Awards: Little car, big win

The Hyundai i30 beat out the Fiat 500 and the Ford Focus XR5 to win overall motoring excellence title. Photo / Supplied

Hyundai's diesel model i30 Elite has won the 2009 AA-sponsored Motoring Excellence Award.

It's an impressive win for a mainstream model that was competing against far more expensive cars; vehicles that in outright terms are better.

Equally, in the performance car class, Ford's Focus XR5 snatched victory from a Mercedes C63AMG, while the expensive Fiat 500 won the small car bracket.

So, why such topsy-turvey results?

Part of the winning equation is value for money. The Mercedes - which was a finalist - is undoubtedly a better car than the Ford. It has more grunt than the Focus, it handles better and delivers high performance with the level of refinement you expect at $163,000. But it costs 3.5 times more than the Ford. And it's not 3.5 times better.

But that value calculation doesn't make it impossible for a pricey car to win. The Fiat 500 took its award despite being the costliest in its class.

The judges also consider how well each entry fulfills the purpose for which it's designed. The Fiat proves compact lines needn't lack style. And it trumped Honda's Jazz, which lacks stability control.

You might assume the Fiat beat last year's small-car winner, the Mazda2. But that car wasn't entered by its manufacturer. The AA can't force a company to enter a car - and so the judges cannot score it.

Judging is a rigorous procedure,

I should know as I'm one. The 52 cars entered this year are grouped into classes and each judge drives every car back-to-back with its direct competitors.

Each vehicle is evaluated for aspects such as safety, performance, handling, design and value, as well as how well it delivers its aim, and x-factor - if it has it.

The AA itself adds a small weighting in favour of safety. The numbers are crunched, and 27 finalists emerge.

Those are then driven back-to-back on the open road; on the race track; and through an expanded handling course measuring aspects such as all-round vision.

By now we judges not only measure each car against its direct competitors, but also against the other finalists.

Does the Hyundai i30 at $36,990 offer more than you expect for a compact car at that price? Does the Volvo XC60, that won its class, deliver better than the average $81,090 large crossover? Does it push the boundary as much - or less - than the Hyundai?

And it's that which clinched the win for the Korean. The Volvo is impressive, but you expect impressive for that money. The Mondeo beat its immediate rivals, but doesn't over-deliver for bracket and price.

But the Hyundai does. It proves the Koreans are closing the gap with Europe's best, and it pushes compact car expectations. More than VW's Tiguan does for small crossovers; more than Holden's Commodore Sportswagon does for large cars.

You may not be in the market for a compact car but the i30 confirms what the Sonata suggested. Korean manufacturers are now a force to be reckoned with.