Ford Fiesta ST
Continental Irish Small Car of the Year 2014 Award
1st
Dacia Sandero – Glorified Renault so will probably give the world of heartache down the line; they’re not on Irish roads long enough for us to know. Still, not a bad looking little car though. And at just under 10K for a base spec model with a 5 year warranty, it makes owning a new car very affordable.
2nd
Peugeot 2008 – Not quite sure why this is in the small car of the year category as it looks like a crossover to me. Thankfully, Peugeot have started making good looking cars again but as I don’t have children, this doesn’t really appeal to me.
3rd
Renault Clio – Unusual looking car, but pricey for what it is. Having had 2 Renault hot hatches in the driveway with problems, I can’t trust them.
Continental Irish Compact Family Car of the Year 2014 Award
1st
Toyota Auris – Lowered and lengthened, with a panoramic roof – I like it. The new sportier looks coupled with Japanese reliability, make this a good contender.
2nd
Citroen C4 Picasso – The futuristic styling on this is a big improvement on latter years, it almost looks concept like. As MPVs go, this is a looker. And with figure of around 74 MPG, count me in.
3rd
Volkswagen Golf – What can I say…. It’s a Golf, it looks the same as most Golfs made in the last few years… and yes, you are paying a higher price for quality but I couldn’t justify buying one when there are more reliable cars on the market.
4th
Toyota Corolla – What an awful, cheap, plastic looking car. It looks like it’s going back in time instead of forward. The dashboard is cluttered and cringe worthy – it’s like a cockpit out of a plane designed in the 80s. Less is more, Toyota.
Continental Irish Family Car of the Year 2014 Award
1st
Mazda6 – While it’s the best looking of the three and has 184BHP, I don’t know if a 2.5 litre saloon giving city driving figures of 28MPG, will sit well in the Irish market.
2nd
Skoda Octavia – Glorified Golf, and beginning to get as expensive as one too. Better looking though. And lots of passenger and boot space.
3rd
Kia Carens – Slow for a 1.7, Diesel or not. 7 seats and a 7 year warranty may be appealing though.
Continental Irish Executive/Luxury Car of the Year 2014 Award
1st
Range Rover – Even though it looks like an armoured tank, loving horses this is something I’d get more use out of and a city economy of 33 MPG is fairly good from a 4X4. And it looks good. And people will get out of your way.
2nd
BMW 4 Series – I don’t know what to say, all BMWs look the same and even reading the spec put me to sleep. I’m sure it’d be a comfortable, high tech cruiser though.
Continental Irish Performance Car of the Year 2014 Award
Ah, my favourite section…
1st
Ford Fiesta ST – I’ve always had a soft spot for Ford sports cars. The impressive performance, handling, interior and economy mean this car wins hands down for me.
2nd
Nissan Juke Nismo – It took a long time for the looks of this car to grow on me. I like its steroidal stance and it would certainly have presence on Irish roads (not that I’ve ever seen one). The woeful MPG would make it hard to live with though.
3rd
Peugeot 208 GTi _ It’s great that Peugeot are making proper little sports cars again (and no, I don’t consider the RCZ a sports car) I think a lot more could have been done with the styling but I fear that Pugs have been so long out of the performance category now that they’ve lost their fan base to better cars in its class.
4th
Volkswagen Golf GTI – Yawn, another Golf GTI that looks like all the other Golfs. Make something new and affordable please VW. And change that tartan plaid interior while you’re at it.
Overall winner: Ford Fiesta ST
Laura Keane
20th November, 2013
