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Australia's Best Cars


Australia's Best Cars

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Previous Australia's Best Cars' winners

Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDIn LPG-powered family car has been judged as one of Australia's Best Cars in the Australian Automobile Association's (AAA's) annual awards.

The Ford Falcon EcoLPi becomes the first LPG-powered vehicle to win one of the prestigious awards, taking out the Best Large Car Under $60,000 category.

The victory is significant in that the Falcon tackles a number of key concerns facing consumers in the marketplace - especially in the large car segment.

NRMA motoring expert, Trent Nikolic said the Falcon was easily the top pick of the bunch this year.

"It's great to see an LPG-powered vehicle take the award this year especially when there are so many benefits to using LPG," Mr Nikolic said.

"On top of that, LPG burns a lot cleaner than petrol or diesel, which means that the Falcon EcoLPi emits just 203 grams of CO2 per kilometre, compared with 236 in the regular petrol-fuelled Falcon.

"It feels exactly like a normal Falcon if not better because it produces more power and more torque earlier in the rev range."

Volkswagen was another big winner at the awards, collecting an incredible five categories –one-third of the awards on offer.

The Volkswagen Polo 66TDI Comfortline was named Best Light Car over $20,000, the Golf 90TSI Trendline took out Best Small Car under $35,000, the Jetta 118TSI Comfortline was the Best Medium Car under $50,000, while the Tiguan 103TDI and the Touareg V6 TDI won the Best SUV under $40,000 and the Best Luxury SUV over $60,000 respectively.

"Volkswagen has done a fantastic job of minimising fuel consumption and emissions output, while maintaining impressive levels of power and torque – both with petrol and diesel," Mr Nikolic said.

"A great example is the Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI which propels from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in just 7.8 seconds, produces less than 200 grams of CO2 per kilometre and uses just 7.4 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres.

"There is no compromise with these vehicles. Fortunately drivers can get the best of both worlds."

A number of new models to market in 2011 claimed awards, with the Kia Rio Si named Best Light Car under $20,000, the Lexus CT 200h Prestige the Best Small Car over $35,000, and the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe taking out the Best Sports Car over $80,000 category.

BMW's 135i coupe remarkably won its fourth consecutive Australia's Best Sports Car under $80,000 award. Mercedes-Benz snatched the Best Medium Car over $50,000 from rival BMW with the C250 CDI Avantgarde taking the prize from last year's winner.

The 2011 NRMA representatives for ABC were Trent Nikolic and Tim Pomroy.

And the 2011 Australia's Best Cars winners are...

Kia Rio SiBest Light Car under $20,000

Kia Rio Si

Finalists 

Hyundai Accent Active 
Suzuki Swift GL

Volkswagen Polo - 66 TDi ComfortlineBest Light Car over $20,000

Volkswagen Polo - 66 TDi Comfortline

Finalists 

Audi A1 TFSI Ambition
Ford Fiesta Zetec

Volkswagen Golf 90 TSI TrendlineBest Small Car under $35,000

Volkswagen Golf 90 TSI Trendline

Finalists

Ford Focus Sport
Hyundai i30 SX

Lexus CT200H PrestigeBest Small Car over $35,000

Lexus CT200H Prestige 

Finalists 

Audi A3 Sportsback TDI

Volvo C30 DRIVe

Volkswagen Jetta 118 TSi ComfortlineBest Medium Car under $50,000

Volkswagen Jetta 118 TSi Comfortline

Finalists 

Hyundai i40 Tourer Active
Kia Optima Platinum

Mercedes-Benz C250 CDI AvantgardeBest Medium Car over $50,000

Mercedes-Benz C250 CDI Avantgarde 

Finalists

BMW 320D Lifestyle
Volkswagen Passatt CC 125 TDI

Ford FG Falcon Eco LPI XTBest Large Car under $60,000

Ford FG Falcon Eco LPI XT

Finalists 

Peugeot 508 Allure
Skoda Superb 118 TSI Ambition

Audi A6 3.0 TDI QuattroBest Large Car over $60,000

Audi A6 3.0 TDI Quattro

Finalists
BMW 520d
Jaguar XF S Luxury

Hyundai iMaxBest People Mover

Hyundai iMax

Finalists
Honda Odyssey Luxury
Kia Grand Carnival Si

BMW 1 Series 135i CoupeBest Sports Car under $80,000

BMW 1 Series 135i Coupe 

Finalists 

Volkswagen Polo GTI 
Volkswagen Golf R

Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG CoupeBest Sports Car over $80,000 

Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe 

Finalists 

BMW 1 series M Coupe
BMW M3 Coupe

Volkswagen Tiguan 103 TDiBest SUV under $40,000

Volkswagen Tiguan 103 TDi

Finalists
Kia Sportage AWD Sli 
Mitsubishi ASX 4WD

Kia Sorento SLiBest SUV over $40,000

Kia Sorento SLi

Finalists
Hyundai Santa Fe R series Elite
Subaru Outback 2.5i wagon

Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDIBest Luxury SUV over $60,000

Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI 

Finalists

BMW X5 xdrive 30d
Range Rover Sport TDV6

Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 SEBest All Terrain 4WD

Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 SE 

Finalists 

Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo CRD 
Toyota Prado GXL

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