This, to all intents and purposes, will be the best three-way you’ll see this year, and not just because we are less than a week away from the new year. No, there’s no girl involved. But there is a lot exhaust noise and tire squeal. So it sort of sounds like an actual three-way! This is a battle between the most exciting GT cars with a race-car twist that deliver the most fun on the road and on the track.

The cars involved in this test include the Mercedes C63 Black Series, the Jaguar XKR-S GT, and the much newer than those two, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S. The judge is Autocar’s Steve Sutcliffe:

This is interesting, because the C63 Black and the Vantage V12S are sort of similar, as they are hotted-up versions of cars that were already quite fabulous.  On the surface, the Jag appears to be in the same league. But on closer inspection you realize the XKR-S GT is way too hot to a proper, usable car you can have fun with on the track and then drive home in relative comfort. That doesn’t mean it is anything short of spectacular. But it’s not as perfect as the other two.