Four best new cars of 2008
Decided on your car of the year? The Carsales Network's editorial team's opinions were divided2008: the auto year that was
It might have signed off with a whimper, but 2008 started with a bang... Record sales month after record sales month in the first half, 2008 was a year where it seemed like more new models than ever were being launched in locales far and wide.
During a year where we travelled from Austria to Thailand, Bangkok to Reykjavik, driving the latest product from Australia's stable of nearly 50 passenger car marques. The sums are straightforward -- even if each manufacturer launched or updated only three models during the year, that's close to 150 new cars to test and evaluate.
In other words, there was plenty of new machinery for the Carsales Network road test team to drive during the year.
Recently we published what you, the car buying public, said were your favourite cars of 2008 (or at least the ones you sought to purchase during the year, here) and in January our colleagues at Wheels magazine will publish their findings as to the best of the best, the Wheels Car of The Year (COTY) winner. But now it's our turn.
The brief to the Carsales Network test team was simple: name your best drives of 2007. Here's what they decided
Editor in Chief
BMW M3: How many times do I need to write this? "Every car nut has a list of dream cars they'd buy should their fortunes (and bank balance) change for the better. For some of us, the writer included, the M3 is the whole list." Nuff said...
Porsche 911 GT2: My seat time was brief, but it is also indelibly etched in the do-not-erase section of my tiny little mind. While most other hot cars have chinks in their armour even mere mortals can find, the GT2 operates on such a performance plane as to be unapproachable by normal sane human beings. Nothing road registered in this writer's experience accelerates from 160km/h like the GT2. No other car talks to the driver through the wheel like a GT2. And with too much horsepower and the raw end of physics just a minor miscue away, no other car oozes latent threat like the GT2. Simply irresistible.
Volkswagen Golf VI/Mazda 3: Couldn't separate these two for one reason -- they're the new face of automotive pragmatism writ large. Whereas in the past both these companies (at the little and large ends of the mass market hatch world) would have built all-new cars at this generational change point, instead both chose to rework existing platforms and (essentially) bodyshells. The resultant savings have been poured into the interiors and, in the European markets at least, new, more efficient powerplants. Both are demonstrably better cars than their predecessors, but are they different enough for buyers to spend when times are tight?
Audi TTS: Not a big rap for Audis this writer... They're typically big on promise and pricetag, but short of delivery -- except for this one. The TT, reborn in 2006 (Is it really that long ago!) has always been a favourite in its simplest 2.0-litre front-wheel drive form. This year the TTS arrived with 200kW and all-wheel drive, yet none of the 'stoggy-ness' and inertia that other high-po Audis seem to inherit. The only way Audi could improve the TT would be ditch the AWD and deliver the same tail-happy dynamics of the FWD cooking model... But wouldn't that just make it a VW GTI with more poke and a lower roof? Oops. Bugger!
News Editor
BMW M3 Convertible: It was a toss-up between this or the Jaguar XKR. Both are immensely enjoyable to drive, but the BMW gets the nod for being a four-seater and allowing the driver to share the fun with others. The BMW is not perfect, but it's as close as any current car can come to it. If there's one setback to owning the M3 -- finished in red as this one was -- it's not a car for shy retiring types...
Ford Mondeo XR5: More than perhaps any other offering in the Ford range (including the very adept FG Falcon) the Mondeo is a car that suits me and is one I will bear in mind as a prospective future purchase. It's a good size for a growing family, it looks great for a family car -- and it combines wonderful steering with a highly responsive engine and one of the best quality manual gearshifts money can buy. Some will argue that the Falcon XR6T represents better value, and in performance terms, that's certainly true. The Mondeo moves ahead of the Falcon on the strength of its superior (FWD) packaging. For Ford aficionados, it really does boil down to personal preference.
Skoda Octavia Scout: Seems like an odd choice, this one, but the Scout really impressed with its refinement and packaging. If practicality can be a virtue -- and it is -- then the Scout is a paragon. It's not just about practicality, of course, it's the fact that the Scout copes well in almost any role you care to name. It's a car that you could take up to the farm but it will cruise with aplomb at very high speeds and still return low fuel consumption. It's the sort of car that a four-person family will never out-grow and it has the sort of easy driveability we're beginning to associate with VW diesels. Altogether, it's an excellent all-rounder.
