Story by Greg Hill
Power is not everything in Golf. The ability to hit the sweet spot and land with pinpoint accuracy can be far more important.
Despite the handicap of a modest 1.6-litre engine, the Volkswagen Golf Trendline has no equal for design and functionality and bests most of its peers for on-road abilities.
The Golf and Mazda3 Neo, together with a cleverly repacked Nissan Pulsar ST sedan, take the top three places in this category.
To do so, they had to squeeze out very good cars including previous winners, the Subaru Impreza and Holden TS Astra. Such is the high level of quality, on-road ability and competitive pricing in this class.
The stylish looking Mazda3 Neo took the early running with its strong on-road ability, excellent comfort and user-friendly positioning of the driver controls (ergonomics). Performance of the Mazda3 Neo's 2.0-litre DOHC engine is strong but you pay the price in higher fuel consumption. Although not excessive, its consumption is worse than average for this class.
While the Mazda3 scores consistently well over all 19 areas of assessment, the real surprise package was this year's eventual winner, the Golf Trendline hatchback.
Full Details: www.australiasbestcars.com.au.
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