Articles by Paul Gover

After 17 straight years as a Carsguide Car of the Year judge, I was wondering what to expect as we assembled the 10 finalists for the 2013 awards.There are always a few surprises, things to learn and like and loathe, and the field is more varied and relevant this year than at any time in the past. We have baby cars, family cars, an old-school wagon, SUVs, even a new-age Benz, and the value is outstanding in every case.One of the early favourites is the last of the true Aussie cars, the VF Commodore. It looks a little out of place, so big and bland as a starting-price Evoque sedan, and is quickly put right into its place as we begin the 60-kilometre driving loops used to assess the various contenders. That place is the past.These days the Commodore is an all-rounder in a world of specialists, and that's why it - and the Ford Falcon - are heading into history. And why the Commodore cannot win a COTY crown in 2013.There was a time when big Fords and Holdens made all the sense in the world, as they could cover every base from commuter car and taxi work to a family fun runner, a working wagon, and even a hotrod sporty sedan. It was a one-size-fits-all solution, even if the tailoring was never an ideal fit.Now the world has arrived in Australia, with 60-plus brands all competing in the toughest new-car scene on the planet, and there are cars which do every job better than a Commodore or Falcon. It's bespoke tailoring at its best.We have the proof right in front of us as the COTY contenders run through the loops and hoops.If you want a classy new family car, the Mazda6 is better.If you want a roomy family wagon, the Kia Rondo is better.If you want a flexible runabout, the Subaru Forester is better.If you want maximum bang for your bucks, the Mercedes-Benz A200 is better.So the Commodore finishes in the middle of the pack and, despite our patriotism and support for carmaking in Australia, that's what it deserves. It's a good car, and easily the best car to wear a Holden or Commodore badge, but that's just not good enough in 2013.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