Renault Sport Clio 197: Unlike Renaults from the past, this one you could live with every day of your life. It looks good, it has mainstream-appropriate features and finish, but it's also a fantastic drive. When you look at its specification and pricing -- along with all the intangibles (style, comfort) -- Renault has done exceptionally well bringing this car to market as it stands.
Production Editor
Porsche 911 997 Gen II: A no brainer, really. This thing turns anyone trackworthy. The Carrera S is one of the best performance cars around, and the current range holds up the 911's heritage as an automotive groundbreaker. In all forms -- two-wheel drive or four; Coupe or Cabrio, or equipped with the 3.6 or 3.8-litre -- the new 911 didn't disappoint.
BMW M3 Coupe: On aesthetics alone I wanted to say Benz's beautiful C63, but the M3 gets it over the Merc for its brilliant balance of handling and ride. The C63 certainly looks the part and turns up similar vigour, but the Beemer is more settled as daily divebomber. Apart from a better ride, the M3 is also kept more 'real' with the option of manual over the Merc's (albeit excellent) seven-speed.
Ford Falcon FG: The new Falcon is the complete Aussie family sedan, especially at the top end. The XR6 is suitably sporty while the blown version makes no secret of how fast it is. And the G6E and G6 E Turbo models do every bit to add luxury and refinement, in place of the line-up's 'traditional' flagship.
Chev Volt: Fine, we haven't driven it yet but its introduction at least on the motor show circuit this year was timely. The Volt is a good-looking green car as opposed to some of the odd-bods we've been offered thus far... And GM is serious about offering a versatile long-range electric vehicle convenient enough to be in everyone's garage.
International Correspondent
Volkswagen Passat R36: Okay, I have to admit I'm a bit of a sucker for the 'street sleeper' concept, but the Passat R36 seems to nail this genre particularly well. The 3.6-litre V6 is an agreeably smooth and powerful unit and the DSG twin-clutch 'box remains one of the best sequential transmissions on the market. Add to this the Passat's commodious (and well finished) cabin and vast boot, and the result is an entertaining and practical all-rounder. Decent value for money, too...
BMW X6: Yes, it's somewhat pointless. It offers neither the genuine offroad ability or the interior space you might expect of an SUV, but there's something to be admired about a behemoth that stands almost 1.7m tall and weighs about 2.2 tonnes, yet which can still keep up with a decent sports sedan through the twisties. The clever rear differential means the stability control doodads needn't intrude too much, and the twin-turbo V8 sounds sublime and kicks like a mule. I also quite like the morphed coupe-truckster proportions of the big Bimmer.
Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4: Another slightly irrelevant car, given that it's within the grasp of less than one tenth of one per cent of the population, but anyone who isn't blown away (in the best possible way) by the road-raging bull's latest toy needs to be checked for a pulse. It's still as focused and uncompromising as its predecessor, yet Lambo's boffins have managed to pare weight and optimise the engine (now with direct injection) so that consumption and emissions have been lowered by almost 20 per cent. More than this, it's the supreme straight-line stonk, cornering grip and banshee-like howl from its V10 that leave an indelible mark on the psyche. And unlike Lambos of yore, this one is immaculately screwed together and happy to trickle along in stop-start traffic.
Mercedes C63 AMG: Yes, another ultra-high-po car, but this is my list so I'll choose whatever I want. In the past, you knew what to expect with AMG Benzes: most notably barrel loads of effortless grunt and no-nonsense overall dynamics; yet they weren't likely to leave you wearing a foolish grin on your face. Well, that's changed. Here's a Merc that's involving in a way that none of its predecessors have been. It looks the part, sounds the biz (6.2 litres of V8 will do that), and stops, steers and grips as well [Ed: almost!] as a BMW M3. It's got way more torque than the latter, and its seven-speed auto is a quick-shifting device -- although not in the same league as the M3's brilliant M-DCT sequential...
