If you’ve ever spent a night sleeping in your car it can be a very disconcerting place to wake up, but that was one of the tests engineers set themselves creating the new Honda Civic e:HEV. Sleeping on the job took on a whole new purpose for them to evaluate the interior and the view out of it after a night’s kip in the car. What is seen when opening the eyes, how relaxing it is and what does … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Suzuki Hybrid Vitara SZ5 Allgrip
To those in the know, Suzuki has a very strong engineering history and its 4x4 models’ capabilities are legendary and affordable. It’s the same story with the new Suzuki Vitara Full Hybrid just tested as the more powerful electric motor has been introduced to not only increase power but also efficiency and economy, and it’s reflected in a lower exhaust emissions figure as well which, of course, … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Suzuki S-Cross Hybrid Motion
Suzuki has a knack of bringing to market just what buyers want at the right time. It has built all manner of models including city cars, sports cars, lightweight offroaders and pickups and more recently SUVs which will not tip the bank balance into the red. Essentially applying good design and engineering but keeping it simple to reduce cost has paid dividends for Suzuki and given them a … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: MINI Electric Shadow Edition
The coming of the electric car age is going to make us all re-evaluate our motoring lives and what we expect from them, much in the same way as the diminutive Mini drove a change in our lives over 60 years ago. So it seems reasonable that the MINI Electric might just do what its petrol forebears did and change our views towards electric cars of today. While some brands are locked in stretching … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: BMW 220d M Sport Coupe
To those of a certain age there was only one sporting car, a rear-wheel-drive coupe, and this simple formula mix are the ingredients in the BMW 220d M Sport we have just tested. Front-wheel-drive hot-hatches largely replaced the iconic ideal must-have for enthusiasts but they never replaced the balanced handling and driving satisfaction of a RWD coupe. BMW itself has built some memorable FWD … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Honda e Advanced
Honda is currently taking a different lane down the electric highway opening for us in Britain and Europe and selling the Honda e city car. While most car makers want to get us into their small to medium sized hatchbacks and crossover models, Honda e is unashamedly a model intended for commuters and staged longer journeys. It’s essentially a city car with style and sophistication. With a … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Mazda CX-5 2.0 Newground
While not having a huge range, Mazda has a well-defined line up in significant sectors. Most people will blurt out MX-5 if asked to name their most identifiable model, so you may be surprised to learn that the crossover CX-5 has been their global best seller since 2014. Over 70,000 are now on UK roads and it makes up 25% of Mazda British sales. Produced from 2012, in the UK it replaced the … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Toyota Aygo X Edge
With more people than ever now living in urban areas car makers are considering how they meet their requirements and the Toyoto Aygo X is the latest from one of the world’s biggest manufacturers. It first gave us the Aygo in 2005 but time and tastes change so Toyota has updated its original model and created the Aygo X, which has a chunkier and stronger look, better equipment and retains the … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Volkswagen Taigo Life
Volkswagen is an inherently conservative car maker which has thrived on compromises to please its customers and its latest line up is no exception, but excels nevertheless. Broadly similar in style to its Volkswagen crossover stablemates, Taigo actually falls between the shorter T-Cross and larger Golf-sized T-Roc in dimensions and a lot of the space is put to good use with a bigger … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Toyota GR Yaris
The World Rally Championship is all about clipping seconds off your competitors, but the Toyota GR Yaris took years off me. Built to permit the company to take part in motor-sport’s toughest rally series and winning in 2018, the GR Yaris is probably the closest a driver will come to sitting in one of the actual WRC cars. For those of a certain age, or older, the GR Yaris rekindles the racy hot … [Read more...]