Against elite company and with a last lunge, Hyundai’s hot hatch clinches the title

But the i30 N didn’t cruise to victory. This year’s field was a strong one and a tie-breaker was needed to split the Hyundai and Subaru’s brilliant Forester SUV.

The Forester sits at the top of the class in the most fiercely contested segment in the new-car market, family SUVs.

Its list of standard safety features is better than a lot of cars costing twice as much, its price is razor sharp and the cabin has acres of space for a growing family.

The contest kicked off with a comprehensive tyre-kicking session, in which judges pored over prices and features for the 10 finalists.

We looked at how they compared with their most immediate rivals, then judged them against our criteria.

Value for money was high on the priority list,