Summarize

They tell me that there are many ways to skin a cat, but we’ve run this competition the same way for twenty years now and this one is no different. There are a few very basic philosophies we try follow – for example, is the car completely new, or is it just a facelift or a special? New cars will always have preference unless there’s a most significant other reason – like the difference all-wheel drive made to that F-Type.

Then we consider two other major factors – is it a worthy performance car, and if we can’t decide on what’s best from the above, actual performance and then value become more pertinent. 

All three of these cars fit all our parameters – not only are they brand new 2018 models, but each car is also a record breaker in our test program, so their performance credentials are peerless in their class – and they even beat a few other record breakers to get here. 

As I will argue below, each also has its own very specific bargain angle too.

But which is best? Well let’s get on with it!

THIRD - Renault Sport Megane 280 Cup

The big fight on this page was for second and third and it went down to a tie-breaker on value to settle it. Not that the Renault Sport Megane is not a brilliant bargain – it is the best car in its class and it costs a similar amount to rivals of this car and one or two others have caused to quite frankly become the rank and file.

As exciting it is, in its own right to the winner, not only did 280 Cup destroy our Auto Bakkie Race! front wheel drive road test records, but it also represents a significant step forward in front-wheel drive chassis performance and handling as its systems conspire to ensure swift, safe driving in any circumstance.

RUNNER UP – Volkswagen Polo GTI

We debated hard on this one – how can something so bland and insipid get one over a car as thrilling to behold as the Renault? Well two reasons actually, but first remember that Polo GTI likewise broke its class test records – ya – the GRMN may have been a smidge quicker, but you can’t buy one, so it really does not count. 

The first big Polo GTI advantage is how it performs relative to what it is – it’s hardly much slower than RS Megane and indeed quicker than its own big brother Golf GTI. Go figure. Polo GTI punches well above its weight and that is most significant.

But the real ace up this South African-manufactured giant killer’s sleeve has to be price. It’s almost silly it’s so cheap and that it brings performance beyond expectation for the price, significantly outweighs questions about its less that lively character and design, or that it may be a bit too big for an entry hot hatch. 

No, Polo is a bang for buck champion like little else we have seen in recent years and it fully deserves to stand on the second step of our 2019 Pcoty podium.

PERFORMANCE CAR OF THE YEAR 2019 – BMW M5 Competition

Certain faiths propose that it is written – that all we do and experience is going to happen anyway and that we are just instruments of time. Be that as it may, there was something prophetic about this car turning up as Performance car of the year 2019.

The only problem was price – how can we possibly put a two-million buck car above other far more reasonably priced machines that punch so far above their weight? Then we plugged our VBox into it and allowed M5 to squash us back in the seat, seemingly shove the brain back into the cranium and the eyes aft in the socket as the 460kW 2-ton monster blasted off the line like a .222 swift round out the barrel of a gun.

Not only did this limousine break our all-time test record, so long the domain of Ferraris, Porsches and McLarens, but it is also the first car ever to break the 3-second mark on our test run.

That performance once again gives credence to our long-held view that all-wheel drive is an absolute prerequisite at this heady level – this M5 is over a second quicker than the wild and scarcely controllable bucking bronco of a rear-wheel drive car it replaces. 

This one will keep on delivering that sort of performance all day long – just floor the throttle and the brake with M5 Competition switched to bareback, release the brake and it trundles on to deliver one sub-3 second 0-100 after the next, as though it was quite normal. It seems it is for Competition, while the old rear-drive one was a danger to anyone within a kilometre when trying to just launch the thing. That’s progress and then some!

I can already hear you starting to grumble about value and how could a 2-million Rand car possibly beat a sub-R400K one, but there’s another side to it. Let me ask you this – what must you spend to get to 100km/h in a production car in under three seconds in South Africa? I’ll leave that one to you to figure out!

So, there you have it – the BMW M5 is now a triple Performance car of the year winner after the 2006 V8 and the last one in 2013 and the fifth M-car in 20 years too. Now we look forward to what performance cars pop up over the next twelve months – bring it on! – Michele Lupini

Performance car of the year 2019 Index
Introduction - click here

The Lightweights - click here

The Middleweights - click here

The Heavyweights - click here