Cute, Snappy, Pricey. Fabric Roof Frees Up Space In The Boot, Increases Rear Leg Room. Go For The Top Diesel With Dual Clutch Automatic. **** out of 5 “buyers will be bragging to their friends about having the fastest hood removal mechanism since Eliot Ness” LE CASTELLET, France You’ve heard all the claims about how the Morris […]
Performance, Utility, Class. Owners Can Opt For 155 Mph Or 175 Maximum Speed. ***** out of 5 “the RS 6 will not only blast you along like a racing car, but will also do this carrying about 5 refrigerators and a wardrobe” LE CASTELLET, France – Being rich can’t be easy. Consider this dilemma, which a handful of […]
What a Choice Maserati or Aston Martin. V8 GranTurismo or Vantage V8 Roadster. Better Buy One Soon, Before Commissars In Brussels Forbid It. “Cars like these are going to disappear with the clamour for fuel efficiency and half-baked worries about climate change”. It is the stuff of dreams. Imagine having the wherewithal to be able to choose between […]
Has Looks, Quality, Serene Ride. SCOTTSDALE, Arizona I only get the chance to drive a limited range of American cars in Europe, so when I got off the plane in Las Vegas for a drive to Arizona and the car rental company offered a Buick Enclave, I jumped at the chance. After all, this was a […]
Evolution Not Revolution For New Audi A4. A4 Handling, Quality Closes Gap with BMW 3. Well-equipped, competitively priced A4 lacks Wow factor. FARO, Portugal I was getting quiet beside myself before I saw the new Audi A4. After being dazzled by the design of the recently launched Audi A5 coupe I was wondering whether the German […]
Technology, Gizmos Make It Stand Out. VW Late To The SUV Party, So You’d Expect Things To Be Sorted. Better Late Than Never, But Better Never Late. LUTON, England If the old proverb “All things come to he who waits” makes sense, then Volkswagen’s tactics with its Tiguan compact SUV make a lot of sense. […]
Fiat Borrows Mini Strategy To Sell High Margin Small Cars. Initial Public Reaction Suggests 500 May Succeed. Will 500 Make It To The U.S.? That’s Maybe A Bridge Too Far. BMW inaugurated the formula with the Mini. If you make a car loveable enough, and fashionable enough, the public will buy it, even if it […]
In The U.S. At Least, Not Such A Big Price Contrast. Make The Choice Before Environmental. Gauleiters Take It Away. From the sublime to the ridiculous. Beauty and the Beast. Little and Large. Hobson’s choice. One week I was driving the tiny little Smart city car around the highways and byways of Sussex, and the […]
Prettiest Small Car Ever? If The Looks Don’t Get You, The Monster Guarantee Will. Pro Ceed Looks Good, Drives Well, With Quality Build. ISTANBUL, Turkey The Nissan Qashqai has proved that a car can be successful, despite having a silly name. So any annoyance generated by the Kia Pro Ceed’s ditzy title should be put […]
BlueMotion Offers Amazing Economy, At A Price. Little Diesel Does What It Says On The Tin; Well, Almost. The most impressive thing about the VW Polo BlueMotion happened when I calculated the fuel economy. After about 200 miles of a journey towards Oxford and back, which included some 90 mph cruising, the little car not […]
Fast, Spartan Ride, Expensive. Intriguing Diesel Range Combines Frugality With Performance. Faster than a Porsche Cayman S; too pricey for boy-racers. *** out of 5 I’ve always disliked small, souped up machines, not least because of the way they seem to force you into driving like an idiot. I can remember taking my rather sedate Citroen […]
Handsome Smoothie Threatens BMW Hegemony. Powerful, Sophisticated Diesel Makes V8 Redundant. Design Changes Improve Handling; Exterior Makes BMW Look Dumpy. **** out of 5 The new Audi A5 is simply beautiful, with graceful, sweeping athletic lines which forsake ostentation. At least most of it is. Someone at Audi headquarters forgot to tell the design team responsible […]
A Race-Bred Stunner, Audi R8 Set To Storm Supercar Sector. Low-slung, mid-engine, 4-wheel drive coupe limpet-like on the road. Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar Will Be Under Pressure. ***** out of 5 “Most powerful engine, highest revving engine, highest maximum speed, best acceleration, and best power to weight ratio” LE CASTELLET, France Audi’s new R8 mid-engined, four-wheel drive, […]
