Final tests for the 7 finalists for The Car Of The Year award

Photo: AUTO (Italy)

The winner of The Car Of The Year 2025 award is all set to be decided in Brussels.

Over the last few months all the juries have been thoroughly testing the finalists. The first was after the summer in Denmark at the Tannistest, and before the end of the year several groups of jurors carried out more extensive tests.

One of the most crowded was the one in Balocco (Italy). All the Italian journalists of the Car of the Year met in the popular circuit to test the seven finalist cars. There were actually 8 different models present because in addition to the Renault 5 there was its more aggressive sister, the Alpine A290. A total of 16 cars from the seven brands were brought at the track: two cars for each model. 

Five of the six Italian jurors took part in the test day for the Italian COTY: Andrea Brambilla, director of AUTO and Italian representative in the JC of the jury, Mario Cianflone, Gianluca Pellegrini, Silvia Baruffaldi, and the new Italian judge Giannantonio Pettinelli. 

The organization was handled by the monthly magazine AUTO, that is the Italian newspaper in the Car of the Year organization, and by Alberto Sabbatini, former Coty juror and currently representative of AUTO in the Organizing Committee of the Car of the Year. All the press office communication managers of the seven manufacturers involved were also present.

The test took place at the Balocco Proving Ground in Balocco and lasted a whole day. The juror journalists have driven the finalist cars on different routes: first they faced a change of direction test that simulates the moose test; then a slalom between cones on the specially set up route; then they moved to another area to carry out a grip test with the finalist cars on different surfaces: from Belgian cobblestones to Italian cobblestones, then on concrete slabs and wavy surfaces and asphalt full of holes: in other words they drove the seven finalist cars on all types of the roughest surfaces that can be found on all the European roads.

It has been a very challenging test that served to evaluate the behavior on rough surfaces and assess how the suspensions behave in ensuring driving comfort and dampening vibrations and noise.

Finally, in the afternoon the dynamic test was held on the Langhe di Balocco circuit, a route of about 7 km that reproduces curves of every radius, braking and changes of direction, typical situations of all the extra-urban hilly roads in Italy.

At the end of the day all the jurors had a clear idea of the differences between the various cars both in dynamic behavior and in their ability to guarantee comfort behind the wheel.

So that there can be no doubt about the verdict. On 8 and 9 January, all the juries will meet again on the Belgian Mettet track to refine their votes and deliver their final verdict. 

As in the claim of the film Highlander with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery: ‘There can only be one left’. On 10 January, in Brussels, we will know the result of who is the new King of Europe.