NEWS

Handbook: Skoda Citigo

This may be a VW Up with a different badge, but it’s also Skoda’s first full-production three-door car. James Batchelor reports. WHAT IS IT? This is the car that makes up the final part of the Volkswagen Group’s onslaught on the A-segment – and could well be the best all-rounder. That’s because it sits between [...]

	Handbook: Renault Fluence
Renault are planning an onslaught on the EV market and this is the vehicle leading the charge. James Batchelor reports WHAT IS IT? One year on from alliance partner Nissan and the launch of its Leaf, Renault now brings us its first electric car – and it’s a whole £8,500 cheaper than the Japanese firm’s [...]

	Handbook: Chevy Aveo
We drove an early production version of the Aveo last year; now James Batchelor takes the UK version for a spin. WHAT IS IT? This car’s predecessor was a budget B-segment offering that traded largely on value and very little else. Value is just one part of this all-new Aveo though, as butch looks, sharper [...]

	Handbook: Vauxhall Zafira Tourer
To take advantage of the MPV-D segment, Vauxhall has introduced a larger Zafira. James Batchelor reports. WHAT IS IT? For too long, Vauxhall has been absent from the larger MPV market, but the firm now aims to put that right. The seven-seat Tourer will be going up against vanguards such as the Ford S-Max and [...]

	Handbook: Volvo V60 DRIVe
Volvo has slotted its eco driVe technology under the bonnet of its stylish V60. What’s it like? James Batchelor reports WHAT IS IT? This is Volvo’s answer to a raft of eco D-segment cars hitting the market and aims to show that the Swedish estate can be stylish, modern and environmentally friendly too. WHAT’S UNDER [...]

		BMW X6 road test
		REMEMBER when BMW launched the X5? Most people thought they were mad, then tried not to watch as the 4×4 sailed up the sales charts. So, when rumours started surfacing that the men from Munich were working on a seriously sporty 4×4, this time those same people took them a little more seriously. The [...]
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		Lexus IS F road test
		Eighth gear clicks into place and the acceleration is unrelenting. The noise from the 5.0-litre V8 is penetrating the cabin through the floor, shaking my kidneys as the speedo climbs past the 100mph mark. And I can’t quite believe I’m in a Lexus. This IS-F is good. Very good. The revs are still rising [...]
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		VXR Nurburgring road test
		The battle for the hot hatch crown just got interesting with the arrival of the Astra VXR Nurburgring. Duncan Chappell samples the newcomer If you’re anything like me, these pictures will be giving you flashbacks of car tuning mags, 90s Brit pop and some misspent teenage hours whiling away hours pricing up performance upgrades. Ok, [...]
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		Cult Cars 4: Rolls Royce Phantom
		It was in Knightsbridge (as if it could be anywhere else), where I saw my first Phantom. Sat parked up outside a Costa coffee shop in a bus lane, I couldn’t help but stop and stare. The good ship HMS Rolls-Royce, berthed next to a lamppost, might have been illegally parked, but not even the [...]
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		Maserati Quattroporte GT road test
		Luxury saloons are more common than you’d think. Take a short drive and make a mental note of how many S-Class and 7-Series models you come across. It sometimes feels like we’re up to our necks in them – have the wealthy really got no imagination? The appallingly rich don’t seem to get it [...]
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		Audi RS6 – the thinking man’s supercar
		IMAGINE opening a garage door and finding inside a line-up including the Bentley GT Speed, Ferrari 599, Pagani Zonda F, Lamborghini Mucielago, and that F1-inspired quart-million pound device the Mercedes SLR. You would know this was supercar land – but would you then park among those desirables an Audi estate? Well you would if [...]
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		Cult Cars 3: Lamborghini Gallardo
		IN our latest Cult Cars feature we take a look at why the Lamborghini Gallardo has earned its place in the motoring hall of fame. James Baggott reports. Lamborghini’s Gallardo may look like a wedge of cheddar, but that doesn’t stop every man and boy with a slight trickle of petrol in their veins [...]
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		Cult Cars 2: Ferrari F430 Spider
		WHEN I was 10 my best mate Joe Jacobs collected model cars. And I was jealous. Not because he collected them – I had loads myself – it was because he had a niche: he’d only have Lamborghinis. Unless it had a raging bull on the front of it, Joe wasn’t interested. And he [...]
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		Cult Cars 1: Audi R8
		QUITE why the sheer brilliance of the Audi R8 took the world by such surprise is a mystery. We should have saw it coming. For years the four-ringed marque had been steadily clawing its way up the corporate car park, stealing sales from German rivals Mercedes and BMW. Then, last year, they hit us with [...]
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