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2008 Australia's Best Cars


2008 Australia's Best Cars

The Australian-made Ford Falcon XT has been named as Australia's Best Large Car by the country's peak motoring body, the Australian Automobile Association, and constituent motoring clubs - NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAASA, RACWA, RACT and AANT.

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

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:  2.5 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:  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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