THIS YEAR’S been an easy pick for the ‘best drives of the year’ title in my book.

At least two of the three that gave me most pleasure this past 12 months seem to jump out at you from every magazine and TV show, plus they are also probably the top two picks by anyone between the ages of 17 and 90. They are, of course, the Audi R8 and the Ford Focus RS.

The last member of the trilogy of my fav cars of the year might not be so obvious, but from a farming angle entirely justified, it’s the Ford Ranger Wildtrak pick-up truck.

Here’s why:

Audi R8

THIS WAS the shock and awe of automotive design when it first hit the streets two year ago. It’s remains one of the most iconic vehicles of this past decade and little boys and grand-dads on every street corner gawp at them when they pass by.

There’s nothing casual about the R8. Everybody seems to know about it ... at times, it seemed as if everybody I met had read the Audi press kit on it, as they seemed just as, or even more, acqaint with it than I was.

‘Is it the V8 or the V10?’, ‘has it got the carbon fibre side inserts?’ ‘how fast does it go?’. Well, the last question is the easiest one to answer ... Yes, it goes like the proverbial off a shovel.! It was the V8 supercharged 4.2-litre and, yes, it did have the carbon fibre add-ons.

And, it also had a host of goodies which boosts the basic price from £79,000, to a few quid short of £100,000. If you want the V10 with all the goodies, then start thinking lottery funding. The natty nappa leather upholstery, magnetic ride suspension, satellite navigation, an uprated sound system, parking sensors and even a system for lighting up the growly thing in the engine bay are all pricy add-ons that you could quite happliy live without.

You also need to find another five grand or so to have the benefit of the R-tronic gearbox, as opposed to the six-speed manual fitted to the test car. I think I would be tempted to go for the auto box, as the manual is a little fiddly until you get used to the very precise, very H-shaped gearchange.

For a car such as this, ie a ‘supercar’ in almost every sense of what that implies, it is a surprisingly easy car to drive. There’s no Italian temperament, and, being an Audi, there are NO issues with reliability. It’s an Audi, so therefore it goes.

And it does go particularly fast. This version does the timed run from 0-62mph in an eyebrow lifting 4.6 seconds.

It also feels particularly safe. Fast cars sometimes scare the life out of you and you can often get the impression that the car is in charge and you are not. This handles like a dream and there’s hardly ever a need for you to press the ‘Sport’ button near the gear lever. This gees up the suspension, and boy, do you notice it ... you feel every little pebble on the road all the way up your spine. There’s hardly going to be any occasion when you might need it, outwith a race-track at least, so it’s a bit of an unnecessary gadget to have.

The standard suspension is good enough for 99.9% of your driving time and the ride comfort and handling ability is first class, with none of the nervy twitchiness of some other six-figure ‘supercars’.

It also has the benefit of Audi’s long history of producing a first-class four-wheel-drive system. It’s hard to imagine ever pushing it too hard.

In short, it’s a supercar that you can live with, if you can get used to fuel economy on the wrong side of 20mpg, plus the highest possible insurance and CO2-based tax ratings.

If you prefer alfresco motoring, then Audi has not long launched the ‘convertible’ verion of the R8, the Spyder, powered by 10-cylinder FSI petrol engine, with the first cars gearing up for delivery in the next couple of months. A six-speed manual version will cost £109,580 and the R tronic will set you back £114,670 OTR.

Standard UK spec’ includes innovative new seatbelt microphone system, all-LED headlights, Audi magnetic ride, Bang and Olufsen audio and, of course, a fully automatic lightweight fabric hood.

Based on the 525PS, 5.2-litre FSI model, but featuring a bespoke body incorporating additional weight-saving carbon fibre composite panels, the Audi R8 Spyder quattro does 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 194mph for the six-speed manual version.

Ford Focus RS

TWO WORDS spring to mind for my next choice of top drives, the Focus RS. They are ‘boy’ and ‘racer’.

And boy, is this a racer. I don’t think any other car that I drove in 2009 quite attracted the attention as much as the Focus RS. Not even the R8 attracted quite as much adoration everywhere I went.

Small boys were in particular awe of the RS. Staying and parking the car at the Victoria Hotel in Tarbert after Campbeltown Show and before Mid Argyll, caused a fair bit of a stooshie. Even the barman craved a look inside.

It’s not hard to reason why this is such a popular ‘I want one of those’ cars. It lives up to the very best of the RS tradition, which Ford championed so very well with its Escorts.

