Real bang for bucks

The Holden Commodore Ute SS with manual transmission was the best value performance or sports car in the market last year, according to a pricing matrix compiled by RedBook.

Based on pricing and specification data supplied by the industry, the 'Real Bang for Bucks' table lists vehicles in order of highest power rating, lowest weight and lowest price. A formula divides the power in kilowatts by the tare mass of the vehicle expressed in tonnes. Then a different formula calculates the power – converted to Watts – divided by the price in dollars.

To arrive at a winning figure, the Holden's power rating of 304kW, divided by the tare mass of 1.681 tonnes equals 180.8kW/tonne, which is then multiplied by 1000 (converting kilowatts to Watts) before that figure being divided by the price, $43,990. The higher the number the better result, with the final figure for the Holden reaching as high as 4.11.

For this exercise, RedBook limited the source data to vehicles developing more than 150kW, unless they were coupes and convertibles. This allowed the Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ twins and the Mazda MX-5 to be included along with the rest.

As a consequence, the top 20 in descending order is as follows, with the RBFB result also listed:

Holden VF Series II SS Ute manual – 4.11
Toyota 86 GT manual – 4.10
Holden Commodore VF Series II SS Sedan – 3.76
Peugeot 308 GTI 270 – 3.40
Nissan 370Z manual – 3.34
Ford Focus RS – 3.27
Ford Mustang GT manual – 3.13
Holden Calais V VF Series II – 3.04
BMW M140i LCI manual – 2.93
HSV Maloo manual – 2.81
Chrysler 300 SRT Core – 2.77
Holden Caprice V8 – 2.74
HSV Clubsport manual – 2.68
Mercedes-AMG A 45 – 2.49
MINI JCW Convertible manual – 2.38
HSV GTS manual – 2.36
BMW M240i manual – 2.33
HSV Senator manual – 2.32
Audi RS 3 S Tronic – 2.22
Infiniti Q50 Red Sport – 2.20

What do you reckon, is it a fair call? Were there any surprises within the list? Which five cars should go up against each other in a real-life comparison?

Let us know in comments…