Best luxury and performance cars of 2019

These are the seven best new luxury and performance cars of 2019. They ooze style, are packed with cutting edge tech and boast ballistic performance.

Luxury cars do not feature heavily in the list of News Corp Car of the Year winners — it’s often hard to make a case for value and consumer relevance when price tags exceed $100,000.

But excellence deserves recognition and here are the best new luxury arrivals this year.

BMW 3 Series

BMW’s new 3 Series was a return to form.

BMW’s 3 Series came close to winning the overall award this year, thanks to outstanding dynamics, impressive packaging and a decent level of standard kit. The petrol 330i sedan represents a return to BMW’s best — and that’s hard to beat. It shone in two comparison tests, knocking off impressive cars such as the new Genesis G70, proven Mercedes-Benz C-Class, clever Volvo S60 and innovative Tesla Model 3 to win its category at our annual awards.

Audi’s new A6 is a technological tour de force.

Audi A6

Traditional three-box sedans are old-fashioned and out of vogue among luxury buyers. But that doesn’t do the new Audi A6 justice, as it is one of the most advanced cars on sale. Its “Audi Connect Plus” suite will tell you the price of petrol, find a vacant parking space, send a digital smartphone “key” allowing people to borrow the car, provide restaurant reviews when you’re peckish and warn you to find cover if hail is on the way. If you have a crash, it will call for help, tell first responders what colour the car is, how many people were on board and whether airbags were deployed.

Tesla Model 3

The Model 3 is the most practical electric car on the market.

Marques such as Mercedes, BMW and Audi were in Tesla’s sights when it developed the Model 3. It’s the most complete electric car on sale and the only one that makes sense financially. It’s also more fun to drive than any of its plug-in rivals and Tesla’s widespread charging network make it more practical and less prone to giving its driver range anxiety.

Its driver assistance tech is the best in the business, although marketing it as Autopilot is misleading and potentially dangerous as it can lull owners into a false sense of security.

All-wheel-drive Tesla models also offer eye-watering performance.

Porsche 911

The ultimate driver’s car just keeps getting better.

The best “price is no object" new performance car this year was Porsche’s new 911.

It’s not cheap — budget $300,000 to get one with desirable options — but the 992-generation Carrera S is the complete article. Brilliant on a twisty road, sensational on track and easy to live with every day, the 911 does everything superbly.

Mercedes-Benz AMG C 63

The Mercedes-AMG C63 S is a brute.

If you can’t spend that much, consider the updated Mercedes-AMG C 63 sedan, because V8s won’t be around forever and this one is special.

The twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre unit puts out 375kW of power and 700Nm of torque, driving the rear wheels through a new nine-speed automatic transmission.

Sprinting from rest to 100km/h in a fraction more than four seconds, the AMG feels immense, serving up performance and engagement to rival significantly more expensive supercars.

If you can’t afford the C 63 and don’t need the size of a sedan, try the AMG A35, proof Volkswagen’s Golf GTI isn’t the last word in polished hot hatchbacks.

Alfa Stelvio QV

Alfa has the performance to match its spicy looks.

Choosing a performance SUV is hard, but we’ll go with Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio QV, which backs up supermodel looks with a thrilling engine and uncommon agility in the twisties.

Alfa says the 2.9-litre bi-turbo V6 will propel the SUV to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds, courtesy of 375kW of power and 600Nm of torque under the bonnet.

Lamborghini Urus

The Urus does things no SUV should be able to do.

Our team tested a handful of dream cars this year, including the rapid Ferrari F8 Tributo, sublime Aston Martin DBS Superleggera and impossibly posh Rolls-Royce Cullinan. But the one that blew our minds was Lamborghini’s Urus super-SUV. The twin-turbo, four-wheel-drive wagon redefined what we thought was possible from a heavy, high-riding car. Simply devastating in a straight line, the Urus also shocks with agility made possible by tech such as active roll bars, four-wheel-steering and a torque vectoring differential.

Conventional Lamborghinis deliver what you expect of them. But the Urus shatters expectations.

Originally published as Best luxury and performance cars of 2019