2011 Australia's Best Cars awards

The German brand snatched five prizes,diecast models, from the crown for best light-class car over $20,000 to the best luxury SUV over $60,000, from a total of 15 awards.

It is the most impressive individual effort in the 12-year history of the awards, and took Volkswagen to the top of the all-time table with 19 wins since 2000, in a contest presented each year by the Australian Automobile Association in partnership with the seven state and territory motorists' clubs.

is no compromise with these vehicles driving enjoyment does not come at the expense of huge running costs and emissions outputs, and vice versa," said chief judge, Mark Borlace.

have done a fantastic job of minimising fuel consumption and emissions output, while maintaining impressive levels of power and torque both with petrol and diesel powertrains."

The Falcon won as the best large car over $60,000 but,http://www.voguediecast.com/, more importantly, with the latest LPG-powered model. It is the sixth individual category win for the Falcon, but comes in a year when sales have slumped to raise questions about the ongoing future of a uniquely Australian family Ford.

of all, LPG is considerably cheaper than regular petrol, which makes it cheaper to run, said Borlace.

top of that, LPG burns a lot cleaner than petrol or diesel, which means that the Falcon EcoLPi emits just 203 grams of C02 per kilometre, compared with 236 in the regular petrol-fuelled Falcon. Significantly, it feels exactly like a normal Falcon if anything it feels slightly better in that it produces more power and more torque earlier in the rev range. The Best Cars awards are open to all vehicles sold in Australia and the results combine hard data on everything from price, economy and safety with the opinions of a highly-qualified judging panel.

This year there were 307 contenders in the greenest contest on record, as the 45 finalists averaged a CO2 output of 179 grams/kilometre with fuel economy down slightly from 7.4 to 7.37 litres/100 kilometres from 2010.

New arrivals to win in 2011 were the baby Kia Rio, hybrid Lexus CT200h and thunderous V8-powered Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe, while the Land Rover Discovery stretches its category winning streak to seven years.

are the real winners when it comes to the value presented by this year category winners, said the executive director of the AAA, Andrew McKellar.

motorists are increasingly tech-savvy, and they expect new cars to offer the latest in consumer technology to complement their busy social and work lives. At the same time, a rise in the cost of living has seen consumers trend toward cars that use less fuel compared with equivalent older models."