Dramatic styling marked the 2016 arrival of the Toyota C-HR suv and now that’s been facelifted and given a technical make-over inside as well. Toyota’s Coupe-High Rider, to give it the full title, is one of the brand’s best selling models in Britain and has hit the sweet-spot in showrooms over the last eight years but with newer rivals sweeping in there was a need to modernise the … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Mazda CX-30 2.0 AWD Takumi
Mazda has a modest UK range but every model comes with a lot of heart and soul, like the revised CX-30. Originally derived from the hatchback Mazda3 but smaller than the CX-5 SUV, the CX-30 came to the UK for 2020, but of course we all know what happened then as the pandemics swept through the country. Britain and Mazda persevered and now their feature-packed compact SUV has been given a … [Read more...]
First drive: KIA EV9 Air RWD
KIA has turned the corner into a new market segment with its EV9 pure electric model. The EV9 seven-seater launches in three trim levels and an additional range-topping six-seat option from £65,025 to £78,775 in rear wheel drive or all-wheel-drive configurations depending on trim with 200bhp single or 378bhp twin motors. That puts it squarely into Mercedes and BMW electric model territory … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: BYD Atto 3 Design
There is no doubt that China’s BYD car company is a new major challenger to legend European manufacturers with its Atto 3 cross-over. Not only does it have Europe’s familiar family cars in sight but it will be aiming to pick off sales from the Korean and Japanese brands which have had it much their own way up to now. Build Your Dreams, to give the company its full name, launched in Britain with … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Honda e:Ny1 Advance
As the EV market expands, Honda has rolled out its challenger in the family sector, the e:Ny1. A couple of years ago, Honda briefly introduced its city-car sized e model but that had severe limitations in terms of size, range and appeal so the much larger e:Ny1 will take the Japanese firm’s fight to the chargers. It’s a wise move as SUV models account for more than half of UK registrations and … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Ford Puma ST mHEV
The Ford Puma outran all its rivals to sit on the top of Britain’s car sales in 2023, and it’s easy to see why. Ford has a soft-spot for the Puma, first considered using it for a performance version of the Escort and then putting it on the 1997 compact coupe before shelving it a couple of years later, only to resurrect it after 17 years for the present suv series. It has also played about with … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Skoda Octavia Estate SE L TDI
Diesel cars are a dying range but I must say long live the Skoda Octavia Estate turbo-diesel. It’s going to become a model we will look back upon and ponder; wonder why such a thoroughly good all rounder has to be replaced by much more expensive, less practical and, frankly, less satisfying electric rivals. It’s one of the oldest model names in the Skoda stable and still accounts for about … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: VW ID.3 Pro S
Of the legacy car-makers, Volkswagen has developed a very wide and strong range of new generation electric models. It has been working on electric cars for many years so it was probably only natural that modernising its best selling Golf family car would feature in its approach to the future, and the ID.3 fills the sector in which its petrol and diesel hatchback did so well before it led to the … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Skoda Karoq Sportline 4×4
It’s a familiar problem; you have to pick up a Christmas tree and somehow get it home along with maybe a few other seasonal plants and excited children. Most motorists resort to tying the netted tree onto their roof and hoping it stays there but the flexible seating in the Skoda Karoq offers a more practical packaging solution unless you have a very long tree. The split folding rear seats drop … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Honda HR-V
Honda is for humans not robots and it shows in their model range with the HR-V. The third SUV in their line-up after the Jazz and CRV, the third generation HR-V comes only with a petrol-electric powertrain utilisig two electric motors and an Atkinson-cycle petrol engine for greater efficiency as a hybrid and it showed with our overall and effortlessly achieved economy. It has been produced … [Read more...]