Ford Falcon, Suzuki Kizashi, Honda Accord Euro, Audi A4 video reviews | CarAdvice

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Ford Falcon, Suzuki Kizashi, Honda Accord Euro, Audi A4 video reviews

By Tim Beissmann |

CarAdvice today brings you another round of expert video reviews, with the latest offerings including vehicles from the medium and large car segments.


First cab off the rank is the Ford Falcon, a vehicle that needs no introduction to Australian automotive fans. A proven performer, it is priced from $40,290 for the base model XT to $58,990 for the G6E Turbo.

Sales of the Falcon slipped to 29,516 units last year in a declining large car segment. January sales were also the lowest on record, due to availability issues with certain models and reduced activity among business buyers.

Ford Australia expects the numbers to progressively improve throughout 2011 with the introduction of the all-new liquid phase injection LPG system around the middle of the year, the EcoBoost four-cylinder engine in the fourth quarter and a facelift sometime in the second half of the year.

 

 

 


 

Stepping down a size is the Honda Accord Euro, which is priced from $33,990 to $41,690.

The Accord Euro is Honda’s third-best-selling model in Australia, behind the Civic and the Jazz. The Euro outsold the larger, standard Accord by 1000 vehicles in 2010. In the highly competitive medium car segment, the Euro commands an 8.4 percent market share, trailing the Toyota Camry, Mazda6 and Subaru Liberty.

 

 

 


 

Battling the Accord Euro in the medium segment is the Suzuki Kizashi, which was launched in Australia in May last year. Last week, Suzuki Australia announced a number of revisions to the local range, making seven airbags standard, among other things.

Suzuki sold 1448 Kizashi vehicles in Australia in eight months in 2010. Kizashi prices range from $28,490 for the Kizashi manual to $39,990 for the Sport AWD.

 

 

 


 

Finally we have the Audi A4, a premium vehicle in the medium class. A4 prices in Australia range from $52,100 for the entry-level 1.8T to $119,900 for the 245kW S4 variant.

The A4 has established itself as a serious player in the premium medium segment, although in 2010 it lost ground on both the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the BMW 3 Series.

In total, Audi Australia sold 3433 A4s, representing a 16.8 percent market share (down from 19.7 percent in 2009).

Remember to check back in on Friday when CarAdvice uploads another five expert video reviews of vehicles from the SUV, wagon and ute categories.


 
  • bruzzer

    i would have to disagree with Paul on the review of the Honda Euro. The car certainly offers alot of equipment for the money but the one thing it disappoints is the performance. the car looks the goods but fails in providing the performance…. a V6 or diesel engine would be great on that car.
    I test drove the auto 3 weeks ago and i have to say, it felt sluggish and my foot was all the way down to get any decent performance out of it. Its also a big car, legroom was more than enough i thougt.

    I also test drove the mazda6 and it felt alot sportier, nimble and the response was alot better. Than again its almost 200 kgs lighter.

    I also dont think you can compare the kizashi in the same category, the Kizashi is one size smaller inside and out.

    • http://caradvice OSU811

      I totally disagree, the Euro is the sort of car the more you drive the more you appreciate it!! the ride, handling, steering, engine and overall feel of the car are all spot on!, definately the best model in the current Honda range as an all round package (very underrated car)

      • Suntory time

        Yes, but it is s-l-o-w, I think that’s what bruzzer is getting at.

        • http://caradvice OSU811

          compared to what?
          It has more power than nearly all cars in its class
          and has the best operating gearboxes in its class
          whether it be the excellant slick shifting manual
          or the smart thinking auto!
          as I said it is the overall package which makes it great
          anyway not just how much straight line speed it has!

          • bruzzer

            OSU811,

            power is not everything, the car may be very good any many things. I can vouch the car is smooth too.
            but its also the heaviest car in this class..
            The mondeo and Accord Euro one of the heaviest 4 cylinder cars. 1600 kg plus. but at least the mondeo comes with a diesel.

            and im also not talking about straight line speed.
            you try getting stuck between a orange light and red light and put foot down..see how it responds.
            or try and overtake a truck and see how quick it responds.
            plus add 1 or 2 people in the back seat…man Slllluuuugishhh

            Like i said nothing wrong with the car but for the price there is better alternatives… and most car reviews rave on about this car like there is nothing better out there.

