Chasing Cars comparison tests don’t come any bigger or run any longer than our Car of the Year awards program.
While official COTY testing takes a full week, the search to find the best new car is essentially a 12-month process.
Our regular car reviews and comparison tests play a pivotal role in determining which new vehicles have impressed us sufficiently to garner an invite to Canberra for COTY Week.
And for 2026 there were 19 invites, with selections covering all the key vehicle segments from cheap runabouts to sports cars.
Nine vehicles took home segment awards, but the battle for the biggest prize – 2026 Car of the Year Overall Winner – came down to just three cars…
Finalist: MG4 Urban
The Urban may have been created as a cheaper namesake alternative to MG’s breakthrough MG4 of 2023 with front-wheel drive and torsion beam rear suspension yet it’s a small electric hatchback that surprises in so many ways.
Despite its status as a budget-priced EV, costing from just $31,990 drive-away, the MG4 Urban serves up a smartly presented cabin with pleasant tactility for many of the dash switches and buttons. There’s also more cabin and boot space than your average compact hatch.
‘Urban’ is also something of a misnomer. While this MG4 is enjoyably easy to drive around town, it’s a relaxingly refined drive on country roads and freeways. Our real-world testing also revealed the big-battery 54 model can get respectably near its 400km WLTP range.
A low-speed ride that can be easily be irritated by rougher urban roads, PVC seats that get sticky under a hot sun, and an annoying overspeeding alert are the main blemishes that prevent the MG4 Urban from being considered absolutely brilliant.
Finalist: Skoda Superb
One of Europe’s favourite brands has long struggled to achieve similar popularity in Australia, but it’s not for the want of trying.
It’s not for the want of excellent products, either, and the fourth-generation Superb large car couldn’t do much more to tempt buyers out of a predictable SUV choice.
For starters, It’s inherently more enjoyable to drive than its higher-riding, higher-roofed sibling, the Kodiaq.
A vast interior is trimmed in smart materials, furnished with good tech, and brimming with ingenious practical features that Skoda is renowned for.
There’s also a choice of powertrain characters. The Sportline (sedan or wagon) with a zesty turbo petrol or the Select wagon that offers a more economical drive via its plug-in hybrid complete with 125km claimed electric driving range.
Servicing costs could be a bit lower, some of the cabin tactility isn’t quite on the money, and tyre roar on coarser surfaces lowers refinement on those longer drives this car is very much made for.
WINNER: HONDA PRELUDE
Our selected winner makes it obvious that big sales numbers aren’t a criterion to be a Car of the Year.
That’s how it should be. Showroom popularity is rarely a barometer of automotive excellence.
The revival of a once-revered nameplate is no guarantee, either.
Unlike our 2025 winner, the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Honda Prelude – pronounced Prel-yood unless you live in the US of A – didn’t arrive at the ACT’s Sutton Road Driving facility carrying the ‘Favourite’ tag.
That’s mainly because the team had yet to drive it. The Prelude had been given a ‘wild card’ as its Australian launch wasn’t scheduled for another few weeks.
Perhaps we’d also been reading the internet too much, where many voices were downplaying the Prelude as nothing more than a Honda Civic coupe.
It’s a major over-simplification.
While the Prelude sits on a platform derived from the Civic, the wheelbase is shortened, the front end features suspension and brakes from the Civic Type R performance car, and the engineers added a sports tune to the petrol-electric powertrain borrowed from the Civic Hybrid.
That’s all packaged into a sleek and contemporary two-door shape, complete with a liftback tailgate that has more in common with old Integras than old Preludes but does wonders for boot accessibility.
If no-one needs to go in the tight rear seats for weekend trips, the backrests fold down to create 663 litres of cargo space – more than what most midsized SUVs offer (if behind a second row of seats).
A $65,000 drive-away price is relatively good value when you consider this is a sleek hybrid sports coupe costing about the same as a VW Golf GTI hot-hatch.
It’s a thoroughly equipped single spec, too, with highlights such as adaptive dampers, Brembo brakes, 19-inch alloy wheels, heated sports front seats, digital driver and infotainment displays, wireless smartphone charging, and a Bose premium audio.
Good-value cars haven’t been hard to find these past 12 months, particularly with the ever-increasing range of Chinese offerings.
New cars devoted to making daily driving something to cherish rather than a chore haven’t been as commonplace. And it’s a huge part of the Prelude’s appeal noted by all our judges.
“The Prelude doesn’t have headline performance figures like a Hyundai i30 N or Civic Type R and it’s not that fast, but it offers so much more for the driver than speed.
“It has Type R components but takes a step towards being a GT, in the best way possible”, said Chasing Cars’ Road Test Editor and COTY judge, John Law.
Chasing Cars Editor and COTY judge Jez Spinks compared Honda’s achievement with the Prelude to a coupe from an especially renowned German sports-car maker.
“The Prelude’s ability to deliver both exceptional handling and relaxing ride comfort very much reminds me of the uncanny chassis magic that Porsche instils in its Cayman.
“There’s definitely room for a higher-performance variant, but you would want it to join rather than replace this hybrid Prelude that will be plenty quick for many owners while being remarkably fuel-efficient for a fun coupe.”
Our other judge and Chasing Cars’ Editor at Large, Nathan Ponchard,
“There’s joy in driving the Prelude at all speeds. The crispness of its steering, its tight turning circle and pretty-good urban ride make it easy-breezy in town, yet its handling is so elevated that its limits are way beyond almost anybody who’s going to drive this car.
“With luggage flexibility that also exceeds expectations, the Prelude is a genuine jack-of-all-trades sports coupe.”
All three of our finalists made a compelling case to claim our Car of the Year honour, though our judges were unanimous that only the Prelude truly met our demanding assessment criteria.
The Prelude is a car that nails its niche appeal with an abundance of X-factor.
It’s very much a sports car for our times – a sports car that will put a grin on your face without punishing you at the bowser.
