With hopefully a bit more sunshine to come this year, the Golf GTI Cabriolet is now more tempting with its GTI 2.0-litre 208bhp turbocharged petrol engine. There hasn’t been a go-faster cabriolet version of the Golf for nearly two decades and despite its fabric roof is instantly recognisable as a GTI with its distinctive ‘telephonedial’ alloy wheels, twin … [Read more...]
First Drives
Weekend roadtest: Ford Focus ST
The all-new Focus ST is now in a Ford dealership showroom near you and it will be appearing at your local cinema from the 3 September. The car will be the real star in the new film version of the 1970’s TV series The Sweeney. In this remake for cinema you will find that cops Regan and Carter, now played by Ray Winstone and Ben Drew, have not only … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Toyota Prius Plug-In
As the name suggests the latest model to join the third generation Prius hybrid five door hatchback family is the Plug-In version, writes David Miles. This new addition can be charged from mains electricity to extend the driving range of the electric power only mode. The new Prius Plug-In becomes the flagship of the family and it is Toyota’s first … [Read more...]
Weekend twin-roadtest: BMW 116 and M6
As the official high profile vehicle supplier to the London Olympics, with 3,200 EfficientDynamics cars and 800 other vehicles and cycles and the event starting this week, you might think BMW already has enough on its plate. Despite the increased brand awareness the Olympics brings for the BMW premium brand, the ‘day job’ of selling cars must go on … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Audi A6 allroad
Audi doesn’t do crisis, that’s the message from a confident UK MD as he prepares to launch the comparatively small selling but highly profitable and desirable A6 allroad. The new, third generation allroad is in showroom on 7 July and its already heading towards some eager buyers. Such is the demand for the ever increasing number of new and revised Audi … [Read more...]
Ford pin future savings and success on EcoBoost engines
One in four of the new Ford Focus Hatchback and five door Estate models to be sold in the UK will be ordered by customers with the company’s new British designed 1.0-litre, three cylinder, Ecoboost petrol engine. Two versions are available, 99bhp and 123bhp with CO2 emissions of 109 and 114g/km and combined cycle fuel economy of 58.9mpg and 56.5mpg … [Read more...]
New Vauxhall Astra VXR goes for the burn
The Vauxhall Astra GTC has been given the automotive equivalent of a workout to beef up its looks and power, and created the newest VXR. A natural successor to the previous generation Astra VXR and stablemate to other VXR models in the range, Vauxhall will sell more VXRs in Britain than the rest of Europe and it’s anticipated to take 10pc of GTC volume or … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Toyota Yaris Hybrid
The arrival of the Toyota Yaris Hybrid in July brings the latest low emission petrol-electric technology to the mainstream supermini B-segment in Britain. Arriving as the flagship of Toyota’s best selling model series in Europe, the Yaris Hybrid has been developed from the stable-mate Auris series, itself based on the Prius, but with smaller nickel … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Skoda Citigo
The smallest Skoda in modern times is big news in the city car sector. The Skoda Citigo 16-model series is available from launch on 1 June with manual gearbox in three-door body style and a five-door and automatic will follow this autumn. For now there is a new single 1.0 litre three-cylinder petrol engine electronically tuned to give either 60 or 75PS … [Read more...]
Weekend road test: New Seat Ibiza
Redesigned, revised and re-engineered under the bonnet, the fifth generation Seat Ibiza hits UK roads. Britain is the third biggest market for Seat in Europe with just under 2pc of share but the Ibiza takes 3.5pc in its sector and last year its 125 UK dealers sold more than 19,000, over half of all Seat models. Since it was launched in 1984 there have … [Read more...]
