Tests 1-4 – the ‘big four’, dynamically – were each scored out of 20. The hot lap test rated just five points, and overtaking potential was scored out of 10. Reversing vision completed the total of 100 with a maximum score of five points.
The winner in each test gets the maximum points on offer, and the rest of the vehicles are allocated points proportionately, based on their proximities to the winning performance. Each vehicle’s final score is expressed as a percentage.
For the benefit of readers interested in dynamic performances only, we’ve included score and ranking details for tests 1-6 only. The rationale behind the entire scoring scheme is presented in the wrap-up.
TEST 1 - BRAKING
20 POINTS
Location Skidpan
Measures Emergency stopping ability
Speed From 100km/h
No. of runs Two, averaged
Measured by Vbox
Result Shortest distance wins
Here, we eliminated the driver-related variables (reaction time, speed of pedal application…) and concentrated just on stopping capacity. Brakes were applied at 110-115km/h, and Vbox started recording from 100km/h. All the driver variation happened ‘upstream’ of the test, and speedo error was effectively sidelined. By 100km/h, the ABS – all vehicles had it – was in full activation, and the stop was merely a matter of hardware and grip versus physics, logged direct to laptop. The same track section was used throughout. Two runs within a tolerance of half a metre were required, and testing kept happening until we got them, which we then averaged.
Test 2 - G-MAX
20 POINTS
Location Skidpan
Measures Maximum cornering ability
Geometry Circular track, 22-metre radius
Speed 53km/h @ 1.0G
No. of laps Variable (minimum 3)
Measured by Infra red timing beam
Result Fastest time wins
This test showcases maximum grip in cornering at the default urban speed limit (50km/h). The circle is contrived to deliver 1.0 lateral G at just over 50km/h. We made a few assumptions – since you can’t force a vehicle onto a precise circle 44 metres in diameter. So we marked with cones an inner circle 40 metres in diameter and an outer circle of 48 metres. That left a lane four metres wide, which is the vehicle width plus about one metre on either side – pretty tight. The timing beam measured each lap, and we kept Boz peddling until we had good consistency, then selected the best lap. That time came straight off the electronics, and the G-loads recorded were calculated later, based on our assumed 22-metre radius.
Test 3 - Slalom
20 POINTS
Location Skidpan
Measures Swerve-and-recover ability
Geometry Nine cones, 14-metre spacing
Speed 40km/h entry speed
No. of runs Variable (minimum 2)
Measured by Infra red timing beam
Result Fastest time wins
It’s no good if you swerve and avoid (a pedestrian, a red light crasher, etc…) then lose control and snot a power pole. The slalom gets a chassis upset, and keeps it that way until it loses the plot. The car never gets to settle because it’s always changing direction. Power, brakes and outright cornering ability don’t contribute; only direction-changing ability counts. Nine cones at 14-metres takes under 10 seconds, but tells you rather a lot about real-world composure. Slaloms are self-limiting events. Overcook it and the result magnifies itself through each subsequent cone, either slowing you down or blowing it completely… albeit without the horrific real-world consequences.
Test 4 Lane change
20 POINTS
Location Skidpan
Measures Maximum ability to swerve and recover at highway speeds
Geometry ISO-standard, almost
Speed Vehicle-limited
No. of runs Variable, until failure
Measured by Radar gun
Result Fastest successful entry speed wins
Skippy hops out. You swerve then – hopefully – avoid and recover control. This test defines the limit of a car’s ability to do the ‘horror’ swerve and keep within a defined, constant travel path, at highway speeds. The faster you can do it, the more margin of safety you have at a lower speed. We based this exercise, which stretches over 110 metres on the ISO standard test, but didn’t comply with the finer detail (measuring wind speed, etc.) We started at 80km/h, and incrementally increased entry speed until the vehicle just couldn’t complete the manoeuvre without hitting a cone. Entry speed was measured by radar gun to the nearest 1km/h.
Test 5 - Hot lap
5 POINTS
Location Skidpan & surrounds
Measures Everything dynamic
Speed Vehicle-dependent
No. of runs Two, averaged
Measured by Infra red timing beam
Result Fastest time wins
Flying laps of our improvised circuit combine acceleration, brakes and both breeds of cornering – steady-state and transient. Each lap takes around 30 seconds, and comprises a six-cone slalom, a hairpin, a dip (wet, as it happens) and a 180-degree sweeper. Maximum speed was a real-world relevant 100km/h. Not only does this test combine everything tested individually so far, it does so at speeds that don’t kill the cars. It also gives some indication about which is the most capable and rewarding performance driving proposition. From two mutually consistent laps we selected the best one – and if there were gross variations we backed Boz up and he went at it again, until there weren’t.
Test 6 - Overtaking
10 POINTS
Location Skidpan
Measures Wrong-side-of-road exposure
Speed Vehicle-dependent, 60-100km/h
No. of runs Two, averaged
Measured by Vbox
Result Fastest time wins
Fastest in-gear acceleration from 60-100km/h is a good barometer of overtaking potential. The quicker you can get there, the less time (and distance) spent on the wrong side of the road, in potential head-on collision territory. It’s certainly a dynamic safety issue, though not one as important as, say, braking potential – because the brakes in a 1500kg car decelerating at 1.0G generate a massive 400kW of power, and nearly every 1500kg car on the market can do that. Brakes are for when overtaking goes seriously, horribly wrong. Overtaking potential is what you need to minimise risk when it doesn’t. Here, Vbox measured both time and distance required to do it.
Test 7 Reversing vision
5 POINTS
Location Skid circuit
Measures Rear visibility of two-year-old child
Speed Stopped
No. of runs Two, averaged
Measured by Tape measure
Result Least distance wins
Huh? A crash-avoidance capability test done with the vehicle stopped? This test measures the minimum distance straight back from the centre of the rear bumper that a driver can see the top of a two-year-old child’s head. Reversing crashes make up 12 percent of child pedestrian injuries, and account for eight percent of all child motor vehicle deaths, according to the medical journal of Australia. They’re the most common form of traumatic death in children outside the backyard swimming pool. With that in mind, we took a core-flute cutout of an average-height two-year-old (87cm) and measured the point at which rear vision was occluded for an average-height driver in a constant seating position.
John ‘Boz’ Boston is demonstrably not human. If he were, there would be some lack of precision, some inconsistency in the numbers his test runs deliver. He has that ability, however, to get into any car and drive it on the limit, right out of the blocks, and make every run the same. Our data here are valid in no small part thanks to his on-limit skill.
Boz is actually a very experienced race driver, something he kicked off at age 13 when he borrowed his Auntie’s Corolla to compete in a motorkhana. Since then he’s won a swag of state and national trophies. He also works as a driving instructor for Ian Luff Motivation Australia.
Boz’s subjective assessment of each car is included for balance, but doesn’t contribute to the score. Feel is important, but only ‘real’ counts when an emergency plays out in front of you.