Maserati Levante review: The Italian carmaker goes off-road with its first ever SUV August 1, 2016 M aserati. Such a cool name to say out loud, isn’t it? Tell your friends you drive one and your cool factor instantly swells. Soak up the kudos from becoming a suave, stylish Italianate and observe how they suddenly start to slightly resent the fact they chose a Porsche. Maserati’s traditional approach has been making [...]
Volvo V90 review: Swede dreams really are made of this July 25, 2016 Sweden’s two great carmakers, Saab and Volvo, have met very different fates. The former was declared bankrupt and production ended in 2014. The latter, on the other hand, is experiencing a glorious renaissance, funded by Chinese money and spearheaded by the brilliant XC90 SUV. Swede dreams, indeed. While the XC90 is Volvo’s halo model, its [...]
Volvo V90 D5 AWD review: The Swedes finally go into battle with the all-conquering Germans with their new estate car July 25, 2016 Sweden’s two great carmakers, Saab and Volvo, have met very different fates. The former was declared bankrupt and production ended in 2014. The latter, on the other hand, is experiencing a glorious renaissance, funded by Chinese money and spearheaded by the brilliant XC90 SUV. Swede dreams, indeed. While the XC90 is Volvo’s halo model, its [...]
Ford Edge review: This beef-monster SUV might lack the status of an Audi, but its sharp styling will win you over July 18, 2016 You probably have friends who drive an Audi Q7, so you’ll know the rationale for choosing one. It has seven seats, so you can drive the kids and their friends to football or ballet. It has lots of space for the annual holiday. You can drive other cars off the road because it’s the size [...]
Who throws the best parties, Formula One or Formula E? The answer might surprise you… July 11, 2016 When it comes to Formula One, I feel like I lived through a golden era. I’m not just talking about the racing, I’m talking about the after-parties. When Red Bull launched their own F1 team in 2005 it was my job to cover not only what occurred on track and in the paddock, but what [...]
Honda NSX review: is this the most high-tech sports car in the world? We think so, and this is why… July 11, 2016 My first drive of the new Honda NSX would be on a racetrack, at speed, with the man who has spent the last four years of his life making this car a worthy successor to the legendary, 25-year-old original. Crash this and Honda’s Ted Klaus would personally kick me out the Circuito do Estoril. It’s [...]
Ferrari 488 Spider review: This most perfect of sports cars has a lasting effect on Adam Hay-Nicholls, who gets cosy with it in Maranello July 7, 2016 The 488 Spider drove me to drink petrol. There was no warning when it ran out of fuel. OK, the gas light came on about 40 miles back but the way I was driving it, with ‘race’ mode selected on the manettino dial and some heavy application of the right pedal, that distance came and [...]
Audi S5 Quattro review: Efforts to improve on this masterpiece deserve our respect but not our necessarily our love July 4, 2016 How do you improve upon a masterpiece? Would Van Gogh’s sunflowers look better if they were brightened up in Photoshop? Perhaps Exile on Main Street needs some AutoTune tweakery to smooth out Mick Jagger’s trademark drawl? Such was the task facing Audi in replacing the A5, the car that designer Walter de Silva called his [...]
What it’s like to take on one of the world’s toughest race tracks in the 2017 Nissan GT-R June 27, 2016 Nearly 50 drivers and motorcyclists have died at Spa-Francorchamps since the first race there in 1922. Nestled in the lush green hills of the Belgian Ardennes, this tortuously twisty circuit is second only to the Nurburgring for morbid notoriety. So it’s with some trepidation that – having signed a lengthy disclaimer – I don my [...]
Range Rover Evoque car review: Are you convinced by the daring of this big topless release from Land Rover? June 20, 2016 The Range Rover Evoque has been around since 2011 and is in danger of becoming last year’s must-have. With an ever-increasing number of upmarket SUVs on the market (including competition from within JLR – Jaguar has recently launched the larger F-Pace SUV), how could Land Rover make a statement by offering something a bit… daring? [...]