Highs and lows of 2011

Ged Bulmer, Managing Editor

Best car: HSV GTS, a benchmark Aussie muscle car delivering stunning performance at a real-world price.
Worst car: Alfa Romeo Mito. Alfa, you can do better.
Biggest surprise: The Nissan Leaf, looks like a normal car, drives like a normal car, only quieter.
No surprise: Saab's continuing death throes. Someone put 'em out of their misery, please.
You're not serious? Maybach, still flogging its overpriced land yachts at the Tokyo motor show after the brand had been euthanased.
Oh, you are? Renault claims reports of its death in Australia are exaggerated, has yet another go at relaunching its brand.
Cannot wait: Mazda CX-5. It'll wipe the floor with other compact SUVs.
Pass: Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Not even if I won Lotto.

Stuart Martin

Best car: Ferrari 458 Spider.
Worst car: Jeep Wrangler Unlimited turbo diesel.
Biggest surprise: The FJ Cruiser; it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
No surprise: No Chinese cars for road-test. None has been offered.
You're not serious? The stop-start fuel-saving system on the BMW M3 Pure edition.
Oh, you are? High-performance SUVs from BMW, AMG and Jeep. What's the point?
Cannot wait: AMG C63 Coupe. (Pic: pictured below)
Pass: Another drive in an Alfa Romeo Mito with a twin-clutch automated manual and Stop-Start. Not a good mix.

Karla Pincott, Online Editor

Best cars: Volvo C30 Polestar Concept and C30 Electric bookend Volvo’s new directions. (Pic: pictured below)
Worst car: Any of the new 2WD SUVs -- it's wrong, people. Just wrong. Get a wagon or a people-mover.
Biggest surprise: Ford Falcon XR6 EcoLPi is fantastic. Fleet becomes fleet of foot.
No surprise: Saab not waving, drowning. Is it too late for another lifeline?
You're not serious? GM will bring Malibu here, despite the risk of it undermining sales of locally-built Holdens.
Oh, you are? And Opel too.
Cannot wait: To see if Great Wall will one day offer journalists a vehicle to review.
Pass: The next five Chinese brands to arrive, unless there’s considerable improvement. But they’ll come anyway.

Neil Dowling 

Best car: Range Rover Evoque.
Worst car: Proton S16.
Biggest surprise: Saab saying it's confident about the future.
No surprise: Chinese cars failing crash tests.
You're not serious? A three-cylinder BMW.
Oh, you are? Audi confirms it has a Wankel licence and wants to use the rotary as a range extender.
Cannot wait: BMW i8. (Pic: pictured below)
Pass: A trip to Detroit (I chose India instead).

Craig Duff

Best car: BMW 1 Series M, a "poor person's'' M3.
Worst car: Honda CR-Z (best hybrid in the country, worst Honda ``sports'' car in my memory).
Biggest surprise: Mercedes-Benz CLS C63 AMG. Physics dictates a car this big shouldn't be this capable.
No surprise: VW Group continuing its relentless quest for world domination of the vehicle market.
You're not serious? The continued insistence that speed kills.
Oh, you are? Euro-built diesels that take a hammering and don't hit 8.0L/100km.
Cannot wait: First drive in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. (Pic: pictured below)
Pass: Anything with a Chinese-based badge.

Paul Pottinger, Deputy Editor

Best car: The new F30 BMW 328i. Not the quickest or most exotic thing to which I was handed the keys in 2011, but so sublimely intuitive to drive it borders on genius.
Worst car: Hyundai i45. Allegedly improved. It wasn't.
Biggest surprise: Volvo S60 T4. The perky range entrant rocks.
No surprise: The remorseless rise of the small car class.
You're not serious? Volkswagen's dull new designs, dithering DSG and ridiculous servicing costs.
Oh, you are? Ford Focus Titanium brings technical sophistication recently the preserve of an S-Class Merc to the small car segment.
Can't wait: Toyota 86 and/or Subaru BRZ. (Pic: pictured below)
Pass: Any and all motor shows.

Paul Gover, Chief Reporter

Monday, June 27 was my best working day of 2011. In fact, it hardly qualified as work, since I was cracking around the Top Gear test track in Britain with a sinister black McLaren MP4-12C providing me with miles and miles of smiles.

The mighty Mac is a bonzer beastie that provides the ideal antidote to too many motor show treks, too many middle-of-the-road transport modules and too many days away from home. But the 12C was not the most memorable car of the year.

No, that honour goes to the Ferrari 458 Italia. It might not have the pace or grace of the McLaren, or its overall refinement and liveability, but there is nothing in Carsguide land to match the emotion of the howling Italian supercar.

Best car: Ferrari 458. (Pic: pictured below)
Worst car: Chery J1.
Biggest surprise: COTY win to the Kia Rio.
No surprise: Falcon sales continue to fall.
You're not serious? A BMW M5 introduced as a fuel-miser.
Oh, you are? LPG, diesel and four-cylinder engines for Commodore and Falcon.
Cannot wait: BMW M3.
Pass: A trip to India.