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Model tested: 2008 Ford Falcon G6E Recommended Retail Price: $46,990. Options fitted: None fitted.

Handling; engine and gearbox; rear leg room; price point

Non-flat boot floor; no xenon headlights

CarAdvice rating: (4.25)

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Model tested: 2008 Holden Commodore Calais V6 Recommended Retail Price: $46,190 Options fitted: Metallic paint ($400).

Space, standard ESP, solid ride

No Sat/Nav or reversing camera, ‘poverty’ interior

CarAdvice rating: (3.00)

Model tested: 2008 Honda Accord V6 Luxury Recommended Retail Price: $46,990. Options fitted: None fitted.

Impressive handling; size; features

Sometimes heavy on fuel, too many buttons on centre console

CarAdvice rating: (4.15)

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Model tested: 2008 Toyota Aurion Presara Recommended Retail Price: $49,490. Options fitted: None fitted.

Performance, plenty of luxury items, good safety equipment

Stodgy handling, generic interior styling, pricey

CarAdvice rating: (3.50)

- Review by Paul Maric, David Twomey and Matt Brogan, photography by Paul Maric.

Introduction:

In this day and age it is becoming increasingly difficult for car manufacturers to meet the demands of consumers. With petrol prices continually skyrocketing, pressure is on manufacturers to make fuel efficient cars, while still catering for size and performance.

In the first test of its kind in Australia, CarAdvice has pegged the rear-wheel-drive Falcon and Commodore against their Japanese front-wheel-drive rivals, the Accord V6 and Aurion.

The luxury variants chosen here will be popular amongst professionals and families with a luxury cruiser in mind.

After a week of extensive testing ranging from city driving to performance tests, we have determined a winner. The results are close but paint a clear picture of the current large car market in Australia.

Next page…

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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However any additional unscheduled servicing for vehicles subjected to heavy usage and harsh driving conditions are not covered under the program, which is limited to three years or 60,000 kilometres of driving.

“Although LandCruiser 70 Series is a workhorse and designed to handle heavy loads, it still endures more wear and tear than other Toyota vehicles, making $250 per service a great saving.”

Toyota estimates that over the six scheduled services, this will amount to a saving of $1528 for LandCruiser 70 Series owners - including GST.

“It’s reassuring, in this time of high petrol prices and on-road vehicle costs, for drivers to know what standard scheduled servicing costs they will incur over the next three years, or 60,000 kilometres, right from the outset of buying a vehicle,” Mr Callachor said.”

The locally manufactured Toyota Camry and Aurion are limited to just four standard scheduled services under the capped price scheduled servicing, while all other Toyota vehicles receive six standard scheduled services.

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It was found that the Toyota Aurion AT-X equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission costs an average of $226.20 per week to run - $13.24 less per week than its main rival, the VE Commodore Omega.

This figure equates to a cost difference of $688.47 per annum, with the AT-X already priced $1,635 below its main rival.

“Motorists are looking at running costs more closely than ever, so the RACV study underlines another dimension to Aurion AT-X ’s overall affordability as the least expensive vehicle to run in its class,” said Toyota Australia’s senior executive director sales and marketing, David Buttner.

From a field of five which took part in the same category - including an LPG-equipped Falcon and Dual Fuel Commodore - the Aurion AT-X also boasted the least depreciation, interest charges and total registration costs of any car in the survey.

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It’s strongest performer was the Corolla with more than 5000 sales, closely followed by the HiLux which contributed just over 4500 to the overall total.

With the financial year ending just yesterday, Toyota also announced that it has sold more than 247,500 vehicles for the fiscal year - also an all-time industry record.

No other brand has ever sold more than 200,000 vehicles in any 12-month period in Australia.

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Like the current Elise and Exige line-up which feature the 1.8L VVTL-i engine, Lotus has also looked to its Japanese companion to power the Eagle which is set to boast a Toyota-sourced powerplant.

Specifically, a modified version of the 200kW 3.5-litre V6 engine from the Toyota Aurion will be used to power the new Eagle in both naturally-aspirated and supercharged variants.

The Eagle is set to replace the Espirit as the flagship of the Lotus range which ended production in 2004.

The new mid-engined 2+2 coupe will utilise Lotus’ trademark lightweight aluminium space frame technology, no doubt keeping the overall weight hovering about the 1,000kg mark.

