HOW WE SAFELY TESTED THE TOUCHSCREENS

Our distraction test was carried out under strictly controlled conditions to ensure accurate results

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OUR test was conducted at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire and we're grateful for the loan of its Drivezone facility. It's a short course that effectively mimics a 20mph-limited urban road environment with plenty of junctions and even a mini roundabout.

For enthusiasts who are not turned on by touchscreens, the museum is also awash with beautiful classic cars featuring dashboards laden with varnished timber, painted metal, leather, chrome and Bakelite.

For our test, we chose a trio of drivers with varying degrees of experience of touchscreen systems, and instructed them to complete an identical route around the Drivezone in each of our 10 test cars, while performing five commonly used touchscreen tasks. An Auto Express judge sat beside each driver to record the times taken for each task, which we then averaged out to give us a single task time.

Drivers were encouraged to drive in as repetitive a fashion as possible. Overall lap times while the five tasks were being carried out were compared with an averaged-out 'undistracted' lap time - set in advance at two minutes, 22 seconds - to give us an additional indication of the effect on concentration.

Finally, we also tried out the manufacturers' apps to see how well they complemented the on-screen tech and how they performed.