Articles by Emily Agar

This is the list that's most fun to write but it’s sometimes hard to pick winners when you review as many cars as I do! This year has proven (once again) that the market is ruled by SUVs and Australia’s love affair with them isn’t slowing down any time soon. So, you may be surprised that only a few of them made the cut. Out of all of the cars I’ve been cruising in this year, these were my favourites (in no particular order). The LandCruiser got me good. There are enough old-school elements mixed in with premium tech and features to satisfy everyone (it has a CD/DVD player!). Rear passengers enjoy the same luxurious comforts as front rowers and you get one of the most practical shaped boots I’ve sampled. For adventuring families, it has great off-road and towing capabilities with effortless power and grunt. It also drives like a dream and is a comfortable road tripper. I love it and miss it. Station wagons are my favourite type of family-hauler. Technically this sits in the same category as a Toyota Prado (ahem) but it looks and behaves like a wagon. This is one of the smoothest driving experiences you can have. It has AWD and the old-school elements are seamlessly blended with easy-to-use tech. High comfort for longer journeys and its only downside was being a bit thirsty. It hurt my soul to hand the keys back. The driving experience is finely tuned with great power delivery and on-road comfort. The sedan/wagon hybrid style took a little while to get used to, but the practicality was a big win for my little family of three. It could fit the hubby’s golf clubs, do a big grocery haul and carry all the junk my eight-year-old seems to accumulate over a week. The boosted sound experience on the engine is one you simply have to hear once in your life. The Touareg is a great looking family SUV that caters to everyone with comfort and tech. It’s smooth to drive with power that is promptly delivered. The on-road experience is also a lesson in refinement, which a few other European brands can take notes on. Efficiency and ongoing costs are also good – what’s not to like? It made the list last year and the updated model won my heart again. Just a solid all-rounder that delivers great on-road comfort, steers well, has decent power and good features for a base model. The hybrid efficiency is hard to question and it’s a smart-looking sedan thanks to the substantial facelift. Annoyingly, it is heavily associated with ride-share and taxis but I’d have one in a heartbeat. It’s only fair to include my eight-year-old's top-five cars, as he tests them with me and is very loud with his opinions on them. He loves the ambient lighting in Mercs and whooped with joy whenever I had to get up to speed. The engine sounded cool and there were enough comforts in the rear. He loved all of the features in the second and third rows, including cupholders that are well-positioned on the doors. He loves a good ute and the manly internal styling won him (and my husband) over. The tray was the winning feature and acted as a cubby house. His nickname for it was the Batmobile. That really sums up how much he liked it.

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