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Behind the scenes on this year's Euro Car of the Year

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Behind the scenes on this year's Euro Car of the Year | Top Gear

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TG's Paul Horrell takes you through this year's selection... and why it's a tricky one

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Behind the scenes on this year's Euro Car of the Year

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TG's Paul Horrell takes you through this year's selection... and why it's a tricky one

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
TG's Paul Horrell takes you through this year's selection... and why it's a tricky one

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Behind the scenes on this year's Euro Car of the Year

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Behind the scenes on this year's Euro Car of the Year

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Behind the scenes on this year's Euro Car of the Year

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
TG's Paul Horrell takes you through this year's selection... and why it's a tricky one

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This is the point in the year when I've got to award my points for European Car of the Year. Some years I find it easy to put the finalists in order – though I still often fail to agree with my fellow 57 judges across Europe. This year I'm finding it pretty tricky.

First a recap on the procedure. Every all-new car on sale in Europe – provided most jurors have driven it – is eligible. In the first round, the jurors simply have to nominate seven cars for the final round. Each nomination gets a point. The top seven go to the final found. Simple.

Simple but not easy. How do you rate a Toyota Mirai (which I vainly nominated for the final) against a Honda NSX against a Tesla Model X against a Nissan Micra?

Actually that's the beauty of CotY. The jurors come from different places and have different attitudes, so any car that floats to the top must be good. (And yes, the logic of this is that while there are lots of great cars that don't win, any car that is not great will not win. Or at least maybe not since the Peugeot 307, when we should have given it to the Mini. I still smart about that.)

Also, CotY has a single clear winner. Everything is up against everything else. We don't put it into price bands. We don't have silly classes like "junior executive" – whatever one of those is. We have a Car of the Year.

Anyway, the photo above will tell you this year's shortlist. In alphabetical order: Alfa Romeo Giulia, Citroen C3, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Nissan Micra, Peugeot 3008, Toyota C-HR, Volvo S90/V90.

Each juror has 25 points to award. We may each give no car more than 10. We must not give equal-first. We must not give zero to more than two cars.

We all meet in France and drive the final seven back-to-back. That's where the photo above was taken.

But experience has taught we six British jurors that special characteristics emerge when driving right-hand-drive cars on British roads. So we have developed a specially ornery test route in Northamptonshire, and every year we gather the final seven for ourselves.

That's where I've just been. And what made it hard is that all of the cars have some significant endearing qualities. But most of them have significant faults too.

Strangely, this year's list has three pairs of competitors. Two superminis, two mid-size crossovers, two big luxobarges (sorry, "senior executives"). Then an entertaining outlier, the Giulia. But I won't be calling it my Car of the Year unless I can be convinced it's the best car of its kind. In other words that it can out-illuminate the shadows cast by its absent friends, the Jaguar XE, the BMW 3 Series, et al.

First off then, I drove the two grand saloons/estates. I really enjoy the design of the Volvo, especially the V90. And its cabin. But the Mercedes, in particular the mainstream E220, is subtly the better car: better-steering, more refined, and blessed with a ride that is on most roads slightly miraculous. Ironically, it's only in rear legroom that the Stuttgart taxi loses out to the Swede.

The E-Class feels like a true Mercedes, and it's also real value for money if you avoid the fancy options, especially air suspension, huge wheels and semi-autonomous driving. And actually it's a better car without.

Next the two crossovers. Plenty of people buy crossovers for style alone, and most of them have dubiously style-free cabins. The 3008 and C-HR both put that right. Surprisingly given the Toyota's drastic razor-slashed exterior, it's pretty much as practical and roomy as the Peugeot.

But to drive they could hardly be more different. The Peugeot has a rich interior, is fairly refined and cruises well, but its steering – although high-geared – turned out strangely elastic and soggy on our pet back-road. The Toyota has spirited handling but it churns up road and wind noise. If you want performance shop elsewhere, because both the 1.2 petrol and the hybrid are strugglers on main roads.

Two superminis: the Nissan and Citroen. The Citroen has a terrifically relaxed and soothing outlook on life. That's reflected in its cabin design, which eschews the usual aggressive automotive codes. And in its lovely supple ride. But it has chinks, especially the length and vagueness of the chain of command between gearknob and the actual box.

The Micra is a more consistent product, and has real verve through a set of corners. It's got some great small-car tech (the Bose hi-fi, LED headlamps, around-view monitor) but it's not cheap.

Finally the Alfa. It's as good as anything in its class to drive, thanks to fine handling and engines. It's also got the consumer stuff right by being solidly made and reasonably well-packaged. But I wonder if it'll struggle in the market because it lacks so many of the connectivity and driver-assist technologies of its rivals. I hope not because those gewgaws are mostly superfluous.