The shortest-priced favourite in the 17-year history of the COTY contest romps home ahead of a surprise runner-up, the Mazda6 diesel station wagon. The family-focused Kia Rondo seven-seater completes the podium. The landmark Mercedes-Benz A200 is fourth but the sentimental star, Holden’s Commodore, manages only sixth place in the 10-car line-up of new models released since December 2012.The seventh-generation Golf was clearly on top through the intensive COTY judging, rating first in the field with seven of the 10 members of the voting panel. It won us over with a combination of class and refinement, relaxed driving and the value of the $27,940 90 TSI Comfortline with DSG auto.Never has a “small” car (the cabin space is equal to a big car of the 1990s) so seamlessly combined the verities of a suburban family vehicle and a long-distance tourer. Its 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine is as amiable and economical - or as spirited and responsive - as you could want. Not that we have no misgivings after the massive recall of the previous-model Golf earlier this year because of DSG transmission problems and the ongoing questions about the Volkswagen support network. “I love the Golf, but I would never own one beyond the warranty period,” says James Stanford, summing up the feelings of most. Likewise Joshua Dowling, News Corp’s national motoring editor, who says that the cost optional extended warranty is a must for longer term ownership.Watch Volkswagen Golf COTY videoThere are no doubts about the back-up for the Mazda6, which emerges quickly from the ruck as the contenders are driven back-to-back over a testing loop on public roads around Mount Victoria and Lithgow west of Sydney.The luxuriously appointed diesel Touring Wagon ($41,650) is nearly as big as an old-school Aussie family six but brings BMW-bettering finish and refinement - and arguably the world’s best four-cylinder turbo diesel.“This is the reason people don’t buy Commodores and Falcons any more,” says Joshua  Dowling. “It’s European prestige styling and performance at a Japanese price,” says Craig Duff. Lisa Power asserts:  “The Mazda6 had me at hello. It is classy, comfortable, safe and polished.”Watch Mazda6 COTY videoKia’s Rondo SLi diesel ($36,490) is another surprise packet, scoring because of its 5+2 cabin flexibility, strong 1.7-litre turbo diesel and the Australianisation work that goes into all Kias. It has limited boot space with seven seats in place but that’s the only flaw. Otherwise its almost infinitely variable load and seating configurations make it a best friend for the suburban family prepared to look beyond the inevitable, but vastly less efficient, SUV.“It’s a cross between a wagon and an SUV, which is a good thing. It’s a great advertisement for the flexibility of a people-mover,” says Neil Dowling. “Not a true seven-seater,” says Chris Gable.Watch Kia Rondo COTY videoThe fourth-placed Mercedes-Benz A200 (from $40,900) is a fully fledged Benz and a properly sporting hatch that undercuts the equivalent Audi and BMW for value and desirability. Yet its alert road manners, intended to bring younger buyers to the brand, are felt by some judges to be too great a departure from the longstanding Benz remit, with excessive tyre noise on some surfaces and a choppy ride.Watch Mercedes-Benz A200 COTY videoIt’s followed in the voting by the chic little Renault Clio Expression TCE 120, $19,790) which this month spawns a pocket rocket from Renault Sport. An effervescent 1.2-litre turbo petrol and twin-clutch auto are a happy modern marriage. The styling of Laurens van den Acker makes for the most visually appealing city car to date.“I’m a fan. It’s 20 grand, it’s a lot of fun and you get what you pay for,” deputy editor Tim Vaughan says. Lisa Power, however, feels some of the novel touches are detrimental: “The reflections of this piano black trim are very distracting in the sunlightEveryone wants to like the Commodore Evoke ($34,990) but the VF is just not good enough. The 3.0-litre V6 is coarse and underpowered. Yes, its ride is superbly adept and its size is second to none but, as Duff says, “It’s an old car, out of its time.” Gable adds: “It just feels like a much-improved VE.” Neil Dowling:  “The world has moved on.”Compact SUVs might be as unavoidable as death and taxes but the world awaits the first outstanding example. Subaru’s Forester 2.5i with CVT auto ($32,990) is a “fine Subaru,” say several judges, “but no COTY”. The near entry variant will surely satisfy with equipment levels and reliability but its engine has to work too hard and there are better cabins at this price.Having agreed to make available a V40 T4 Luxury petrol, Volvo first gives us an XC60 SUV. A diesel version is found. At great length an example of the T4, in Luxury spec ($45,990), arrives. In a year when Benz can do the A200 at $40K and the Golf variant so transcends its price bracket, the V40 is not only too late but offers too little.Volvo’s case is further undermined by its imminent engine replacement. The T4’s five-cylinder turbo petrol is chucked early next year for a new four. If this well-equipped and pleasant car existed in isolation it would be a great deal more impressive than it is.Kia’s Cerato, essentially a twin of last year’s place-getting Hyundai i30, disappoints. The year of the Golf cannot fail to diminish this good-value but competitively basic small car. It is by no means as complete as the Rondo, It suffers, says Duff, from “muddy electronic steering”.Holden’s Trax ($25,690) trailed the field from the outset. It is a good idea done badly, particularly with impressive new mini SUVs - including the Ford EcoSport and Renault Captur - about to flood showrooms. It’s cheap within, obsolete under the bonnet, wobbly on the road and no more impressive than the Barina on which it’s based.HOW THEY FINISHED1. Volkswagen Golf2. Mazda63. Kia Rondo4. Mercedes-Benz A2005. Renault Clio6. Holden Commodore7. Subaru Forester8. Volvo V409. Kia Cerato10. Holden Trax 

The new styling is previewed on the Legacy Concept at the LA motor show and, even though it will be wound back from the brutish show car, everything points to a new direction for the Liberty in 2015. The next Liberty is expected to be bigger, with significantly better cabin quality and styling more like the Forester and Outback SUVs than the elegance of earlier Libertys. Subaru boss Nick Senior is not surprised Subaru chose the LA motor show, and not the Tokyo show that also opens this week, to preview the Liberty alongside the new WRX. "If you can crack it in California you can crack it anywhere," Senior says. "From a Subaru point of view, the US market is incredibly important (and is) recovering strongly. The company has hit our highest sales record of over 400,000 cars this year. California is the biggest regional market and arbiter of taste and style." Subaru has pushed the boundaries with the frontal treatment on the concept car, but it's the cabin - inspired by a smartphone - that is the biggest advance. It also has a coupe-style roofline, the current design trend for all sedans, but there are only four seats. Senior says not to read too much into the Legacy Concept, despite the importance of the coming Liberty replacement. The LA concept also celebrates the 25th anniversary of the car in 2014, even though the new model will not arrive for more than year.   _______________________________________  

Benz is planning a super-stretched S-Class next year with a 2+2+2 seating layout but this car is "only" the long-wheelbase S. It picks up an additional 200 millimetres for rear legroom and there is also a third side window hidden beneath the camo tape. 

The lamps and bumpers get a tweak and this European test car points to a preview at the Geneva motor show in March. 

