In the midst of the financial storm, it would be prudent to round up 2008 with the car that will give you the most value.

Unfortunately, we couldn't settle on one. All of us had our own favourites.

Our eminent editor then suggested opening the poll to our readers. And these are the results:

Honda Jazz 1.3 took 'poll' position with 26 per cent of our readers' votes.

Not surprising given the number of good things we can sing about about the Jazz.

Zippier looks and breezy handling define the Jazz. We had no problems no problems negotiating through heavy traffic.

It should please the number-crunching motorist that the Jazz hit up to a high of 14.9km/L.

As Straits Times' senior correspondent Christopher Tan mentioned in his test drive, 'the Jazz does not feel like a small car.'

'It is not the least claustrophobic and not the least weedy in the way it rides or presents itself.'

Coming close in second is the Suzuki Swift 1.3L. With its sporty lines and rally-like looks, the Swift has captured quite a number of hearts. Even if we stack the 'budget' version against its big brother, the Suzuki 1.5L, the end result is more than satisfactory.

Lee Nian Tjoe, editor of Torque motoring magazine, said, 'The car is too well-equipped and feels too complete for the buyer to feel shortchanged in any significant way.'

Rounding up the podium finish is the Chevrolet Spark 0.8. It is allegedly the model on which China's Chery QQ is based on. But of course, the original is much better in every way. A decent amount of cabin space and easy handling sums up the petite Spark.

It will have no problems zipping ahead of other cars in traffic light situations.

Looking at the podium finish, we can confidently say that there are budget cars. And then there are budget cars - tiny but fearsome wheels that'll give you the most bang for buck.