Top Five reviews of 2018

It’s always great to look back at the reviews crafted by our talented road test team and admire the fact that you too, dear reader, took the time to enjoy them.

What’s more impressive still is just how many of you read our reviews in 2018, the number of page impressions increasing dramatically over the preceding year to set something of a record – again, all thanks to you!

In 2018 there were literally millions of visitors to carsales.com.au, and according to your ‘clicks’ the following five reviews rank the highest overall.

It might be one of the oldest designs in the Australian new car market, but the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series just keeps keeping on.

Highlighting Australia’s love affair with the good old ‘Cruiser – and our obsession with the great outdoors – this tow test of Toyota’s updated 70 Series dual-cab utility proved how popular vehicles made for outback Oz really are.

In spite of its “truck-like demeanour”, or maybe because of it, our reviewer enjoyed writing about the LandCruiser almost as much as you enjoyed reading about it, admiring the big V8’s effortless torque and fuel economy out on the open road.

Read the Toyota LancCruiser 70 Series 2018 Review

Like the Holden Commodore VXR below, the Volkswagen Touareg review is one that drew far more readers than its sale figures would have you believe.

Squeezing in between the updated Toyota LandCruiser in fifth place and all-new Toyota Corolla in third, the big German SUV and it’s towering 600Nm diesel V6 did “just about everything tremendously well”, and is “sophisticated, cultured, quiet and smooth”.

The new Volkswagen Touareg is due in Australia in April 2019, but will sadly miss out on one of the neatest technologies debuted at the International Launch. Find out what it is here.

Read the Volkswagen Touareg 2018 Review

It’s reassuring that most of the Top Five reviews of 2018 are reflective of what sells on the Australian new-car market. Indeed, dual-cab utes and small cars are the biggest sellers Down Under, one of the major players none other than the all-new Toyota Corolla.

Specifically it’s the International Launch Review of the twelfth-generation ‘Rolla that drew the biggest crowds, the sharp styling and mix of petrol and hybrid power a drawcard for aficionados of the ubiquitous small hatch.

Bristling with new safety technology – and with an exciting look inside and out – the new Toyota Corolla score a well-deserved third place in the Top Five reviews of 2018.

Read the Toyota Corolla 2018 Review

Not since Chrysler by Chrysler has such a silly name graced an ‘Australian’ car. Yet in spite of its overly-descriptive moniker, the Holden Colorado SportsCat by HSV is indeed the third-most popular review of 2018.

First published in December 2017, the ‘SportsCat’ continued to draw big-number clicks through the majority of 2018, outpacing even the new Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger – vehicles which significantly outsell the Holden Colorado SportsCat by HSV.

With its angrier looks and expanded off-road ability the SportsCat review even outpaced that of Ford’s Ranger Raptor, earning its place in the Top Five list this year.

Read the Holden Colorado SportsCat by HSV 2018 Review

Perhaps it’s the curiosity of understanding the car that replaced our locally-built Holden that drove the hits to our second-highest review of 2018. Or perhaps it’s a slow-burning desire for that replacement to the good old ‘Commo’ in the driveway.

Whatever it is, the Holden Commodore VXR review at the model’s Australian Launch drew a stack of you to these pages.

Available only as a V6 all-wheel drive liftback, the ‘Vixxer’ is the first fully-imported Commodore to grace these shores, and despite slow initial sales, is progressively winning over a small but enthusiastic group of owners.

We’ll watch with interest to see where the Commodore story heads in 2019, and to see if interest and sales top the list again this time next year.

Read the Holden Commodore VXR 2018 Review