        • nick

          who cares if it’s ‘slow’ (when in truth what you mean is perfectly adequate performance for most people) – it’s not a performance car. If you are the kind of person who likes to floor it off the lights, start saving up for a specialised sports car!

          • Frank

            I didn’t have to save for long, got a 2.5 year old G6E turbo for $29k with only 60,000 km on the clock, considering my last AU is up over 400,000 km and still going strong. Makes you wonder why people with more money than sense would spend 60k on a ‘mid-sized’, supposedly ‘luxury’ car that can barely keep up with a 10-year-old Magna.

    • Ethan

      Man, I can certainly attest to this… it is a great handling car and one of the sweetest front wheel drive chasis i’ve had the pleasure of driving BUT it is SLOW… i think it is because of the bloated body that’s carrying a lot more weight… it seriously blunts performance…

    • Nick01

      bruzzer,

      So are you or are you not talking about “straight line speed”??? coz the example you gave is all about straight line speed lol

      • bruzzer

        nick01,

        i gave one example, i didnt feel the need to give a number of examples to make my point.
        but i felt i explained it a bit better on the second reply. Anyways at the end of the day each person has their own opinion and to some people they happy with what the car offers.

  • nifty

    Just a stupid question? Where does one find the videos? They are not on the video page when I go there. The latest I can see is for the Honda Insight on the 17 January. I couldn’t find the last lot either for the Mazda 3 etc.

    • Katie Hume

      Hi Nifty,

      All these videos are currently being uploaded in the recent written reviews, so if you go to the Mazda3 Review you will see the video near the top of the article.

  • Alan

    Are these guys for real – an Audi A4 for under $50k….. must have fabric interior and a 2 cylindar engine.

  • http://baji192.wordpress.com Baji

    I dont mean to nitpick, but in the Kizashi video, John mentioned the CVT gearbox as “Constant Velocity Transmission”. Probably just a slip up, but isn’t CVT “Continously Variable Transmission”?

  • nickdl

    A bit harder to rectify since it’s a video review, but Paul states that he would like to see the AWD model on sale here. Ummm, it’s been here for six months…

    • Who Knew

      Yes and another slip of the tongue was that the Falcon runs on natural gas, rather than LP gas. If the Falcon loses 40kW on LPG, I hate to think what it makes on NG.

      • Robin Graves

        Exactly what I was thinking. Also he says the Crummydore and Falcon are much of a muchness, they are not, the Falcon is superior in driveline, ride/handling and looks. It consistently outdoes the Conformadore in reviews including caradvice, where falcon came first and crummydore last.

        • Dave S

          ‘Much of a muchness’ is a bad way to describe the 2 best value cars on our market. Both great cars that all Austrlain’s should be proud of.

          Its great that you love your Fords, but dont think for a second they out class the Commodore in every aspect. The VE SS won Motor bang for your Buck 2 year in a row. The SS ute nearly won it the following year, narrowly beat by the Fg ute.

          The reviews i read say: why dont Ford have the complete set of airbags standard and not an extra cost on the base model? Why do you sit much higher in the Ford the the Holden? Why is the Holden A pillar so big and why did Ford put a SC V8 in the Falcon which the chassic can not handle with such small tyres?

          Oh, where is the new Ford Xr8?
          No V8 in the ford range – now thats crummy

  • sw2092

    Yeah, either it’s a really old review, or Paul slipped up badly re the AWD not being available. And I’ve driven the CVT and manual models, and there’s no question as to which is better – the manual. The gearbox is sensational. Making the AWD available only as a CVT was a big mistake by Suzuki. I can’t argue with his overall sentiments about the car though – and I’m putting my money where my mouth is by ordering a MY11 manual ‘Prestige’ (nee XLS) model in March.

  • anthony

    I recently bought an Accord Euro,after having my VW Jetta written off,and have to say that I just LOVE it.

