Pay less and get more

It's one thing to get wiggy with the options list; it's quite another to chuck bucks at a top-line model when the lesser version has the same drive train and essential safety equipment.

In the case of several of the most popular models we've chosen, the cheaper version also has the impertinence to be the better drive.

So it can come down to deeply personal questions such as: can you live without the caress of leather?

Light and easy

First thing to know about this class of car is that you should learn to drive a manual. Small cars go better this way. They're also cheaper.

But some 90 per cent of you would sooner slaughter your own meat than change gear for yourself, which means you'll need to pay $2K more for Hyundai's three-door Getz 1.4 S.

Add the absolutely non-negotiable safety pack — with electronic stability program, ABS brakes and traction control — and suddenly you're at $17,280, still better value than the SXi at $18,490.

Which brings us into price range of the critical and popular small car du jour. The Mazda2 comes in three-or five-door shape and three model lines, the top auto Genki a touch over $23K.

Get the five-door, four-speed automatic Neo with $1100 safety pack — including stability control and extra air bags — for $19,740.

Medium fare

That the generality has deserted big 'Strayan family cars for smaller but high-quality imports is no cause for wonder. But, in the lemming-like rush to downsize, they've also skipped over a car that's also more fuel-efficient, faster and safer than the one chalking up the sales.

Moreover, with the recent price cut, the class-leading Mazda6 medium car now starts under the upper-echelon versions of the Mazda3. A bigger and better car for less? Oh, yes.

Best of all, the base model $28,490 Mazda6 Limited manual sedan has the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine and active/passive safety measures as the $42K-plus Sport Luxury.

For our money it also has the better ride/handling compromise.

If you want a trip computer and the more popular hatch/liftback shape with its truly commodious passenger and luggage space, get the Classic with five-speed auto at $35,990. That's still $8K off the toptop dog.

When Volkswagen negotiated a sub-$40K starting price for the brilliant Mark V Golf GTI it didn't anticipate it becoming the second-biggest seller in its perennial hatch's line-up. Now every thrusty tosser in a white baseball cap gets into them.

Subtler, cheaper, greener and — in its way — cooler, is the Golf GT Sport TSI with its exceptional twin-charged engine.

Never mind the seemingly weedy 1.4-litre capacity, the TSI teams a supercharger with a turbo charger to achieve a 125kW/250Nm output and performance not very distant from its better recognised sibling.

At $37,490 you do without a hole in the roof or cowhide, but you do get the six-speed twin-clutch transmission, which is both faster and more efficient than the conventional manual.

When size matters

How Holden and Ford must curse the rise of the soft-roader.

To appreciate its dominance of the family car market you need only observe any school drop-off zone.

With off-road ability propping up the list of daily requirements, Toyota's Kluger KX-R seven-seat 2WD at $41,490 has the whole package for less than a top-line RAV4. It has the same 3.5 V6 and five-speed auto as the $66K top Kluger, plus all its size, utility and the whole outfit of active and passive measure. Save for all-wheel-drive, that is. But when you're at Woolies, who exactly cares?

If you're of the ever-diminishing mob who must have a big sedan, Toyota's Aurion Touring SE Special is another that lacks some of the fruit of the top-line model but has all its wherewithal — not least the 3.5 V6 and excellent six-speed auto.

At $34,990, not only is it $15K cheaper than the Presara, it gets by without a stupid name.

Aspirational autos

Much, far too much, has been made of the varied faces of the excellent Mercedes-Benz C-Class. You can have the more traditional face of the Classic or Elegance lines or the SLK-emulating Avantgarde.

You also get to pay $5K or more for the latter.

The up-puffed supercharged 1.8 petrol engine of the C200K is better than before but, once you've sampled the thrust of the 125kW/400Nm diesel C220 CDI Classic ($60,500), there's no going back.

It's good enough to make you wonder where the extra $35K is in the top-line C320 CDI. The 220's options list is encyclopedic, but standard kit is a good deal more than adequate.

For some, though, the lure of six petrol pots is too much. In that case, the Lexus IS250 Prestige with six-speed flappy paddle auto at $58,990 is our choice.

It lacks the sat-nav and phat rims of the exxier versions, but drives better almost all the time.

Better yet, the Prestige comes in under the luxury car tax, so you keep Treasurer Wayne Swan's sticky fingers out of your wallet.