Honda Elevate and CR-V along with Volvo EX30 did not hit the spot this year.
Another year has come and gone and it’s time for The Citizen Motoring to look at the best and worst 2024 had to offer.
On the year’s last episode of the Pitstop podcast, each member of the team chooses his personal favourite car and biggest flop of 2024.
While the least favourite rides of the year are a mixed bag of models, the top dogs are all performance cars in the Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Performance, Audi RS6 Avant and Porsche 911 Carrera.
Beastly Mercedes-AMG GT63
Road Test Editor Mark Jones was one of the first in the country to put the beastly 620kW/1 470Nm Mercedes-AMG GT63 through a high-performance test this year. And anything that sprints from 0 to 100km/h in 2.96 seconds is bound to make an impression on him. It was only the third car to break through the three second-barrier in almost two decades of our testing.
The Audi RS6 Avant left the biggest smile on Charl Bosch’s face this year. Powered by the 463kW/850Nm 4.0-litre V8 turbocharged petrol engine, the RS6 is one seriously fast station wagon, as highlighted by its 3.61-second sprint time during Mark’s test.
On paper, my favourite ride, the Porsche 911 Carrera’s 3.0-litre blown mill looks less impressive than the first two rockets. But, its 290kW of power and 450Nm of torque was good enough to smash Stuttgart’s claimed sprint time of 3.9 seconds. The Carrera clocked the 100km/h dash in 3.64 seconds to validate it’s racing DNA despite being an “entry level” model.
ALSO READ: Mercedes-AMG GT63 a supercar in disguise
Failing to make an impression
I was less thrilled by the Honda Elevate. The Japanese carmaker has been bleeding heavily over the last few years and banked on the Elevate to try and win it back some market share in a segment that is properly flooded by Chinese products. Although the Elevate is a solid offering, it lacks the wow factor Honda so desperately needs for a strong comeback.
Another Honda, the all-new CR-V, was at the bottom of Charl’s 2024 pile. He felt the top spec Exclusive does not to justice to its seven-figure price tag.
For the same reasons Mark chose the Mercedes-AMG GT63 as his best car in 2024, he no-balled the all-electric Volvo EX30. Where the GT63 still has the old school grunt of AMG’s affable V8 mill, he felt the EX30 despite all its technology was just too serene for his liking. The “Swedish Shopping Trolley” just didn’t do it for our hard core racing man.
