Watershed moment”; “mould breaker”; “Tesla-buster”. Not so: I am happy to report that the I-Pace is standing up well and appear to these eyes to be, perhaps, the first classic of the electric age. It may not be going too far to say that it’s as great a car as Jaguar has ever made (well, setting aside the D-Type, maybe). …
Ford EcoSport Active, the best baby SUV?
Strike my eyes. Ford have produced a version of the EcoSport that I can actually approve. Who would ever have imagined that this could occur? After several reworkings, however, Ford have now devised an EcoSport which answers most of those objections. I am not going so far as to say that I would choose to own one, but I enjoyed …
Fiesta ST and Focus ST, I’ll take both
Any Ford that bears the “ST” badge is best driven in one of two ways… Anything between those two states is a waste of the car’s abilities (or, as three-times World Champion Jack Brabham once said of Grand Prix racing, “You’re either on the gas or you’re on the brakes; and if you’re not, you’re fucking around.”) I enjoyed establishing …
BMW 420d M Sport Coupe, a pleasure
Though it is completely up-to-date in all departments – being drawn from the 3 Series for its communications technology, its safety equipment and its chassis engineering – there is something distinctly last-century about the 420d. For a start, its twin-turbo diesel engine, with 190bhp and 400Nm of torque will soon be about as illegal and frowned upon as a packet …
The Audi Q2, an SUV cut above the rest
On its way to the Hermes return point, the enormous package might have been tailor-made to fit the new Audi Q2 35 TFSI S line S Tronic. Among the revolutionary benefits of SUVs, their carrying capacities are probably the one we least consider. Still, the change they have brought into everyday life is astonishing when you think about it. As …
The Škoda Octavia iV SE L Hatch is…
One word sums up the new Škoda Octavia : “Superb”. For a start, this sure is one big mother of a car. Going back to 1996, the original Octavia was a medium-size family liftback or estate that stood somewhere between a Golf and a Passat in its dimensions. This Octavia looks as big as a Mondeo (RIP). The loadspace in …
Reviewed | The Renault Zoe GT Line
As electric cars become a mainstream choice, we are now beginning to see second-generation models coming to market such as the New Renault Zoe GT Line It’s disorientating to recognise that the history of this particular five-door supermini now dates back nearly 20 years – with a three-seat concept having been shown at Geneva in 2005 and a production-ready version …
Honda Jazz Crosstar, an ideal small car
I could not have imagined that the new Honda Jazz could be made closer to my ideal of a small car. And then along comes the Crosstar EX version to make me think again. Now I’ve got to change my tune. The Crosstar is even more completely the car we need. All I’ve got to do is persuade ‘erindoors. I …
Reviewed | Suzuki Vitara 1.4 Boosterjet Hybrid SZ5 4wd
Somebody ought to write a PhD thesis about Suzuki as a case study for a Business Management course. They seem to spend no money on marketing. Can you remember ever seeing a Suzuki ad on tv or on a billboard? I can’t call a single one to mind from the last 50 years. They don’t waste money showing off at …
Focus ST-Line X Edition Hybrid Reviewed
Nothing beats a good Focus. That wisdom – which my own parents signally failed to relay to me – came to mind last week when I was lucky enough to have the new Focus ST-Line X Edition hybrid at my house for test. This one comes with a 1.0T EcoBoost Hybrid and six-speed manual powertrain. The total power output of …