all round, looks, handling and performance and that throaty little grunt. It's only downfall would also be its heavy fuel consumption.
• 8 points - 2013 Porsche Cayman S
A car that is difficult to fault on all aspects except pricing. It's a bit steep compared to competitors in its class.
Runners up:
• 7 2013 Peugeot 208 GTI
The Peugeot rose above as an underdog. It looks great, holds its own in terms of performance and pricing is competitive.
• 6 2013 Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S
This car is hot as hell and exhilarating to drive on an open road. However, I was let down by performance and the fact that there is hardly any boot space took a knock on the scores.
• 5 2013 Lexus IS 350 F-Sport
The Lexus is a stunning car to look at and awesome to drive but its interior could do with some upgrades, especially the facia. Also, a tad too heavy on fuel.
• 5 2013 Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90 kW Comfortline DSG
Great car to drive, build quality is good, but disappoints at times in areas I had thought it would excel.
• 3 2013 Volvo V40 D3 Geartronic Excel
*Volvo V40: A great family car and extremely comfortable, but I had expected a lot more in terms of driving aspects.
However, Wheels24 readers have been voting on the website and their votes were rather interesting with the Volvo V40 being the clear winner with 4563 votes (31%).
Here are the rest, according to Wheels24 readers in descending order:
Lexus IS 350 F-Sport 16% - 2418 votes
Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90kW Comfortline DSG 14% - 2017 votes
Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG 11% - 1666 votes
Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S 8% - 1192 votes
Renault Clio4 66kW Turbo Dynamique 6% - 886 votes
Audi A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI Manual 5% - 809 votes
Peugeot 208 GTI 5% - 712 votes
Porsche Cayman S 4% - 591 votes
What do you think of the jury's choice? Email us and we'll publish your thoughts on Wheels24.
