Irish Car Of The Year Awards highlight innovation and new tech for drivers

The 2023 electric Honda e uses two 12.3-inch screens running across the width of the dashboard as well as an extra 8.8-inch display acting as a digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel.

placeholder image — The 2023 electric Honda e uses two 12.3-inch screens running across the width of the dashboard as well as an extra 8.8-inch display acting as a digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel.

As One of the Jury members in the Irish car Of The Year Awards in association with Continental Tyres, I get to drive pretty much every new car that comes to the market each year.

This gives me a great insight into what is happening in terms of developments, technologies and of course new models.

Over the period of a year myself and colleagues in the MMAI (Motoring Media Association Of Ireland) will road test new models at home and at international launches abroad in an effort to bring you the loyal reader the most up-to-date information on new cars.

Towards the end of each year and just before we vote on the Irish Car Of The Year Awards we then have a “Refresher” day where we can re-visit the models driven over the year, update our notes, and get a final assessment of each car.

I do not have enough space here to detail my views on each and every car in the competition this year but some interesting facts emerged.

Across the board electronics is where a huge change is taking place in cars.

From keyless entry and start, auto-locking (when you leave the vehicle), electronic parking brakes, hill hold assist, infra red technologies to “see in the dark cameras that read signposts such as speed limit signs and other warnings.

Satellite navigation is now so advanced that it can be linked to the car's auto gearbox and active suspension and predict what gear the car should be in or how the suspension should react based on the terrain ahead.

So for example from the sat nav database the car knows there is a tight corner ahead and then a downhill slope so it downshifts at exactly the right time before the corner, and then again before going down the hill! More below pic.

Pictured: Infra-red camera images displayed in dash for drivers

Collision-prevention electronics are now commonplace.

Using a type of radar the car scans the road ahead. If an obstacle is seen and it calculates a possible impact there is an audible and visual warning signal, and finally, if the driver ignores both the car applies the brakes to a stop and activates the hazard warning lights.

Should the worst happen, cars can now automatically transmit their location in the event of a crash and using the data from the on-board sensors such as how many seat belts were fastened at the time of the crash it can send emergency services to the exact location of the car with information such as it has three occupants and it rolled over!

Another innovation is remote parking where using a button on your key fob you can stand outside the car and get it to self-park. Handy I suppose if you don’t like parking in tight spaces. More below picture.

Kia Sorrento remote parking with keyfob.

Finally, the Irish Car Of The Year Awards 2024 in which many cars boast some or all of the above-mentioned technologies.

This year there are 32 new models all competing for the grand title of Continental Tyres Irish Car Of The Year 2024. There are also seven sub-categories, namely Small/Compact car of the year, Medium Large Car, Small compact SUV, Medium SUV, large SUV/MPV, Performance car of the year and Luxury car of the year. Electric cars are in that mix of course and interestingly so are some of the new Chinese brands such as BYD.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony held on Friday, November 3 which is attended by the motoring press and the management from the Irish Motor Industry.