Source: CarScoop

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The 350km/h dragster is heading out to the 2008 Winter nationals (Australia’s biggest drag racing event) soon, where it will put all 1300kW to use. Yes that’s not a typo, 1300kW of power push the Aurion from 0-100km/h in less than one second!

Although you might question the relation between the Pro-FX and the actual TRD Aurion, given the drag car is rear-wheel drive while the Supercharged road going version is driven via the front, Toyota Australia motorsport manager Todd Connolly believes the Pro-FX “perfectly complements” Toyota Australia’s new range of performance-bred TRD-branded road cars.

“Toyota is synonymous with quality, durability and reliability, while TRD has added style, passion and performance to our line-up, today’s unveiling of the Ultimate Motorsport TRD Aurion Pro-FX takes us to a whole new level - this car has performance and excitement by the bucket-load.” Connolly said.

CarAdvice is currently road testing the TRD HiLux, stay tuned for a full review next week.

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“The TRD Aurion’s body shell is really more of a caricature than a scaled-down version of the real car. We are in the final stages of producing the initial test moulds now so the finished product will be on the track later this year.”

The series is a support category for the V8 Supercar Championship and races at some of Australia’s biggest events, including the Australian Formula One Grand Prix and at Indy on the Gold Coast.

Every car in the field runs a spec mechanical package and chassis that is fitted with moulded body shells representing the relevant make and model of the car.

Weighing just 450kg, the cars are powered by a 1.2-litre, twin-cam, four-valve Yamaha engine, producing 91kW at 11,5000rpm and sprint from 0-100km/h in just 4.5 seconds.

Although the series has been based around Ford and Holden-derived cars, Aussie Racing Cars director Phil Ward said he does not see the category as a red versus blue battle and hopes Toyota’s involvement will encourage other manufacturers to get involved.

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Mazda drivers Rick Bates and Alister McRae managed a one-two finish on Day One in the 2WD Showroom Competition, matching their previous result in the Prologue - despite Toyota incorrectly claiming victory in its TRD Aurion entry.

Not only did Rick Bates outperform the near-standard TRD Aurion entry competing alongside in the 2WD Showroom category, but also twin-brother Neal Bates in his race-prepped TRD Aurion entry.

Overall the performance of the Mazda3 MPS in the hands of Bates has been phenomenal, finishing the day 24th overall - equal with the brand-new R35 Nissan GT-R of Targa regular Tony Alford.

Jim Richards remains as the man to beat in his 2008 Porsche 911 GT2, finishing first overall narrowly ahead of Steve Glenney and Tony Longhurst in their rally bred Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec C respectively.

Day two of Targa is made up of 402km, including eight competitive stages over 72km. The field starts and finishes in Launceston and visits the east coast town of St Helens.

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In addition to 16-inch alloy wheels which alone usually retail for $1,150 - the Aurion Touring also gains the following:

• six-disc CD changer
• front foglamps
• dual-zone climate-control
• leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear lever
• front and rear parking sonars
• trip computer

The Special Edition Aurion Touring is priced at $34,990 and features Toyota’s 3.5-litre Quad-Cam V6 engine developing 200kW of power at 6200rpm and 336Nm at 4700rpm on regular unleaded petrol.

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It’s probably an age thing. I’m over 40 and Paul and Alborz are under 30. That must be it.

241 supercharged kilowatts is a lot of juice to be flowing to the front wheels. Torque Steer. Yes, of course there’s a little torque steer, but it’s entirely manageable and quite a non-event. Just hold the steering wheel properly, with both hands, as you should be and there’s no drama whatsoever.

And if you need to jump on the right pedal and give it a boot full, you’ll be rewarded with ‘blast off’ style acceleration that keeps on going and going, thanks to those 400 Newton metres peaking at a respectable 4000rpm.

Normally I would be physically ill if I had to live with red leather seats in a daily ride, but this colour trim in a black TRD, is stunning.

But before I end up writing another 1500 word review on the TRD, which I have no intention of doing, I wanted to share with you, a few photos of the car which I had shoved in a desktop file and forgotten about.

You can find our reviews below:

• TRD Aurion 3500S Road Test (Paul)
  
• TRD Aurion 3500SL Road Test (Alborz)
  
• TRD Aurion 3500SL Review (Tony)

Anthony Crawford

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