Car review: Why BMW’s Alpina XD3, the fastest 4×4 ever made, is the smart choice June 1, 2015 It’s funny how meanings change. In the early 1990s, diesel was a dirty word. But then diesel got clean, went green, became the low-CO2 champion to save the planet – and the Congestion Charge. Then scientists started noticing how London’s nitrogen oxide levels were spiking. Indeed, Oxford Street is one of the dirtiest roads on [...]
Car review: Audi’s technology-filled Q7 is near perfect if you’ve got kids in tow May 25, 2015 Verbier in Switzerland is an entirely appropriate place to launch the new Audi Q7. It has narrow streets, tortuous winding mountain roads and a touch of motorway for the car to stretch its legs. A private jet flew me to Sion where the Q7 was waiting for me in a hanger. Audi’s massive SUV [...]
Not convinced? May 25, 2015 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… BMW X5 XDRIVE30D M SPORT PRICE: £53,550 0-62MPH: 6.8 secs TOP SPEED: 143mph CO2 G/KM: 158g/km MPG COMBINED: 47.1mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Four Stars PERFORMANCE Four Stars PRACTICALITY Three Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Three Stars ML 350 BLUETEC AMG LINE PRICE: £54,000 0-62MPH: 7.4 secs TOP SPEED: 139mph CO2 G/KM: 189g/km [...]
Car review: Ford’s Mondeo Vignale attempts to appeal to today’s upwardly mobile classes May 18, 2015 The “Mondeo Man” who Tony Blair famously courted during the 1997 General Election could be found on suburban driveways, polishing his car and wondering whether he should vote Conservative now he was moving up in the world. If Ed Miliband had targeted a similar demographic ahead of this year’s election, perhaps he might have [...]
Not convinced? May 18, 2015 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… AUDI A4 S LINE NAV 190 MULTITRONIC PRICE: £33,125 0-62MPH: 7.8 secs TOP SPEED: 143mph CO2 G/KM: 126g/km MPG COMBINED: 58.9mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Three Stars PERFORMANCE Three Stars PRACTICALITY Three Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Three Stars BMW 320D M SPORT AUTO PRICE: £33,325 0-62MPH: 7.4 secs TOP SPEED: 142mph CO2 G/KM: 117g/km MPG COMBINED: [...]
Car review: On the road with BMW’s Gran Tourer – the people carrier that’s out to prove luxurious doesn’t equal impractical May 11, 2015 Remember those BMW ads with the tagline “The Ultimate Driving Machine”? The Bavarian brand built its reputation on sporty saloons with straight-six engines and rear-wheel drive. Unfortunately, the 2 Series Gran Tourer falls short of being the ultimate driving machine. BMW’s seven-seat MPV is a stretched version of the Active Tourer that shares its [...]
Not convinced? May 11, 2015 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… CITROEN GRAND C4 PICASSO 2.0 BLUE HDI EXCLUSIVE PRICE: £28,110 0-62MPH: 10.2 secs TOP SPEED: 128mph CO2 G/KM: 115g/km MPG COMBINED: 64.2mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Five Stars PERFORMANCE Three Stars PRACTICALITY Five Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Four Stars FORD GRAND C-MAX 2.0 TDCI TITANIUM X NAV AUTO PRICE: £27,865 0-62MPH: 10.7 secs TOP SPEED: [...]
Car review: The Jaguar XE 3.0 V6 S is set to put British cars on top of the world again May 4, 2015 You know you’ve made it at work when you swap the keys of your bog-standard company car for a premium model better suited to the junior executive you’ve become, like a BMW, an Audi or a Mercedes-Benz. But if everyone is trading up, the brands risk losing the exclusivity that made them so appealing in [...]
Not convinced? May 4, 2015 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… MERCEDES-BENZ C 300 PHEV AMG LINE PRICE: £38,535 0-62MPH: 6.4 secs TOP SPEED: 152mph CO2 G/KM: 100g/km MPG COMBINED: 78.5mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Four Stars PERFORMANCE Three Stars PRACTICALITY Three Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Two Stars AUDI S4 PRICE: £39,615 0-62MPH: 5.0 secs TOP SPEED: 155mph CO2 G/KM: 178g/km MPG COMBINED: [...]
Car review: The Phantom’s little bro grows up – meet the Rolls-Royce Ghost II April 27, 2015 Drive the Rolls-Royce Phantom for any length of time, as City A.M. did last August, and there’s a strong chance you’ll come away deeply impressed. Your CEO may well own one and, you’ll undoubtedly agree, he/she is a person of great taste. Alan Sugar has a Phantom. So does Simon Cowell, Kim Kardashian and [...]