Anyway, I still haven't quite decided my points allocation. They're totalled up live at a ceremony that kicks off the Geneva Show on 6 March. No-one knows the result ’til it's announced then. Some years you can guess the winner. But this time, I'd say it's wide open.

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This is the point in the year when I've got to award my points for European Car of the Year. Some years I find it easy to put the finalists in order – though I still often fail to agree with my fellow 57 judges across Europe. This year I'm finding it pretty tricky.

First a recap on the procedure. Every all-new car on sale in Europe – provided most jurors have driven it – is eligible. In the first round, the jurors simply have to nominate seven cars for the final round. Each nomination gets a point. The top seven go to the final found. Simple.

Simple but not easy. How do you rate a Toyota Mirai (which I vainly nominated for the final) against a Honda NSX against a Tesla Model X against a Nissan Micra?

Actually that's the beauty of CotY. The jurors come from different places and have different attitudes, so any car that floats to the top must be good. (And yes, the logic of this is that while there are lots of great cars that don't win, any car that is not great will not win. Or at least maybe not since the Peugeot 307, when we should have given it to the Mini. I still smart about that.)

Also, CotY has a single clear winner. Everything is up against everything else. We don't put it into price bands. We don't have silly classes like "junior executive" – whatever one of those is. We have a Car of the Year.

Anyway, the photo above will tell you this year's shortlist. In alphabetical order: Alfa Romeo Giulia, Citroen C3, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Nissan Micra, Peugeot 3008, Toyota C-HR, Volvo S90/V90.

Each juror has 25 points to award. We may each give no car more than 10. We must not give equal-first. We must not give zero to more than two cars.

We all meet in France and drive the final seven back-to-back. That's where the photo above was taken.

But experience has taught we six British jurors that special characteristics emerge when driving right-hand-drive cars on British roads. So we have developed a specially ornery test route in Northamptonshire, and every year we gather the final seven for ourselves.

That's where I've just been. And what made it hard is that all of the cars have some significant endearing qualities. But most of them have significant faults too.

Strangely, this year's list has three pairs of competitors. Two superminis, two mid-size crossovers, two big luxobarges (sorry, "senior executives"). Then an entertaining outlier, the Giulia. But I won't be calling it my Car of the Year unless I can be convinced it's the best car of its kind. In other words that it can out-illuminate the shadows cast by its absent friends, the Jaguar XE, the BMW 3 Series, et al.

First off then, I drove the two grand saloons/estates. I really enjoy the design of the Volvo, especially the V90. And its cabin. But the Mercedes, in particular the mainstream E220, is subtly the better car: better-steering, more refined, and blessed with a ride that is on most roads slightly miraculous. Ironically, it's only in rear legroom that the Stuttgart taxi loses out to the Swede.

The E-Class feels like a true Mercedes, and it's also real value for money if you avoid the fancy options, especially air suspension, huge wheels and semi-autonomous driving. And actually it's a better car without.

Next the two crossovers. Plenty of people buy crossovers for style alone, and most of them have dubiously style-free cabins. The 3008 and C-HR both put that right. Surprisingly given the Toyota's drastic razor-slashed exterior, it's pretty much as practical and roomy as the Peugeot.

But to drive they could hardly be more different. The Peugeot has a rich interior, is fairly refined and cruises well, but its steering – although high-geared – turned out strangely elastic and soggy on our pet back-road. The Toyota has spirited handling but it churns up road and wind noise. If you want performance shop elsewhere, because both the 1.2 petrol and the hybrid are strugglers on main roads.

Two superminis: the Nissan and Citroen. The Citroen has a terrifically relaxed and soothing outlook on life. That's reflected in its cabin design, which eschews the usual aggressive automotive codes. And in its lovely supple ride. But it has chinks, especially the length and vagueness of the chain of command between gearknob and the actual box.

The Micra is a more consistent product, and has real verve through a set of corners. It's got some great small-car tech (the Bose hi-fi, LED headlamps, around-view monitor) but it's not cheap.

Finally the Alfa. It's as good as anything in its class to drive, thanks to fine handling and engines. It's also got the consumer stuff right by being solidly made and reasonably well-packaged. But I wonder if it'll struggle in the market because it lacks so many of the connectivity and driver-assist technologies of its rivals. I hope not because those gewgaws are mostly superfluous.

Anyway, I still haven't quite decided my points allocation. They're totalled up live at a ceremony that kicks off the Geneva Show on 6 March. No-one knows the result ’til it's announced then. Some years you can guess the winner. But this time, I'd say it's wide open.

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TG's Paul Horrell takes you through this year's selection... and why it's a tricky one