Australia's Best Cars 2009

**russellw** · 13-12-2009, 12:04 AM

Having read the precis of these in the latest RACV magazine, I thought it might be a good idea if their weighted rankings got a little more of an enthusiasts slant to see what difference that might make to the finishing order in each segment.

Under their criteria there are different weightings provided for the key selection criteria based on intended purpose but for the benefit of this exercise I have left all the enthusiast weights the same.

Light Segment

Won by the Ford Fiesta LX in the RACV rankings the result didn't change with our enthusiasts slant as the Fiesta still came up trumps - indeed the only change to these results was a swap between fourth and fifth place.

Small Segment

Won by the Hyundai i30 the results didn't change in our remodeled version with the Focus remaining in fourth place but the Mitsubishi Lancer and VW Polo TDi changing second and third places respectively.

Medium Segment

The Mondeo placed fifth in the RACV results and our revised slant didn't change that result. Indeed the entire order remained the same most likely because the weightings were similar in both scenarios.

Large Cars

Won by the Toyota Aurion, our rehash of the emphasis handed the win to the Falcon XR6 with the rest of the order unchanged.

Prestige Segment

Won by the Subaru Liberty 3.6R, our realignment of the weightings handed the win (somewhat surprisingly) to the Audi A4 TDi with the remaining order unchanged and the Falcon G6ET in fifth place.

Sport

The segment where the weightings almost exactly mirrored our enthusiast ones and thus the BMW 135i Coupe retained the win with the FPV GT marginally beaten by the XR6T although neither ranked in the actual Top 5.

Please note that the voting remains unchanged - only the weighting provided to those votes has been taken into account for this purpose.

Cheers
Russ

1TUFFUTE · 13-12-2009, 04:32 PM

does anyone even read RACV mag...

GT · 13-12-2009, 05:17 PM

I always flick through it a see what catches my eye in this mag. Never read it cover to cover and sometimes there is nothing that appeals however, was great for the changes to the Vic road rules - made understanding them easy and the article russellw refers to, on the Cars for 2009, was great reading and I was surprised by some of the scores. I didn't expect to see something like this in there. I read every word of this article.

I also use the Consumer Reports when I look at making a consumer purchase.

While Fords are my main interest I am more than interested in the world around me and how Fords compare.

Cheers
Gaela

**russellw** · 13-12-2009, 05:20 PM

Probably not read much in Ipswich but the testing is supported by all the State Automobile clubs (and will thus be in their mags as well) and the circulation of 1.1 million for the RACV one means someone reads it - I did.

The results also have their own website and will no doubt have some influence on the purchasing decision of some purchasers.

Cheers
Russ

1TUFFUTE · 13-12-2009, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by russellw

Probably not read much in Ipswich but the testing is supported by all the State Automobile clubs (and will thus be in their mags as well) and the circulation of 1.1 million for the RACV one means someone reads it - I did.

The results also have their own website and will no doubt have some influence on the purchasing decision of some purchasers.

Cheers
Russ

whooaaa there boy. Calm down it was just a joke...im quite a stats man myself

XR6_190 · 13-12-2009, 07:49 PM

What on earth is the Golf doing in the medium segment? all of it's competitors (Focus, i30, Civic, etc) are in the small segment. Very big misjudgment from where I wouldn't expect to see it.

Yellow_Festiva · 13-12-2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6_190

What on earth is the Golf doing in the medium segment? all of it's competitors (Focus, i30, Civic, etc) are in the small segment. Very big misjudgment from where I wouldn't expect to see it.

Well, the Jetta is pretty much a Golf with a boot.

Where is the Camry in all of this? I would be saying the same thing if they put the Camry in the medium category and the Aurion in the large as it is now.

GT · 13-12-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Well, the Jetta is pretty much a Golf with a boot.

Where is the Camry in all of this? I would be saying the same thing if they put the Camry in the medium category and the Aurion in the large as it is now.

Camry was 10th in the small/mid size car.

Cheers
GT

Yellow_Festiva · 13-12-2009, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTGTP

Camry was 10th in the small/mid size car.

Cheers
GT

Camry is a 'small / mid sizer'??

Now that is a joke! Both for size classification and the placement lol.

Aurion:
length- 4.825 m
width - 1.82 m

Camry:
length- 4.815 m
width - 1.82m

Thats right.. it's a WHOLE 10mm shorter. Less than half an inch...

XR6_190 · 13-12-2009, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Camry is a 'small / mid sizer'??

Now that is a joke! Both for size classification and the placement lol.

Aurion:
length- 4.825 m
width - 1.82 m

Camry:
length- 4.815 m
width - 1.82m

Thats right.. it's a WHOLE 10mm shorter. Less than half an inch...

Ha, 1 cm longer, no wider and (i'm assuming) no taller. What a joke, not to mention all the gomers driving around in an Aurion who seriously think it is a seriously different car.

XR6_190 · 13-12-2009, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Well, the Jetta is pretty much a Golf with a boot.

Where is the Camry in all of this? I would be saying the same thing if they put the Camry in the medium category and the Aurion in the large as it is now.

Agree with you whole heartedly, you can't class either the Golf or the Jetta as a medium sized car, the only thing that could put them in that class is their higher price, but on that ridiculous measure a BMW 1 series would be a large car (as it is priced against large cars like the Falcon and Commodore) Face it, the Golf is a small car, as it is the same size, and has competitive drivelines to Focus and i30. Jetta is basically a Golf with a boot, and should be compared to the likes of Corolla and Civic sedans.

1TUFFUTE · 13-12-2009, 09:16 PM

yeah its a bit hard to take RACV serious as a new car buying guide when they seem to have their categories a little mixxed up.

