The Holden Commodore SS and Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt are among the category winners in this year's Bang For Your Bucks showdown.
MOTOR magazine has lined up 25 hot favourites at Sydney's Oran Park racetrack to determine the best value-for-money performance cars in Australia. Armed with a great excuse MOTOR's testers wrangled the likes of VW's Polo GTi, Renault Megane F1, Subaru WRX STi and Porsche Cayman, pitting contenders in the same price bracket in a series of tests including the 0-100km/h sprint and best quarter-mile and lap times.
The Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt pipped VW's GTi Polo in Category 1 (cars priced under $30,000) for its impressive lap time, great rubber and 1.5-litre turbocharged engine that "loves to whipped hard in the top-end". Read CarPoint's review of the Ralliart rocket here
Holden's VE Commodore SS held off the Subaru WRX STi and Ford Falcon XR6T for the win in Category 3 ($30-50K), which also included Mazda's MX-5 and 6 MPS, Renault Megane F1 and VW Golf GTi. The Commodore SS managed a quarter-mile time faster than all others in the group and is priced well under fifth-placed Mazda6 MPS's $48K-plus asking price.
The 2006 Bang For Your Bucks face-off is in MOTOR's November issue, available at newsagents now, or subscribe to MOTOR magazine here
2006 Bang For Your Bucks contenders
Category 1 Sub-$30K
VW Polo GTI
Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt
Category 2 $30-40K
Mazda3 MPS
Ford XR5 Turbo
Holden Astra SRi Turbo
Category 3 $40-50K
Holden VE Commodore SS
Ford Falcon XR6T
Subaru WRX
Mazda6 MPS
VW Golf GTI
Holden VE Commodore SV6
Renault Megane F1
Mazda MX-5
Category 4 $50-80K
Mitsubishi EVO IX
Subaru WRX STI
FPV F6 Typhoon
Nissan 350Z Track
VW R32 three-door
Subaru Liberty GT 2.5 Spec B
BMW 130i Sport
Category 5 $80K-plus
Lotus Exige S
Porsche Cayman
BMW Z4M Roadster/Coupe
Audi RS4