2008 Australia's Best Cars Awards
The new Falcon achieved the first 5-star safety rating for a locally made vehicle and helped overcome a tumultuous year for Ford, including massive changes within the Australian automotive industry, and now picking up the major Australia's Best Cars award.
The Best Cars winner in the popular Small Car category is the Mazda2 Neo.
Australia's Best Cars is the country's most thorough, independent, consumer-oriented new car awards program and the twelve category winners were awarded following an exhaustive assessment of more than 280 vehicles throughout 2008.
AAA Executive Director, Mike Harris, said the Best Cars' judges short-listed 36 finalists across 12 categories, which were then extensively road tested during an intensive week of assessment before the winning vehicles in each category were decided.
"These cars have been assessed against three criteria - value for money, design and on-road performance," Mr Harris said.
"The judges are seeing a steady improvement in the quality of vehicles on the Australian market - particularly in the area of safety equipment and crash test results alongside their on-road performance.
"They have to perform well in crash tests conducted by Australia's leading crash test and vehicle safety advocate, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program, and the ANCAP results show vehicles are definitely safer today without compromising performance.
"These are consumer awards where every score on every vehicle is made available to help buyers make informed purchasing decisions.
"The finalists are a good set of cars - we are very pleased with the sorts of cars that have come on to the Australian market this year.
Best Cars Chief Judge, RACV's Ernest Litera, said the Ford Falcon award was a great result for local manufacturing.
"The winning 2008 Ford Falcon XT represents a concerted effort on product refinement - the model is not an all-new chassis and engine but more a refinement to the engine to produce better performance and fuel economy," Mr Litera said.
"The ride and handling package has also improved significantly and feels more like the quality cars we would expect to come out of Europe, without compromising on space, touring ability and towing that Australians also often look for."
On the Best Small Car, the Mazda2 Neo, Mr Litera said the car provided all the attributes consumers were looking for in today's small car category.
"The Mazda is an affordable price, has good fuel economy, is a 'zippy' performer, and actually feels a lot more like an up-market vehicle," he said.
"It is an around-town sort of car with some real quality in it."
Best small car | |
| Mazda2 Neo | |
| Price: | $16,500 |
| Specs: | Five-door, 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol, five-speed manual |
| Fuel economy: | 6.4L/100km (91-RON unleaded) |
| Safety features: | ABS, DFA |
| NCAP: | 4 stars (5 with ESC option pack) |
| GVG: | 3.5 stars |
| Second place: | Honda Jazz GLi |
| Third place: | Hyundai Getz SX |
Best mid-size car under 28K | |
| Hyundai i30 SX | |
| Price: | $18,990 |
| Specs: | Five-door, 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol, five-speed manual |
| Fuel economy: | 7.2L/100km (91-RON unleaded) |
| Safety features: | DFA, ABS, ESC, TCS |
| NCAP: | 4 stars |
| GVG: | 4.5 stars |
| Second place: | Honda Civic VTi |
| Third place: | Mitsubishi Lancer ES |
Best mid-size car over 28K | |
| Mazda6 Classic | |
| Price: | $31,990 |
