My latest new model road test starts with an apology. This road test was supposed to be about the very new Audi A7 Sportback but unfortunately it was damaged before delivery to me but those on-the-ball Audi UK PR people substituted it with the 2018 RS5 Coupe 2.9 TFSI 450hp quattro. Not a bad substitution. The current A5 range consists of two-door four-seater Coupe and Cabriolet and five-door … [Read more...]
Roadtests
Weekend roadtest: Volvo XC40 D4AWD First Edition
The stylish new Volvo XC40 is also a car of substance and standing in an SUV sector now spreading in all directions. Even before it was a launched in Britain it had won the 2018 European Car of the Year title, adding to the XC60 and XC90 top awards in America. Every manufacturer is racing into the SUV sector and Ford has said it’s ending traditional saloons in the USA to … [Read more...]
Suzuki Swift Sport returns this summer
There’s a warm new hatch coming this summer. An all new,lighter and quicker Suzuki Swift Sport goes on sale from 1 June with a £1,500 reduction for the first month making it £16,499. It copies the dramatic Champion Yellow of the Suzuki Works Junior rally car and inside there are sports seats and trim detailed with red accents. Developed from the Vitara and S Cross, unit, the 1.4 140ps … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: BMW X3 30d M Sport xDrive Automatic
According to authoritative motor industry sources the figure of three, or of a third, seem to be the most recently used; diesel new car sales have fallen by a third, SUV sales are up by a third, women drivers now own a third of UK cars, BMW’s X SUV models now account for a third of their global sales and the new third generation X3 is now being delivered to UK customers, says David Miles. Being … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Kia Stinger 3.3T-GDi V6 GTS
The Kia Stinger 3.3V6 is going to lift eye-brows and expectations for the Korean brand. Its £40,000-plus price is expensive for those use to its stablemates while its styling, performance and refinement will have drivers of rival German brands thinking why couldn’t they save money and move into this newcomer. With input from former Audi and BMW leading engineers perhaps we … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Audi A8 50 TDI
The new range flagship Audi A8 luxury saloon in standard or long wheelbase forms arrived in the UK earlier this year and it’s the first car in the world to be built for the forthcoming age of autonomous driving claims Audi, but progress has a price, writes David Miles. All that’s required is legislation changes to allow Level 3 autonomous technology to be used and some say by the end … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Renault Clio Dynamique S 110dCi
The Renault Clio was launched before the worldwide web became a part of everyday life and after 27 years it’s what is now considered Version 4.2. It’s been a part of the British motoring scene for over a generation, and it keeps reinventing itself. Successive advertising campaigns around each new series have stressed the romance of Renault and with over 1.2 million sold in Britain there is … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Fiat 500X 1.4 MultiAir 140hp DCT auto 2WD
Such has been the huge growth in demand for SUV/Crossover types of vehicles that manufacturers right across the car industry have flooded the market with their offerings so it’s easy to forget or overlook some of those that have been with us for a while. One such range is the Fiat 500X compact SUV, first launched in the UK in 2015, with five doors and the choice of 2WD and 4WD models. … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Fiat Panda 4×4 1.3
Italian singers are often short in stature but big in heart and voice, just like the Fiat Panda 4x4. The cheeky all-wheel-drive car is part of a compact 12-model range sharing a 5-door body. It provides a choice of 900cc or 1.2 litre petrol engines along with a 1.3 diesel, in five trim levels and even offers a semi-automatic for the easiest of lives either in town or country, and with front … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: DS 7 Crossback 1.5 130 manual
The all-new DS 7 Crossback arrived in the UK in March this year and was heralded as their first purpose-built DS model not as in the past a top-spec Citroen, writes David Miles. DS Automobiles became a global brand in its own right in 2014 and before that the DS label was used for higher spec Citroen models. Of course the DS branding is even older going back to the futuristic and iconic … [Read more...]