Buying Used Expert
FG Falcon: Of my four cars of 2008, the standout is the Falcon and the sad thing is that they are unlikely to earn the sales they deserve. For a number of years now -- since October 1998 when the AU was launched -- I have regarded the Falcon as superior to the Commodore, mainly for reasons of steering feel, quality of the six-cylinder engine, versatility of packaging and intelligence of features. The blind-spot built into every VE A-pillar would have been unimaginable in the FG Falcon. And it lacks that no-brainer, the split-fold rear seat.
The up-spec Falcons I drove bear comparison with a 5 Series. At Ford Australia, engineering continues to predominate over marketing, but they need to work on new ways to help people discover that the Falcon is an astonishingly competent and uniquely Australian car.
Audi A4: The A4 makes the list because it represents such an advance over its predecessor. Front-wheel drive declared its own shortcomings in Audis for many years but this latest model does a good job of disguising the configuration. Handling balance is good and the interior is up to the familiar exemplary Audi standard. The A5 can piggy-back on these comments.
Mitsubishi Evolution: Mitsubishi's abbreviation-free Evolution is too grown up now to be a mere Evo!). How magnificently that dual-clutch automated manual gearbox works, whether on road or circuit. In the process of acquiring new sophistication, it has also acquired weight, but I suspect this latest car would keep company with an M3 at least around Winton, if not Phillip Island or Mount Panorama.
Honda Jazz: The original Honda Jazz impressed on versatility but not dynamics. The new one drives much better. What an amazingly big little car this is, doubling as a small van with its fold-flat rear seat. Honda still needs some help from a stylist and more urge would be welcome, but it's a great effort.
The Auto Industry's Angry (not-so) Young Man
In Otto's case four beauties he didn't drive!...
Chevrolet Volt: Could GM actually be serious about putting the past four decades' worth of non-oil energy powerplant technology on sale for regular folks to purchase? Now GWB is out of office and Big Oil is busy sniffing for new friends on Capitol Hill, maybe there's a chance for alternative energy concepts to get a leg up. Pity the innovative Hywire wasn't progressed more quickly. That Larry Burns is a smart dude.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead: No true car enthusiast could honestly walk past this car without gawping. It is true to the spirit and history of large Rolls-Royce dropheads of old (rear-hinged doors), the flagrant and flamboyant styling and the silent smooth power delivery. In a global village dominated by conformity ("another million white Camrys, Vicar?") the Phantom Drophead conveys in one fleeting glance, as it wafts past, more about one's status in life than an entry in Who's Who.
Ford Focus RS: Imagine Subaru developing an Impreza WRX STi and leaving it penned up in Japan. That's what Ford suggests is the fate of the RS, the hottest shot in its secret European Armoury. Secret that is, because no one knows that the XR4 or XR5(s) exist. The RS is to Focus what the GT Falcon is to the XT, but smaller, lighter, wieldier and probably faster point-to-point (maybe that's why it's been denied a visitor's visa to Police State Australia). But if Ford wants to make a fist of its four-cylinder armour, the RS should lead the front line attack commando...The watch the Honda Type-R, Subi STi, and HSV Astra brigade simper and run.
Hyundai i30: If you've not been privileged to rent with Avis, Hertz, Budget or Thrifty this year you might not have noticed the arrival of the Hyundai i30 -- a small hatch that delivers BMW 1 Series looks at a fraction of the cost. Dynamically, of course, they are still poles apart, but the fact is that Hyundai has made a great step forward. Thus it is more than a shame Hyundai hasn't made enough of it from a brand perspective in Australia.
This brand has been losing ground to the premium Japanese makes for a while and the Chinese are at the gates. So what is to become of the brand once famous for piling 'em high and selling 'em cheap at driveaway prices? The company grew up, but so did its customers, and they defected to Mazda. The i30 is a good way to rekindle the love affair. Maybe with some stripes, bigger wheels and an aero kit? Works for the other mobs (hint: SP23, MPS).
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