| Specs: | Four-door, 2.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol, 5-speed auto |
| Fuel economy: | 8.7 L/100km (95-RON premium unleaded) |
| Safety features: | ABS, EBD, EBA, TCS, ESC, DFSA, CA |
| NCAP: | N/A |
| GVG: | 3.5 stars |
| Second place: | VW Jetta TDI |
| Third place: | Ford Mondeo TDCi |
Best large car | |
| Ford FG Falcon XT | |
| Price: | $36,790 |
| Specs: | Four-door, 4.0-litre six-cylinder petrol, five-speed auto |
| Fuel economy: | 10.5L/100km (91-RON unleaded) |
| Safety features: | ABS, TCS, ESC, DFSA |
| NCAP: | 5 stars |
| GVG: | 3 stars |
| Second place: | Toyota Aurion AT-X |
| Third place: | Honda Accord V6 |
Best people mover | |
| Hyundai iMax | |
| Price: | $39,990 |
| Specs: | Five-door, 2.5-litre 4-cylinder diesel, 5-speed manual |
| Fuel economy: | 8.5 L/100km (diesel) |
| Safety features: | ABS, EBD, TC, ESC, DFA |
| NCAP: | N/A |
| GVG: | 2.5 stars |
| Second place: | Honda Odyssey Luxury |
| Third place: | Mitsubishi Grandis VRX |
Best prestige car | |
| Audi A4 TDI | |
| Price: | $54,900 |
| Specs: | Four-door, 2.0-litre 4-cylinder diesel, CVT |
| Fuel economy: | 5.8L/100km (diesel) |
| Safety features: | ESP, DFSA, CA, EBD |
| NCAP: | 5 stars |
| GVG: | 3.5 stars |
| Second place: | Ford Falcon G6E Turbo |
| Third place: | Lexus IS 250 |
Best luxury car | |
| Lexus GS 450h | |
| Price: | $128,899 |
| Specs: | Four-door, 3.5 litre V6 petrol/electric hybrid, CVT |
| Fuel economy: | 7.9L/100km (95-RON premium unleaded) |
| Safety features: | DFSA, CA, KA, ABSA, ESC |
| NCAP: | 5 stars |
| GVG: | 4.5 stars |
| Second place: | Audi A6 TDI quattro |
| Third place: | Mercedes-Benz C320 CDi Avantgarde |
Best sports car | |
| BMW 135i Coupe | |
| Price: | $72,230 |
| Specs: | Three-door, 3.0-litre 6-cylinder petrol twin-turbo, 6-speed manual |
| Fuel economy: | 9.6L/100 km (98-RON premium unleaded) |
| Safety features: | DFSA, CA, ABS, TC, ESC |
| NCAP: | N/A |
| GVG: | 3.5 stars |
| Second place: | Volkswagen Golf R32 |
| Third place: | Mitsubishi Evolution MR |
Best luxury sports car | |
| Audi TT-S TFSI Quattro | |
| Price: | $96,500 |
| Specs: | Two-door, 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo, six-speed DSG |
| Fuel economy: | 7.9L/100km (98-RON premium unleaded) |
| Safety features: | DFSA, CA, ABS, ESC, TCS |
| NCAP: | N/A |
| GVG: | 3.5 stars |
| Second place: | BMW M3 |
| Third place: | Audi S5 FSI Quattro |
Best recreational 4WD | |
| VW Tiguan 2.0 TDI | |
| Price: | $38,290 |
| Specs: | Five-door, 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, six-speed DSG |
| Fuel economy: | 7.9L/100km (diesel) |
| Safety features: | ABS, TC, ESC, DFA, S&CA |
| NCAP: | 5 stars |
| GVG: | 3 stars |
| Second place: | Subaru Forester X |
| Third place: | Renault Koleos Dynamique |
Best all-terrain 4WD | |
| Land Rover Discovery 3 SE TDV6 | |
| Price: | $75,990 |
| Specs: | Five-door, 2.7-litre V6 turbo-diesel, six-speed auto |
| Fuel economy: | 10.4L/100km (diesel) |
| Safety features: | ABS, EBA, DSC, DFSA, CA & thorax airbags |
| NCAP: | 4 stars |
| GVG: | 2 stars |
| Second place: | Mitsubishi Pajero VRX CDi |
| Third place: | Toyota Prado GXL |
Best luxury 4WD | |
| BMW X5 | |
| Price: | $88,541 |
| Specs: | Five-door, 3.0-litre 6 cylinder turbo-diesel, 6-speed automatic |
| Fuel economy: | 8.7L/100km (diesel) |
| Safety features: | DFSA, CA, ABS, ESC, and TCS |
| NCAP: | N/A |
| GVG: | 2.5 stars |
| Second place: | Audi Q7 TDI quattro |
| Third place: | Lexus RX 400h |
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