GALLERY: 2019 WhichCar Auto Games

The premise started out simply enough but - like all good plans - it quickly grew into something a bit bigger than we'd all planned.

This is the 2019 WhichCar Auto Games, where we pitted a brace of the best compact SUVs on the market today against each other in a - let's be honest - none-too-serious series of challenges designed to stretch the character acting skills of the WhichCar team more than anything else.

26

The call went out about a month in advance - bring forth a small SUV that you either know and love, or that you've driven and detested, and put it forth to the team for a popular vote.

The Suzuki Jimny was an early starter, championed by our resident Japanese car tragic Tony, while Noelle's Toyota C-HR showed off her love of style that's blended with a dose of reality.

Dan, meanwhile, sized up with the versatile Subaru XV in shy-and-retiring orange.

Glenn went straight for performance - I reckon he just looked up 'small turbo AWD SUV' on Google and the Hyundai Kona bobbed up first - while Dave opted for pragmatism wrapped in a stylish yet practical visage in the form of the Nissan Qashqai.

Me? I wanted a Citroen C3. Bit of a story behind that... the car had arrived in Australia some months ahead of the launch for dealer training and evaluation. "You can have one for the show," said Citroen, "but you can't put it on social media or anything."

26

If you had been paying attention to our Insta feed, you may have seen bits of it pop up a couple of times...

Gathering six staff members, film crew and cars for three days meant the entire office camped out at various locations across Melbourne and Victoria, including the Werribee 4WD proving grounds and the Haunted Hills racetrack near Yallourn, for the duration, while still running a website and TV show. Plus one for remote working!

26

The shoot really stretched the video crew, too; we don't have vanloads of gear and tonnes of people on WhichCar TV; it's an all-in effort that, when you see the finished product, defies belief that we managed to pull it off.

You can watch the 2019 WhichCar Auto Games on TenPlay right now, along with the rest of our back catalogue of shows. We've also linked out to reviews of the cars that we tested throughout the story.