The Toyota Yaris supermini hatchback in three and five door forms was first launched in 1999 and became European Car of the Year 2000. Now in its third generation five-door only form it has received a mid-life refresh. Actually it’s more than a refresh with 900 new parts say Toyota including the introduction of a new 1.5-litre petrol engine … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: MINI Clubman Black Pack
Like their parent company BMW, MINI is keeping their ‘pedal to the metal’ by introducing a raft of additional derivatives of their core model ranges, says David Miles. I interviewed Nicholas Griebner, Head of Product for MINI UK who said, “Last year one out of 50 new cars sold in the UK was a MINI and so far this year sales are up by a further 7%.” In … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Lexus GS300h
Toyota and Lexus have long been the stalwart pioneers of using hybrid technology for some of their passenger car ranges to reduce CO2 emissions, improve fuel economy and boost performance, and where they led others now follow. The growth in Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles (AFVs) as the industry calls them covering hybrids, petrol/diesel hybrids, … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Lexus RX450h F Sport 4WD
While some manufacturers are now running to catch up in the hybrid race, Lexus is still comfortably ahead and showing them how things should be done, writes Robin Roberts Lexus and parent Toyota Group were among the first to apply hybrid technology to their ranges over two decades ago and the models which can potentially benefit most are the big SUV type … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: VW Passat GTE Hybrid Estate
Despite all its recent faults there is no denying that Volkswagen do make some very good cars, like the Passat Estate with the latest hybrid powertrain, says Robin Roberts. A well-designed small petrol engine seamlessly works in conjunction with an electric motor to give the medium sized Passat estate a surprisingly lively and economical performance with … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Toyota RAV4 Hybrid 2WD
The RAV4 mid-sized SUV was first introduced in 1994 and billed by Toyota as the first compact 4WD SUV. Since then there has been a continual supply of new and updated models and the latest major change is the introduction of petrol electric Hybrid two and four wheel drive versions. With the Hybrid’s 2.5-litre VVT-i variable valve timing petrol engine … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Toyota C-HR hybrid
Toyota took their time getting into the very fashionable and high selling compact SUV market sector leaving customers with just their hard-core RAV4 as the option, but now that's all changed, says David Miles. UK sales of what the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders call Dual Purpose vehicles, what we know as 4x4s/SUVs and including some Crossovers … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Kia Niro Hybrid ‘First Edition’
Kia is coming of age with its new Niro petrol electric hybrid Crossover. It's already produced an electric car into its previous petrol and diesel line up but as global manufacturers are forced by legislation to constantly reduce the emissions of their passenger vehicles both by model and for their entire ranges overall, more and more cars are being … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Volvo XC90 T8 Twin
Volvo is on a roll with its two in one luxury XC90 T8 SUV. The XC90 is the first model to be built on the firm’s scalable product architecture and using the latest low energy powertrains, the range topping hybrid combines 320bhp turbo-charged four-cylinder 2.0 litre petrol engine with a plug in rechargeable 87bhp electric motor at the rear, so it pushes … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: BMW X5 xDRIVE 40e
With a record year of UK sales behind them in 2015, when they replaced Audi as the best selling premium brand, and their centenary in front of them in 2016, BMW look fully charged to have a good year. First of their new models to be handed to the UK’s motoring media at the start of their centenary year was BMW’s first plug-in hybrid (PHEV) production car … [Read more...]
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