The autoX Awards saw over 40 contenders compete for the coveted crown of ‘Best of 2023’, reserved for only the ten best vehicles of the year. After a gruelling Mega Test at the renowned ICAT facility in the NCR, here are the ‘Best of 2023.’
In order to recognise true innovation, performance, and engineering excellence, autoX proudly presents the results of its annual mega test and awards, which crown the ‘Best of 2023’.
Every year, autoX meticulously compiles a comprehensive list of the best cars, motorcycles, and scooters launched in the past 12 months. These vehicles undergo rigorous testing by an esteemed jury, comprised of road testers with a collective experience of over half-a-century in evaluating cars and bikes. The criteria for the awards encompass a thorough analysis of quality, comfort, ride, handling, refinement, design, drivetrain, practicality, value-for-money, that elusive X-factor, as well as an all-important lap-time achieved on the test track.
Five four-wheelers, three two-wheelers, as well as ‘Performance Car of the Year’ and ‘Performance Bike of the Year’ make up the ten most outstanding machines of the year, which are honoured with a ‘Best of 2023’ trophy at a prestigious award ceremony held at the Andaz hotel at Aero City in New Delhi.
Transparency
The autoX awards put a premium not only on outstanding machinery but also on absolute transparency and impartiality. To ensure transparency, all the points are published, and the points from each jury member are averaged to ensure that no biases come into play – resulting in the fact that only the most exceptional vehicles receive this recognition.
The Jury
The autoX team of seasoned road testers carefully score each vehicle across various parameters. The 4W jury consists of Founder and Editor-in-Chief Dhruv Behl, Managing Editor Ishan Raghava, Digital Editor Manav Sinha, and Road Test Editor Shivank Bhatt. The 2W jury consists of Digital Editor Manav Sinha, Road Test Editor Shivank Bhatt, and Principal Correspondents Karan Mathur & Dhruv Paliwal.
Dhruv Behl, who has podium positions in rallying and racing – in everything from the Raid-de-Himalaya to the MRF Formula 1600 single-seater series – and two-time JK 1,000cc motorcycle champion Simran King set the lap times to provide an objective rating of performance.
The Test Track
The annual Mega Test took place at the renowned ICAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology) facility and test track, owned by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The 2-kilometre track features two straights connected by a steep banking at each end. The autoX team also added a chicane, a slalom, and an emergency braking zone to provide a thorough assessment of vehicle performance.
Dhruv Behl, Editor-in-Chief, autoX, said, “Our aim is to be as scientific and objective about this process as possible, with the final goal being to provide car and bike buyers, as well as enthusiasts, a definitive list of the top-ten machines of the year across segments. If you want to know which of the machines launched in the past year are truly outstanding, look no further than the autoX awards and, in this case, the ‘Best of 2023’.”
Here are the ten autoX award winners:
Best of 2023: 4W
BMW i7
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Honda Elevate
Hyundai Exter
Maruti Suzuki Jimny
Best of 2023: 2W
Triumph Speed 400
KTM 390 Duke
Ducati Monster SP
Best of 2023: Performance
Lamborghini Urus Performante
BMW S 1000 R
The autoX Awards are an annual event and the Mega Test has now been conducted for well over a decade. The autoX Awards 2023 were done in collaboration with Indian Oil as Exclusive Fuel Partner, ICICI Lombard as Exclusive Insurance Partner, Tamil Nadu Tourism as Tourism Partner and BMC as Technical Partner.
