Best cars 2025: Our brilliant and bonkers highlights of the year Life&Style These are difficult times to be a car company. Cheap Chinese imports, costly US tariffs and the UK Government’s muddled approach to policymaking have all slowed sales and impacted the bottom line. And that’s before you factor in cyber attacks, semiconductor shortages, the cost of living crisis and the reluctance of many motorists to embrace [...]
Aston Martin Vanquish Volante: Ultimate way to make an entrance Life&Style There are certain faux pas that wedding guests must avoid at all costs. Wearing a white dress, for example. Forgetting to silence your phone during the speeches. Revealing what really happened on the stag do. You can add to this rocking up to the ceremony with the roof down in an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. [...]
BMW M3 CS Touring review: A case of sense and sensibility Life&Style Powerful estate cars have traditionally been Audi’s territory, but BMW is fighting back. The first ever M3 Touring was launched in 2022, followed by the larger M5 Touring last year. Now there is a faster, more focused ‘CS’ evolution of the M3 wagon. If you want to outpace Porsches on a circuit, then lug an [...]
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N 2025 review: Electric that pretends to be petrol November 17, 2025 As many a YouTube drag race can attest, electric cars aren’t deficient when it comes to straight-line speed. After that sugar-rush of giddy acceleration wears off, though, you may be left feeling empty and unsatisfied. Going fast doesn’t necessarily equate to having fun. Many believe that EVs are too heavy and too complicated, smothering the [...]
BMW i7 review: Flagship luxury saloon suits being electric November 14, 2025 Let’s just gloss over how it looks. Style is subjective, after all. And without wanting to inflame international tensions, I suspect this BMW wasn’t designed with European tastes in mind. Besides, you can’t see that gigantic fake grille when you recline in one of the i7’s heated rear armchairs. Instead, your field of vision is [...]
Lamborghini Temerario review: A drive on the wild side November 10, 2025 This is the one: the car I’ve looked forward to driving most in 2025. Last summer, I had a Zoom call with the chief designer, who revealed how it would look. A year ago, at the press preview in London, I interviewed the lead engineer about its performance and technical spec. It feels like I [...]
Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo review: grace, space and pace October 24, 2025 Launching an EV felt like a big risk for Porsche back in 2019, yet the Taycan was a triumph. The press declared it a ‘proper Porsche’ and buyers formed an orderly queue. Within a year, it overtook the Macan as the best-selling Porsche in Europe. Then in 2021, it outsold the 911 worldwide. How quickly [...]
Porsche 911 Carrera S 2025 review: No longer the one-size-fits-all sports car October 24, 2025 The Porsche 911 was launched in 1964 as a one-size-fits-all package. Stump up £3,438 and you got a 130hp 2.0-litre engine inside a coupe body. Not your cup of kaffee? Sir or Madam could consider a Jaguar E-Type or Mercedes-Benz 190 SL instead. It didn’t take long for the 911 range to expand, however. A [...]
Aston Martin DBX S review: Our favourite luxury SUV October 21, 2025 When Aston Martin introduced the DBX707 in 2022, it expected this faster, more expensive model to account for 50 percent of DBX sales. Instead, fully 90 percent of customers plumped for the 707hp newcomer, and the original 550hp DBX was discontinued soon afterwards. The message was clear: Aston Martin buyers wanted more performance and they [...]
Rolls-Royce Corniche Shooting Brake review: Estate of the art October 21, 2025 Niels van Roij looks every inch the English gentleman. The Dutch-born designer is wearing an immaculately cut tweed suit with leather-lined pockets, topped off with a green woolen tie. Only later do I realise that identical fabrics were used to trim the Rolls-Royce waiting outside. “I have a suit created to celebrate each car, using [...]
