Is SEAT’s new Leon the new hot-hatch hero? April 11, 2016 For many, the 1980s were the halcyon days of the hot hatchback. Yet as the next decade dawned, joyriding, ramraiding and soaring insurance premiums brought this go-faster fairytale to an abrupt end. Until now. We’re currently in the midst of a second golden age for the hot hatch. And while classic heroes like the Peugeot [...]
Audi’s new Q7 e-tron helps owner VW escape Dieselgate scandal April 4, 2016 The Q7 is a big, brash SUV made by Volkswagen Group’s upmarket Audi brand and fitted with a 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine. But you can drive it in London guilt-free, without paying the congestion charge and avoiding road tax. How? Because it’s fitted it with an electric motor alongside the conventional engine – and you can [...]
Toyota Prius review: the new model is now a serious contender for the budget-conscious driver March 24, 2016 This year I became a Prius convert. Until that point it had always been a car for other people; I found the whole doing-good-for-the-planet thing irritating. And the logic behind the Prius didn’t work either: if you wanted the best fuel economy, simply buy a diesel. That way you get choice too, rather than having [...]
Porsche 911 Turbo S review: At last, the people’s supercar has arrived and it’s just as practical as it is potent March 21, 2016 Porsche 911 Turbo S Price | £145,773 0-62mph | 2.9 secs Top speed | 205mph CO2 g/km | 212g/km Mpg combined | 31.0mpg The verdict Design | ★★★☆☆ Performance | ★★★★★ Practicality | ★★★★ Value for money | ★★☆☆☆ Remember when Porsches were known for being widowmakers? In the 80s, people feared they’d spin into a hedge backwards if they [...]
Mercedes-Benz new E-Class still edges its rivals: here’s how March 14, 2016 Visiting a Mercedes-Benz showroom is a bewildering experience. With 17 models to choose from, should you go for a sporty coupe crossover or a sleek shooting brake estate? That’s before you even consider the 50-plus possible engine derivatives. Or the countless extra-cost options. Pity the poor salesman tasked with making sense of it all. But [...]
Lexus RX review: Will hybrid SUVs take over the market after VW’s dieselgate? March 7, 2016 Few things are as unwelcome in central London as a big, gas-guzzling SUV. One of them is a big, diesel SUV sporting a Volkswagen Group badge. Anti-diesel resentment has been bubbling for a number of years, culminating in the VW “dieselgate” emissions scandal that rocked (and continues rocking) the motor industry. However, one manufacturer has [...]
Formula One rising star Jordan King on how it takes more than cash to become a champion March 2, 2016 Jordan King is just 22-years-old, but to talk with him you’d think he’d been racing in Formula One for a decade, such is his calm confidence and commercial aptitude. He’s currently contesting F1’s feeder series, GP2, and testing for the Manor F1 team with the hope of stepping up to a race seat next year. [...]
Mercedes-AMG C63 review: Can this muscle car disguise itself as a sophisticated saloon? February 29, 2016 Price: £60,060 0-62mph: 4.1secs Top speed: 155mph MPG Combined: 34.5mpg ★★★☆☆ | Design ★★★★★ | Performance ★★★☆☆ | Practicality ★★★☆☆ | Value Elvis Costello famously said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture” – and he had a point. I could tell you the Mercedes-AMG C63’s soundtrack is like a Wagnerian opera, or a [...]
The Toyota Mirai is the car you can buy – today – that only emits water February 23, 2016 At a modernist house in North London – designed, built and rented out by one of the partners at Norman Foster’s firm – Toyota showed me the future of the car. It’s a long, funny-looking four-door contraption called the Mirai, with exaggerated rear wheel arches and a fittingly modernist front end. Other car companies talk [...]
Bentley Bentayga review: behind the wheel of the the world’s fastest luxury SUV February 15, 2016 As the second hour standing in LAX’s dreadful arrivals queue passed, I realised my schedule was going hopelessly awry. I still had a 130-mile drive to Palm Springs: in LA traffic, four hours or more. Factor in no food and nearly 24 hours without sleep, and Bentley’s Bentayga luxury SUV launch seemed to be in [...]