But this is just streets ahead of those oldies, good as they were. The Focus RS really is the collie’s gonads.

Luckily the test car came in a rather royal-looking blue, as opposed to the yuckiest lime green you can imagine and a very snowy looking white. Exclusive as these colours are to the RS, I can’t imagine why anyone would buy the lime green one – but as one has appeared in the streets near my home, then I can only imagine that they got a good discount on it!

But the colour is only skins deep, as the real Focus (geddit?) of our attentions really happens under the bonnet. And it has quite a lot of to boast of under its outer garments.

We’re talking more than 300bhp here and all of it channeled through the two front wheels. Having also driven the Vauxhall Astra VXR, the RS manages to handle the power much better than the Astra. I do know that Ford tried the RS with a four-wheel-drive system, but opted for just front-wheel-drive as they felt it handled better.

I know what they mean. The management system which is used keeps the torque steer under control very well and that’s not the case with the Astra, which would quite happily take you up a tree without too much persuasion.

The run from Glasgow to Campbeltown can be a bit of a drag, but in the RS, it was a joy. If ever there was a car designed to overtake the usual hum-drum Co-op trucks, then this is it. You hit the accelerator and the truck is safely passed. Dead simple/no worries.

Sometimes you can get a bit too much feedback from the potholes, with tarmac inbetween, that is all too common on Scotland’s road these days. But Ford have balanced it pretty well and it is only occasionally annoying, rather than you being conscious of it all the time. On a good bit of road, the RS’s 2.5-litre engine handles things very well indeed and you can expect this little buzz-bomb to propel you to 62mph from rest in under six seconds.

I managed to average almost 35mpg, which means that this is a liveable with car ... though don’t expect insurance to be cheap. The insurance industry is well aware of those two words I started this piece with – ‘boy’ and ‘racer’!.

Ford Ranger Wildtrak

WHEN TESTING cars, it’s always best to test them to the ultimate and that’s what I did with my third choice of ‘drives of 2009’, the Ford Ranger Wildtrak.

This is the most hairdresser like version of the popular pick-up which comes out of the same factory in Thailand as the Mazda B-series, but setting that aside, it really still does LOOK unashamedly like a proper working pick-up.

So, it was tested to the full by loading up four chaps with associated luggage, fishing gear, the odd steak pie and light refreshments for the annual ‘boys’ trip to Knoydart. That was more than half a tonne, plus some chaps who would more than make you squeal should they stand on your foot.

So how did it cope? Pretty damn well has to be the response.

Admittedly this was the Ranger with the ‘big engine’ the three-litre Duratorq diesel as proven in many of Ford’s commercial vehciles. I suspect that many users would opt for the more workmanlike 2.5 litre turbo diesel. There’s not much between them in terms of ‘pull – 154bhp against 141bhp – but the fuel economy with the ‘biggie’ was struggling to beat 30mpg.

In off-road driving, the Ranger coped pretty well with all that Knoydart could throw at it, including the treacherous hill road to the Dubh Lochan, which even Defenders fear to treat. Even the locals, all 22 Defenders of them, were impressed.

The Ranger coped very well and could even handle quite a bit of off-roading even when in two-wheel-drive. The gearbox also as a 4WD high and low trensfer box.

Perhaps the ride quality wasn’t quite as it could have been, as the test car came with the larger than standard and lower profile tyres. They were fine for on the road, but a little compromised when hitting the rough stuff.

The Wildtrak’s distinctive add-ons include privacy glass, an auxiliary music connection, quite natty illuminated scuff plates, body cladding and sports pedals with that all important heated front seats, which were a godsend after a cold day on the loch.

The test car also came with one of those lockable, roller-type load covers, which was handy for the purposes of keeping valuables hidden, but I suspect would be a pain for everyday working. This roller shutter is able to support up to 450kg spread load. Side load space straps can secure the area by locking the tailgate shut from inside the load area.

The Wildtrak model comes in at £21,850 (plus VAT), but there are many cheaper options than that. Ranger is available in three bodystyles – single cab, super cab and double cab. The Super Cab has a four-door configuration to provide easier access to the cabin by featuring two forward-hinged doors and two rear-hinged doors.

Importantly, both TDCi engines produce their maximum torque from just 1,800 rpm, and this makes Ranger ideal for great on-road performance or for hauling and towing with its class-leading 3000kg braked trailer capacity.