It's the next Mini Cabrio, which obviously retains a folding fabric roof with glass rear window in a boxy mini shape. 

 WHAT IS IT? Audi TTWHY THE FUSS? Third-generation speedsterWHEN'S IT HERE? Early 2015HOW MUCH? About $65,000.The third-generation of the hairdresser's favourite features more rake to the windscreen and pumped-up guards. The 2015 TT is built on Volkswagen Group's MQB platform, which promises the elevation in refinement already seen and felt in the latest Golf.

The next time you go into a new-car showroom there is a key word you can use to get the bargaining started.

You know you're getting old when car comfort is more important than a stoplight sprint. Either that or, like me, you've recently spent too much time with doctors and comfort suddenly becomes the single most important thing in your driving day.I love the Ferrari 458, but right now I would hobble straight past the rip-snorter Italian thoroughbred on the way to a cushy Jaguar XJ limo. It would be the same situation for my first-choice funster, the Porsche Cayman.I've recently driven a race-prepared Fiat 500 Abarth and the pain was almost - almost - worse than the pleasure of romping the pocket rocket around the high-speed swoops and curves of Phillip Island. I was more than happy to slide back into the cushiness of a Chrysler 300 for the drive home, even if the seats in the motown monster don't give as much support as I normally like.The ride back to the airport got me thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of a number of vehicles that have recently passed through the Carsguide garage, focusing on how they make you feel in the body instead of in the head. Every week there are emails to CarsGuide from people of age, asking about upgrading - from a conventional passenger car into something in the SUV style that's easier on the hips and legs at mounting and dismounting time.An SUV can look like a good idea on the comfort front, but lots have bench-flat seats, crappy ergonomics and nowhere near enough suspension compliance. The Subaru Forester has a nice ride, but I prefer the seats in the Toyota RAV4. On the car front, the new Nissan Pulsar has seats that do nothing for me, but the Renault Clio is surprisingly comfy for a little, affordable car.My top favourite seat is a Recaro racing bucket that is almost shrink-wrapped to my shape, like a bathtub full of jelly that provides perfect support. But it's just about the toughest seat to get into or away from. So, right now, the first-choice comfort car is a Range Rover. It's stupidly expensive, but everything works for me, from a body that drops down on its air springs for easy access to beautifully-shaped front buckets finished in lovely leather and even a user-friendly automatic gearbox that means my left leg never has to move out of its comfort zone.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

Good riddance, we say. It's been outed by the latest regulations on compulsory electronic stability control, which have also netted and rejected the Great Wall X240 and Suzuki Jimny.The bottom line is that ESC - a breakthrough system that uses computerised control of a car's braking system to maintain control in a potential emergency - is now fitted to every car in Australian showrooms.Because ESC is linked to a car's anti-skid braking system, basically working it in reverse to pull a car straight if it wobbles out of line, it means we also get the benefit on ABS to prevent wheels locking and give us the chance to steer around a potential disaster.Victoria went early on compulsory ESC but now the whole country has joined the latest safety party, triggering memories of my one-and-only outing with a J1. I spent a morning in Sydney with the Chinese cheapie and, although there was some promise, the reality of life with the $9990 newcomer was not good.It was slow away from the lights, had wonky brakes and wobbly cornering, and I compiled a list of 18 flaws in the assembly work, from body parts that were only undercoated to a dashboard that appeared to have been made using parts from at least four companies who had never spoken about anything, let alone the need to make all their bits and pieces with the same colours and textures.Chery changed the gearing of the J1 within a week, but that was about it. There are still some stocks of J1s in dealerships, and Suzuki says it has enough Jimnys until March of 2014, but those cars are part of the past and we're thinking about the changing safety picture in Australia in 2013.The bottom line for the Carsguide crew is pretty simple - if a car does not score at least a four-star ANCAP safety rating then it is not tested. That's partly about protecting the test team, but mostly because the bottom line for any Carsguide verdict is whether we would recommend a car to our own family or best friends.No-one at Carsguide is going to tell their best mate to buy a two-star car. It's the same on the secondhand side, and we also take a huge interest in any safety development work that could make our roads a better place to drive.Feedback from the Carsguide crew alterted Mercedes-Benz to a flaw in one of its new safety systems, which uses the next development of ESC to keep a car in its lane, and we had big smiles when the latest S-Class and E-Class cars arrived with a tweak that's directly linked to our driving and writing. But we're smiling for a very different reason when we reflect on the J1.This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover