Check back soon for our views on Skoda’s first ever seven seater.
Author Archives: Rob Auchterlonie
SUBARU LEVORG GT: the modern day Legacy
SUBARU’S Levorg GT is one of a kind – there’s just one version on sale here in the UK.
But it’s the spawn of a long line of Scooby estate cars, and charged with taking the brand into the 21st century as the successor to the highly useable Legacy, which isn’t a name you could run backwards.
But while Levorg reversed is Grovel, there’s nothing second class about this latest Subaru offering, which features a downsized turbocharged engine, a pretty decent cabin and the surefootedness that four wheel drive delivers.
MAZDA MX-5 RF: new profile you can’t ignore
MAZDA’S MX-5 has allofasudden taken on the persona of a bus – you don’t see one for ages, and then two come along in quick succession.
Following in the wheeltracks of the revised ‘regular’ soft top two seater, launched last year, comes the MX-5 RF.
It’s 28 years since the original MX-5 appeared, and it’s not changed much at all in that time, still basically the same car that ramped up the cult status tag back in 1989.
Little more than a handful of changes have been made to the smart and stylish two seater over the years. OK, it’s a little roomier, more comfortable and has far more kit these days, but basically it’s just been allowed to mature over the years.
Until now.
New VOLKSWAGEN GOLF: new engines, new tech, more reasons to like it.
SPANDAU Ballet gave us Communication back in the heady 70s – and now another well known German name is giving it a new slant.
The accent in Volkswagen’s latest incarnation of the multi million selling Golf is very much on communication – ironically at a time when motorists are being urged to abandon our mobile phones on the move (which is a pretty stupid thing to do in any event) and concentrate fully on being the nut behind the wheel.
The 2017 Golf, with its new engines, new technology and revised styling – though it still looks very much like a Golf – is on average around £650 cheaper than the model it replaces.
FIAT TIPO STATION WAGON: Italian style in the shape of an estate
THE name smacks a bit of American – we used to call them estate cars here – but Fiat’s extended version of its neat new Tipo offers plenty of space for your bucks. Or euros. Or pounds.
The Tipo Station Wagon gives you a choice between the hatchback and a lot more space and hence increased practicality.
It helps that it’s a neat looking piece of equipment from the outside, having a distinct touch of Italian style about its lines and not merely being a hatchback with a box welded onto the rear.
New SEAT Leon: no need to fix what isn’t broken….
IF we were to indulge in a game of ‘Spot the Difference’ we could safely use the SEAT Leon as the subject matter.
I’ve looked long and hard, underneath and inside out, and bearing in mind the fact I’ve owned one for the past three years, I can’t for the life of me find too much has visibly changed with the Leon, 2017 version.
And why should it? No one ever attempted to reinvent the wheel, so when you’ve got a package that is to all intents and purposes one of the best medium hatches out there, you’d be a fool to invoke widespread changes just for the hell of it.
KIA RIO: all-round improvement for popular Korean
LIKE most things that come out of a Kia factory these days, the Rio is now a full-on worthy addition to any potential car buyers shopping list.
Kia’s become very much a design led company since the day they persuaded Peter Schreyer to say auf wiedersehen to Audi and hang his coat on the back of the door marked Chief Design Officer.
DACIA DUSTER: minimal frills, maximum value
AN SUV for the price of a supermini? Don’t mind if I do.
Dacia’s Duster is a small and tough SUV that costs about the same as a small hatchback, but offers a bit more space along with some Tonka toy looks.
It’s at the opposite end of the spectrum from the class leading SEAT Ateca and Nissan Qashqai, but offers pretty decent value for your money.
AUDI A5 COUPE: classy German ups the stakes
AUDI continue to prove that when it comes to doing business, motorists are still beating a path to their showroom doors, evidence that the German premium brand remains relatively unaffected by the downward pressures in the high street.
Indeed, the march to the top of the wish list for both business and private buyers is given a helping hand by a range that not so very long ago boasted just 10 models but which now has a dizzying choice on offer.
Take the latest A5 Coupe. A decent number of motorists will, and won’t be too disappointed with their choice.
CITROEN C3: now that was a successful lunch….
A CITROEN C3 might not be the car you’d turn to to travel back and forth from your ‘other’ house in France on a regular basis, but we have friends who did just that – on a regular basis.
A competent little car in the past, the main bugbear being that while you could load it to the gunwhales, they were pretty compact and bijou gunwhales.
How they would have loved the new middle age spread and slightly porkier C3 you can exchange your cash for.