The Car of the Year- Philippines (COTY-P) triumphantly closed out the last weekend of February with a “make-up” session for vehicles that were not able to make it to their respective testing dates. Again held at the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club in Antipolo, Rizal on February 25-26, 2006, the evaluation featured 12 vehicles from four different manufacturers with a total combined retail price of over P 29 million.  

BMW Philippines came with an impressive lineup of vehicles in nearly every segment – the 730 Ld (long wheelbase, diesel version), the 530i Executive, the 320i Sport (E90), the 120i Sport, the X3 2.0d (diesel m/t) and the X5 3.0d (diesel). The 730Ld quickly got most of the attention from the motoring journalists and COTY-P members present at Forest Hills, due to the fact that COTY-P members had their first – and perhaps, their only – chance to test BMW’s ultra luxury saloon. The fact that six vehicles showed up for COTY-P’s last test fest weekend prompted Philippine Star’s Jeff Reyes to quip that the said weekend should be a BMW party.  

Not to be outdone were General Motors, which brought along their Chevrolet Aveo 1.5L and their Chevrolet Optra 1.6L wagon. Ford toted their Escape XLT 3.0L and Expedition Eddie Bauer 4x4 SUVs, while Mercedes Benz was determined not to be left out with their answer to the 120i Sport - the B 170. The event culminated in an impressive, neat and arranged display of German and American automobile craftsmanship at one of the cul-de-sacs within the Forest Hills test course.   

As with the previous test fest weekends, all 12 vehicles were subjected to quantitative probing and qualitative analysis. In the instrumented test, entries were subjected to an acceleration test, followed by a test of braking ability. Each vehicle’s performance was logged on a current model GTech meter and a computer.

The qualitative test gave journalists and COTY-P members alike the opportunity to drive each vehicle in a predetermined route around Forest Hills to gauge different automobile aspects, mapped out and designed by rally veterans Raul Asuncion, Barry Ortiz and Joey Lanuza. No different from the route used for the five previous test fest weekends, the technical course featured the following: 1) Short straightaways for braking tests ; 2) A 35-degree incline that tested a vehicle’s torque; 3) Off-camber turns, downhill esses, and a notorious dip in the road that can lift a driver off his or her seat at only 50 kph, all for suspension inspection; 4) A series of fast and slow corners that tested a gearbox’s responsiveness; and 5) Three to four cul-de-sacs that tested a vehicle’s turning radius. “Virtually every aspect of car performance can be evaluated here, save for sustained high-speed driving. This course, though small, is definitely not boring, even if you’re not driving flat out,” said COTY-P president Manny de los Reyes.

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