Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON – It was my first Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) TestFest and it lived up to all the hype throughout the week.  What a way to spend a week – driving the best 2013 vehicles in each class around the streets of Niagara-on-the-Lake, parties and banquets at night, and being a part of the voting process to determine the vehicle winners (well kind of – my vote doesn’t count in my first year as an AJAC member).  

The purpose of TestFest is for AJAC journalist members to perform 30-45 minute back-to-back tests on each vehicle in their respective category and vote on each category winner. Back-to-back testing provides you with the best way to detect the differences between each vehicle and determine its positives and negatives attributes compared to its peers.  After the 11 winners are announced, all journalists are to test drive them using a different rating formula that can equally compare all of the vehicles to decide on the Canadian car and utility vehicle of the year.

Each AJAC journalist is assigned to test a few category groups.  I had the pleasure of being placed in three: best new small car (under $21K); best new family car (under $30K); and best new SUV-CUV ($35K-$60K).  I wondered if I would have any free time to test out some of the other vehicles within the two and a half days, but that clearly wasn’t a problem as I ended up completing four full groups by Wednesday afternoon and tested 48 out of the 60 nominees in total by the end of the week. One would think that testing 48 cars for around 40 minutes each would get tiring or monotonous after a while, but I can testify (no pun intended) that each day was a blast from the morning into the late afternoon. 

As a rookie to TestFest, it didn’t take long to learn the ropes with the help from the AJAC board members, directors, and other members as they were so eager to assist.  We started out with an orientation seminar for all that was quickly followed by another seminar for us “newbies”.  The event itself was so organized that TestFest ran itself like a well-oiled machine. I was thoroughly impressed for an association of over 80 unique individuals in attendance driving vehicles with up to 662 horsepower to run an event so smooth without incident.  

Now to the winners:

Ford Canada was the biggest winner of all the manufacturers taking home four category awards including the Focus ST for best new sports/performance car (under $50K); the Fusion Hybrid for best new family car (over $30K); the Escape 1.6 L EcoBoost for best new SUV-CUV (under $35K); and the Focus EV for best new city car.

The Ford Focus ST was the most surprising winner of the four as it found itself in arguably the toughest grouping going against ten worthy competitors including the exciting twin towers of power known as the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BR-Z, as well as the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the Volkswagen Golf R.  It was an intriguing category to predict as many wondered how the FR-S and BR-Z would be rated differently as essentially they are the same car conceived by both Subaru and Scion with a few exceptions in equipment and interior trim. In the end, the Focus ST won on its interior and its performance.

Porsche and Hyundai were the other big winners of the week with Porsche taking home the award for the Boxster as the best new sports/performance car (over $50K) and the 911 Carrera S as best new prestige and performance vehicle. Hyundai won for its Elantra GT in the best new small car (over $21K) category and for the Santa Fe Sport 2.0T as best new SUV-CUV ($35K-$60K).  Hyundai continued its strong showing amongst AJAC journalists as it had won in three categories last year with the Elantra taking top honours as car of the year.

Rounding out the other winners were the Mazda3 Skyactiv Sedan as best new small car (under $21K); the Honda Accord Sedan as best new family car (under $30K) barely edging out the Ford Fusion by one point; the Cadillac ATS as best new luxury car putting General Motors back in the winner’s circle after a year hiatus.

So who will win the Canadian car and utility of the year?

For the past two years the winner has come from the best new small car (over $21K), so I’m sure Hyundai is hoping that trend continues for its Elantra GT that showed enough exterior and interior excitement to narrowly win its group.  Will it be enough to take on all the other category winners? Only time will tell. 

If I had to vote for the winners, oh wait…I did - it was for the Ford Focus ST for Canadian Car of the Year and the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T for the Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year. 

The nine non-SUV-CUV category winners will become three on Friday, January 25th and the eventual winners will be announced on Media Day at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto on February 14th, 2012.