quote: www.carpoint.ninemsn.com.au:
'SPORTS STAR' WINS WHEELS CAR OF THE YEAR
ROTARY-POWERED MAZDA RX-8 TAKES AUSTRALIA'S TOP MOTORING AWARD
A stunning blend of sports coupe innovation, superb handling, and four-passenger comfort has secured Australia's most coveted motoring award.
The smooth revving and powerful rotary-engined Mazda RX-8 has been named the 2003 WHEELS Car Of The Year.
" The Mazda RX-8 represents the birth of a new and worthwhile category of car," notes WHEELS editor, Ged Bulmer.
" The RX-8 has achieved a genuine sports coupe experience, complete with four doors and four seats, thanks to daring, ingenious design.
" It is packed with a range of cutting-edge design features and was the stand-out winner in 2003 over a quality field."
THE WHEELS CAR OF THE YEAR
The RX-8 took the prize after being short-listed with the Honda Accord Euro, Toyota Kluger AWD, and the petrol-electric Toyota Prius.
Other nominees included the Audi A8, BMW 5 Series, BMW Z4, Holden Adventra, Jaguar XJ, Lexus RX330, Nissan 350Z, Subaru Liberty/Outback, Volkswagen Touareg, and the Volvo XC90.
The WHEELS Car Of The Year has now adopted an 'Academy Awards' style system, with the basic sales volume and safety criteria no longer enough to gain automatic entry to the test program. A panel of senior WHEELS staff and contributors rejected many cars that would have previously made the cut – allowing for more in-depth analysis of the true standout models of the past 12 months.
The RX-8 marks the first appearance of what Mazda terms 'shock cone' technology. The bottom skin of the bonnet is covered with shallow cones, designed to reduce pedestrian head trauma, in the event of an accident. Mazda plans to introduce this technology throughout its passenger car range.
The RX-8 looks like a true sports coupe but seats four adults in comfort and actually has four doors - two normal front doors, and two smaller rear-hinged doors. The latter cleverly incorporate the body's central pillars, thus facilitating easy rear seat access.
The RX-8 is the only four door, four seat sports coupe on the market, and the only rotary-engined model in the world.
The RX-8's rear doors and bonnet are made of lightweight aluminium, constructed with a new energy-efficient friction welding technique, which uses only one percent of the energy required by conventional methods.
"With no direct and obvious competitor, and priced between $56,170 and $63,280 the RX-8 is brilliant value," adds Bulmer
"It's good looking, clever, great to drive and a worthy winner of the Wheels Car Of The Year."
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as the name says, finally the new liberty hasnt one. you notice though that most of the time whenever the falcons in a strong chance to win it the liberty gets in its way or the award gets cancelled. like 72 with the XA, cancelled. 79 with the XD, cancelled. 94 with the EF, liberty won, 98 with the AU, liberty wagon won. the only exclusion is 89 with the EA that the MX-5 won which is fair enough.
well next year the territory will be in the running, so will the fiesta so ford could be aiming for 3 straight wins with the BA and RX-8 taking the first 2. lets hope they dont screw it up