Vauxhall is not a brand name that appears on most urban fashionistas radar, the cars of choice generally being limited to the Fiat 500 and Mini, with perhaps the Audi A1 thrown in for those doing well. That could change if the new Vauxhall Adam can capture hearts in theContinue Reading
Kia has been busy transforming itself over the last few years, almost completely replacing their range in the last few years. Most in need of a refresh was the unloved Rio, a bland and anonymous car that redefined the word generic, and that is what I have here. And whatContinue Reading
Volvo’s new V40 range has been warmly received, with the premium hatch offering a range of cars markedly different from those from Audi and BMW, but without alienating their existing customers.Continue Reading
Launching a car in Scotland in January is a brave move, but Mazda are taking a few gambles at the moment. From being seen as the next best choice after a Ford or Vauxhall, the Japanese brand is fighting hard to be seen as credible rivals to the likes ofContinue Reading
I’m quite fond of a glass or two of Scotch. It’s a drink that gets better with age, the whiskey maturing in barrels for years, absorbing the flavours trapped in the oak. It starts off strong, but as it develops those flavours in the cask the whiskey mellows, leaving aContinue Reading
I’m a big fan of Americana. Regular readers will know that there is an imported Chevrolet Corvette adorning my driveway, while the banger-money Lexus LS400 has been remodelled in to a reasonably acceptable copy of the General Lee.Continue Reading
When MG launched the MG6 last year, its first all new car in more than ten years, it was missing one vital ingredient – a diesel engine. In the Focus/Mondeo market segment that the car straddles, where only 12% of cars purchased were fitted with a petrol engine, that wasContinue Reading
Some time ago I took a drive in Honda’s hydrogen fuelled FCX Clarity with a value measured in millions. I didn’t think I’d be driving anything quite so futuristic again for some time, but recently I was given the chance to drive the Cambridge University Eco Racing teams World SolarContinue Reading
There are three groups of people in the UK. There’s the majority who have never heard of the Infiniti brand and a small minority who know who they are and what they do. There’s also a group of people who’ve actually bought one, but that number is in the lowContinue Reading
When somebody hands you the keys to a car with a price tag of £171,397 you expect something special. They also expect it back in one piece. Is the Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible special enough to warrant the asking price, and did I manage to keep it on theContinue Reading
The new SsangYong Korando has gone down well in the UK thus far, being far removed from the cars of old from the Korean manufacturer. To complement what is the cheapest SUV crossover on the market, SsangYong have now launched the Korando Sports.Continue Reading
Small is beautiful, so the saying goes. There’s the iPhone, Monaco and Keira Knightley for example, although they’re all quite expensive. I want something that’s small but also good value, avoiding the trap of increasing prices with miniaturisation that’s caught out Smart with the ForTwo and, more recently, Renault’s Twizy.Continue Reading
As the spiritual successor to the Yaris Verso, first impressions are that the Verso-S is doing a better job than the earlier car. Externally, it’s a sharp-edged mini MPV rather than the rather bulbous ‘popemobile’ of old, although there’s a similarity to its most obvious rival, the Honda Jazz. ThatContinue Reading
The Honda Insight was launched just over three years ago and it’s fair to say the reception wasn’t universally positive. In fact so scathing were some reviews that Honda introduced a revised model a little over 18 months later that addressed a lot of the issues of the first cars.Continue Reading
The Toyota Prius has been the clear leader in hybrid cars for some time, with many assuming it’s got a monopoly on the technology, so good has the Toyota PR machine been. However, with new technologies and improved battery performance there’s now some big name competitors. The Vauxhall Ampera’s 50Continue Reading
There’s only a few months before Lexus send the all new LS luxury saloon to their dealers, but we took the opportunity to try out the outgoing model to see just what the 2013 car has to live up to.Continue Reading
The new Vauxhall Combo van arrives on the market promising the biggest payload in the segment along with class-leading capacity, with a range of engines running from a 1.3-litre diesel producing 89 bhp to a powerful 133 bhp 2.0 litre CDTi, all more frugal than the previous generation.Continue Reading
