“Nice car,” was my friend’s verdict on the new MG5 EV SW… As I have written before in this space, I drive this guy to an exercise class every Friday. Because he needs a new car, I always make a point of picking him up in my test car for the week. He takes a detailed interest in the build …
Mazda3 GT Sport, the best in the family hatchback class?
There may come a point in your life at which you simply have to give in and say “Yes, I am a Mazda man”. In my long life, I have been enamoured of a succession of manufacturers to such an extent that they felt like an extension of my personality and identity. Maserati was one of the first when I …
Honda CR-V, always a great family SUV
You see them everywhere, yet you probably never notice them. This car exists so far under the automotive radar that it’s almost subterranean. At the same time, however, it has a fair claim to being one of the best “soft-roader” SUVs on the market and one of the very best of all family cars, as it proves again with the …
Honda e Advance, “My, that’s cute!”
“Now you just stay there,” my wife affectionately admonished the new Honda e… I completely agreed. Never have I found a car more engaging and captivating. The Honda e is to fall in love with. A year that has brought a host of great cars came to a close with one of the best. I was smitten from the first …
Mazda MX-5 RF, a sportscar to love
I’m in love again. It’s a miracle. I felt certain it would never happen. I was convinced I was a goner. After an endless succession of humdrum SUVs and worthy-but-oh-so-dull electrics, I had forgotten the delirium of loving a car so much you would get up at dawn to take it out on empty roads with nowhere in particular to …
Ford Kuga ST-line X Edition, a compact SUV
I couldn’t help but whistle aloud when I looked at the spec sheet for the new Ford Kuga ST-Line X Edition and saw the all-in price for the first time. Answer: emphatically yes. This Kuga is so loaded with good stuff and outstanding qualities that it stands in a class apart – as is made manifest straight away by the …
Audi Q4 e-tron 40, a fabulous electric SUV
It’s that awards time of year again. When autumn comes… Even so, I apply myself seriously to the task because I know that the results make a difference to customers’ choices and, therefore, to sales. The European Car of the Year – perhaps the motoring award with the most dubious record for impartiality and probity – can add hundreds of …
All-New Dacia Sandero Stepway
“How shall I recognise the car?” my daughter asked when I told her that I would be picking her up from the school bus in the All-New Dacia Sandero Stepway “Yes, but yuk,” she answered. “Well, that’s the colour of the car you’re looking for,” I said. Actually, the colour of the car that came to us on loan recently …
Škoda Enyaq iV 80, a fine piece of work
“Is this the complete nanny state car?” asked my older daughter when I was driving her in the new Škoda Enyaq. “Have you seen all these messages mothering us?” The Škoda Enyaq didn’t annoy me that much, but its know-all self-righteousness did certainly get on my nerves, especially when its autosteer system so forcefully corrected my lines on corners that it …
The Suzuki Swace SZ5, a real estate car
A stylish Suzuki? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Looking at it outside our house, however, I was filled with admiration for the looks of the new Suzuki Swace. Ever since I first set eyes on a Pontiac Bonneville estate car in the pages of Automobile Year 1958, I have always been a sucker for the classic form of the …