Holden Commodore

The Holden Commodore is an automobile manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors (GM) in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand.

THE VERDICT Good: Brilliant appearance; great ride & handling; considerable amounts of space for 5 adults. The SS variant is a current take on the muscle cars of yesteryear… Not so Good: No diesel powered variants on feature; limited mid-life facelift exterior changes.

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Holden Cruze

THE VERDICT Good: The Holden Cruze offers a cutting edge exterior design and stylish interiors. No complaints with the storage space. Both the grades are a good deal. Not so Good: Petrol engine is the weak link in an otherwise extraordinary Small family car.

THE REVIEW Design and Engineering Good: The Cruze is a huge leap forward over Holden’s previous Asian-sourced small family car (the unloved Viva). It looks quite modern, classy even and the build quality appears top notch. The longer wheelbase and wider track contribute to improved handling. Not so good: You couldn’t really call the styling groundbreaking; rear-end styling is blander than the front. Interior and Styling Good: Well designed centre console with an instrument cluster that is easy to decipher with only a quick glance; plenty of nice-to-feel plastics rather than the usual hard stuff; comfortable front seats (heated, double-stitched leather pews on the CDX grade) combined with both tilt and reach steering controls make it easy to feel at home; lots of useful storage compartments around the cabin; decent room for front and rear passengers; road noise is quite well suppressed. Not so good: Rear seats could offer more under-thigh support for adult passengers; the front seats are sporty and tight and would be a tad uncomfortable for a bigger bloke.

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Ford Falcon

The Ford Falcon is a full-size car which has been manufactured by Ford Australia since 1960.

THE VERDICT Good: With excellent ride and handling, high levels of standard equipment the Falcon is a refined, proudly Australian-built rear-wheel drive sedan. The XR6 Turbo is brilliant. Not so Good: Fuel consumption (however, the four-cylinder engine is on its way and will address this). The 'common' brand notion – blame the historically high number of Falcon’s being sold as fleet & taxi vehicles.

THE REVIEW Design and Engineering Good: Changes to the design include: larger rear doors that open wider for ease of entry & exit, redesigned A-pillars providing greater front visibility and significant suspension and drive train upgrades, resulting in a number of worthwhile improvements to areas such as ride & handling and fuel economy. Not so good: The raised bonnet on the XR8 unbalances the Falcon's lines when viewed from the side (but from the front it looks tough!?). Interior and Styling Good: The interior of the Ford Falcon gives a tough competition to the Holden Commodore. The centre console sports a balanced design with a logical layout of the controls. Also the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat is a comfortable place to settle in with enough space for 5 adults to set in and a large boot. Not so good: Entry level XT interior is rather plain (with far too much grey!)

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Hyundai ix35 SUV

THE VERDICT Good: An exterior designed with a modern and funky concept with a powerful-yet-frugal Turbo Diesel engine. Also encloses within a six-speed automatic gearbox and an improved interior. Total value for money. Not so Good: Relatively heavy design. The Petrol engine's noisy under hard acceleration. Firm ride over rough surfaces.

THE REVIEW Design and Engineering Good: The first to feature the Hyundai brands ‘Fluidic Sculpture’ theme which arrived in February 2010. It makes into the list of the coolest Compact SUV’s one can buy. It is enhanced by the large hexagonal grille up-front which is a typical Hyundai style of spelling its presence. The rear hatch holds a feature that could be called the 'mini duck tail' (Porsche 911 lovers get this). Carverdict’s Salute. Not so good: Considering the size of the vehicles 'footprint' the Hyundai ix35 is no lightweight design – tipping the scales between 1.6 & 1.8 tonnes (compare this to a medium family-sized wagon and you’ll see that on average SUV's are definitely heavier creatures). The front grille is body coloured on the entry-level 'Active' grade and as a result (to our eyes) it doesn’t appear as well integrated as the grey coloured versions on the mid and upper-grades. Interior and

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