For most people, the end of another year means two things: you tie up all those loose ends and then launch straight into celebration mode. At Cars in Action, we’ve found a way to combine these two actions, and it’s become an annual tradition for us.

It’s as simple as celebrating our favourite performance cars of the year by rounding them up for a final on-track showdown that sees us choosing our ultimate performance weapon of the year. Quite frankly, we’d use any excuse to get this many exciting machines together in one place, although finding South Africa’s best all-round performance car through an elimination process is something that we know would make you very happy.

Think of this as car of the year with a healthy dollop of extra octane and tyre smoke. Performance, handling and overall fun factor are key here, but to do really well in this contest, cars must be excellent in every sphere you’d expect in that category. While more mundane aspects like practicality, economy and ride refinement are taken into account on the score board, and could very well knock the car up or down a place or two, our conventional Cars in Action score sheet — as used in every comparison test — ensures that those more important aspects that get the octane in your blood fired up, carry more weight.

This year’s line-up is more diverse than ever. We narrowed it all down to a dozen finalists, with everything from the pocket-rocket R128K Fiat Panda 100HP through to the ferocious R1.8-bar Porsche 911 GT3 RS having a shot at the glory — remember, each car is judged in relation to its natural market rivals.

Affordable hot hatchbacks featured strongly this year, with the little Fiat, as well as Peugeot’s bargain-priced 207 GTi and its close rival, the RenaultSport Clio 2.0 catering for those with a real-world budget. There’s another glut of fast hatches further up the scale and each proved a formidable contender.

Staying with the small theme but going big on power and price is MINI’s hot new Cooper S JCW, while Mazda’s 3 MPS offers even more power and practicality for the same kind of money — but is it all it’s cracked up to be? Especially with Subaru’s all-new Impreza WRX, now also in ‘space hatch’ format lurking in its neck of the woods. And let’s not forget Volvo’s C30 T5 with its more luxurious and premium feel and VW’s extravagant all-wheel drive Golf R32, albeit a lot more costly than the latter bunch.

But there was no reason to get too carried away with affordable performance hatches, with three thrilling new sports cars to play with. BMW’s new V8-powered M3 has quite a legend to live up to, while Audi’s first supercar, the R8, brings the best of Audi’s heritage into this gob smacking new two-door. And for true purists, Porsche’s new 911 GT3 RS is a track-bred monster that could leave everything here looking a little humble.

Saloons are represented by a sole entrant this year — and it’s the grandest of them all. Merc’s S 65 AMG, with its bi-turbo V12 monster mill, combines supreme limo luxury with rocket performance like nothing else we’ve seen before. The battle lines were drawn. Kyalami beckoned and each car got the full test treatment, including lap times and comprehensive performance figures. May the best performance car win…

» On to the first contender...