The final phase before the announcement of the 2006 South African Car of the Year will take place middle January next year, when 24 of the country’s top motoring journalists and their assistants will take to the road and track to determine the winning car.
The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists’ Car of the Year evaluation process includes static assessment — inspection of aspects such as paint and interior finishes, seating comfort, space and ergonomics — and dynamic appraisal to put handling, ride comfort, performance and braking efficiency, among others, to the test.
The test route include highways, rural roads and town driving, while high-speed and handling evaluations are done within the safety environment of the WesBank Raceway.
The 2006 winner will be chosen from eight finalists voted for by the jury panel of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists. They are the:
- Audi Sportback 2.0 T FSI
- BMW 320d
- Citroen C4 1.6 HDi
- Ford Focus 2.0 TDCi 5dr
- Kia Rio Hatch 1.4 High Spec
- Nissan Murano
- Toyota Yaris T3 Spirit
- Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDi
Win the Car of the Year — for a year
A lucky reader can win the Car of the Year for a year by sending an SMS predicting the winner.
All that South African motorists have to do to win the free use for a year of the winning car in the 2006 competition is to send the word “COTY” by SMS to 36369. Their first call (which will cost them R5) will prompt an instant automatic response — and could put a lucky winner on the road to success. Motorists can record their selections from now until March 14 2006.
The SMS reply will provide a three-letter coding for each of the eight finalists, and the caller then needs to send a reply SMS using their own name and the code for the finalist of his or her choice.
The first and each subsequent SMS will be charged at R5, so for the first completed entry selection the cost will be 2 x R5 = R10. Thereafter, the caller is welcome to make any number of single-code entries in the competition, also at R5 per SMS.
After each SMS reply “vote”, the caller gets another reply verifying the registration of the selection together with the date of the result announcement (March 14 2006).
The 36369 number will accept SMS reply entries right up till the day of the WesBank awards banquet on March 14 2006, and the winning caller will be contacted by phone on the following day.
The prize includes the use of the Car of the Year finalist used in the January 2006 evaluation, for 12 months starting next April, as well as a fund to cover fuel for an average year’s driving, free prescribed servicing of the vehicle, and free comprehensive insurance cover. The only cost to the winning motorist will be the payment of the excess on any insurance claim made during the period, if one is made.
The competition is being run by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) and all funds generated by the SMS facility will go towards the guild’s Benevolent Fund.
For more information call Robin Emslie on Tel:Â 011Â 880Â 5790.