Wretched · 13-12-2009, 09:40 PM

The results seem pretty spot on to me. Though I thought the XR6 would have done better, I suppose though what you get for the $$ and the operating costs did put the Aurion just a little ahead.
Nice result though for the G6ET in the prestige range, it is dealing with some tough quality competition there. However I didn't expect the Liberty to be so high up.
Sports segment, well again a tough quality field there.

Keen to read the full summary from RACV.

**russellw** · 13-12-2009, 10:05 PM

The classes follow those determined by our industry statistician VFACTs which places some strange bedfellows at the best of times.

Light
Alfa Romeo MiTo
Citroen C2
Citroen C3
Fiat 500
Fiat Punto
Ford Fiesta
Holden Barina
Honda City
Honda Jazz
Hyundai Accent
Hyundai Getz
Kia Rio
Mazda 2
Mitsubishi Colt
Nissan Micra
Peugeot 207
Proton S16
Proton Satria
Proton Savvy
Renault Clio
Smart Fortwo
Suzuki Alto
Suzuki Swift
Toyota Yaris
Volkswagen Polo

Small
Alfa Romeo
Audi A3
BMW 1 Series
Citroen C4
Dodge Caliber
Fiat Ritmo
Ford Focus
Holden Astra
Holden Cruze
Holden Viva
Honda Civic
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai i30
Kia Cerato
Kia Soul
Mazda3
Mitsubishi Lancer
Mercedes-Benz A-Class
Mercedes-Benz B-Class
MINI Cooper 150
Nissan Tiida
Peugeot 307
Peugeot 308
Proton Gen.2
Proton Persona
Renault Megane
Skoda Roomster
Subaru Impreza
Suzuki Liana
Suzuki SX4
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen New Beetle
Volvo C30

Medium
Alfa Romeo
Audi A4
BMW 3 Series
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Chrysler Sebring
Citroen C5
Dodge Avenger
Ford Mondeo
Holden Epica
Holden Vectra
Honda Accord Euro
Hyundai Sonata
Jaguar X-Type
Kia Magentis
Lexus IS F
Lexus IS250
Mazda6
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Peugeot 407
Renault Laguna
Renault Scenic
Saab 93
Skoda Octavia
Subaru Liberty
Toyota Camry (4 cyl)
Volkswagen Jetta
Volkswagen Passat
Volkswagen Passat CC
Volvo S40
Volvo S60
Volvo V50
Volvo V70

Large
Alfa Romeo
Audi A6
BMW 5 Series
Citroen C6
Ford Falcon
Holden Commodore
Honda Accord
Honda Legend
Hyundai Grandeur
Jaguar S-Type
Jaguar XF
Lexus GS
Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Mitsubishi 380
Nissan Maxima
Peugeot
Saab 95
Skoda Superb
Toyota Aurion
Volvo S80

Upper Large
Audi A8
Bentley
BMW 7 Series
Chrysler 300C
Ford Fairlane
Ford LTD
Holden Caprice
Holden Statesman
Jaguar XJ SERIES
Lexus LS
Maybach
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Porsche Panamera
Rolls-Royce
Ssangyong Chairman

Sport
Alfa Romeo Brera
Alfa Romeo GT
Alfa Romeo Spider
Aston Martin Convertible
Aston Martin Coupe
Audi A3 Convertible
Audi A5
Audi Convertible
Audi R8
Audi TT
BMW 1 Series Coupe/Conv
BMW 3 Series Coupe/Conv
BMW 6 Series
BMW Z4
Caterham
Chrysler Crossfire
Chrysler PT Cruiser Cabrio
Chrysler Sebring Cabrio
Ferrari
Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet
Holden Astra Convertible
Holden Monaro
Honda S2000
Hyundai Tiburon
Jaguar XK Series
Kia Cerato Koup
Lamborghini
Lamborghini Convertible
Lexus IS250C
Lexus SC430
Lotus Elise
Lotus Europa
Lotus Evora
Lotus Exige
Maserati
Mazda MX5
Mazda RX8
MercedesM-Benz C-Class Sports Coupe
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class
Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe
Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class
MINI Cooper Cabrio
Mitsubishi Colt Cabriolet
Morgan Aero
Nissan 350Z
Nissan 370Z
Nissan GT-R
Peugeot 206 Convertible
Peugeot 207 Convertible
Peugeot 307 Convertible
Peugeot 308 Convertible
Peugeot 407 Coupe
Porsche 911
Porsche Boxster
Porsche Cayman
Renault Megane Convertible
Saab 93 Convertible
Volkswagen Eos
Volkswagen New Beetle Cabrio
Volvo C70

Yellow_Festiva · 13-12-2009, 10:36 PM

Interesting list there Russell... I can see a lot of cars that don't fit in the classes they are put into.

I think they should employ a minimum / maximum size / weight ratio to dictate what class a vehicle falls into personally.

A Cruze at 4.6metres and a Mini at 3.71 metres both 'small' cars?? That's almost a whole metre of defference.

Deco28 · 14-12-2009, 08:39 AM

Golf's in the small list there!

They probably put it in medium because they knew it couldn't compete dollar for dollar with some of the other small cars!

**russellw** · 14-12-2009, 11:47 AM

I think the V6 version of the Golf jumps a category in much the same way that the Camry / Aurion do - and the Camry 4 and V6 used to.

Cheers
Russ

Bossxr8 · 19-12-2009, 08:31 PM

There is no longer a V6 in the Golf, they are now all 4 potters.

Wretched · 19-12-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

There is no longer a V6 in the Golf, they are now all 4 potters.

I'd say for the RACV review the R32 was still on sale, after all it was 2009 Best Cars. The R isn't due here till next year.