As the motor industry increasingly turns in on itself and concentrates on niche models it’s good to see the BMW X1 arrive, genuinely offering something for everyone. Sport, xLine and M Sport trim levels span seven models including three or four cylinder petrol-hybrid units, four-cylinder diesels and an electric version to ensure there is something for every requirement or preference. To that … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Subaru Forester e-Boxer 2.0 XE
If you live in the country, the chance’s you’ll like a dark horse such as the Subaru Forester. It is an all-time four-wheel-drive model with good ground clearance, carries and tows a lot but it’ll not cost you an arm and leg like most 4WD or SUVs. The Subaru Forester also comes with something rivals clamour, rarity value. You are unlikely to see as many in the lanes and towns as with … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Nissan Qashqai e-Power Tekna
Built in Sunderland since 2006 when it was launched, the Nissan Qashqai has been an enduring success story. It was one of the first modern generation Crossover models and instantly won hearts and minds, not forgetting bank accounts, of British buyers, rolling into new generations in 2013 and 2021. It was Britain’s best selling model in 2022 and it’s also picked up UK awards for reliability … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Suzuki Swace SZ5 1.8 auto
Collaboration to cut costs but not quality is very evident in the Suzuki Swace. There’s a lot more component sharing going on throughout the global motor industry than many realise but it’s not been a feature of UK in recent years, with just a few exceptions. We had extensive badge engineering across Midlands’ factories between the 1950s and 1980s but with the disappearance of the British … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Volvo V60 Recharge PHEV R-Design
Volvo had a truly remarkable 2021 and with an enhanced range unfolding this year that success will continue. In a UK market which saw just 1% expansion, the Volvo line up increased 4% to 48,260 cars giving them a record 2.93% share of the British total. Most of that came from the new Volvo Recharge PHEVs and pure electric models which doubled in demand and accounted for 37% of registrations. … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Lexus UX 250h
The new UX 250h petrol-electric hybrid urban SUV is described by Lexus as their ‘gateway’ model to their range of SUVs which already includes the well respected NX mid-sized models, the larger RX versions and the 7-seat RX L variants, writes David Miles. Lexus says UX stands for ‘urban explorer’ and they expect it to become their best selling SUV range attracting new customers to the … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Hyundai Ioniq hybrid Premium SE
There has been a headlong rush towards hybrids, and one-time minnow Hyundai is now a big fish, writes Robin Roberts. It showed us the fuel cell ix35 over a year ago and probably more significantly it launched the Ioniq in the UK last autumn as the first car with three powertrains, a petrol-hybrid, an electric model and soon to come a plug-in hybrid electric. At the moment there are five … [Read more...]