    Very sporty looking,very comfortable,BRILLIANT TO DRIVE,as it goes so well.

    Could not reccomend it highly enough,my first Honda ,but hopefully not my last.

  • Phio

    G6E Turbo clocked at 4.9 to 100, quoted at 5.1.

    Ford always understate their figures.

  • Mick

    If you look at the total tax payed for the production to on road of overseas vehicles compared to Australian made vehicles, it is very much considerably cheaper. Thats the main reason why Ford isn’t doing so well. By tax input, I mean everything from the raw materials to the final car, and all the tax thats involved with the buying, selling, and manufacturing of parts used in other parts which are used in the final car. Also considering the indirect taxes such as the individual workers tax involved in each step of the process.

    If the government were to lose Ford and Holden, they will be losing a lot more money than just the obvious final product money. It may be a bit unfair to reduce tax for companies involved with vehcile manufacturing and not others, which is why once the total figure is worked out, that should be used as a template for a car subsidy at point of sale.

    I realise this is against the spirit of free trade, but you can guarantee that every country selling producs here do a subsidy one way or another, and have imported car tariffs, so its really stupid of Australia to think we can lead by example and no have these – the end result will be that the overseas countries will just take advantage of it, which they have been doing!

  • Al Juraj

    Honda’s automatic robs a lot from the engine. They are a few steps back when it comes to development. The performance difference between that and the Euro manual is huge. Conversely, their stick shifts are world-class as always. Even yesteryear Civics really do slick changes between gears.

  • Adrian

    What I really want to know is where has the motoring media been in the last 6 months?
    Why has NOBODY even reviewed an XR6 50th anniversary model?
    I know we got the launch stories, before they were even built, but these are an awsome piece of kit or the money. The only interior photo that I can find is from Ford’s ads.
    Seriously it’s one of the nicest automotive interiors ever yet has never been reviewed. Leather trimmed, logo embroided sports seats, piano black fascias, dual zone climate, premium sound etc.

    BTW, NO, you can’t have mine to test either.

  • harold

    I have a G6E Turbo and it is a truly wonderful car. Nobody who has been in the car can believe the performance and the smoothness of the wonderful engine and ZF gearbox.

    The mix of performance, luxury and space cannot be found at this price with any other car on the market. The only car that can come close is the Calais V8 and whilst its a nice car, it loses in almost all comparisons with the G6E Turbo and whilst its fast, its considerably slower than the turbo Falcon.

    Australians has fallen out of love with Falcons and have a stack of preconceived ideas that are simply incorrect. The Falcons are well refined cars that are more fuel efficient than 4wd’s, handle much better, drive much better, have as much space and are all round better cars. Wake up Australia and support Aussie jobs by buying cars that perform wonderfully in Australian conditions.

    I guarantee that if you are looking at a car in the $40-60,000 range and you try a Falcon, it will compare favourably to any 4WD or overseas model.

  • dino

    i would still get the FG Falcon, may be G6 but with 6 speed ZF, who would not like to have over 200kW and 420Nm of torque under their right foot for as little money as possible plus comfortable, large, easy to drive, cheap tor un, economical , reliable and willing to last you for over 1,000,000km with ease and cost nothing to fix. Or perhaps a nice G6E Turbo with $1000 spent on tuning to lift it to 390-400kW and over 800Nm would do the trick?

  • dino

    ps: a stock standard EF $500 with over 400,000k on clock beats a brand new Kizashi 0-100 and on the road “again these are two different classes” but again…hey 4.0L vs 2.4;)

  • Llangollen

    I bought a 2009 model G6E with 15,000 ks for $32,000 and I couldn’t be happier.I’ve been on long country drives and got 7.7lper100km. So my car is big. Yes it’s comfortable and safe. Before this I owned a EF Falcon and before that a Suzuki GLX sedan. Yes the Suzuki was good but 9 years into it’s life with me and the fuel pump packed up. Unable to by a new one so I had to go to a wreckers. EF Falcon 13 years old bought brand new radiator and every other part on the car was still available brand new in 2009.So locally made cars for me and never again imported cars.